St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Gilroy CA
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The Rector's Corner
BROKEN TOYS
Maybe kids are a little more careful these days than I was when I was a child. Or maybe they just know that if they break that expensive new Game Cube, iPod, or whatever they got for Christmas they probably won't get another for a long time. But I can remember the old wag's truth that if the noise of Christmas bothers you, just wait until the batteries give out, or the toys are broken. Then we can all enjoy again the peace of everyday life, without beeps and electronics noises.
Sometimes we may be tempted to see that silent world as "the real world" but frankly there are times I can find that world a little boring. Life is not really a totally quiet place... never was. And the fact that it can get noisy with kids and such is what life is all about. The noise of life is not what makes it broken and in need of salvation. It's just the abuse of it.
Reality, even for Christians is -in many ways- that we never really do grow up. That is why Christ came to us. Now remember, that being a Christian means being saved and forgiven. Once saved we are forever saved and no longer on Satan's book as sinners. BUT the business of living as a saved person is called "sanctification." This refers to the fact that rest of our lives we walk the daily walk of those trying to become like Him---sometimes more and sometimes less successfully.
The things we get from the Lord (that's everything by the way) we usually end up breaking somehow (our health, our relationships, families. etc.). And when we do we can sometimes find ourselves shocked to realize that we haven't really talked to Him for a while, to really seek Him out. Have you noticed that? It's such times we are moved to take time to pray a little more intently. And then there is that sense that "since we got ourselves in this fix we ought to 'man up' and get ourselves out of it." Besides, we are tempted to reason, that God is somehow too busy to take time out of running the universe to attend to the things we need, the things that scare us, or the things we have lost control of. We are tempted to say "Just fix my life, and I'll never bother you again. Okay?"
What amazes me is that Our Lord is always there, ready and willing to fix whatever needs fixing. He is just waiting for us to call on Him, even if it's only for another broken promise on our part. (our promises, not His. He never breaks His promises) And He is never too busy, only glad to hear from us
Maybe, at the root of it, that's what LENT is really all about. Before we were ready to admit that we sometimes excel in the ability to destroy, misuse, or even just to take for granted, the beauty of our lives and the world He has given us, He is already there, preparing to make us whole. Ready to fix it. No questions asked, just some honest questions and dialogue with Him as to how we got in any particular fix and our willingness to stop doing what got us there.
Lent begins in only a few weeks. It's a great time for us to take an honest look at where our lives are still a little broken -or maybe even broken again-- (in spite of our salvation). All we need is to ask Him, in the power of his Resurrection, to make us new and whole once again. He wants to do this so much for us, that He promises He will. All we need to do is take some honest time to see what needs fixing and to give it to Him.
Then, just like my father did, when, as a child, I had broken my gifts from him, the Lord says, "Now it is fixed. Please don't break it again. Use it (your life, and body, your relationships, your money, etc.) the way it was made to be used. Just live according to my Word, and the pain of broken-ness will never touch you again."
He won't even force us to see the brilliant Star that is there still. Gleaming in the darkness, never -never---overcome. It has never stopped shining, ever since that cold night when the heavens themselves were split open and the stuff of heaven entered the everyday world of earth.
As we move towards Lent this year, I invite us all to carefully see what brokenness we might have to offer to the one Who cares what happens to us. After all, that is -ultimately- what Easter is really all about!
But first there is Lent. A great time to walk together as a holy fellowship, not of the perfected, but of the forgiven and redeemed.
