Author: george gaffga

I am a retired Presbyterian pastor living in Colorado. My wife, Gigi and I are married 49 years. As an ordinary guy my life has been graced by God in many ways. We have three grown children and five grandchildren. I am trying to live with Christ day to day and though I sometimes fail miserably I am not giving up because God hasn't given up on me. I lead worship at a nearby Life Care Center and I assist at Eagle Bend Community Church where I occasionally preach and lead Bible Studies. I play some guitar, write music and have written a couple of devotional books that were best sellers in my local church. So journey with me and let's see what this life with Jesus is all about and why Grace Matters.

THE GRACE OF EVANGELICAL UNIVERSALISM

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So I have begun to seriously consider the position of being a Christ-centered Universalist. My wife thinks I am a borderline heretic but I might suggest to her that Jesus was called a blasphemer for opening wide the gates of God’s Kingdom that all might come in. And among other things the leaders called him a glutton and drunk for hanging out and accepting into the Kingdom people like tax collectors and prostitutes.

I am beginning to understand the wild, crazy, and all inclusive love of the Father to be such that God will one day, as Paul wrote, ‘reconcile all things in heaven and on earth.’ This includes to Paul’s thinking, rulers, authorities and everyone else, all through the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. (See Colossians 1:18-20)

God’s relentless pursuit of his creation, his children (in the way Paul speaks of God’s children in Acts 17), does not end in vain. God’s love has and will grace the life of everyone. It did at the creation of everyone according to John 1 where we are told that every life on earth came THROUGH Jesus Christ. So writes Paul in Colossians 1.

I am not the first to think of this kind of universalism. You can read Gregory Macdonald or Robin Parry (who is Gregory Macdonald- his nom de plume) or Thomas Talbot and many others who have made the case for universalism explicitly or implicitly. For me, I am just now trying to be open to this hope, this possibility even with all proof texting opposed to it.

I had a wonderful experience the other day. I went to my neighbor who professes to be an atheist. She is a loving mom and expecting a second child any day. I decided to talk to her and she was ‘conveniently’ sitting on her front stoop. I told her that God loved her, has forgiven any of her sins and that she is right now part of God’s family and Kingdom. She said, ‘Thank you’, and we moved on to other conversation. And I must say I felt such peace in talking with her in such a manner. I have been up to this time the type of evangelist who needed to hear some kind of change of heart or decision to accept Christ but now I am okay with simply sharing the good news of God’s love. I have always liked the passage in Luke 1:77 where John’s dad, Zechariah, announces through the Holy Spirit that John will help people understand salvation with God by announcing the forgiveness of sins. There might just be something to that order since John tells us later that Jesus is the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)

There is in this evangelical universalism something of the Arminians and Calvinists in the sense that according to the Arminian thinking God’s grace opens every heart to be able to respond to God’s grace. In the Calvinist way of thinking God’s grace is irresistible. So both come together for everyone’s salvation with God.

I do not think that anything or anyone can stop the plan that God initiated, not only at creation but also with the blessing of Abraham in which God promises that through Abraham, all people would be blessed. When God made that covenant with Abraham he sealed the deal with the promise of giving up his own life. (See Genesis 12 and 15)

Jesus subsequently fulfilled this covenant with his own blood and thus satisfied the promise of God.

Even the evil people in the world will be able to be redeemed through what Christ has done. It’s hard to wrap my mind around all of this but it might just be that I need to more fully understand the vastness of God’s love. Isn’t that why Jesus spoke as he did, making limitless the love of his Father?

So here’s a great story in line with all of that.

It is said that during the Second World War some soldiers serving in France wanted to bury a friend and fellow soldier who had been killed. Being in a foreign country they wanted to ensure their fallen comrade had a proper burial. They found a well-kept cemetery with a low fence around it, a picturesque little Catholic church and a peaceful outlook. This was just the place to bury their friend. But when they approached the priest he answered that unless their friend was a baptized Catholic he could not be buried in the cemetery. He wasn’t.

Sensing the soldiers’ disappointment the priest showed them a spot outside the fence where they could bury their friend. Reluctantly they did so.

