I am preparing for my first wedding of the summer at the moment. And by preparing, I mean sitting in Panera, people watching and trying to figure out where I should re-locate to put on appropriate wedding attire. And, at the moment, the Panera bathroom is looking like the best option... should be a fun surprise for the Panera patrons, as I go in in my rags, and come out dressed for a feast. And the music in the background appropriately plays Unforgettable...

What does it say about weddings, that we get all dressed up for them? Do we need to? Would the ceremony not take place if I wore my hole-ly jeans (as opposed to my holy ones!)? No, of course not. But we dress up, because we recognize the occasion of marriage as special. Even sacred. Same thing as we live out Christian lives. We are saved by grace, not works. But because we see God's holiness, we live out our salvation through changed lives. Our earthly attire gradually reflects the grace which we have been offered. God gives us the robes to wear. We just choose to wear them more frequently...

Sin Jewelry

So, after many months away, I decided that it was time to return to the blogosphere... that being said, I would love to share with you a brief narrative that I recorded in my journal a few days ago, while in Madison, Wisconsin for Intervarsity Orientation for New Staff (ONS):

24 june 2007

I am sitting Jamba Juice this delightful Sunday afternoon, and I see a man in pink and green sneakers, black t-shirt, and jean shorts, sitting outside of the window. He is clean cut, and reminds me somewhat of an old friend. He is also wearing a parole alert bracelet, to signal anyone and everyone, if he ventures out of his designated parole area. It is a constant reminder of his mistakes, past or present, which landed him in jail for the first time.

As I reflected on his visibly limiting jewelry, I wondered if perhaps Christians do not often live like we too have the parole bracelets of our sin still clinging to our ankles and wrists. We know that we have been forgiven-- we know that we are tangibly out of jail, both figuratively and actively-- but we still feel as if our sin binds us and limits us in our range of motion, ministry and dreams. In other words, we often think that that pretty little sin bracelet on our ankles beeps whenever we stretch into realms beyond "safe" into "risky."

I think there is a fine line, in which we are called to signpost our sin, because God decidedly uses those experiences later in life, indeed as they often shape the form of ministry that we are called into. Yet, at the same time, we absolutely MUST realize that our sin no longer binds us. It is no longer our master. Let me say that again: my sin no longer binds me. Your sin no longer binds you. It is gone. Forgotten. Remembered no more. We are abundantly free.