New Kirkhaven Farm Blog!

Spring of 2012 will be a time of new beninnings for me.  Kirkhaven Farm has 4 calves due in March/April.  Another one is due in August.  And our young bull, Reuben, begins his career as Kirkhaven Farm Herd Sire.  In honor of the new things the Lord is doing in my life, I have begun a new blog called "Kirkhaven Farm." Here's the link

http://kirkhavenfarm.blogspot.com/

There is so much to write about and to share.  The Lord is blessing our little ridge-top farm abundantly!  Dexter cattle, Australorp chickens, apple orchard, heirloom gardens with a winter greenhouse, wild and cultivated fruit, and the beginnings of a bass pond fill our days with the adventures and mis-adventures of family farming.  I do some canning and will soon try my hand at making soap from the rich Dexter milk our endearing cow Moo gives us each morning.  Visit Kirkhaven Farm's blog to keep updated on our latest endeavors.  Or better yet, come see us!  We are both humbled by and delighted with the new thing the Lord is doing in our lives.  Perhaps He wants to do something new in your life too . . .    

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

Knowing

I love morning's quiet lull, before the noise and bustle of daily living rushes in.

The simple silence of walking to the barn in the dark.

The soothing rhythm of milking my sweet cow Moo.

The uncomplicated routine of greeting chickens, opening barn doors, and filling water troughs.

Every dawn,

as the rising sun pours warm rays across Kirkhaven’s eastern pasture,

it feels like a fresh new miracle

that I am here.

Things feel right and good on the farm in the morning.

Two years ago, my husband and I would have never dreamed that we would be mucking stalls, chatting with UT agriculture specialists about pasture maintenance, and ordering bovine vaccinations online.  Who would have ever THOUGHT that WE would be farmers?  My husband is an architect.  I am a teacher.  What did we know about gardening and greenhouses and cows and chickens and pastures and wells and ponds?

Nothing.

We knew nothing.

But God knows everything.

He knew that we were broken and grieving.

He knew that we were afraid to move ahead . . . in any direction.

He knew that we would absolutely thrive doing the very thing that we never imagined.

And He knew that stepping into the unknown . . .

struggling with doubt and fear until hope is born . . .

depending upon Him because resources were too small and the task was too big . . .

hearing the still, small Voice of His Wisdom and His Truth above a daily din of continuous clatter . . .

studying hard . . .

working hard . . .

praying hard . . .

resting gratefully in the goodness of His wondrous, amazing grace . . .

was what we were BORN to do.

The learning curve has been very steep.  There have been days when we wondered if it would work out at all.  We have made mistakes.  We have seen hardships.  We have been disappointed.  But building Kirkhaven Farm has been good. 

Very good. 

There is something poignant . . . something rich and life-giving and real . . . about drawing sustenance from the land.  I have always understood that eggs came from chickens.  I realized that milk and beef came from cows.  I appreciated the fact that fruits and vegetables I bought at the store were grown in a garden or orchard somewhere.  But academic facts have grown to a different kind of “knowing” as I have collected eggs from chickens I raised from hatchlings, canned jellies and jams from fruits I picked myself, eaten fresh garden vegetables that I grew from seeds, and enjoyed a cold glass of creamy goodness from my hand-milked cow Moo.

“Knowing about” is sterile and academic.  It can be gained through study.  Through mentoring.  Through meditative revelation.  It can earn you fame and fortune.  It can cause others to be jealous of what you have gained.  But it cannot give you the vital, real kind of life that truly knowing offers.

“Knowing” . . . instead of “knowing about” . . . is very, very precious.

The touching kind of knowing.

The dirt-on-your-hands and poop on your boots kind of knowing.

The laboring over and laboring with and laboring because-of kind of knowing.

The costly kind.

The intimate kind.

Like God knows us. 

His birth in a stall. 

His childhood in a small town. 

His work with His father as a carpenter. 

His ministry on the dusty roads and lake shores and hillsides and big cities of Israel. 

His death on a cross. 

The been-there-done-that-have-the-scars kind of knowing.

The real kind of knowing.

