Grace and What It Does

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

9I am the door. Anyone who enters through me will be saved, and he will enter or leave, and will find pasture. 10Thieves come only to steal, kill, and destroy. I, on the other hand, have come so that they might have life, and that more abundantly. — John 10:9-10

17And if you call upon the Father, who everyone impartially according to their works, you should conduct yourself with awe during your temporary stay here. 18You know that it was not with perishable things like silver and gold that were used to ransom you from your useless way of life passed down from your ancestors. 19Rather, it was with the precious blood of Christ, as of a faultless and pure lamb. — 1 Peter 1:17-19

Many of us have trouble combining grace with holiness or purity of life. If we’re saved purely by grace, and we can’t earn it, how is it that we can talk so much about how we ought to live?

The Bible has many statements that sound like heresy when viewed from the doctrine of grace. That’s probably why Martin Luther disliked James so much, and called it an epistle of straw. And for Luther, who had a strong tendency to want to earn his way to heaven, it probably was an epistle of straw. All passages of scripture are inspired, but they are not all equally applicable to all people all the time.

Our two texts today combine the concepts of grace and of the Christian life, and I think they do so in an important way. In John, Jesus is using the analogy of the shepherd. Jesus is there as the gate. If you enter through him, you will find safety, and you can go in and out, find pasture, and be with the shepherd. In this analogy, the door is grace, and grace leads you into the flock, and Jesus is the shepherd. Once you’re in the flock, you will be led to good pastures, you will learn and grow.

Grace lets you in, yes, but grace doesn’t stop there. Grace wants to keep you safe, help you to grow, and make you more and more Christlike in your life.

In 1 Peter, we have a warning of the judgment. Because of grace, you have the opportunity to grow. Make your life live up to the gift that was given. If you don’t do that, you are going to lose something.

I like to use the analogy of gifts we receive from others. I got a Christmas gift once of a gift card to a bookstore. Now anyone who knows me knows I’m unsafe in a bookstore, even if I don’t have money. So people who give me gifts know that such a gift card is a great blessing. But in this one case I put the card on a shelf, and forgot I had put it there. A couple of months later I was going through my things and there it was.

I had received the gift at Christmas, but I didn’t receive its benefit until I picked it up, carried it to the store, and used it.

The wonderful thing about God’s grace is that it offers so much more than a “get out of hell free card.” It offers us the opportunity to become better people. Why not pick up the gift and use it?

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An Unbelievable Story

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

32God raised this Jesus, and we are all witnesses to it. 33He was elevated to the right hand of God and received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father. Now he is pouring it out as you both see and hear. — Acts 2:32-33

Sometimes as I’m telling stories of my own life, part of my testimony, I pause and think about just how unlikely many of these stories are. There’s the time my father was miraculously healed. There are many answers to prayer in my own life.

Then consider the simple claim to salvation. “I’ve received Jesus as my Lord and Savior,” I say. “I’m not a friend of God. God is my dad!” What an unimaginable claim that is. I add to that the story that I’ve received the Holy Spirit into my life, I’ve been empowered by God, and through his Spirit he lives in me.

Then we go back in Christian history and we see these remarkable stories. Here is Peter, the fisherman, preaching to crowds after the crucifixion. The day before he was hiding out, hoping nobody would find him. The disciples had been pretty scarce even after they saw Jesus. They knew he’d been raised from the dead, but they also knew that he had died, and they were aware that they might die as well.

Yet on Pentecost they received the Holy Spirit and began to tell these weird and wonderful stories with boldness to large crowds. They quit worrying about dying and began to challenge the world with the gospel message. They quit trying to melt into the countryside, and began standing out as a challenge.

That was the action of the Holy Spirit in their lives. When the Holy Spirit gets hold of you, you do and say things you wouldn’t do otherwise. You step out of your comfort zone. You tell stories. You talk about hearing God speak to you. You tell people that Jesus is risen, and you know it because he lives within your heart, or perhaps you even say that you, yourself have seen him.

