Thoughts in October

Had I riches, I would bring them, had I kingdoms, I would lose them, had I the world, too small a gift would it be for you.

I admit that my initial reaction upon hearing this song a couple of years ago was annoyance.  When this part came up, I often thought, “But I don’t have riches.  I don’t have kingdoms. How can I possibly know how I would react in those situations – if I would become corrupt by wealth and power, or if I would be willing give them up to the Father?”  But over time, this has become one of my favorite songs, and in fact this is the part of the song I sing with the most joy.  What I began to realize over time was that it didn’t matter whether I was wealthy or powerful because that wasn’t the point.   The point was whether or not I was submitting my riches and my kingdoms to Him.  I realized that the song was about surrender.  I realized the song was about pursuing my ultimate joy, not my earthly joy.  In Philippians 3:7-11, Paul says:

But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of [The Son].  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing [Him], for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain [The Son] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in [The Son]—the righteousness that comes from [The Father] on the basis of faith.  I want to know [The Son] —yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Part of the difficulty of moving to a totally foreign country is a type of identity crisis.  The question you begin to have to deal with is: Who am I when so many of the things that I thought defined me are stripped away?  I can no longer be defined by my position in family, friends, work, fellowship, or anything else.  I am an outsider, a foreigner, an unknown. So it was in reflecting on these thoughts that the question came to me – what if the Son hadn’t left His Father? What if He had stayed where things were normal for Him – where He was glorified, powerful over all of the universe, and in perfect unity with the Father?  For some reason, He decided to do the most selfless thing the world had ever seen and separate Himself from that reality and come to a place that was disgusting by comparison.  To come to a place where no one knew Him, where He had no reputation, where no one really cared the way they did at home.  I bet he felt disoriented at times.  I bet He dreamed sometimes of home. The most selfless thing the world had ever seen was just Him coming here.  But that wasn’t all.  He followed it up with a life that was poured out in love for people.  He served them, taught them, forgave them, healed them, and showed them compassion to the point of exhaustion over and over.  And then He gave it all.  He paid it all.  He took it all upon himself.  He did this so that we could know Him.  So let us not take it for granted.  His sacrifices for us are so obscenely beyond comprehension.  So what I’m learning lately is this: Know Him.  Love Him.  Give your life in reckless abandon for Him.  Don’t hold back, move forward.  Don’t hold on, let go.  It’s going to be painful, but it’s going to be good.