Jul
31
2012
Concrete Writer
Posted in Bible 3 Comments
There are many winding country roads where I live.
A friend from Colorado remarked, “They cleared just enough trees to build the road.”
She is right.
We have to share these winding roads with cyclists.
As I was driving today, a STOP sign made me smile.
Underneath, the red octagonal STOP sign was a white rectangular sign.
It read: That means bicycles, too!
I guess in our culture of redefinition, even our STOP signs need to be clarified.
But another sign today made me quite sad.
As I was driving under an overpass, right near our local high school and middle school, someone had written something in spray paint on the concrete.
July 18, 2012
God died
I wanted to turn around and go back…look at it again.
The hopelessness of that statement screamed at me.
We all hear of people declaring a date when the world will end.
Those dates come and go…with only the Father knowing the day and the hour.
No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36)
But this was different.
This, while hopeless, was also arrogant!
God, Creator of the universe, Sovereign, Eternal,…has no beginning and has no end.
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
(Deuteronomy 33:27)
This person decided they knew better!
This person decided there was a finality to God.
Of course, if there was a finality to Him, He would cease being God.
If this person could somehow dictate God’s demise, then he/ she would be greater than God…and we know that is an impossibility.
What drives a person to proclaim something like this?
Is it despair?
Is it arrogance?
Someone might say that it was just someone joking around, using the concrete as a canvas.
Some will read the words and dismiss them.
Some will read the words, ponder them, and pray for the writer.
Some will read the words and believe them.
It is the third group I am most concerned about.
Perhaps God is very distant to the concrete writer.
Perhaps, like Job, there has been suffering and loss…with no reasons why.
How I wish I could talk to the concrete writer!
With our limited wisdom, we don’t even know the right questions to ask.
God answers our questions by giving us Himself.
It is His presence we need…even more than answers.
A very ALIVE God loves us.
A very ALIVE God knows the number of hairs on our head.
A very ALIVE God sent His Son to die on a cross…to rise again…to ascend to His right Hand…so that death is defeated…so that we could have eternal life with Him.
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!
(Luke 24:5,6)
In our data driven, empirical culture, God cannot be measured.
He is totally “other”.
We can try to put our small, human, limited words to the task and describe Him.
But we will always come up short.
No description…no word…fully captures the essence of God.
Except one.
JESUS.
The Word of God.
Everything God the Father wanted to say to us.
How I wish the concrete writer had written: JESUS.
How I wish the concrete writer had written: God is alive!
I am sure the writer thought there would be some permanence to the declaration.
It was written on concrete…after all.
As He was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1,2)
What Jesus said came true in 70 AD when the Roman army, led by Titus, conquered the unconquerable city of Jerusalem.
Those massive stones lay scattered in ruins today.
Concrete doesn’t last.
There is nothing permanent here.
But a person, called by the Holy Spirit, given a new heart, trusting in Jesus alone for salvation…is permanently sealed, and can never be snatched from the Father’s Hand.
I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. (John 5:24,25)
The only thing that is dead…is us!
We are dead in our sins.
Nothing we can do on our own will bring us back to life again.
No amount of concrete writing will change the facts.
Jesus tells Nicodemus, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. (John 3:3)
When we are born again, we are alive in Christ.
God is alive.
Yesterday…Today…Forever…
Good thought, Nancy! Gonna add Concrete Writer. Wonder if it was by someone who lost a loved one that day?
As I pass by the middle school and high school, I will look for the concrete writer’s words. Let’s pray for this man or woman — whether young or old — that he or she would have doubts about the truth of their statement and honestly seek to know the truth. The Lord has promised to answer all who seek Him. . . . perhaps one day we will drive by and the visible words will be crossed out/written over. . . .with a date wherein the concrete writer became alive via new life in Christ. Prayer changes hearts. . . even when the subject of those prayers is anonymous! Thanks for sharing Gina!!
Nancy,
You have completed the blog post…PRAYER!!!
Thank you for challenging us to quietly move mountains…on our knees.
Gina