Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


9.08.2006  

Thoughts on God: The Last Supper

The ironic thing about it was that not one of us was married.

Paul's declaration had been hitting me pretty hard: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." In fact, I think it was on the flight back home that I'd journaled on that particular verse at length, sitting with wonder in my heart at the truth unfolding before me. The quiet mornings in the Uchida house on Ala Leleu didn't hurt, either, as they lent me much time to ponder and chew on what Paul was telling us God did. It was the perfect morsel of truth to take in to my hungry soul, particularly on a trip home; such trips always provide insight and perspective on God that I so desperately need.

We were sitting around the table, stuffed and very much satisfied. It was 'Drew's bachelor dinner, or as I entitled it in my mind, "The Last Supper." It was a small and intimate gathering, fitting in all ways save one: Boss wasn't there. 'Drew's request was simple, really. He asked us for any advice and wisdom that we could give him on his imminent marriage. Simple request, right? Not so much. Why? Like I said, the ironic thing about it was that not one of us was married.

As my friends will often assert, I'm not one who lacks for words, nor the means to employ them. I let his request churn through my mind and heart for a few moments, thinking of words fitting enough for the man sitting to my left, the man with whom I'd experienced so much of life's peaks and valleys, the man for whom words would never truly be fitting. I thought of marriage, of life, of my lack of experience in both matters. I thought of others to whom I often looked for wisdom and counsel over the years, trying to quickly glean whatever I could from treasured memories filled with blurred observations, conversations and impressions. I thought of Scripture, trying to find what applicable truths I could present to Andrew as an appropriate gift on the night before he was to be wed.

In the end, it was absurdly simple, as such things often are. I shared with him what the LORD had been recently teaching me.

With great delight, I pointed him toward Ephesians 2:10, reminding him that we are God's workmanship in Christ. That's not a light declaration! When I think of the things I do, the things I enjoy, I smile. I think of what God has gifted me with, the talents he has delightfully given me. When I'm doing them, and I'm doing them well, I feel alive. When I sit at the keyboard and pour my heart into something I'm writing, feeling anguish over the precise choice and placement of a word, grinning as those words coalesce into a thought far more fitting and perfect than those words could ever convey on their own, turning my head sideways as I realize that the value of the truths expanding before me far exceeds the value inherent within the words and sentences themselves, that's when I feel alive. So it is with God, is it not? Does He not delight over the work He's accomplished in us in Christ? Does He not rejoice over what He's done, laughing and shouting and singing over these creatures that have been restored to a state surpassing the original and the broken in beauty and glory? Does He not see His precious Son in us, growing in us, shining forth from within us? Yes, He does, for we are His workmanship.

But it doesn't end there.

We are God's workmanship in Christ. As such, we are to be like Christ, engaging in good works. The beauty of it? He's prepared these works for us! And why? So that we would walk in them!

I told Andrew that God created him in Christ to serve Sandi in works that He had already prepare for him, works that he would walk in. Andrew did not have to conjure up or manufacture the service to his bride! I sat there at the table, and I was delighted. I realized then and there that those two people whom I loved were not going into something that was unknown; rather, they were walking down a path that God had already, from all eternity, prepared for them with joy. Andrew's mandate was to serve Sandi along the way, remembering that such service was a precious gift from God, not only to her, but also to him. I saw Christ in the man before me, knowing that God firmly declared, "This is my workmanship!" I saw the ways this work of God already sought to serve his soon-to-be bride, and it blessed me to know that he was already walking in these good works that were prepared beforehand. I thought of all the ways he would learn more and more of the delight the Father takes in giving His children good gifts, and I smiled in the hope that I would be witness to some of them. I looked at him, wondering at the glory of Christ that was yet to be revealed by the blessing of walking in such works, works God had prepared beforehand to His glory.

He is still, to the best of my knowledge, the only one of us that's married. Do you know what that means? It means he's walking in the works that God has prepared beforehand for him, walking in works the rest of us can only dream of; he's serving his bride.

posted by Bolo | 12:01 PM
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