There are two important elements I would like us to think about here. First, the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to challenge their world. They didn’t call for some little decision, such as going to church once a week, or attending a small group. They called on people to be transformed, and then to transform the world. Second, the power of the preaching involved both the Holy Spirit and the personal testimony of the disciples. They talked about what they knew and what they had witnessed.

If you’ve had life-transforming experiences with the Lord, are you letting people know? If you’re a Christian, and you can’t talk about something that is life-transforming, shouldn’t you check your relationship with God?

Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and he has sent us the gift of his Spirit. But we have to go, live, and speak.

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Unbelievers in Church

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

25The other disciples were saying to him [Thomas], “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail prints in his hands and put my finger into them, and put my hand in his side, I absolutely will not believe.” 26And after eight days the disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came while the door was shut, stood among them and said, “Peace be to you!” — John 20:25-26

One of my great interests is the way in which we treat those who don’t believe, and especially those who disagree with us in the church. I’m not going to argue here that there is no way someone can be separated from fellowship. There is such a thing as apostasy. But often we treat minor or temporary disagreements as apostasy and drive people away.

Yesterday, as is my habit, I attended Rev. Geoffrey Lentz’s “Lectionary at Lunch” study at First United Methodist Church. If you live in the Pensacola area and have time at lunch (12-1pm) on Wednesdays, you should try it. Geoffrey pointed out something about this passage that I had never noticed before. (You would probably get more perspective if you read the whole passage, John 20:19-31.)

At least ten disciples see Jesus and they report this to Thomas. Thomas refuses to believe them. The key fact of their lives at that point—Jesus is risen!–is rejected by one of them, one who has been with Jesus all this time. There he is, a resurrection denier, and it was a time when the church was not large, not powerful, and not stable.

Now ask yourself just what you would do if you encountered such a person in your church. Today the church is large, and in the United States it is quite powerful. I suspect the range of options for most churches would be to marginalize that member or even move him out the door. Certainly if ten of us had given testimony to him of something, we’d be offended that he didn’t believe us. Many times we’re more offended that people don’t believe us than that they don’t believe God.

But look what happens to Thomas. Eight days later they’re together in a room. The door is shut. What do we see? The unbeliever is there with them! He’s breaking bread with them. He’s sharing their hiding place. Far from being cast out as a traitor and an unbeliever, he has remained fully part of their fellowship.

We tend to focus on how Jesus made Thomas into a believer. We like the happy ending. But maybe that week between the first appearance and the second is closer to our lives. We live in a world of disagreement and distrust. We suffer from crises of faith. What do we do when someone is having a crisis of faith? Do we drive them away, or do we draw them closer through fellowship and love?

Let’s learn something from the disciples. When you have someone sitting around the table with you, eating with you, sharing fellowship with you, there is still an opportunity for more faith. Keep the opportunities open!

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Out of the Depths

Posted on March 26, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; Psalm 130:1 (NIV)

I’m still learning ‘stuff’ from following Jesus from the Garden to Resurrection. I’ve been thinking of Thursday night and Saturday night of that week; how dark the night must have seemed. What a feeling of a-loneness!

I’ve had nights like those. Something terrible happens. A sickness, a death, sudden loss of job or divorce. The night closes in. The recording begins to play: “I’m the only one who has ever had to go through something like this in just this way.” “I have no one to turn to who really can understand and say what I need to hear.” “I am alone.” “My pastor (or my church friends or prayer partners) have never doubted God to help them.”

Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Psalm 10:1 (NIV)

There are two relevant questions for those with the ‘guts’ to ask. AND they are the infamous ‘why’ questions, aren’t they? And what has God said to me about ‘why’ questions? GOD IS BIG ENOUGH AND LOVING ENOUGH to answer my ‘why’ questions. He WILL answer them and the answer will be an answer for me. Some of the answers I have received for these questions from God include (but limited to…): “I am waiting for you to learn _____.” “I am here to dry your tears, Jody.” “I AM HERE.”

