The Reckless, Raging Fury

I'll begin this blog with the brilliant, stunning words of Rich Mullins, who verbally paints a picture of God's grace:

"There's a wideness in God's mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God

Now I've seen no band of angels
But I've heard the soldiers' songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it's never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love

Oh the love of God
And oh the love of God
The love of God

Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I'm tested and made worthy
Tossed about but lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God"

As I encounter people each day and hear their stories, I notice two things. There are the once defiled who know they've been made clean and whole and there are the clean and whole who do not realize that they are no longer defiled. The experience of grace produces the first...and the experience of judgment creates the latter. It is easy to recognize those who have known the reckless, raging fury known as the love of God.

I marvel at this phrase found in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: "And that is what some of you WERE." (NIV) "And such WERE some of you." (KJV) Read the following verses:

"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 AND THAT IS WHAT SOME OF YOU WERE. BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

I have met far too many people who still do not know just how clean they are, so they strive to live by the letter of the law rather than by the heart of God. Christians have often focused on the "will not inherit the Kingdom of God" part and they miss the "but" that God so gladly gave His Son for (and He gave Himself for a lot of butts...LOL). If Jesus came to set captives and prisoners free, then who are we to keep ourselves and each other locked in chains? If Jesus could look down from the cross upon the men who beat Him, spit on Him and ripped apart His flesh, and declare these words over them with a heart of compassion: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." ...then who are we to withhold forgiveness? Who are we to call anyone 'unclean' when they have just as much right to the blood that was shed once for all? If someone is unclean, it is up to us to make sure they have an opportunity to know the love and grace that Rich Mullin's describes as a reckless, raging fury.

Grace, furious? You would understand that phrase if you have ever been redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

So, as for myself, I have gone from being both a prisoner and a captive. A prisoner is one who is held in prison because of something that they did wrong. A captive is held in prison because of something someone else did. Think about that for awhile. I'll admit that I still have a vigilante side of me that wants the kind of justice that satisfies the bit of my heart that I must purposely and daily give to God...that is why I studied Krav Maga. There is a certain satisfaction that I once found in hand to hand combat, but I learned that unforgiveness and bitterness immobilizes who I really am...who I am supposed to be. So, yes, there are times when I want to "pull out the guns" and then I think for a moment. Would I rather become internally scarred and dead to God's heart, or would I rather lay down in the fields of gold that I have known as 'grace?' I choose the latter.