“Yet now he has
reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As
a result, he has brought you into his
own presence, and you are holy and
blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue
to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don't drift away from the
assurance you received when you heard the Good News.” Colossians 1:22-23
To believe this truth and stand firmly in it, I must be
totally and absolutely emptied of self. Poverty stricken. I’ve known this
theologically since I’ve been a Christian…almost 35 years. I’ve preached it,
taught it, tried to live it but my meager attempts were all wrong. There was
little room for grace. I was too hard on myself when I didn’t “live up to the
expectations” of the religious people I was surrounded by. Even my own efforts
to be good and do the right thing always came up short. I feel like I can never
measure up. That is such a difficult place to be. I wasn’t standing firm in the
truth that Jesus; because of His shed blood, sinless life, and taking on my
sin; is the One whom all my righteousness is cloaked. I was living on my own
merits….wearing my own “good deed doer” cloak. You would think after 35 years
of this “knowledge,” I would have walked in the truth of His grace. NOTHING I
do that is good will ever be good enough. The prophet Isaiah said it: Isaiah
64:6 We are all infected and impure with
sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.
And the apostle Paul said it: Romans 3:9-12, 18 “… for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles,
are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures
say, ‘No one is righteous-not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking
God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a
single one.’… They have no fear of God at all.’"
Now I am beginning to be free from the bondage of the cloak
of “good deed doer.” Jesus dealt with my sin once and for all on the Cross. I
am beginning to live in His grace…His righteousness…His freedom. Now this doesn’t
mean I can do whatever I want and God will forgive me (of course He will!).
What it does mean is that love is my motivation to wear His cloak. To live in
His cloak and never take it off. Love others in this cloak (whether or not they
love me). Judge not in this cloak. Serve others in this cloak. Be gracious in this cloak. Be merciful in this
cloak. Forgive in this cloak. Be compassionate in this cloak. Be thankful for
all things in this cloak. Jesus’ cloak of righteousness will always be pure. And
that frees me from becoming a people pleaser to live for an audience of One. I
may get dirty, but His cloak is pure and righteous and holy and still covers
me. The Father sees me in the righteous, blood soaked cloak of Jesus…no matter
how smelly my undergarments may become.
Brennan
Manning writes about this poverty: “The
awareness of our innate poverty, that we were created from the clay of the
earth and the kiss of God’s mouth, that we came from dust and shall return to
dust, pulls away the mask of prestige, of knowledge, of social class, or of
strength—whatever it is we use to command attention and respect…Poverty of
spirit breaks through our human pretenses, freeing us from the shabby sense of
spiritual superiority and the need to stand well with persons of importance…Poverty
brings us to the awareness of the sovereignty of God and our absolute
insufficiency. We simply cannot do anything alone. Any growth or progress in
the spiritual life cannot be traced to our paltry efforts. All is the work of
grace…I am convinced that without a gut level experience of our profound
spiritual emptiness, it is not possible to encounter the living God.”
