Electricity and I have not always been the best of friends. I have, mainly through my own stupidity, given myself several electrical shocks. One which stands out in my memory – yes there is more than one – was when I set up my brother’s keyboard at church.
The plug for the keyboard was broken, so rather than get a new plug I put the bare wires in the socket and then “secured” them with the plug for the amp. I had done this “successfully” a number of times, but this time I’d managed to make the metal keyboard stand, and amp live with electricity. Getting up from putting the plug in, I touched the amp and stand, and quickly learned the error of my ways as 240 volts coursed through my body!
Rather than take time to get a new plug, I tried to take a shortcut which failed. Fortunately, the only person who got an electric shock was me.
Electricity, I think we can all agree is good and useful. However, if not treated properly, and with respect, it can do more than give a shock, it can kill. I abused the right way to connect with electricity and got hurt in the process.
The point of this random story will hopefully become clear as you read on.
This Sunday
This Sunday we will be thinking about Matthew 5: 27 – 32. This is the passage where Jesus talks about lust.
I’ll do my best not to make it cringy, and by talking about this, I want to do the opposite of causing shame.
Shame loves to isolate us and cause us to hide. By talking about lust – which can make us feel shameful – we are doing important spiritual warfare. We are bringing into the light that which wants to be hidden, not so we feel shame, but so we know God’s grace, healing, and transformation.
As I’ve thought about Matthew 5:27 – 32, I’ve been drawn to Genesis 3:21 where God, knowing that Adam and Eve felt shame about their nakedness, “made garments of skins for them …to” cover their shame. Think about this for a moment and what it tells us about God. Almighty God, creator of the universe, personally makes clothes for Adam and Eve. Talk about amazing grace!
Like Adam and Eve, God calls us out from hiding in the bushes not so we feel shame, but so he can deal with our shame by covering us with his garment of grace.
Connection.
Lust is a sign of connection gone wrong. Or, more strictly speaking, desire bent out of shape.
Desire, like electricity, is good. But desire requires boundaries and “appropriate” connections. It’s a good thing to desire connection, after all, as humans God has created us for relationship.
Lust misdirects desire and promises us the rewards of relationship without the hard work of commitment, without honouring boundaries, and without the time it takes to get to know someone properly.
It promises fulfilment and intimacy, but it can never deliver on this, because true intimacy requires honesty, steadfast and consistent small acts of love. True connection, real intimacy, grows from the soil of acts of kindness and from forbearance and patience which leads to deep understanding and a longing to see the other person flourish.
Practical nourishment.
On Sunday we will explore some practical ways in which we can combat lust and nourish healthy desire, and therefore good and healthy relationships.
See you Sunday.
Brodie