EXPERIENCING THE COMPETENCE OF CHRIST

     Genesis 42:18-43:34; Matthew 13:47-14:12; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 4:7-10

“To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.  To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.  You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud.  You light a lamp for me.  The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
 In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.  God’s way is perfect.  All the Lord’s promises prove true.  He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
 For who is God except the Lord?  Who but our God is a solid rock? 
God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect.
 He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
 He trains my hands for battle;
 he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.
 You have given me your shield of victory.  Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great….”

“Then they scoffed, ‘He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.  All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?’ And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.  Then Jesus told them, ‘A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.’”

It is an awesome thing, truly, to have such a capable Savior.  The One we worship is not some stone or metal idol to put on the shelf and forget about.  No, He is a real (the ultimate) Person and genuine power, a force to be reckoned with, raw ability, talent.  He is also more than all that, of course, but the point is Christ is competent to handle anything we or the world can throw at Him.  He longs to be our “go to” solution for all of life’s problems, and He desires to share and multiply our joys.  Why, oh why, then, do I so often underutilize all He has to offer?

Simply, I sell the Holy Spirit short.  It’s tough to get my head around the idea that a spiritual being can have a practical, tangible impact in a purely physical world.  Time and again, the Bible shows and promises it’s true, yet time and again, I stop just shy of putting my whole confidence in Him.  I sound a lot like Jesus’ neighbors, standing close enough to see His work, but just a little too far away to appreciate – and so doubting - the Power behind it. 

Maybe we’ve spent too much time reading others’ stories and learning about the power of Christ, and too little time actually cultivating it and allowing it to work in practical ways.  Maybe the stories are too familiar; it sometimes feels like all the amazement is wrung out of them.  Maybe Christ wants us to write our own gospels.  Maybe He wants us to experience both His spiritual grace and physical power first hand, and then share that experience with the world. 

Would Jesus dare trust His message of power, hope, redemption and abundant life to the likes of us?  Maybe….  But we have to claim it, experience it and develop confidence in it for ourselves first.  As long as we are just observing, no matter how diligent or well intentioned our study, we are still too far removed.  The Lord beckons us to “come on down” out of the audience to actually share the stage with His Holy Spirit.  Not next to or around, but with.  Jesus wants to make us part of the main event.  We have radical, tangible power of change available, if we will claim it.