And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39
– a beautiful day in the neighborhood
Saturday morning I got to utilize my non-existent handy skills to help a few folk repair some very solid benches in the memorial garden over at our church.
The benches are cast iron and monumentally heavy. That core metal infrastructure – or foundation – isn’t going anywhere, but the superstructure (wood and screws and bolts) does need shoring up from time to time. So what we were doing – or rather “the guys who knew what they were doing” were doing – was replacing the old wooden slats with composite material guaranteed to last (if not forever, definitely longer than any of us out there!).
I think it was either five or six benches reassembled by the time we were done.
– Rebekah testing it out!
The work made me think – especially as this is a Sunday morning – about our faith. What is foundational is immoveable like the cast iron and not subject to change; and this is truth such as the facts that Creator God loves us, that Jesus came to offer us an invitation home and that the Holy Spirit infuses us with power to really live.
The superstructure is the way we organize our church, the doctrines that help to guide us in the understanding and practice of faith, and all the stuff we argue about with other Christians – all subject to repair and reworking from time to time.
What we have to remember is that nothing can shake God’s love, nothing can separate us from that love as revealed in Christ Jesus, and nothing can stop the Spirit from living in us and for us.
– 1 down four to go!
Come by our garden and sit on one of the benches sometime. And, while you are there, think about what is ironclad and essential: God’s love, Christ’s invitation home and the power of the Holy Spirit in our day to day lives.
In love, and because the truth isn’t that complicated – DEREK
