“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Luke 12:49-53
Wait a second… what happened to the God of Peace and Love!? What’s he talking about here?
Read this this morning… seems pretty applicable for today ::
“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
Luke 12:33-34
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
I remember in elementary school I was in the band. I played snare drum simply because I couldn’t play a wind or brass instrument thanks to my orthodontist work. When I first started out, I had to force the rhythm at times. I had to work on getting it right. But as I became familiar with the song and the drum, it became easier. Suddenly it wasn’t forced. It was natural.
The same happened when I took piano lessons. The more I did it, the less forced it was. The more natural it became. Now years later, it’s a real effort for me to sit and read music. There are a few songs that still come naturally to me – but don’t ask me to read the music for it – I’ll be lost in an instant. It’s because I’m out of practice and now what may have been unforced rhythm takes a lot of effort.
Throughout life I see this pattern over and over again.
Imagine grace becoming such a thing we’re so used to giving and receiving that it just comes natural. It’s just a natural rhythm of life. It isn’t a pain to give when asked. It isn’t a forced effort to smile at someone we’re not particularly found of. It isn’t unusual to accept the unacceptable or the unloved.
When grace becomes an unforced rhythm of life – suddenly we love those who least expect it and love those who lease deserve it.
Imagine what would happen if grace became an unforced rhythm of life just as music was to Evan in the movie August Rush? What if it just flowed from us each and every day?
We’ll be looking at one of my favorite verses tonight at our community group:
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13
Eugene Peterson puts it this way:
They couldn’t take their eyes off them—Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realized these two were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education. They recognized them as companions of Jesus, but with the man right before them, seeing him standing there so upright—so healed!—what could they say against that?