…[LORD] even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139:12 (NIV)

God is not put off by ANYTHING. He is not taken by surprise by any event in my life. God is not overwhelmed, confused, or at a loss for an answer or plan. Am I willing to listen? Am I willing to take a step in the direction of God’s leading even when I do not know where He is pointing me? Am I willing to follow Jesus through a dark night in my life?

I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies…
With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
Psalm 18:1-3, 29 (NIV)

Faith. AND NOW before someone thinks that I throwing too many stars and butterflies around – let me be practical. MANY times I don’t START with faith assured – I speak my faith and keep speaking it until my spirit catches up! Sometimes I call a sister in God and ask her to pray with me. These are principles that I have been taught and heard in repetition from many extra-ordinary men and women of God – GET IN THE WORD! LISTEN! READ! STUDY! SOAK in the presence and essence of God and learn His words of life! Write them on your heart! That tiny seed of faith will grow roots and begin to bear fruit that is strong and life-giving! How ‘WOW’ is that moment when the words of faith become FAITH and I know I truly am not alone and that Jesus truly is my shepherd!

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet PRAISE him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:11 (NIV, emphasis mine)

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Testing and Results

Posted on March 25, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

6In which you greatly rejoice, even if it has been necessary to put you through grief in various trials,
7that even if tested by fire, the result of your faith, more precious than gold that will pass away, will turn out to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. — 1 Peter 1:6-7

We’ve been following the course of Holy Week, and trying to stay with the disciples as they experience questioning, disappointment, despair, fear, and hopelessness. Then we watched as they are interrupted in their fear and get a new message: He is Risen!

The temptation is to wonder just why we had to go through all that trouble. Why couldn’t God bring about a happy ending without all the suffering in between? It reminds me of the repeated question: Why did Jesus have to die?

Some Christians focus on suffering. For them, joining in Christ in poverty, suffering, and persecution is a key part of the Christian life, and might even be considered the Christian life. Other Christians, especially recently, have concentrated on the joy, the blessings, the good things that a Christian should receive. After all, God promises many blessings to those who serve him and obey him, and not all of those blessings are for the next life.

There’s something we almost always miss in trying to answer these questions. We want the answer to focus on God. We want it to be good, deep theology. If there was an ultimate purpose, perhaps the salvation of millions, or even God’s reputation as understood on other worlds, then that would explain our suffering adequately.

But the fact is that in scripture most of what God does has to do with people. It has to do with you and me and what’s going to happen to us. Whether you want to feel important or not, God thinks you’re important. Now don’t get arrogant. God cares about me just as much as he cares about you. God cares about everyone. God cares about people.

The answers often come in looking not just at God, but at how people react. And there’s the key to understanding suffering. When I went into the Air Force, I went through basic training. Now Air Force basic training, I’m told, is not as tough as that of the other services. It’s hard to tell how to compare, because members of each service want to think they’re better than the others. But whatever the comparison, Air Force basic training was annoying. I did many things I didn’t want to do, and I didn’t really enjoy it. In fact, there was really nothing about it that I look back on nostalgically.

The one key, however, was what happened to people afterward. The idea of basic training was not to give pleasure. It was to prepare people to undergo stress. In my time in the service I did have to undergo stress and it was a good idea to be prepared. Now there was other training later that was more important, and helped prepare me more than the basic training. The point is that there was no wonder or excitement in enduring these things. The blessing was in finishing and being prepared to do what one needed to do.

It is the same with suffering in our lives. The times of hardship and disappointment are not designed as a stopping place, or as a blessing in themselves. They are designed to test and refine you and get you ready for the next step.

Just consider the disciples before and after Holy Week. That’s the result of going through God’s testing and coming out refined.

