My Inbox of Daily Inspirations: Daily Heartlight -- May 2, 2008

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May 2, 2008

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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================

Excavation, by Patrick D. Odum

If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do
not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to
have you, but you must rule over it (Genesis 4:7 NIV).

The brand new Yankee Stadium, currently under construction in the
Bronx, is a multi-million dollar project. With deadlines looming and
costs mounting, you know that it would take a serious problem for
workers to show up on a weekend to jackhammer newly-poured concrete.
However, that's exactly what happened on April 13th. Workers showed up
to break apart two-and-a-half feet of concrete on what will eventually
be a concourse.

Structural problems? Not really. More like sabotage. By terrorists?
Well, that would depend on who you ask, I suppose. The culprit,
actually, is a construction worker from the Bronx named Gino
Castignoli, who only worked one day on the project. But, that one day
could have had serious consequences for the Yankees franchise, its
fans, and the entire city of New York. Yankees president Randy Levine
called Castignoli's offense a "bad, dastardly act," and the Yankees are
discussing with the District Attorney the possibility of bringing
charges against him.

No, he didn't use sub-standard material, or rig the part of the stadium
he worked on to collapse.

He buried a David Ortiz Boston Red Sox jersey in the concrete he laid.

The Red Sox and Yankees are, of course, divisional rivals. Their
animosity goes back at least as far as 1918, when the Sox traded a
young pitcher named Babe Ruth to the Yankees. The trade, so the legend
goes, cursed the Red Sox, who didn't win another World Series until
2004. The two teams' -- and their fans' -- hatred of each other is
arguably the most intense in sports. Rarely does a season go by in
which at least one Yankees -- Red Sox game isn't interrupted by a
brawl. Castignoli, a Red Sox fan who literally lives in the Yankees'
neighborhood, apparently hoped that burying the jersey in the stadium
would "curse" the Yankees' new home.

Two other workers -- Yankee loyalists, I guess -- ratted Castignoli
out.

It's a measure of how seriously the Yankees take the rivalry that they
would take the time and expense to dig the jersey out. I mean, what, a
couple of square feet of polyester and cotton twill? What harm could it
possibly do to a gigantic concrete and steel stadium? Still, the
Yankees preferred to take no chances, and out came the jackhammers.
Best to dig it out now so there's no chance of regretting it later.

Maybe that's a good attitude for us all to adopt toward the stuff that
we might have buried in our lives where it doesn't belong. "Sin" is the
term that the Bible uses for that kind of thing. It really seems like
sort of an old-fashioned word, doesn't it -- more appropriate for the
"black or white" revival circuit than for life in today's more
complicated, "shades-of-grey" world? We prefer to speak of "mistakes"
or "weaknesses" or "character flaws" or "addictions," and those terms
can all be helpful. The problem is that those are usually
after-the-fact words that we use for the stuff that we might have had
buried in our lives for a long, long time, before they come to light. I
mean, we usually live with anger management problems for years before a
broken marriage or family or friendship forces us to speak of the
problem. Lust can lie buried beneath layers of respectability for a
long time before adultery or other sexual immorality exposes it.
Selfishness and greed can stay undisturbed for much of our lives, and
leave us absolutely puzzled about why giving doesn't bring us any joy
or why what we attain is never enough to satisfy us.

Genesis says that long before Cain raised his hand against his brother
Abel, sin was "crouching at [his] door." His jealousy, his anger, and
his callous disregard for his own "flesh and blood" lay buried and
untouched deep in his heart before it came spewing out in homicidal
rage. Like most of us will do if left to ourselves, Cain tried to shift
the blame for his actions; he wasn't treated fairly, God didn't
appreciate him, and so on and so on. Not so different, really, from the
layers of blame and bitterness that cover our own sins.

* If only my spouse appreciated me more.

* If only my boss wasn't such a jerk.

We have to be honest about the sin that still lurks in our hearts.

* If only life would deal me a fair hand.

* If only my parents had been more loving or accepting.

So we walk around angry, faces downcast, so focused on our hurt or
anger or disappointment that we fail to deal with the real problem:
down deep in our hearts lurks sin, waiting, biding its time, a curse
waiting to happen.

The good news, of course, is that it doesn't have to be that way.

The gospel proclaims that we have a Father in heaven who loves us, who
sent his Son to die for our sins, and raised him to pour out his Spirit
into our lives and hearts. "His divine power has given us everything we
need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his
own glory and goodness ..." That's the overwhelming claim the apostle
Peter makes in reflecting back on Jesus' life and work (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Peter goes on to say that through Jesus, God "has given us his very
great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate
in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused
by evil desires." In short, Peter reminds us that in Christ God has
given us the awareness and the power to do some excavation: the
integrity to be honest about what is buried in our hearts and the tools
to dig it out. "Make every effort to confirm your calling and election
sure ..." he exhorts us (2 Peter 1:10), reminding us that while God
supplies the energy and the opportunity for us to confront the sin in
our lives, it's up to us to be willing to make the hard choices and do
the difficult excavation that God's calling demands of us.

Among other things, that means that we have to be honest about the sin
that still lurks in our hearts and crouches at our doorstep. Our
churches must be places where confession is encouraged and repentance
truly celebrated. We must have relationships of mutual accountability
in which hypocrisy is exposed and we call each other to godliness and
righteousness. And we must always be willing to let the jackhammer of
the gospel chip away at our pride, arrogance, and pretense so that God
can get at the sin that still lies underneath. In Christ, the curse is
counteracted. But, it won't make a bit of difference if we can't let
the sin buried in our hearts be exposed to his light and life and
healing.

Take a deep breath. Time for some excavation.

---------
(c) 2008 Patrick D. Odum <p.d.odum@gmail.com>.

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Daily Heartlight -- May 2, 2008