As I go about my daily chores at Kirkhaven, stewarding the bounty that lives and grows here, it is becoming very real to me how very shallow knowledge is . . . but how very deep knowing is.  One of my favorite Bible verses often drifts through my heart and mind as I work:

Be still (cease striving), and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

Psalms 46:10-11

I have often commented about how my quiet, farming lifestyle has helped me enter into the “be still” part of that verse.  Nothing else I have ever done has helped “still” my heart more than farming.  But now I am seeing that farming has helped me enter the “knowing” part of that verse too.

Be still.  Cease the hand-wringing striving that is born of faithlessness.

And know.  The dirt-on-your-hands-and-poop-on-your-boots kind of intimate participation in God’s Kingdom life.

I know my chickens. 

I know my cows. 

I know the dark, rich dirt of my vegetable garden. 

But to know God . . . intimately and deeply and richly . . . to touch Him . . . and to work alongside Him . . . even when it's messy or hard . . . is the greatest treasure of all.

Relevance

If you are looking for relevancy, you can find it.  You can buy it from many willing vendors.

But if you are looking for God, relevancy is a trap.

There.  I have said it.  Simple, clean, and dangerous.  But there isn’t any sense in dancing around the issue.  Christianity is not about relevancy, it is about relationship.  One relationship.  A relationship with God.  And this relationship with the Creator of All is not amenable to being brokered by relevancy.

amenable means:  being open to . . . agreeable with . . . submissive under

brokering means:  working as an intermediary between two parties . . . negotiating bargains and

contracts . . . defining the stipulations under which two parties will function and relate

God is not open to working through the opinions, expectations, or desires of intermediaries.

God is not agreeable with negotiating bargains and contracts with cultural correctness, life scenarios, or personal preferences.

God is not submissive under stipulations placed upon Him by doctrines, revelations, experiences, or creeds.

God is not amenable to the brokering of my faith.

And God never bows to the will or the demands of relevancy.

Oswald Chambers explains the brokering of faith in this way:

One of the most striking features in Abraham’s life is its irrelevancy. . . The greatest thing in Abraham’s life is God, not “Abraham-ism.”  The whole trend of his life is to make us admire God, not Abraham . . . If you get off on the line of personal holiness or Divine healing or the Second Coming of Our Lord (or seeker-friendly services or crusades against legalism or mystic revelations of grace or unconditional acceptance of “alternate lifestyles,” I would add) and make any of these your end, you are disloyal to Jesus Christ.

So the real question, I might suggest, is where do we hang our hearts? 

There . . . at the place where we broker all of our hopes, dreams, relationships, and securities . . . on that hook that carries everything dear to us . . . is where we find relevancy.

Is our relevancy in God alone?

Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Selah.
Psalms 46:10-11

My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah.
Psalms 62:5-8

I am a farmer.  I spend my days tending the garden, feeding the livestock, and stewarding what the Lord has so graciously given me.  We often have guests at Kirkhaven, and we enjoy the opportunity to share the Lord’s goodness with people He brings to us.  It is rare, however, that anyone would ever see the fruit of my labor or think to admire the work of my hands. 

But when I greet my mooing cattle each morning as they wait impatiently for my attention . . . when I weed and water my never-completely-manicured heirloom garden . . .  when I pet every hen as she sits on the roost each evening before I collect the eggs . . . whether I have cooked dinner for guests or only shared a meal with my dear husband . . . I know that I am completely relevant. 

Not because someone “liked” my status on Facebook that day.  Not because someone gave my blog a glowing review.  Not because I was attractive or hot or witty or talented or noticed.  Not because any broker of any group or viewpoint or church thinks that I am special or anointed or noteworthy. 

I know that I am relevant because I have walked with God today.  We have fellowshipped.  He rejoiced with me . . . or cried with me . . . or supported me when I struggled . . . or forgave me when I repented . . . or simply filled my daily tasks with the fragrance and joy of His sweet presence.

HE is my relevance. 

I rest my heart in Him.

photo by Sally Coad

Obscurity

Have you ever done something just for the glory of it . . . because it is beautiful . . .  because it expresses wonder and creativity . . . sensing that it brings joy to God . . . even if no one else sees it . . . or ever will?

Our friend Rob sowed these kinds of ruminations into my heart as we sat beside a babbling brook in Elkmont.  It was dark . . . “in the hollers of the hills” kind of dark.  We had come to watch the synchronous firefly display that happens every spring in the Smoky Mountain National Park.  We were sitting on the ground, in a quiet spot, away from the noisy tourists, shielded from the moon’s bright rays by a steep hill of tall trees.  Small clusters of people were watching with us, speaking only in hushed whispers if they spoke at all.

