Experiencing the Power of God (Grace)

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Romans 1:16).

 

I canceled the last class before Christmas, thinking to give the kids a longer break instead of having a Christmas party, as is the custom.  Instead, I asked them to read the Gospel of Mark over the two-week period before our next class.  I wanted to give them the experience of reading a gospel on their own -- a completely different experience from hearing just a portion read in church on Sunday.  Most of us don't really hear the gospel anyway, or we hear it and immediately forget it.  I wanted them to focus on their own experience of Jesus teaching them as He taught the disciples.  So I asked them to record one quotation from each chapter and one comment or question for each chapter. 

 

Whenever I give an assignment, I always do it myself to see what happens -- or what the difficulties might be with the assignment.  Usually, I do it ahead of time, but the idea of canceling the last class had come up on the spur of the moment in discussion with the director, so, although I had been thinking of having them read a gospel on their own, I had not planned it for this time. 

 

I had suggested that the kids read a chapter a day over the break.  However, as I attempted to do that, I found the going difficult.  I read a chapter a day for the first two days -- but it was just to do the assignment.  There was no "poetry" or "beauty" in doing it.  Then I got really sick for an entire week and didn't really feel like reading anything at all.  Even when I began to feel better, the idea of doing the assignment had little appeal to me.  One morning, however, I woke up -- and all I wanted to do was to read the Gospel of Mark.  There was an energy and a desire -- not to  "do the assignment," but to read the Gospel.  I could hardly wait to begin, and unlike my previous attempts to read it, I did not want to stop and record quotes or comments.  I just wanted to read the whole Gospel without stopping. 

 

As I read, I discovered that the assignment was truly fading into the background.  I was aware of it, but knew I'd go back and do it later.  Right now, I felt the Grace of God teaching me -- illuminating my soul and my mind, giving me understanding and showing me things I had never seen before.  It was as if the Holy Spirit were shining a spotlight on certain passages that I needed to see.  I did not want to stop with one chapter, but wanted to keep going.  My eyes gave out after Chapter 10, but the next morning, I was able to finish the last chapter of the Gospel.  Even then, I did not want to finish the assignment, but rather just to be bathed in what I had read. 

 

That very day, a friend asked me about 4 of the passages from Mark (go figure!), and I went back and re-read those passages, thinking about them again.  This morning, as I awoke, I could not wait to get to the assignment, which by now had become quite easy -- to capture a quote or comment from each chapter.  It took me about 20 minutes at the most to complete the assignment.

 

Philippians 2:13 says, "It is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure."  The Apostles told Jesus they had fished all night and caught nothing, but at His word, they would go back again to the waters.  That was the experience of Augustine when he first tried to read Scripture; that is the experience of most of us when we first try to read Scripture.  That was my experience trying to "do the assignment."  But when the grace of God takes hold of us, we come to know that the power is no longer ours, but His.  What was difficult, if not impossible, before now becomes easy and joyful.  When the disciples returned to their fishing, their boats could not hold the catch, and they had to call for help.  When the power of God takes over for us, our experience is the same -- what was previously a chore now becomes our delight.