The next day the soldiers returned to pay their final respects to their fallen friend but could not find the grave. “Surely we can’t be mistaken. It was right here!” they said. Confused, they approached the priest who took them to a spot inside the cemetery walls. “Last night I couldn’t sleep,” said the priest. “I was troubled that your friend had to be buried outside the cemetery walls, so I got up and moved the fence.”

Ah, perhaps we are as astounded to hear about universalism as the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were stunned to hear that the love of God could be so inclusive.

Now I realize that there are many scriptural passages that are read and understood in opposition to what I am sharing. But I also know there are enigmatic verses such as 1Cor. 15:22 “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

Christ must be the center of any new mathematical equation that includes the whole creation. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ and his atonement for our sin. Historic and Biblical witness has always attested to this truth. This has been the church’s position since the days of the apostles. But there must be room within this confession for an even larger view of God’s inclusiveness in Christ.

I read in Philippians 2 that one day EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. I want to trust God to work that out in God’s own way and time. I can’t say enough of the joy of even contemplating such a loving forgiving heavenly Father.

To conclude for now, I want to add that we Christians make too much of our response to God’s grace. The emphasis is on what God has done for us. And finally I am not worried that people will ‘slack off’ in their living for Christ right here and now. When we grasp the love of God in deeper ways we respond even more thankfully.

It is an astonishing thought, possibility and even hope that God will RESTORE this whole creation, the good, the bad and even the evil into the good that God had originally intended. And that restoration will include everything that was lost. There are many scriptures on both and all sides of this theological conversation and I want to listen to them all.

And I might add; that restoration is now underway from the Resurrection of Christ until he comes again.

Grace in Imperfection

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No one who is born of God continues to sin (1 John 3:18).

Matthew 5:48 ‘Be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.’

We don’t strive for imperfection. It is a natural occurrence. Imperfection is our failure to succeed in our goals or it may be the undesirable qualities in our character such as flaws or inadequacies or such.

When I buy reading material online I sometimes look for Christian books or bibles that are ‘slightly imperfect’ meaning there is something wrong somehow but whatever is flawed doesn’t change the content. It might alter the cover or something about the book that is not essential.

We tend to think of our imperfections as failings or even sin but in truth they are part of the maturation process that God is working in our lives. We made be made righteous in God’s judgment when we are in Christ but for the rest of our lives remains the process of sanctification or becoming more like the God in whose image we are made.

The image of God is not completely erased in humanity though it has been defaced even sometimes to the point of being unrecognizable. It is under the shadow of sin whereby we see dimly as in a dirty mirror. Yet in Christ, by placing our confidence in Christ, we are ‘new creations.’ (2 Cor. 5:17) Accordingly the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that God remembers our sin no more under the new covenant. (Hebrews 8:12)

Creation in the Fall of humankind has distanced itself from the creator but through Christ we are finding our way back. And the way back is sustained by the Grace of God in Christ.

I think of Christians as slightly imperfect in their walk, in that sin is still a part of our lives though God doesn’t see us as our sin but through the work, the sacrifice of his Son Jesus. Slightly imperfect means we don’t have it all together, we are not as mature as we could be. We are a work, God’s work, in progress, ever moving forward. In some respects our lives might even be a mess but we are God’s mess delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s son. (Colossians 1)

While some people might even not find value in us, God does. He loves us immensely even to the point where the hairs on our head are numbered indicating his intimate value and knowledge of us.

But here’s the think. Our flesh, our ego, that natural part of us still sometimes affects deeply our relationship with God. We say we trust God but we worry. We are greedy. We are fearful and rebellious. But by God’s grace we are ever more steadily making our way into the rightful Kingdom. Luther once wrote that we are sinners and saints at the same time. Jesus tells us to be perfect and our life’s work is in understanding that perfection and living into it.

Let’s take a modern example to illustrate what this all means. If we have an addiction problem we go to the ‘rooms’ where others are dealing with the same struggle. And the only requirement to be there is the desire to stop the addiction, the behavior that is ruining us. One can actually go to an A.A. meeting intoxicated if he or she really wants to stop drinking.

