Grace and Love

"I am convinced there is no malady in the human heart and soul which cannot be overcome by grace through self-giving, holy love."

What do I mean by the word "malady" in this context? I mean simply that which is ailing the human heart and soul. A malady is "any disorder or disease of the body, especially one that is chronic or deepseated." It can also refer to "any undesirable or disordered condition." A malady of the heart, therefore, could pertain to sinfulness but may also pertain to the brokenness sin has visited upon the heart of the person. Most all persons who have come to a saving knowledge of Christ can attest to the brokenness left behind by their former way of living. Self serving, self centered living can only lead to broken hearts and it is this "bent" inwards which reeks havoc on our fragile hearts. There is nothing sadder than living a life of utter self centeredness because when we really stop and look inside our hearts we find that we are not eternal, we are not perfect, we are not whole. The portrait of a man vexed by his own inward leaning upon himself is tragic in that it detracts from and distracts from the beauty to be found in living our lives in relationship with others. When we busy ourselves with the business of serving ourselves we are left with an empty, hollow and cold reality. There is no love, no beauty, no life to be found in the self turned man. This is why we must affirm and defend the doctrine of the Trinity. God cannot be and would not be loving without being a God who shares life interpersonally between the three distinct persons of Father, Son and Spirit. Without this relationship God we have a portrait of a God who is incomplete and would find only longing, despair and a lack of life in Himself, by Himself.

Enlightenment and post modern thinking tries to lift up man as the apex, the pinnacle of self awareness and as the center of all reality. When Descartes wrote the now famous "Cogito ero sum" (I think, therefore I am) he paved the way for Enlightenment and post modern thinkers to ground the necessity of man's existence in his ability to reason. Man, not God, became the ground for reason, consciousness and being for the first time in 1500 years. The person who tries to reason his own existence and measure his own self worthiness against the mettle of other men and himself will only find emptiness and longing, disappointment and failure, regret and self-loathing. This malady we face, one we must all recognize and guard our brothers and sisters against is exactly this: the malady of egoism. 

How do we overcome this? What is the cure for the sickness, the malady of egoism that plagues the human heart? The answer, I believe, is found in Christ. He is the epitome of self giving, of self sacrifice and abasement, of altruism in direct and utter defiance of the egoism and self-praising, self-serving human heart. We can overcome this sickness, this paralysis of the soul, by fixing our eyes and hearts on the abased Christ. He is our ultimate example of selflessness. But we must recognize Him as more than a mere projection or ideal of humility, rather we look on Him as the embodiment of self-giving love. In Him we find the love which pours itself out for others. It is in this love that we must reside. We must exist in the bond of love between the Father and the Son through the intercession of the Holy Spirit. By sending the Paraclete, the Comforter to us, Christ brings us into the very heart of Trinitarian life. We have participation in the eternal life of the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. By giving us nothing less than Himself, Christ offers to mankind more than a mere model for self-giving love. He gives to us the very essence of it. He bring us into a new mode of existence, a way of living our lives which we had not previously experience. A life filled with the Spirit, modeled after the crucified and risen Christ, is a life eternally sustained by the love of the Father, the ground and source of eternal life. It is through grace that He comes to us Himself and offers nothing less than Himself to us. Our participation and cooperation with that grace is Trinitarian existence. It is living, not merely the Christ centered life, but living the hypostatically centered life. It is living the Trintarian life.

How are we to overcome our malady? We are all sick, hurting, infectious to those around us, and things are only going to get worse. We must have a cure. Humanity is crying out for it! Pornography, drunkeness, drugs, divorce, etc. - all these are indicators, symptoms of the greater sickness. It is only when we embrace the risen Christ, and participate in His life by the outpouring of the Holy Making Spirit that we will ever be made well. He has invited you to join with Him. What will be our response? Will it be one of selfish desire, clinging to the broken promises of post modernism? Or will it be one of selflessness? Would that our hearts turn towards Him who wants to turn us away from ourselves and towards His Father. Let it be the prayer of all those who call themselves His disciples, that He would come and save us from ourselves, turn us towards Himself, in order that we might help someone else. Amen.