The Cross of Humility

"There is, then, a difference between sinners and sinners.  There are some sinners who confess that they have sinned but do not long to be justified; instead, they give up hope and go on sinning, so that, when they die, they despair and, while they live, they are enslaved to the world.  There are other sinners who confess that they sin and have sinned, but they are sorry for this, hate themselves for it, long to be justified, and under groaning constantly pray to God for righteousness.  This is the people of God: it constantly brings the judgment of the cross to bear upon itself." 

This statement of Martin Luther's has got me to thinking about my struggles and my desire for God's righteousness to crush the sin in my life and the bondage to self; to obliterate my ego and self-centrism.  He also says that, to be justified by faith is to give up pride in ourselves."  So hard to do and a definite struggle for me.  These statements of Luther shed light upon Jesus' words to deny oneself and pick up one's cross daily.  Humility is the key...picking up the cross of humility to strike down the prideful self and bring about the righteousness of God.  Only then can we truly love God and others.

Through the grace of God, we, the broken, are justified by faith.  Through the grace of God, he does something for us that we cannot do for ourselves.  Luther likens the church to an infirmary where the sick, damaged, and broken gather.  It is in this infirmary that healing, restoration, and reconciliation to God happens.  It is in this restorative process that we see grace at work.  Where we were once powerless to do anything about our brokenness, the power of God breaks the power of sin and death and creates in us a new person on a path in relationship with God; a reciprocal relationship in which God expects things from us (like loving our neighbors and our enemies) and we can also expect something from God (his grace, mercy, love, and hope).  God never fails at providing these but we fail at loving others.  We put down the cross of humility and pick up the sword of self; and when we do we again must pick up the cross of humility.

Thank God for the grace, mercy, love, and hope that he extends to all.  If only we were able to extend the same to those we encounter each day.

Update! Finally!

It’s been a looooong while since our last update.  A whirlwind of transition happened and we wanted to wait with sharing until we were a little more certain about what would come out of it.  As we speak, I, Hanne, have a whole, beautiful day off before my last two days at my current job.  As of this coming Monday I will be working as a nurse at the hospital in Fredrikstad, which is a really sweet city in the Southeast of Norway.  Just a few days after I started working here at Nes, Ryan got offered a coaching position in Fredrikstad, and after giving it a couple of weeks of thought we decided to go for it.  It was a pretty surprising move-I don’t think either of us had expected there to be a job opening for Ryan this soon, not in coaching, nor in Fredrikstad-a city that I have only barely visited in the past.  It was a hard decision, but I told my boss I’d be leaving only little over a week ago, and Thursday will be my last day there.

Now I’m sitting in the garden at Ildjarntunet, thinking about how incredibly fast things change.  The trick is to roll with the changes, ya know… This time last year I was venting big time to our house church after having spent a year pretty much unemployed and living on people’s couches, going to job interview after job interview, feeling desperate for some stability and security, while at the same time feeling like I was in the exact spot where God was wanting me.  I’m a much bigger fan of our current changes.  But I couldn’t have had nor appreciated the one without the other.

So, while I’m sad to be leaving Hedalen, I am convinced we are doing the right thing, and I am really excited about starting a life together in Fredrikstad.  We’ve met some good people there already, and I’m looking forward to a Norwegian summer by the sea.  We’ve got a cool apartment that I can’t wait to invite people to, with a garden where we can have barbecues.  I’m excited about my job, about Ryan’s job, about making friends, about catching up with my pre-USA friends, and about Norwegian summer night after Norwegian summer night after Norwegian summer night...

So if anybody wants to come visit-there’s always a plane headed for Rygge airport and we’ll be there to pick u up, in our awesome new old Volkswagen that can fit all your luggage just like that!