BROKEN GLASS
This town is full of it. Broken Glass. Its streets are lined with it. It’s mixed into the gravel and the dirt. It’s evidence of brokenness in people. It’s proof that people are hurting enough to smash down the bottle that carries the hope of relief but dissapoints. It’s because they’re told they don’t have a chance or that they don’t matter enough. It’s because people aren’t strong enough to take on this life alone. I COULD NOT make it through this life on my own strength. There’s too much pressure, too much pain, too much confusion. I would probably turn to a bottle too. I would turn to anything that offered a glimmer of hope.
BARE FEET
I tried walking through town without shoes. I had to step lightly and walk carefully to avoid the shards and shatters. It reminded me of Moses as he stood before the Spirit of God in the wilderness. Who knows what that wilderness ground was like? Rough? Rocky? Yet God said, “Take your shoes off. This is Holy ground.” Before God there was no need for shoes. But God can’t be in the presence of our sin. He can’t be in the presence of us if we are living in sin. If we are living with broken glass filling our lives. We have to take our shoes off before God, but we can’t because of the pain of standing on all our sin and struggle. The weight of conviction for all of our sin is far too heavy a burden to carry.
SHOES
I think Jesus gave us the shoes we need. In the remains of our sin, our broken glass, our hurt and pain, we get to walk. We get to stand. We get to move forward without getting cut and tripped and injured. He allows us to stand before God, even in the midst of all that evil, even though we still hold onto addictions and temptations. He is the barrier between us and sin, between our feet and the brokenness. Now we get to stand in God’s presence, we get to be free of the weight of condemnation. Now conviction is given to us in kindness, so that we can find a more excellent way to live. It no longer cuts our feet like the glass, it takes us by the hand into beautiful places. Jesus came to lift the burden and put shoes on our feet.
THE MINISTRY
Paul says we have a ministry of reconciliation, now that we have been reconciled to God. What does this look like? It looks like giving other people their shoes to be able to stand up and walk. Jesus said multiple times during his years of ministry, “your sins are forgiven. Get up and walk.” How fitting. Our ministry of reconciliation is handing out pairs of brand new shoes, and with them, a brand new life.
But only because we were first given shoes. There’s no way we could have made it to anyone else who needed shoes, because we were neck deep in our own broken glass. Our sin pushes us away from anyone else. It prevents us from being helped by others and from helping others. But because of the freedom of new shoes, we get to walk over our broken glass and everyone else’s in order to live a life of ministry. Live a life of love.
HEIDELBERG
Heidelberg, you showed me the gospel in a new way. In a way that makes so much sense to me. In a way that opens my eyes to the life I’m supposed to life. Not tripping, stumbling, or crawling through painful days and sad nights, but free and wild and full of life. It’s meant to be beautiful and generous. I’m made for generosity and love. My new job is handing out brand new kicks to everyone on the street. To everyone in the neighborhood. And we all have our new shoes on, we can dance in freedom and joy. It all starts by putting your own shoes on and standing in the presence of the Spirit of God. It starts with heart change and forgiveness. It starts with love.
Thanks, Heidelberg, for showing me that.