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First Monday in Easter

Posted on March 24, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” John 19:19 (NIV)

It’s Monday! Did you wake up this morning with the same joy that you had yesterday humming Because He Lives??? I think Easter Monday speaks most clearly to me about walking every day in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Holy Week is a time when I do spend time reflecting on the magnitude of what God did for me, His daughter, one He loves. THAT is enough to make me tear up – which I am doing as I write this! I read the gospels and I think how writing just these devotions brings such sweet memories of how Jesus has touched my life and brought me through so much. Not just brought me through but gave me the sight to see the victory of having Him in the circumstance. I bet that’s how Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John may have felt! And on days when things are tough, as I write, my faith is boosted as I look on the FAITHFULNESS of God. He IS faith!!!

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. John 19:20 (NIV)

Jesus shows us how He obediently walked the path in the plan that the Father had for Him. Despite the wounds that came along that path, He ended in victory! It didn’t look like it would at points along the way, did it? BUT God brings His children to victory when they follow Jesus’ example in obedience. OH, dear brothers and sisters, our life with God is simple we just don’t always make it easy! Every day – every day we must spend time with Jesus, looking at His hands and side. Look where He put His hands – lovingly ON people, reaching out to people, picking UP people with His healing touch. Look at His side – look where His heart was drawn. His heart was drawn to those who didn’t get much attention from the ‘important’ people. His heart was drawn to children – whether they were literally young age boys and girls or children in their faith like Mary who worshiped Jesus in the way she could – with her tears.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 19:21-23 (NIV)

Jesus gives us His peace…no matter what comes. Jesus breathes His breath of peace on us. That is personal and intimate. Notice however that Jesus does not force the Holy Spirit on us. He urges us, encourages us to receive the Holy Spirit…but it is a choice. And then Jesus gives us the job mandate: spread the Good News of His forgiveness. Tell the world that Jesus paid the price and no matter what has been in each life – Jesus has covered that. How many people do we meet, speak to that have regrets and guilt from the past and it drags them down and holds them back from the joy of their life in Christ? Yes, these are Believers who deep inside do not believe they can be TOTALLY forgiven OR do not want to forgive others. It is a wall between them and God. And may I not be shy to stop right here and allow the Holy Spirit to examine MY life and RECEIVE forgiveness.

Resurrection Sunday is an opportunity to start new. Maybe even better than New Year’s! Making a new turn to live a new life in Jesus – the best ‘resolution’ and with Jesus as my guide and strength – I can do it!

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

“Because He Lives…” Let’s keep on humming that.

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NOTHING Ends on Friday

Posted on March 21, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb… John 20:1 (NIV)

If you check the four gospels, you’ll find that there is no mention of Saturday. The gospels, each in their own way, records the burial of Jesus on Friday (three specifically mention the haste of burying Jesus before the Sabbath sundown) and then the scene picks up on Sunday morning. Early. What did the disciples and the women do on Saturday?

Saturday is Sabbath to a practicing Jew. Work isn’t done on the Sabbath. That includes things like cooking and cleaning. It would includes chopping wood for a fire that warms and cooks.

The week prior to this Sabbath had not been ‘normal’, ‘usual’, or ‘quiet’. It began with a glorious triumphant procession into Jerusalem where some may have thought, “Maybe, just possibly the Romans are going to fall from power and our nation, Israel, will see itself in glory as God has promised.” But Jesus dispelled that dream. Jesus said His kingdom was not to be of this world. His chosen people, God’s children, would not see that kingdom on this side of Heaven. Jesus pulls those disciples close to Him that week and almost seems to cram the principles into their hearts. Thursday night, he shares a Passover meal with them and graphically demonstrates to them how to be a servant. He even washes Judas’ feet. That would be something to recall in the days and years ahead as persecution comes. John’s gospel especially speaks to my heart in chapters 14-17. The pure and undiluted gospel of Jesus that gives comfort, the need for connection, warnings and affirmation of persecution, and then Jesus’ prayer. Such richness! But all of these events did not leave time or forethought to preparing for the Saturday Sabbath.

Did the disciples huddle together, hiding, eating stale bread and whatever leftovers they could find? Did they hide individually, isolated and afraid to congregate together? Life had forever changed and they must have felt so alone. And remember — everyone of them had run away from Jesus the night before. Did shame make them even feel they couldn’t cry out to God? Was this a Sabbath in which they couldn’t even say the ritual prayers?

