A Million Pieces

Romans 8:22-27

Waiting is never easy.  It’s tough when you’re five and it’s just as difficult at 45, even when you know something’s “worth the wait.”

Today’s passage talks about waiting eagerly and patiently.  Ah, what a virtue it is to wait eagerly and patiently.  But what if we’re annoyed and irritable?  That feels more like it.

Well, that’s where the Spirit comes in.  “The Spirit helps us in our weakness… the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (v. 26-27).  He really does know best, yet it can be hard to hand over control especially when we want something NOW!

When we try to steal control from the Spirit, we end up feeling like we’re broken in a million little pieces.  The Spirit brings wholeness.

It’s like a spoon and egg race – when we run too quickly, the egg falls and breaks, but when we’re patient and let the spoon do the work (as slow as it may seem), the egg will arrive at its destination intact – and I’d really like to finish this (human) race in one piece.

But guess what?  Even if we fall and break into a million pieces, God is right there to put us back together.  He picks up the pieces, and like only He can, makes us whole again.  Don’t you love worshiping a God who does that?!

TRUE PEACE BRINGS JOY

Reading: Isaiah 52: 7-10 (Complete Jewish Bible - CJB)

Early in my nursing career at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (long before it was “Nationwide”), I worked with a Jewish doctor, an anesthesiologist. Upon his retirement, I made a plaque wishing him “shalom.” He was so excited and moved by it, he choked up as he tried to relay to me the deep meaning of the word to him as a Jewish person.

Most modern versions of the Bible translate it “peace,” a good word for something we all seek: tranquility, calmness, quietness. And shalom is that – but so much more! Shalom implies wholeness, completeness, soundness, health, safety, and prosperity, and carries with it the implication of permanence. It’s something the world cannot give; not something we conjure up in our minds to try to make us feel at peace.

How does this shalom become ours? Isaiah 53: 5 tells us what we have just witnessed again this Lenten and Easter season:

            But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins;

the disciplining [punishment] that makes us whole [gives us shalom] fell

on him, and by his bruises we are healed (CJB)

Jesus the Christ took the punishment for all our crimes and sins, that we might be free to receive his (and our) Father’s peace. As we receive this good news, we are also filled with great joy.

            Break out into joy! Sing together, you ruins of [Jerusalem]! For Adonai

(Lord) has comforted his people, he has redeemed [Jerusalem]! (Isa 52: 9)

Peace and joy are closely entwined, as this definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary for joy reveals: “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, prosperity.” The permanence of this peace and joy transcends all earthly attempts at peace because it doesn’t come from us. Jesus told his disciples when he was leaving this earth, “My [shalom] I leave you; my [shalom] I give to you, not as the world gives, give I unto you.” (John 14: 27)

So, dear brothers and sisters, I commend to you Jesus, your Prince of Shalom! He is the agent of peace that God has provided for us – have you fully embraced him as the only Way to true Peace and Joy with God?  I pray so. SHALOM, MY FRIENDS!