Now I figure it is not less meaningful for the sinner who goes before God, most especially at worship to be able to say, ‘I want to stop sinning and follow Jesus more closely. That’s my greatest wish. I desire forgiveness and new life’. That is an imperfect Christian on the right path to perfection. Much as Paul meant when he wrote ‘work out your salvation in fear and trembling because God is at work in you to bring about the best according to God’s will.’ (Philippians 2:12,13)

The imperfect Christian is allowed by GRACE to struggle without shame and doubt but is transparent about these issues before other trustworthy brothers and sisters. They believe their sins are forgiven but their memory of their sins is better than God’s memory of their sins.

The imperfect Christian is willing to engage in the disciplines of the Christ life. Prayer, reading scripture, worship, helping others and more are exercises that will help the follower f Jesus strengthen his or her faith, trust and confidence. The imperfect Christian will seek knowledge not for its own sake but so that such wisdom will help them grow.

Christ’s gracious call is to take his yoke upon ourselves for the purpose of training us to live our lives with him, by him and through him.

There is a bumper sticker, which proclaims ‘Not perfect just forgiven’. That is a loophole for not trying our best. It is a statement that we are forgiven and going to heaven; but there is a lot of life to be lived in the meantime.

Recall Jesus words in Matthew 5:48. ‘Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ Jesus spoke those words with regards to loving our enemies; those who annoy irritate or even abuse us. Being perfect means being the best we can be. For example if you are a carpenter just starting out you want to frame a house as best you can. Taking shortcuts is not an option. And while you may not be as good as a 30 veteran you still do your best. That is if you are going to stay in business. The same would go for a teacher, a mom or a dad or anyone with any integrity. And as Christians we strive for our best but do not feel shame when our best might not on par with say, wait for it, ‘Jesus’.

We are on a path of following the Son of God who has called us to place our confidence in him. It was late Christian songwriter, Keith Green, who sang the words, ‘you give God your best and he’ll take care of the rest’. The Christian is called to strive for the prize. (Philippians 3:14) We are urged to press on. And when we fall we pick ourselves up and get back in the race. (Thank you Frank Sinatra)

But we don’t beat ourselves up. We don’t live in guilt and wallow in shame. And if our fall is, in our own mind, a sin- then we confess that to God and know, really know that we are forgiven and thus freed to live for Christ.

I want you to imagine a relationship between two people in love where neither has expectations for the other, where neither keeps score of any wrongs that occur. This is the state of the person who is ‘in Christ’ and thereby in union with God. And this position of salvation and life is sustained and maintained by the grace of the Father. The bible says that we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly place. (Ephesians 2:6) which I take to mean, ‘out of harms way’ in terms of any kind of judgment and so we are truly freed from having to ‘feel’ like we should be better than we are trying our best to be.

Or let’s consider the analogy of an electrician who is mentoring an apprentice. The mentor states that all that is needed is the apprentices’ trust and best effort. At their first meeting it is agreed that the degree and job are guaranteed. Of course there will be direction and even correction and warnings here and there but the covenant has been established and will not be broken. So too God is not breaking his covenant with us because it is Jesus who has sealed that covenant in his own blood.

All this gives us the freedom to live for Christ because at the heart of it all is the truth that it is not we who are living this life as Paul writes but it is Christ who is living it in us. (Galatians 2:20)

BAD HAIR DAYS

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Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NIV)

Some days my so-called spirituality doesn’t measure up to what I and I suspect others think it should be.

Some days I just feel spiritually unconnected to God, don’t really waNt to worship, pray or study. And I am not real desirous of hearing people talk about the warm fuzzy feeling of faith.

And then I feel guilty that I feel that way. But then I remember that while my spiritual life is like a roller coaster, the life and love of Christ is so consistent and constant. Then I recall that while we were, and I might add, ARE, sinners, Christ died for us. His sacrifice is a present reality. That is the wonderful news of Grace. It is all Christ’s doing not ours and some days we do well to understand that we contribute nothing to that grace. Bad hair days teach me that, and so I will rejoice, as Paul on wrote, even in my weakness.

