Greetings Dear Reader,
One of my dear friends messaged me yesterday about the
meaning of a word. She was referring to
the song that is at the end of this post.
Her question and the ensuing conversation could not have been more salient
to this series of posts.
Before you run off to listen to the song, let us reason together
for a bit. I was overwhelmed at the
honesty and openness I see in my friend relative to how the Father asks us to
consider our own hearts. Caring for
others, being my brother or sister’s keeper is something that must come from
the heart. That heart must be a heart
that has been rent by Christ.
The word that my friend was asking about, was "rend". In Joel 2:12-14 (that is an Old Testament
minor prophet), the Father insists that we need to rend our hearts in sorrow over
the wrongs we have done. It is rending
the heart that is necessary to be my brother’s keeper. I cannot simply give outward support to a
cause or issue and think that I am putting my life into play.
Rend means to tear and shred here. It means to destroy my heart in sorrow for my
own failure to be a better brother or sister.
It requires that I use love and grace to set aside my greed and
selfishness in order to make a real difference in the lives of others. My heart cannot be whole if I see the depth of
my sin and remember the love the Father shows me.
But wait, there is hope.
The Father wants to take my shredded heart and create a new one. He wants to show others how redemption wins. He turns the death of my heart through rending
into the fighting chance for others to live.
It is not through violence, chants, and protests. Neither is it through demands, laws, and self-righteousness.
It is the individual private rending of my heart every
single day that changes the world. It is
choosing that I will see my failures and count on the grace, mercy, and love of
Jesus to use that useless heart to love others.
Those who do not believe as I do have a right to be outraged at us. Until we all rend our hearts over sin, Dear
Reader, we have nothing to offer for their pain and suffering. The obligation to treat others with love can
only flow from a rent heart.
I must live this. I must walk it no matter how I am received. It is through this tattered heart that love
can make me disappear and help others to see Christ. Before I dare judge or mock anyone, I must
look at my own heart to see if I have shred it asking the Father to reconstruct
it with his love. We can do this openly
with each other, Dear Reader and so be encouraged in our journey.
Rend
– Jimmy Needham
You've been tarnished
And you've been stained
And all the varnish you've used to cover up with is peeling away
And you've been stained
And all the varnish you've used to cover up with is peeling away
Yet even now, return to me with nothing less
Than your wounded, broken heart
And cling to Me, your gracious King
Be shattered glass of empty jars and rend
Rend, rend, rend
Rend your hearts
Than your wounded, broken heart
And cling to Me, your gracious King
Be shattered glass of empty jars and rend
Rend, rend, rend
Rend your hearts
You've been tarnished
And you've been stained
And all the varnish you've used to cover up with is peeling away
And you've been stained
And all the varnish you've used to cover up with is peeling away
Yet even now, return to me with nothing less
Than your wounded, broken heart
And cling to Me, your gracious King
Be shattered glass of empty jars and rend
Rend, rend, rend
Rend your hearts
Than your wounded, broken heart
And cling to Me, your gracious King
Be shattered glass of empty jars and rend
Rend, rend, rend
Rend your hearts
I don't need a grand display
Show me that your heart has changed
I don't need a show
Only just to know your own heart breaks
Show me that your heart has changed
I don't need a show
Only just to know your own heart breaks
Yet even now, return to me with nothing less
Than your wounded, broken heart
And cling to Me, your gracious King
Be shattered glass of empty jars and rend
Rend, rend, rend
Rend your hearts
Than your wounded, broken heart
And cling to Me, your gracious King
Be shattered glass of empty jars and rend
Rend, rend, rend
Rend your hearts
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every
writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a
homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Every human story is part of the great story that leads
to the Father getting everything back to Good.
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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