“This was happening here before people ever saw it or knew about it,” Rob whispered in a quiet sense of awe, “even when no one could enjoy it but God Himself.”      
 

In a society that is obsessed with broadcasting everything to anyone and everyone allllll the time, the idea of NOT sharing something . . . of a wonderful event happening in complete seclusion . . . was an intriguing idea for me.  What an improbability!  Wouldn’t it be wasteful, and maybe even wrong, for a wonderful thing to exist in obscurity?

Publicity seems like a necessity.  Things must be you-tubed.   They must be podcasted and tweeted and cable news-ed.  They must be “put out there” so they can be given an opportunity to go viral and spread world-wide.

Must something be public for it to be valuable? 

Does everything have to be done in “community” for it to have merit and worth?

Do we need fanfare and “like” buttons and bragging blogs and trusty followers and notoriety to have lives that are significant and good?

If so, then our mandate is clear.   We must be faithful to log and blog and tweet and greet regularly.  We must develop a public persona that is entertaining, witty, interesting, and . . . at the very least . . . current and up-to-fad.   It would be a shame . . . and might even be a public sin . . . to do anything less than live out loud.  And, of course, we should also keep a close watch on our own youth/hotness level.  It would certainly be wrong to assault the modern world with a personal self that isn’t as youthful and or as hot as we can possibly conjure.

But what if living out loud isn’t always good?  Or always necessary?

As I sat by that wooded mountain creek last weekend . . . listening to the water . . . watching the fireflies . . . in a place so dark that I could only recognize people by the sound of their shushed voices . . . I began to ponder the beauty of solitude.  And quietness.  And even of obscurity.

So much of history . . . human history and natural history . . . has been witnessed by God alone.  Who else was there at the creation of the stars, cheering God on? Who else saw the initial overflowing of the earth’s first waterfalls?  Or the sculpting of the Grand Canyon?  Or the emergence of the very first robin from its baby-blue egg?  Or the hidden birth of Jesus the Messiah in an unremarkable animal barn?  Were any of these events any less spectacular or any less important because crowds weren’t there to witness them . . . or to “like” them . . . or to forward pictures of them to 300 of their closest “friends?” 

And the fireflies . . . have they become MORE awesome since scientists confirmed that Elkmont did indeed have a population of American firefly species “P. carolinus”?  Believe it or not, this discovery became world-wide knowledge when a reader of Science News thought it odd that an article she was reading about Asian firefly synchronicity mentioned nothing about the fireflies near her own home.  According to atlasobscura.com, she wrote the following letter to a Cornell mathematician:

I am sure you are aware of this, but just in case, there is a type of group synchrony lightning bug inside the Great Smoky Mountain National Park near Elkmont, Tennessee. These bugs “start up” in mid June at 10 p.m. nightly. They exhibit 6 seconds of total darkness; then in perfect synchrony, thousands light up 6 rapid times in a 3 second period before all going dark for 6 more seconds.  We have a cabin in Elkmont... and as far as we know, it is only in this small area that this particular type of group synchronized lightning bug exists. It is beautiful.

The Asian fireflies were “discovered” by a Dutch physician in 1680.  Our own Elkmont fireflies were “discovered” by the world in 1992.  But they have existed . . . in all their wonder and beauty . . . for every traveler and every hiker and every night-time porch sitter for eons . . . right there where God put them.  And even when no one was there, they still flashed in perfect synchronization. 

Beautiful indeed.

For thus the Lord God the Holy One of Israel, has said,
"In  repentance and  rest you will be saved,
In  quietness and trust is your strength."
But you were not willing . . .
Isaiah 30:15

May we be willing to live a life that indulges in quietness.  And even treasures obscurity.  We don’t really have to live with an audience of millions to find value and significance.  An audience of One is quite enough.  He has wonders and joys and amazements to share with those who will dare to step . . . even if for a little while . . . into obscure fellowship with Him.

I challenge you to try it. 

Meet with God . . . in complete obscurity . . .  just for the glory of it . . . because it is beautiful . . .  in all its wonder and creativity . . . knowing that it brings joy to God . . . even if no one else sees it . . . or ever will. 

