The Applause of Heaven - Max Lucado [10]
And if you have trouble digesting what Jesus said to the rich young ruler, then his description of the judgment day will stick in your throat.
It's a prophetic picture of the final day: "Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many , miracles?,4
Astounding. These people are standing before the throne of God and bragging about themselves. The great trumpet has sounded, and they are still tooting their own horns. Rather than sing his praises, they sing their own. Rather than worship God, they read their resumes. When they should be speechless, they speak. In the very aura of the King they boast of self. What is worse-their arrogance or their blindness?
You don't impress the officials at NASA with a paper airplane. You don't boast about your crayon sketches in the presence of Picasso. You don't claim equality with Einstein because you can write "H20."
And you don't boast about your goodness in the presence of the Perfect.
"Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.""
Mark it down. God does not save us because of what we've done. Only a puny god could be bought with tithes. Only an egotistical god would be impressed with our pain. Only a temperamental god could be satisfied by sacrifices. Only a heartless god would sell salvation to the highest bidders.
And only a great God does for his children what they can't do for themselves.
That is the message of Paul: "For what the law was powerless to do ... God did." 6
And that is the message of the first beatitude.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit...."
The jewel of joy is given to the impoverished spirits, not the affluent.' God's delight is received upon surrender, not awarded upon conquest. The first step to joy is a plea for help, an acknowledgment of moral destitution, an admission of inward paucity. Those who taste God's presence have declared spiritual bankruptcy and are aware of their spiritual crisis. Their cupboards are bare. Their pockets are empty. Their options are gone. They have long since stopped demanding justice; they are pleading for mercy.'
They don't brag; they beg.
They ask God to do for them what they can't do without him. They have seen how holy God is and how sinful they are and have agreed with Jesus' statement, "Salvation is impossible."
Oh, the irony of God's delight-born in the parched soil of destitution rather than the fertile ground of achievement.
It's a different path, a path we're not accustomed to taking. We don't often declare our impotence. Admission of failure is not usually admission into joy. Complete confession is not commonly followed by total pardon. But then again, God has never been governed by what is common.
fir theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
CHAPTER 4
THE KINGDOM
OF THE ABSURD
The kingdom of heaven. Its citizens are drunk on wonder.
Consider the case of Sarai.' She is in her golden years, but God promises her a son. She gets excited. She visits the maternity shop and buys a few dresses. She plans her shower and remodels her tent ... but no son. She eats a few birthday cakes and blows out a lot of candles ... still no son. She goes through a decade of wall calendars ... still no son.
So Sarai decides to take matters into her own hands. ("Maybe God needs me to take care of this one.")
She convinces Abram that time is running out. ("Face it, Abe, you ain't getting any younger, either.") She commands her maid, Hagar, to go into Abram's tent and see if he needs anything. ("And I mean `anything'!") Hagar goes in a maid. She comes out a mom. And the problems begin.
Hagar is haughty. Sarai is jealous. Abram is dizzy from the dilemma. And God calls the baby boy a "wild donkey"