This past weekend had the spectacle of the latest royal
wedding… a “scandalous affair” in which a young lady that did not measure up to
the standard for British royalty… not by birth or by choices she has made in
life… a young lady many consider to be unworthy. Yet, nonetheless she is now
royalty!
It reminded me of situations in sports where we discuss
the greats based upon how many rings they have; yet forget how erroneous that
argument is when we consider how many have rings that wouldn’t rank on our “greats
list…” If number of rings is the test then Robert Horry (with 7) is better than
MJ (with 6.) If rings determine greatness, then Jack Haley (95/96 Bulls with 1)
is better than Charles Barkley (with none.) [Jack
Haley played in 1 game of that 72-win season…]
What I am simply saying is that sometimes in sports
players piggy-back their way to championships… and sometimes in life there are
rags-to-riches stories; and sometimes that can seem “scandalous.”
Yesterday I got to share at a couple different churches along
with our worship team from Statesville Christian School. We did a couple songs
that set the stage for my message… one is called Beautiful Scandalous Night and the other Scandal of Grace.
We typically hear messages on the scandal of an innocent Man
being crucified… and that in and of itself should move us to “walk worthy” as
Paul encourages us to do in Ephesians 4:1. Yet I believe there is another
scandalous part of the Gospel that should motivate us as well… the scandal of
who Christ chose to be His bride…
Ephesians 2:1-3 reminds us that mankind is “dead in trespasses
and sins, ….by nature children of wrath.” But Paul goes on to celebrate that “by
God’s grace through our faith we are saved… and no longer strangers
and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God.” (Ephesians 2:8, 19)
The scandal is that Christ extends a proposal to a people
of non-royal blood that have made wrong choices to be His bride by believing in
Him! That is scandalous!
People can say whatever they want, but Meghan Markle is
now royalty… Jack Haley is an NBA champion… and I (and you if you have believed
on Christ to be saved) am royalty… I am a King’s kid! I am totally “piggy-backing”
on Christ!
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