Day: July 5, 2015

The grammar of hope

I’m reading My Bright Abyss for daily devotions right now. This morning I came across this which goes well with my post on hope, freedom, and holiness from yesterday. 

What is this world that we are so at odds with, this beauty by which we are so wounded, and into which God has so utterly gone?

—

Into which, rather than from which: in a grain of grammar, a world of hope.

 — Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss, p. 145-6.

There is still hope. It shows up in these small, Spirit-influenced grains that open up worlds otherwise inaccessible to us.

Grace. Full stop.

Ed Cyzewski posted a powerful blog post the other day, titled, “The Supreme Court Just Gave American Evangelicals a Gift.” One of the comments to it said, “We are all sinners saved by grace, but…” And then the commenter went on to say lots of unkind things, condemning a wide range of people. There’s no but to that statement. We are all sinners saved by grace. Full stop. Followers of Jesus are not authorized to condemn others for their sins. But we are authorized to forgive sins. 

“If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” — Jesus (‭John‬ ‭20‬:‭23‬ NIV)

So if someone or a whole group of people are doing things that you’re sure are sinful, the best thing to do is make good friends with them and diligently forgive them. The worst thing you can do is cast generalized judgment on them across social media. There’s just no way that is in keeping with what Jesus told us to do.