Already Forgiven

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John 1:29

 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (MEV)

So one day a friend told me he was going to visit his dying sister. He would tell her to ask God’s forgiveness for her sins. And then she could be assured she was going to heaven.

It got me to thinking that it would be better for her to simply say YES to God’s love for her. That love was revealed in Jesus Christ who has already forgiven her sins through his death. That’s what I take from John’s statement. She then would simply be trusting what has already been done for her.

Sure it would be wise for her to acknowledge ways she had disobeyed God and put up a wall between Him and her. Maybe she has misdeeds or missed deeds in her life that have been an enormous burden to her conscience. But I don’t think God needs a litany of offenses any more than did the father of the Prodigal Son.

Saying yes to God’s embrace and our desire to think differently about our future together is reason enough for much joy in heaven.

FREEDOM FROM MORALISM

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Let’s define moralism (adding an ism to a word is never a good thing) as being overly concerned and judgmental about another’s behavior.

The Pharisees were moralists in that they always considered their righteousness to be above that of others. Moralism means that we think we know best how one approaches God. I once had a Christian pastor say to me that unless I was ‘born again’ we could not have fellowship. That pretty much signaled the end of that relationship. I don’t want to be defined by a set of terms or phrase that makes me acceptable to others.

I recall doing a funeral once for an elderly woman. Her niece approached me before the ceremony urging me to ‘really’ preach the Gospel because some of her ‘unsaved’ family were attending the memorial service. That really gets my gall, as they say. And I subsequently have the tendency to judge the niece as though my thoughts and actions are more acceptable to God than hers were. That’s the way life goes and I make peace with God and hopefully ‘let it go’ because I want to be free of any emotional attachment with people who are not close to me.

The conservative churches sometimes speak as though they have a corner on truth or they find a truth in scripture and use it to prove their own righteousness. I am acquainted with churches that leave a particular denomination over the ‘sin’ of that denomination. They head off to another where they find greener pastures. It would be great if they did such in a spirit of love and peace but from my experience there is too much judgment on their part and mine. There’s something else I need to ‘let go’.

Liberal churches can take that same route. Usually the only people who don’t ‘go there’ are the sinners in life, people who understand their own sickness and need of a Savior, a savior who graces all people’s lives.

I think it was Jesus who said that God makes his sun to shine on the good, the bad and the ugly. Who are we to act any differently than God? We are people invited in our newfound freedom to love others. Jesus was free and that’s what he did. And when he had a problem with, for example, the Pharisees, he called them on it. He spoke very little in private, that I know, of their ‘sins’.

I love the story that is told in John about the woman caught, red-handed, as they say in the very act of adultery and was brought to Jesus for judgment but Jesus was FREE of that kind of judgment. He would rather forgive and love that lady than to have her condemned. And when he told the crowd that the one without sin should throw the first stone, they all left. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones and we all live in such houses made safe only by the grace of God.

Jesus was so free that I like to call him the RIGHTEOUS OUTLAW. He needed no rules and laws. He and the Father worked and loved together, side-by-side. Maybe we should all be such righteous outlaws, free from any inhibition to love others as well as ourselves. Which brings me to another observation.

We followers of Jesus have a tendency at times to practice ‘moralism’ on ourselves, never satisfied with the standards we have set up to meet God’s expectations. I do that too often in my life. Let’s take today as an example. I enjoy a good smoke now and then. Al Capone little cigars are my favorite. So as I think of going outside I have this feeling of guilt associated with my smoke. Why is that? I might be doing something that’s not great for my health but I am certainly not being separated from the love of God in my action. Thereby I know I am not really free. And if some self-righteous follower of Christ judges me then I have to let it go. But it usually me that judges me. Christ did not die so that I would not smoke. He gave his life so that I could have a FREE relationship with him. Who knows? Maybe Jesus even enjoys a smoke now and then.

