A Message From the Past

My uncle’s former church is doing some remodeling in their sanctuary. Two weeks after my uncle and his family accepted the church many years ago, it burned to the ground in some kind of electrical accident. He pledged himself to its rebuilding and the new sanctuary is cavernous, modern and filled with light. It’s simple, but beautiful. He oversaw every detail of the project and he (among several others) took the opportunity to write on the concrete floor before the carpet went down.

The people of the church have since found two of his messages and have taken photos for us to see. The photo above shows a prayer he wrote just underneath where the pulpit would have been—his pulpit. “How will they know unless someone tells them. (Help me in this capacity Lord!)” The irony of his prayer is that he died while on a mission trip to South Africa (our home). He died after spending a few days with his grieving cousin (who just lost his son) and no doubt revealing the wondrous and freeing realities of Christ that are rarely shared from behind a pulpit.

My mom, dad and aunt went to the Brennen Manning conference this past weekend at a local Baptist Church. For anyone unacquainted with Manning, I could attempt to sum up his ideology by repeating the phrase, “wondrous and freeing realities of Christ.” He is a former Catholic priest who lives as a recovering alcoholic and frequent smoker. He also lives in the freedom and grace of Christ and his ministry is ground shaking. This is what the world is dying for—to know the truth about all this faith stuff! How many people (non-Christians and Christians alike) would be surprised to learn the philosophy of Jesus Christ as evidenced by his choices and teachings? Why don’t we look at this man sent to earth for us and see what is so clear—that grace and love sets us free—that a sinner can go to Heaven. Maybe I’m treading on some delicate theological ground here, but if sinners don’t go to Heaven then Heaven must be empty! So we ask for forgiveness? How often must we ask? The answer (I have learned since my sister’s death) is GRACE. Grace goes ahead of us and petitions for us. I don’t fully understand the concept of grace, but I do know that I am grateful for the one thing that allows me the privilege of freedom if I choose it.

My mom has continued to struggle with my sister’s death in a way that I have not. I have had peace and joy for my sister as strange as that sounds. I know that she lives without the bondage that isolated and defeated her. Her dreams were simple: to be free and to go home. She has done both and I feel peace for that reason; however, my mother is more bound by legalistic teachings that rob her of peace. I believe that legalism or whatever you call those things that alienate non-Christians from “religion” or faith—the rules that Christians (and others) live and judge by—are simply the complications we have made faith and an attack from that which opposes the Lord. Without the complications, we are left with a treasure that is worth giving your life for, something worth “telling them, so that they will know.”