There have been ‘Saturdays’ like that in my life. ‘Friday’ has been so awful and overwhelming and like the disciples, I didn’t have the hindsight of knowing that Resurrection Sunday was coming!

THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS!

RESURRECTION IS ALWAYS COMING!

NOTHING in my life ends on ‘Friday’!!Jesus sealed that covenant when He set His eyes and feet toward Jerusalem. When He got up from His knees in the garden, He walked toward victory!

While they were wondering about this,[an empty tomb and no body] suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their freight the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; HE IS RISEN…” Luke 24:4-6 (NIV)

Let us LIVE like we know about Resurrection Sunday no matter how many ‘seemingly dead’ Fridays and Saturdays come along! Anticipate it! Trust Him! HE IS RISEN!

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Finding My Way

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Jody Neufeld

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Luke19:10 (NIV)

Have you ever been lost? Being in an unfamiliar city can make me feel bewildered and even frustrated – especially if I have inaccurate directions. Both of those emotions may find their root in fear. I don’t know where I am and will I find my way back to something familiar? GPS is technology’s answer to that lost feeling. Jesus is the true answer to feeling lost that has been with me since birth. It is feeling incomplete and without peace.

I sought and followed several paths as I tried to find ‘my way’. I looked to people, both individuals like a husband and to collecting large numbers of friends that would be there for me; expecting them to know my needs and fill my needs. I looked at alcohol to anesthetize the emptiness so I wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t happy. I looked to building a career that would so define me that there would be no doubt in my mind nor in those who cluster around me that I was somebody and was worth something. I filled my life with activities thinking that if I just did enough that I wouldn’t feel alone and I would feel validated.

None of those paths led to…any where. At best they led me back to myself so that I was staring myself in the eyes and being disappointed at what I saw. At worse they led me to a dead end where no one was with me. I didn’t count as a high enough priority in anyone’s life where I was their life!

But I am a high priority to God. I am so important that He would come in the flesh to find me and save me. And the biggest shocker? He would give His life so that I could live!

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21 (NIV)

There it is. My reason for being: so that Jesus could ‘send me’. Jesus came, saved me, and showed me how to seek the lost and shine His light of truth so they could choose to follow Him. That permeates every aspect of my life. It is how I live with my family. It is how I shop at Wal-mart. It is how I do my bill-paying job. There is no compartmentalizing in the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Oh, Father, help me to live the life of a disciple of Jesus. May I have ears to hear Your Holy Spirit guide and direct. May I seek to learn how to be more like Jesus as I read and study Your Word. May I choose to be still and listen for Your voice and obey with a glad heart. Thank You for saving me, Father. Thank You for loving me with an ever-lasting, comforting love. I love You, Father. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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A God Who Opens the Way

Posted on March 19, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

19Now then, brethren, we have boldness to go into the holiest place through the blood of Jesus, 20which he placed as a living way through the curtain, not previously available, which is his flesh. 21Jesus is also a great priest over the household of God. 22So let’s come with true hearts and full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from bad conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. — Hebrews 10:19-22 (TFBV)

Sometimes we miss one of the most obvious facts about salvation, because it is something we live with all the time. No, I’m not talking about sin, though that is a critical point. I’m talking about the fact that we are so limited and ignorant. We could know nothing about God unless he chose to reveal it to us. There is no way that we could reach God, unless he chose to make a way.

You may recall something about infinity from math classes. Infinity minus any finite number equals what? Infinity. Infinity plus any finite number equals what? Yep, infinity again! Basically there is the widest gap possible between us and God, and we have no way of getting to God.

People often look at the tabernacle and later the temple as symbols of God’s presence with his people. And that’s not entirely wrong. But there is another set of symbolism involved. The structure of the tabernacle showed the separation between the holiness of God and the people. First we have the outer courtyard. There only priests and people coming to offer sacrifice could come. Then there is a veil, and another chamber. Here only the priests could enter. Then there is another veil, and the most holy place. There only the high priest entered one time each year.

