The Catbird Seat

As I have continued to listen and process the lyrics of singer/songwriter Eric Peters (see this post for background info), I have found myself increasingly drawn to a song entitled, “Save Something For Grace.”

Aside: I wish I new how to work our new-to-us $58 iMac, because it is here that I’d like to drop in both the album cover (shown here) and an mp3 file of at least a piece of the song. Alas, I don’t.

To me, the crux of the song is this line: We try to be holy without being human, first.

The beauty of that statement is that it sums up the problem with being a Christian, and subsequently desiring to be godly, but having difficulty accepting—and admitting—our weaknesses, faults, and our inherent inability to meet God’s standard of holiness.

Of course, the Bible just calls all that sin.

And it’s very hard to admit. Sin, that is.

So, caught in this desire to be holy, and acting out of what we should be, but in actuality, are not, we act like we don’t sin anymore.

At least, I do. I act like that… and much more often than I care to admit. (the admitting thing seems to be a trend here!)

But Grace, after all, only works when I sin.

(What is grace but God giving that which is undeserved, and for us humans, completely unattainable on our own? Not only forgiving sin, but treating us as though we are holy!)

So, following the logic train, if I don’t sin, then I don’t need grace.

Just the other day I was talking on the phone with a friend about anger.

Having it. Recognizing that I have it. Owning up to it.

And then, the hard part: Surrendering it. Letting go of it. Giving it up.

She remarked that maybe I would let it go before we moved and would be able to make this transition in peace and at peace with God and myself.

And, knowing myself, I told her that maybe I’d hang onto it longer than that, like all the way to Birmingham, and maybe sometime thereafter (sin on my part, btw), and that God, knowing me better than I know myself, would forgive me for it.

Being human, first.

Ironically, I did, in fact, surrender that anger sometime before we got here. It was a hard-fought battle. Grace won.

The neat thing about being human first, is that then, and only then, we are free to experience holiness. Real holiness. God-given, grace-imparted holiness that isn’t based in what we do (or don’t do), but in who God is.

As for the sin…well, it’s hard to have. It’s embarrassing. It’s hurtful to me and others around me. And it’s inevitable.

But Grace has got it covered.

So today, I think I’ll save something for grace, and let my human-ness reveal God’s holiness.

Filed under: General, Catbird, Like a fire, Random Thoughts on January 23rd, 2007