ORDINARY GRACE

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So there was the day I was walking through the kitchen and noticed that the dishwasher had not been emptied.  My first thought? That’s not MY job. Didn’t I mow the lawn yesterday?  I kept walking through the kitchen and suddenly stopped. “What did I just say?”  This is how it goes when you talk with yourself, which may well be conversation in the Spirit with God.

Anyway after stopping and turned and looked at the dishwasher door partly open and noticed all those clean dishes inside and remembered that Jesus once told his disciples upon washing their feet, ‘as have done this for you, you are to serve others in the same way.’  I am not sure that Jesus literally meant to always wash each other’s feet, though it IS a beautiful act of love.  He meant that we should serve one another with the same kind of love he had for us and what better place to practice that service than in the kitchen, cheerfully, thoughtfully, and with much gratitude that we have a dishwasher.

So I emptied it thinking ‘here I am actually practicing a spiritual discipline to draw closer to the character of Christ.’

Until now I told no one so my deed could be done in secret but now that the secret is out let it shine on a hill for you husbands who have walked on by those light and momentary chores in the Kitchen.

I call this ordinary grace because grace can become a normal part of the changed heart life of Christ. For Jesus, grace just happened.

 

POINT OF CONTACT

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My friend, Larry, says that everyone has a point of contact with God. Somehow and at sometimes there is a way that humans want to touch God. The old saying that ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’ has some merit. People need God. They may call God by another name, higher power, the one upstairs and they may even worship an idol to reach out to God as seen in Acts 17 nonetheless somehow people stop looking inward and they look outward.

Take the woman in Luke 8 who has a serious bleeding problem that has persisted for years and through the care of many doctors but there is still no relief. This would have been an amazing story for Luke to tell since he WAS a physician.

The woman comes up behind Jesus just to get close enough to perhaps touch him in HOPE that some healing might come to her. And as she touches the fringe of Jesus’ robe Jesus himself experiences power going out from him and the woman is healed.

Just a touch, a point of contact. A prayer of help. A baptism. A wedding. An hospital visit. A telephone call. A word of encouragement. Who knows how that point of contact will bring healing and salvation to a soul in need?

You and I are the body of Christ. We wear the garment that people want to touch. Let’s find ways for them to find Jesus in us.

SOME THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM

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I am of the reformed tradition where as part of covenant theology we baptize children of believers. Sometimes it’s call ‘paedobaptism’.

I believe that children are a part of the new covenant in Christ as much as the children of Abraham are part of that original covenant of identifying God’s people. And even though some turned their back on the Abrahamic Covenant the children were all baptized.

I realized there is little if any evidence in the New Testament of a child being baptized. The faith of the first century was an adult faith amidst an adult society and there is no particular reason for children being mentioned. Or is there?

Jesus took the children into his arms and blessed them conveying I believe God’s particular grace upon and within that child.

Jesus told people that unless they had faith like a child they would not enter the Kingdom of God.

When we see John the Baptist graced by God (filled with the Holy Spirit) (Luke 1:15), while still in the womb I would say he is part of the new covenant in Christ Jesus.

When Paul writes that the children of believers are holy, separated to God (1Cor. 7) I believe they are part of the covenant.

See if God’s covenant is a covenant of grace and not works and none of us deserves it then children most of all are the trusting recipients of God’s love and thus candidates of baptism.

As far as faith, confession, belief are concerned they are all part of the process of the new covenant, covenant theology. No one is saved without grace through faith. Children at birth are forgiven, not innocent. They too can come under the understanding of dying and rising with Christ through baptism and then faith.

And I love the passage in Psalm 139:

You are the one who created my innermost parts;
    you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
    Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.
15 My bones weren’t hidden from you
    when I was being put together in a secret place,
    when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my embryo,
    and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me,[b]
    before any one of them had yet happened.[c]
17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me!
    Their total number is countless!
18 If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand!
    If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you” (CEB in Gateway)

If this is how God’s grace impacts and surrounds the unborn then it is my humble opinion these little ones should be baptized as a was of showing they belong to Christ.

