“I come to the garden alone”.
This fellowship altar is only sweet
in its aroma of brokenness toward God
if I have communicated “Please forgive me”
to those I have offended.^
But, the antiquated “Alas!” fits well
this frustration: there are so many
people whom I cannot go back to.
I am displaced from them by time, distance,
and maybe even in their own minds, memory.
That is, memory of the occasions I have offended,
or at the most “innocent”, was not a light for Christ
to them.
Yes, Christ is the guilt offering for my sin, and I have
confessed, and by faith I have received forgiveness, that
“as far as the East is from the West” assurance”. Yet, the
older I get, the stronger the temptation is to regret my past
callous and care-less behavior. I am finding a way to combat
this within spiritual warfare. I picture myself coming up to said
person and looking at them squarely and sincerely, and saying,
“I am passing to you the cup of redemption that is the blood of Christ”,
and “Here, here is Christ’s Body which is broken for you.
I share both of these with you.”
I find that this imagery of sharing the Lord’s Supper is a way
for me to think about those I have not loved as I should have--
and still walk away (carry on) with a clear conscience. I believe
this is because the love of Christ for us at the Cross takes all the
focus off of us, supplanting that with the message, “God is for us”.^^
When we receive this, we can freely tell others, “Yes, it is true:
God is for you, and I am, too.” This then becomes a prayer
within me: that if said person is alive somewhere, that the grace of Christ
will heal them from any damage I might have caused them
emotionally or spiritually.
I do believe that my thinking this way is God's way of telling
me that I truly have repented and turned in the direction of
new life in Christ--that if the same circumstances were to
present themselves again, I would wholeheartedly serve
Christ in the moment and have a servant's heart toward
the ones I have become concerned about.
May the grace of Christ be with us, who love the Lord.
__________
^ Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 5:23-24 - New International Version
^^ Bible Gateway passage: Romans 8:28, Romans 8:31 - New International Version
This fellowship altar is only sweet
in its aroma of brokenness toward God
if I have communicated “Please forgive me”
to those I have offended.^
But, the antiquated “Alas!” fits well
this frustration: there are so many
people whom I cannot go back to.
I am displaced from them by time, distance,
and maybe even in their own minds, memory.
That is, memory of the occasions I have offended,
or at the most “innocent”, was not a light for Christ
to them.
Yes, Christ is the guilt offering for my sin, and I have
confessed, and by faith I have received forgiveness, that
“as far as the East is from the West” assurance”. Yet, the
older I get, the stronger the temptation is to regret my past
callous and care-less behavior. I am finding a way to combat
this within spiritual warfare. I picture myself coming up to said
person and looking at them squarely and sincerely, and saying,
“I am passing to you the cup of redemption that is the blood of Christ”,
and “Here, here is Christ’s Body which is broken for you.
I share both of these with you.”
I find that this imagery of sharing the Lord’s Supper is a way
for me to think about those I have not loved as I should have--
and still walk away (carry on) with a clear conscience. I believe
this is because the love of Christ for us at the Cross takes all the
focus off of us, supplanting that with the message, “God is for us”.^^
When we receive this, we can freely tell others, “Yes, it is true:
God is for you, and I am, too.” This then becomes a prayer
within me: that if said person is alive somewhere, that the grace of Christ
will heal them from any damage I might have caused them
emotionally or spiritually.
I do believe that my thinking this way is God's way of telling
me that I truly have repented and turned in the direction of
new life in Christ--that if the same circumstances were to
present themselves again, I would wholeheartedly serve
Christ in the moment and have a servant's heart toward
the ones I have become concerned about.
May the grace of Christ be with us, who love the Lord.
__________
^ Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 5:23-24 - New International Version
^^ Bible Gateway passage: Romans 8:28, Romans 8:31 - New International Version