Each veil served to illustrate how far God’s people were separated from their God, while at the same time pointing toward the possibility of coming in closer.

What Jesus did in becoming one of us was empty himself of that infinity (Phil. 2:5-11) and show us the way. He bridged the greatest gap that can possibly exist. He made it possible for us to approach God. And he didn’t do it half way. He made it possible for us to approach boldly.

In our families, our communities, and our churches, we regularly face gaps. People are different. Some of us are annoying! Some of us are so perfect we can’t imagine how annoying we are! Often we think that reconciliation and forgiveness is not possible. The gap is just too big.

But always remember this: The biggest possible gap has already been crossed. When God emptied himself and became a human being, he showed us that there is no difference too great, no depth too low, no height so unreachable, no distance too great, that God’s grace wasn’t sufficient to manage to open a way. The grace may not be easy—it cost Jesus his life. But it is sufficiently powerful.

Remember: We worship a God who opens the way, no matter how impossible it looks to us.

19God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting their transgressions against them, and he has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. — 2 Corinthians 5:19

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Restoring Broken Things

Posted on March 18, 2008 by Henry Neufeld

16For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel:
After those days, says the Lord,
I will put my laws in their hearts,
And will inscribe them upon their minds. 17Because their deeds of unrighteousness and their sins
I will not remember any more. [Jeremiah 31:33,34] 18And where there is forgiveness of these sins, there is no more offering for sins.

19Now then, brethren, we have boldness to go into the holiest place through the blood of Jesus, 20which he placed as a living way through the curtain, not previously available, which is his flesh. 21Jesus is also a great priest over the household of God. 22So let’s come with true hearts and full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from bad conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. — Hebrews 10:16-22 (TFBV)

I know it may be a shock to those who know how coordinated and graceful I am now (DON’T LAUGH!), but when I was a child I would occasionally break something. Now my mother was not excessively concerned with material things, so I wasn’t afraid. Mostly I was disappointed. Something pretty or useful was now broken. I would always hope it could be restored, glued together, made to look like it was before. Sometimes restoration was possible. Sometimes it wasn’t. That’s the reality of human life.

At times, we’re less concerned with broken people than we are with broken things. Most of the people who are no longer part of our churches are on the outside not because they got convinced that God didn’t exist, or that the church was completely wrong. They’re outside because they’ve been hurt—broken if you will.

If we look at a broken piece of art, we may think of glue and careful reconstruction. Too often when we look at people, we think of punishment, revenge, and expulsion.

In Jeremiah’s day, that was the way a covenant worked. A king, such as Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, would conquer a small country and impose a treaty on them. If the king violated it, as the kings of Judah did repeatedly, he would come again with his army and remove, and possibly execute the king who had rebelled along with many of his subjects. There was no restoration.

But Jeremiah tells us that God works differently. Where human beings look at a person who has gone astray and think of how to discard them, lock them away, keep them from doing any more damage, perhaps even discard them in that ultimate way, by killing them, God looks at how they can be restored. Where we live in fear that a “forgiven” person will sin again, God is willing to take a chance.

Do you really hear what this message of the new covenant means? We say it every day: “New Testament.” We live under a new covenant, a new way of working with people. Too often we take it for granted.

What does this new covenant mean? It means that God looked at you and me, and even though we were broken, damaged goods, and a danger to ourselves and others he said, “Come, let’s try again. I’m going to make a new covenant.” God took a chance on each one of us.

I said we take it for granted too often. But it is granted—given by grace. Think about that passover meal: This is my body which is given for you (Luke 22:19, emphasis mine).

During this week as we anticipate the gift God has given us, apply that gift to others as well. When you look at someone who seems broken, and you ask yourself whether they can ever be restored, try the answer Jesus gave. He took a chance on you and me. He is a God who restores broken people!

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