Matthew 7:11
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
I wiped the tears from my eyes watching the end of am Episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition with Ty and the gang. I didn’t get the see the beginning of the show with the reason the family was in such desparet position. I sat to eat a bite and tuned in to the program.
Within 30 minutes I was fully engaged watching as the story revealed itself in front of me on TV, the family had lost their dad, he had been “a man of character and faith” and a leader for his family He evidently was a pastor of some sort. Ty and the gang made great efforts to reach out to “faith and religion” but never really presented the Glory of God in what they are doing.
The cast of characters is fairly known, the TV show puts great emphasis on helping people in need and enlisting the community to do the same. Great cost and great effort go into producing a “reality” tv show. Even if that reality is not as common as it should be.
I sat with tears in my eyes as I watched the widow and her children explore the house, I was waiting for them to expose the chapel that they had built in the home. A specific place. Full of specific memories for the family. Full of friends. Full of love.
Even the unregenerate know how to reach out in love. How much more does our Father God know how to reach out to His children?
Time and time again, the faces come across the TV show of people desperate for help. Ty knows how to reach out to them in earthly terms. The writers, directors and producers carefully craft lines and situations to meet their standards. They are sent thousands of letters, videos, emails and hear many stories of people in need across the US. The heart break just as they can only help one.
It is great to think about how much more God blessed us (grace, faith, mercy) and how much more He will bless us beyond anything we can comprehend here.
(Part 2: a different reaction)
We rush to help with a physical need… why don’t we react in the same way to the spiritual need?
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted
Do we grieve for the spiritual condition of people we see all around us? Should we grieve for sinners? Should we grieve for our sins? Do we mourn the lostness of those around us? Do we share a burden for sinners?
Matthew Henry’s Commentary has this to say:
Those that mourn are happy. That godly sorrow which worketh true repentance, watchfulness, a humble mind, and continual dependence for acceptance on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, with constant seeking the Holy Spirit, to cleanse away the remaining evil, seems here to be intended. Heaven is the joy of our Lord; a mountain of joy, to which our way is through a vale of tears. Such mourners shall be comforted by their God.
Oh that we would embrace the mourner’s position before our God, our family, our church and our nation. That the sight of sin, of our sin would grip us in such a way that we cry out to God for mercy.
2 Corinthians 7:10-11
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!
Our sin is no casual thing that offends our Holy God. Our sin, though forgiven, is still part of the life that we are to be dead to, and yet… and yet I find myself fighting the same battles day after day. I find myself struggling just to keep the intentions that I made the day before. We must ask, we must cry out, we must wait, for mercy.
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted
Are you able to mourn? Are you willing to mourn? Where is our indignation, our fear, our longing, our zeal…
Note: Lifeway helped with this episode and there is a massive back story and future story to all this as well. http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?ID=22832