At long last we have finished The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. We use such texts as part of our morning devotions. There were days when I was quite sure that I'd toss it into a corner and start something new. I didn't always like it; I didn't always like Yancey; but it always made me think.
Perhaps we read it because there were some rich nuggets in amongst the things we found unsettling. (We found it unsettling to read that Yancey doesn't believe that anyone should be a patriot or concern himself with politics. He says that God doesn't care about countries, He cares about people, that the only nation He cares about is Israel. I disagree. I think God cares not only about people...all people...He cares about nations, too...all nations.)
Anyway, back to the nuggets. There were enough to keep us going. I want to talk about two of them today. One of the final ones concerns that Saturday between Good Friday and Easter morning. Yancey says it is an unnamed day and that we are living in that Saturday right now, metaphorically, of course, until the Lord's return. Well, not quite, because we know that we know that we know that Sunday arrived and Jesus arose and we have been sent the Holy Spirit. But there are still qualities about that day that we are experiencing until His return. I'll allow you to ponder them. I've been pondering them at some length.
The second nugget I'd like to share is a story that Yancey tells about being in an airport for five hours because of a flight delay. Fortunately, he was not alone because a companion was on her way to the same conference. They had plenty of time to discuss all the disappointments of life. He described feeling melancholy and anxious about things. When the waiting was almost over and the discussions had ended, his companion asked him this question: Philip, do you ever allow God to just love you?
Now that question will sit with me for a long, long time.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8
God bless your Sunday...
