Older Entries from other blogs #2

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

on healing and redemption

I am sitting in a surgical waiting room because my son Aaron broke his leg in a high school football game on Friday night. He needs to have a plate and a pin inserted so that his leg will heal properly.

I have been in conversations lately with friends who are broken. They have made mistakes or have gone down a road in their life journey that has produced painful consequences.

Aaron's surgeon seemed excited to begin the process of healing. But first he had to cut. He said that pain can be managed, but is unavoidable (after, not during surgery!).

In trying to give good counsel to my friends, I am aware that the Christian community is not among the best at initiating healing. We tend to shoot our wounded and leave them lying on the battlefield. I want to be excited about healing. What if a surgeon didn't want to mess with Aaron because the surgery was messy?

Healing is messy. Redemption cost a messy death on a Roman cross. We cannot condemn abortion and fail to care for teenaged moms. We cannot conndemn premarital sex and then expel from our Christian schools the guilty parties. We cannot be sad about AIDS and then finish our bagel without a second thought because we don't personally know AIDS patients. We cannot read about the homeless and never get around to lifting a hammer at a Habitat site. We must think about the process of redemption that was paid for on a Roman cross. Then and now, fixing broken things is not without pain. Pardon the rant. I apologize if I have offended.

My accountabilty partners, Rob and Greg are walking through Scripture with me to investigate what Jesus said about "responible repentance." Jesus doesn't give a pass on sin, but He allows for reconciliation to the one who is of the mind to "go and sin no more." He describes the community of faith as "salt" (irritant and healing agent) and "light" (exposing things in darkness and lighting a right path). May we be both cutter and healer--speaking the truth in love, but "restoring with a spirit of gentleness" and "watching ourselves lest we be tempted." (Gal. 6:1)

If you have a thought about how we can daily deal with the messiness of restoration, weigh in. At any rate, please pray for Rob and Greg and me as we journey through the redemption and repentence themes in the Sermon on the Mount.

Oh, and thanks for praying for Aaron.