I seem to have been thinking a lot about the environment and the work of God in us to transform not only my personal environment but that of society and nature as well. God working in us and through us to be more loving and generous, to take a stand against injustice and oppression and to care for this whole planet on which we live. The work of God is partly captured by U2's homage to grace...
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because Grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things
Personally I have so many hurts and scars that God is making beautiful. God is the ultimate recycler, the ultimate transformer, there is nothing he cannot touch and change so that it becomes a blessing rather than a curse - especially in honesty, in weakness, in the midst of me modelling imperfection I find God's grace at work.
But God is about more than just me - I read something like Paul's description of Jesus as the...
creator, the perfector and in the incarnation the inhabiter of creation to see that Christ is about transforming the world, not just me. Jesus is about bringing harmony between all aspects of creation, between races, nations, sexes, between man and the harshness of the planet and indeed even man and death - in bringing heaven to earth it is about God not only reconciled to his creation but in releasing creation. At present creation is pregnant with possibility, we can see the shape of the hope, we can almost taste it, feel it as we are transformed ourselves by being God's blessing to the world around us...
So much of what I am trying to say here about the hope of transformation, a recycle of blessing rather than a cycle of selfishness is reflected in these lyrics by Brian McLaren:
Let’s Confess It (Em, c, b) 106bpm
(a prayer of confession)Let’s confess it: there’s a lot of evil, lust and greed in our world. Oppression and sin build up pressure within until there’s an eruption of corruption. Beneath the skin, we skid and spin in spiritual crisis where vice is the norm, and justice, kindness, humility, and civility are all too rare.
Unaware of our despair, we smile in denial and say “It’s all OK. No need to change, no need to grow, just have another drink or smoke, tell another joke, and don’t think or rethink. Make another buck, with some luck you can buy a bigger house, store more stuff, drive fast, look good, keep up.”
Meanwhile, addiction, rejection, and a lack of reflection spawn friction, dejection and a loss of direction. Every family, community, and nation are shaken. Creation’s resources are carelessly taken. And pollution scars every ocean, mountain, breeze, and shore, with visible symptoms of our inner war. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. (4)
We’re all victims. We’re all villains. We’re stuck in the web that we spun ourselves. But God lights a spark of hope in the dark to help us cope with all that’s wrong and needs to be made right. God has come into all our pain, shame, and loss through the cross, and calls us to a path of life, love, purpose, and peace.
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. (4)If we humble ourselves to believe and receive, a river will flow and a candle will glow in a secret sacred place within us, very deep, where we have been wasting in shadows, half-dead or half-asleep. We’ve been falling in a vicious viral downward spiral that leads to death. Let’s wake up, hear God calling, take a deep, fresh breath. (4 counts)
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. (4)
“We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and please forgive, that we may finally and fully learn to live in dignity and unity, integrity and harmony, delighting in your will and walking in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.”
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