And then, respond to His goodness and grace in complete obscurity.  Develop the character necessary to do it without a soul ever knowing . . . except God.

I suspect it will be life-changing.

And truly beautiful.

Psalm 46:10-11

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah.

Normalcy Bias and Faith

Normalcy Bias:  Not recognizing the grave, imminent danger of your situation . . . not heeding warning signs . . . not acknowledging precipitative events . . . overfocusing on bits and pieces of collateral elements . . .  not taking decisive action when decisive action really matters.  Simply acting normal and proclaiming that e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.i.s.f.i.n.e. . . .  and even believing it . . . when things are anything but fine.

 People with a Normalcy Bias have a psychological instability.  They see the world through dangerous colored lenses.  The actions they do not take . . . the words they do not speak . . . and the truth they will not accept result in devastation.  To themselves.  Or to those they would not rescue.

 The most poignant example of a Normalcy Bias at work is the success of Nazi concentration camps within small European communities.  Yes, they saw the massive construction efforts down the street.  Of course, they could not help but notice the trains coming back and forth through the edge of town . . . trains loaded with many cattle cars . . . that some people in town claimed were loaded with many people.  The smoking chimneys, with their acrid smells, could be seen from most dining room windows.  But bakers baked their bread.  And mothers sent their children to school each morning.  And fathers came home from work each evening to listen to the radio.  Who knew that they were killing Jews there?  Who could even imagine it?

 Evil is like that.  It hides in normal places.  It lives with normal people.  Evil feeds upon the normal routines and normal beliefs of normal men and women that pursue their normal dreams with the normal belief that normal efforts will produce normal benefits.  Because evil knows that the best place to hide is in plain sight.

Church . . . disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ . . . please hear me when I say this:  things are not normal.  We are living in perilous times.  While we dance on the deck with our BFF’s and relax in opulent dining rooms filled with special guests, the Titanic is sinking.

Perhaps you have felt the deck rumbling underneath your feet from the collision of ice against cold steel.  Perhaps you even notice ice chunks scattered across the deck from the railing’s close brush with the mammoth, frozen mountain.  Should we now continue on as if everything is normal and fine?  Even if others simply turn the music up and insist that we join them in their reverie?

Today is the National Day of Prayer for the United States of America.  Today we need to hear God’s call to His people to shake off our Normalcy Bias.

Please hear me.

If you believe that the real battle in Christianity today is between “legalism” and “grace”, you are deceived.

If you believe that the real battle in Christianity today is between rigid judgmentalism and open-armed compassion, you are deceived.

If you believe that the real battle in Christianity today is between Zionism and Islam, you are deceived.

If you believe the real battle in Christianity today is between political conservatism and activist liberalism, you are deceived.

If you believe God’s battlefield is our national economy or natural resource use or protection of mother earth or protection of people’s rights . . . you are deceived.

The enemy is hiding in plain sight.  He lives in our churches and our Bible studies.  He soothes our consciences with whispers of “grace, grace” and he quietly nudges us to twist our theologies to fit the cultural relevancies of our times.  The enemy comforts us with the sweet fellowship of friends who support us and flatter us.  He tells us all is well.

But he lies.

The real battle in Christianity today is for our own souls.  The battlefield is our own hearts. 

The battle is for the very character of God Himself to be formed in us.  For the Bible to become a living epistle in all that we think and say and do. 

So that the cost of our discipleship to Jesus can be counted wisely and born courageously.  So that our faith can shake us free from the Normalcy Bias of the enemy’s religious deceptions. 

Because Jesus Christ and the cross of His discipleship are the heart of true Christianity.

“It is not a new gospel we need,” Oswald Chambers has said.  “What we want is men who have the grace of their Lord to face the present-day problems with the old Gospel . . . Nominal Christians are often without the ordinary moral integrity of the man who does not care a bit about Jesus Christ; not because they are hypocrites, but because we have been taught for generations to think on one aspect only of Jesus Christ’s salvation, viz. the revelation that salvation is not merited by us, but is the sheer sovereign act of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.  A grand marvelous revelation fact, but Jesus says we have got to say ‘Thank you’ for our salvation, and the ‘Thank you’ is that our righteousness is to exceed the righteousness of the most moral man on earth . . . The only way to get out of our smiling complacency about salvation and sanctification is to look at Jesus Christ for two minutes and then read Matthew 5:43-48 and see who he tells us we are to be like, God Almighty, and every piece of smiling spiritual conceit will be knocked out of us forever, and the one dominant note of the life will be Jesus Christ first, Jesus Christ second, and Jesus Christ third . . . When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?  We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ?  Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.”