Children in the early church were part of the family’s interaction of faith and community. Most likely in the first century at least they would grow up to be believers. The problem today is that we practice ‘cheap grace’ willy nilly baptizing anything that moves. Parents who are not faithful have their children ‘done’. I had one woman tell me that her child’s baptism had to be on a certain date because the great grandmother’s dress would not fit otherwise. I have been guilty of that cheap grace, God forgive me. There should be strenuous testing of the faith and fruits of parents who want their children to be baptized.

Some ask ‘Why not baptize all children into the covenant?’ It’s a good question that could be answered in the affirmative if we sought to disciple people. Jesus said go and baptize all nations and ‘disciple’ them.

Well, I expect to hear from some folks and that’s good. I can always learn.

Grace and peace

george

 

POOP ON MY SIDEWALK

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So here’s a little parable of what it’s like to be a Christian in the world with hopefully a good witness so that others are drawn into the faith.

My neighbors’ dog likes to poop on my sidewalk. It’s a little dog and (oh, there are two little dogs) and they don’t like trudging into the snow.

Well, one day I mentioned it somewhat humorously to my neighbor who was then cleaning up the sidewalk. The next time it happened I shoveled it on to the neighbor’s lawn. Now the poop is back. They are sweet people. They are busy with a little child. But it’s a small thing to pick up the poop. Everybody should. It’s sort of the rule of the community.

So what to do? I could photograph the poop and take it to the HOA committee. I could have another talk with the neighbor. I could pick it up myself. My son tells me not to reward laziness. And then again I want to be the kind of Christian neighbor who is liked and thereby gains entrance for a conversation about faith. (My neighbors are agnostics).

It’s not only about the poop. It’s about a lot of things in life. There are times to be kind even to those who are not kind to you. There are times to be firm about issues of justice. I am not saying that poop on my sidewalk is all that much about justice. A little fairness perhaps.

How to make the best Christian witness, letting our light shine in order that others see our good works and glorify God. That really is the question in so many cases within our home and out there in the world.

If a person’s dog poops on your sidewalk let the dog poop on your lawn. If your neighbor won’t carry the poor 10 feet then you carry it 20 feet.

I suppose I could pray that the dog be constipated but that doesn’t seem very Christian or that the neighbor gets some common sense. Or that the dogs grow longer legs to poop in the higher snow.

Think for a moment about the little situations in life and how to react. I can’t do much about North Korea at the moment. And I don’t wish to get involved in the Middle East. Does the way I vote affect my testimony? Do my tattoos detract from my witness for Christ?

But then again who is anyone to judge me and make me so self-conscious about such little things in life? I am even thinking these days to vote for Bernie Sanders.

By the way. I am going to pick up the dog poop, put it in a little plastic bag and set it on the lawn, as a favor and suggestion. And then I will tell them God loves them.

THE TRUE LEADER

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In 1933 just after Hitler had become Chancellor of Germany, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was giving a radio address which was to be cut short. But these are part of his words to the Nation of Germany.

If the leader tries to become the idol the led are looking for–something the led always hope from their leader–then the image of the leader shifts to one of a mis-leader, then the leader is acting improperly toward the led as well as toward himself. The true leader must always be able to disappoint. This, especially, is part of the leader’s responsibility and objectivity.

To be a leader of any people one must not attempt to make him or herself anyone’s idol. Sometimes our candidates seem like they are trying to become the next AMERICAN IDOL. There must be a grace and an humility that characterizes the true leader or he or she becomes in Bonhoeffer’s words ‘a mis-leader’. God is not mocked. God will not tolerate any idol. We look for leaders who are willing to take courageous stands, some that will disappoint the national furor of the populace. Leaders today just want to ‘win’ and thus the rhetoric we hear is not dissimilar to that heard in the Beer Halls of Germany in the early 30’s.

Let us seek good character, one that stands on the side of the poor and marginalized, one that seeks life and not death, one that will take risks to help the ‘least of these’. Is there such a one? I am not sure but I will pray to God that the correct candidate comes to the fore in the months ahead. ‘You will know them by their fruits.’