I hardly ever remember TV shows or movies. I enjoy them while watching, but I don’t store them away like my husband and so many others I know. My brain is too full of other important things like ~ What should I wear today? When are baseball tryouts? I have a son taking driver’s Ed. soon!?!? Do I have enough dresses for the many weddings coming up? What’s for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Movies and TV shows are an escape (a rare one) and then they escape me. I can’t really quote any lines from any movies.
Except for Grease...
(“You’re a fake and a phony and I wish I’d never laid eyes on you!” “Whoa….wonder if she carries silver bullets?”).
Oh, and maybe Nemo.
(“Just keep swimming”, Elmo….Fabio…).
Well, and probably a few from The Sound of Music.
(“Rheumatism!”)
I also don’t really analyze and remember every single spiritual parallel in order to use them in future Bible studies ~ of which Grease has very few, by the way. (Don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed? Bad company corrupts good character?) So….I’m not sure why I remember this particular episode of “Growing Pains” from 1986, but I do. I get tickled thinking of it to this very day. The episode is called “Employee of the Month” (yes, I did the research this week AND may have watched it again for the first time since 1986), and it’s the one where Mike Seaver (Kirk Cameron) convinces his parents to let him take a job at W.O.B. (World of Burgers), so that he can buy a car.
What gives me the giggles are the names of the sizes of fries and drinks that World of Burgers offers. The drink sizes are “Large”, “Extra Large”, “Colossal”, and “Whoa.” Mike gets some initial training on these names, but it takes him a while to remember them. When a very precocious little girl comes in and orders a “Titanic” Burger, “Considerable” Fries, and a diet “Whoa,” Mike begins filling her cup with soda, and she replies “That’s a Colossal. I asked for a Whoa.” The “Whoa” is about the size of a large movie theater popcorn bucket. It’s HUGE! It cracks me up every time I think about it.
What do “Growing Pains” and soda sizes have to do with the cross? Well, nothing really, except that I kept using the terms “Whoa” and “Wow” as I tried to explain the seriousness and weight of sin ~ and the wonder of Christ’s death and resurrection to a child this week.
I had to correct a certain child for hurting the feelings of another child with unkind words, attitudes, and actions. After we discussed the double standard that this child seems to have regarding the treatment of others, and the need for an apology toward the victim, and the asking for forgiveness, I felt I needed to bring up another issue. The issue of sin.
It’s not that my children have never learned that many of their behaviors are indeed sinful, but to always be pointing out their behavior as sin seems too heavy a load for kids who are still growing and learning how to behave appropriately toward others. Still, it is necessary for them to be aware, and it seemed a good time to remind this child that their behavior misses the mark of holiness that is God, and contributes to the reason that Christ had to die. We are fans of Ted Tripp’s Shepherding a Child’s Heart in this house, and this is a major premise in the book. When doling out correction and discipline, always lead them to the cross. Show them that their behavior is why Jesus had to die, but encourage them in the fact that he DID die in order to forgive and cleanse them from this very offense. Godly sorrow is always beneficial. Worldly sorrow (i.e. guilt with no place to get rid of it) leads to death.
Yes child, even your ugly attitude and unkind words constitute sin that had to be paid for. Your response to this knowledge ought to be this: Whoa (That’s teen speak for “Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips.”)
The Forgiveness, Freedom, and Grace delivered on the Cross was for you, child. Your response to this amazing gift ought to be this: Wow.
I asked the child if they were connecting these dots. The answer was a not-totally-convincing yes. My kids struggle with their expectations of God. They expect instant answers to many of their selfish prayers. If they are being told to change a behavior or attitude, they think they can pray for it to be changed, and immediately some heavenly magic wand will deliver an instantaneously transformed character and they will, of course, never repeat the offense. This is very convenient, because if the offense IS ever repeated, then they can blame God.
“Mom, I prayed and God didn’t answer.”
Unfortunately, these “unanswered prayers” can also foster some skepticism about the existence of God.
“Mom, sometimes I wonder if God is really true, because He doesn’t do miracles (or answer my selfish prayers) anymore like He did in the Bible.”
When I engaged in this conversation again this week for what seemed like the millionth time, I reminded the child of some miracles that we have seen God perform in our lifetime, and then One that happened long before our family arrived on planet Earth: The Cross. The Burial. The Empty Tomb.
Being wowed by the Crucifixion and Resurrection and the forgiveness of sin that Christ established through them is not only a child’s struggle. Not too long ago, I spent time with a young woman who had left the church and the faith. She had professed her faith. She had been baptized. She had served. She had studied the Bible. Later, though, something happened that caused her to doubt. A door that she expected to be wide open to her was not, and therefore He must not really exist. If He does exist, then He must not be good, because I’ve had to change my life’s direction from what I thought it would be was her logic. My belief in Him caused me to have to change my life’s course mid-stream; therefore, I choose not to follow Him anymore was her conclusion.
My eventual response to this beautiful and intelligent young woman was the same as my response to my child this week: Can we really ask God for more than the giving up of His own Son to the torture of the Cross so that WE would not have to pay the penalty for our own sin? Isn’t it selfish to want more than the righteousness of Christ and the promise of eternal life with Him? Are we just unimpressed by victory over death? When He doesn’t grant our requests or meet our human expectations, will we not return to the Cross and be satisfied?
Whoa. I have a sick and sinful heart. Wow. He offered forgiveness and freedom from all of that on the cross.
If I’m honest, though, I have to admit that I, too, have had to grow to a place of appreciation for the Cross. I have expected more from God, too, and still do sometimes. I don’t want to get sick. I don’t want to suffer through any tragedy. I don’t want to lose my husband or children. I want to live in relative financial comfort. I want harmony in all relationships. I want to be happy. The longer I walk with Him, though, the more I understand that whether He grants these things or not, He is good, because His greatest gift to me ~ the one that greatly surpasses any on my human wish list ~ is His gift of salvation.
Jesus tries to communicate this with us even before He did His great work on the Cross. Robert’s been preaching through Luke, and we’ve also been studying it chapter by chapter in our mid-week small group Bible studies. I can’t help noticing that Jesus almost always grants forgiveness or comfort or hope BEFORE He grants physical healing. To the paralytic on the cot lowered through the roof He says “Your sins are forgiven.” When the Pharisees question His authority in doing this, He asks them which is more difficult (i.e. which is a more expensive gift) ~ forgiveness or physical healing? Then He proceeds to heal the lame man. After Jesus heals the centurion’s servant, He happens upon a funeral procession for the dead son of a widow. Before He raises the boy from the dead, He goes to the mother to offer her comfort…”He felt compassion for her and said to her, ‘ Do not weep.’ ” To the leper desperate for healing, Jesus offers a compassionate touch and then a physical healing.
Forgiveness from sin. Comfort in our sadness. Hope no matter our circumstances. These are His priorities. These are His great gifts. The tangible gifts ~ those of physical healing, or the return of our dead are secondary. He desires that we be wowed by His forgiveness. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake, and He often whips up a batch of that as well.
As we approach the remembrance of the death, burial, and Resurrection of Christ on Easter, I’m praying that my kids’ hearts will be overwhelmed by the gift of forgiveness that is theirs because of the Cross. I’m asking that they are exceedingly grateful for His sacrifice on their behalf. I’m practicing the confession of my own colossal sin. I’m asking to have a heart that exclaims “Wow!” over the expensive gift of grace offered to me.
I’m ordering the “whoa” sized drink of gratitude.