I challenge you to look, as Oswald Chambers suggested, at Jesus.  At what he taught in Matthew.  And at the conviction it brings.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you will rescue us from the curse of a seared conscience.  Set us free to feel again.  To feel Your conviction for sin.  To feel your compassion for the lost.  And to feel your Joy for righteous living.  May You be formed in us.  More of You . . . less of us . . . until You come again.

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.  He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

You have heard that the ancients were told, ' YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ' You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

You have heard that it was said, ' YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

It was said, ' WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE'; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ' YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE Lord.' But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.

You have heard that it was said, ' AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, ' YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:1-48

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.  These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.  Let no one disregard you.

Titus 2:11-15

May the Water of Your Word wash us and examine us and change us.

Nail-Scarred Hands

The sun peers down onto my small ridge-top farm from a cloudless, blue sky . . . wrapping the afternoon in a soft blanket of April warmth. In a few weeks, we will need shade and cold glasses of iced tea to sit on our back patio: Tennessee summers are hot, hotter, and hottest. But right now, gentle sunshine coaxes everything and everyone outside . . . out from Kirkhaven’s dark garden soil . . . out from the stone and brick walls of winter’s sabbatical . . . out into the open, rolling hills of a Kirkhaven spring.

Songbirds, each with their unique melody and refrain, chatter happily from the newly leafed branches of oaks, maples, and poplars surrounding Kirkhaven’s hillside meadows.

A nippy breeze, unwilling to completely relinquish winter’s chilly bite, smells fresh and rich as it skips across the eastern garden. Lilac and lavender and rosemary. Rain-washed soil and lime-green vegetable sprouts. Like soothing aromatherapy, it tempts me to slow down, shush my soul, and simply sit awhile.

It is peaceful here.

I glance at the dirt under my fingernails . . . I am not a fan of gardening gloves . . . and my meandering thoughts are suddenly redirected to a vivid mental image: I see hands. Not my hands. Hands of Another.

I see the rough, work-worn hands of a carpenter. Young hands appearing much older than their 33 years. Scarred and calloused from years of shaping crudely sawn lumber into useful, beautiful things.

Hands brave enough to point a bold finger at institutional corruption.
Compassionate enough to touch the sick and broken with tenderness and healing.
Wise enough to show the way to Truth.
Gentle enough to hold the smiling face of a child.

Hands capable of great strength and great artistry and selfless service . . . but possessing no power to stop the lashes of the soldier’s whip.

Hands once bound by cruel ropes of injustice . . . now cut free . . . so they could be nailed to the beam of a crucifix.

Hands raised . . . willingly, in complete surrender . . . accepting the punishment for vile, dark crimes they did not commit.


Why did I think of this right now?
Such strange juxtapositions:
refreshing breezes and hot lashes of a whip . . .
lyrical bird songs and rhythmic hammer blows of spikes into wood . . .
the fresh, new life of spring and the slow, agonizing death of crucifixion . . . why?

Because the sacrifice bought the serenity.
The grace of God on this small ridge-top farm is very costly indeed.

I have quoted this passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book The Cost of Discipleship before. But it is so greatly on my heart that I want to quote it again:

Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite...

Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. “All for sin could not atone.” . . . Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin.... Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves...

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.

It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.

It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.

Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God...

Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This stunningly beautiful Kirkhaven afternoon leaves me awestruck.

The scented breezes . . . the lyrical birdsongs . . . the inspiring vistas . . . and the nail-scarred Hands.

The Lord . . . He is the One that amazes me.
The One who smiles at the dirt under my fingernails.
And bids me to labor with Him for a while.
And knows the cost . . . and promises the treasure is worth it all.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires

and to live sensibly, righteously and godly

in the present age,

looking for the blessed hope

and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,

Christ Jesus,

who gave Himself for us

to redeem us from every lawless deed,

and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession,

zealous for good deeds.

These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.

Let no one disregard you.

Titus 2:11-15

Happy Resurrection Sunday!!