Worthy of so much more…

“Man, I gotta be honest with you, I’m not looking for that. I’m looking for something bigger. I’m looking for a dare to be great situation.” – Lloyd Dobbler

Many of us may only remember the culmination of Lloyd Dobbler’s greatest moment, holding high above his head the blaring words of Peter Gabriel’s “In your Eyes,” in Cameron Crowes movie Say Anything. The reality of our own likeness to John Cusack’s portrayal of the aimless, loveable, coolest dork on the block is more like his moment of daring to be great, rather than being it. We’re all longing to that moment of definition; a moment seething with purpose; an occurrence of distinction in our lives which changes things for the better and brings significance to the rest of our days. Lloyd was one of these. He had no idea what he wanted or what was ahead, but he longed for his dare to be great moment; where he could rise above the mundanity of his normal circumstances and achieve a defining moment which would change his purpose and life forever. We all fantasize about these moments in our lives. Maybe it is in the mental playback of our lives: “I should have said this,” or “I should have done that instead.” Possibly it is in a place of confusion of circumstances: “If only________ would happen, then all would be right.” We all cling to these lucid possibilities of purpose, and in relying on them through the reality of our journeys; we get left behind in the hollows of discouragement, discontentment and estrangement. We feel betrayed or isolated, and in response we turn in on ourselves. We direct our attention to what we need to do to gain control or master our situations. With a myriad of uncertainties in current society, these issues can plunge us down the spiral of defeat and persuade us cling to unattainable structures and self-focused realities. When we focus on ourselves in this manner, we become a destructive force in our lives and in the lives of others. The truth of self-centric reality is the manifestation of perspectives which hide fact in opinion and isolate our hearts in pursuits of selfishness. Dare to be great situations, become lifelines of possibility and fantasies of salvation. We call to them, we hope in them, we wrestle with why we can’t be like so and so and the illusion overwhelms us and discourages us. In the process our faith becomes jaded and our hope turns bitter, until we throw up our hands and realize that we are not independent, all-powerful beings; but are limited and finite reliant upon another to provide for us what we cannot. It is in these moments that we relinquish our grip on our self-centered reality and realize the answer comes from outside our abilities, our desires and our provision. It is in these moments that we find there is a different message we cling to, based in the hope of the love and faithfulness of the Lord.

The reality of our situation is this world is that we are alien to it. We long for a place which is not tainted with the painfulness of sin and strife. We have been created to love and exist in community, yet the demands of society call us to seek ourselves first, love only in lieu of personal benefit and achieve our tasks with distinction – so we will gain the respect of those we are better than. In Hebrews 10 and 11, we see a clear picture of a connection to hope, a calling to persevere, a power through faith and the faithfulness of the Sovereign Lord. When we come to understand the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, and live in the faith of his hope, we are transformed by his love and compassion for us. When we truly interact with this experience we are never the same: Jesus loved us so intensely that He gave us his life for us. For many, this statement might be trite, but think about it through the lens of who you love; do you love them so much that you might die in their place so they would avoid pain, punishment and death? This is the action of Christ on behalf of those He loves. That is to say, the all-powerful, Almighty God of the universe in human form; loves us so incredibly that He could not live without us, so He died that He might live in us, with us and through us. This is the Christ whom the faith of the Patriarchs hoped for without seeing. His love and compassion was so overwhelming and his creation was so important to Him, so loved, so treasured; that He said, “I will sacrifice my life so that you can have the possibility of life, free of the final victory of death.”

This is no “dare to be great” circumstance; this is the all-powerful God, showing us the utmost level of his love; enveloped in compassion for his creation. Can you imagine telling a world full of people who ardently negate your existence, run from the experience of your love and use your name as a level of utmost cursing; that you would sacrifice yourself or your own child in a measure of showing them each of their individual importance to you? Yet this is the call of the Lord God Almighty and the sacrifice of his Son on our behalf. This is the Christ who longs to live in us, with us and through us. He omnisciently knows all the situations in our lives, feelings in our hearts and longing in our souls. His omnipresent Spirit’s existence is within us, and is near us as we gather in communities in his name; He goes before us in all situations preparing our path, and He Himself accompanies us though the daily experience of our existence in our lives. He is also omnipotent as the Almighty Lord who sees and oversees all things in the hearts and lives of men; for by Him and for Him were all things created. The Sovereign Savior is compassionate for us where we stand. If we truly believe this we free ourselves to allow God to be great and give hope to his faithful. He is our hope as the anchor to our soul, firm and secure; and He is faithful. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He is faithful.

God did not intend us to live isolated lives of worldly attachment and success. His placement of us on this earth was not so that we could dare to be great in the world we are alien to; bringing glory to ourselves in our pursuits. We are worthy of so much more! We are worthy as his adopted sons and daughters to live in the resurrected hope of his Son. We are worthy of faithfully clinging to his hope and sharing it with those around us. Greatness in the world is not worthy of those sanctified by Christ. God has planned something far greater: The perfection of all things unified with Him, his Son and his Spirit, his heavenly kingdom reigning for all eternity and the body of Christ enjoying his presence forever. God’s faithfulness is the source of our hope. God’s love and compassion compel us to live in faith. We are not longing for the moment of definition, but a life defined by the hope of the coming perfection of all things in Him. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” The reality and purpose of our lives is that “The Day” is approaching. We must not cease to bond with each other as those of Christ in anticipation of “The Day.” He is calling us unto Himself to be his righteous ones, living in faith, enveloped in the compassion of the Lord who gave up his will to continue living his earthly life, so that we might have the possibility to know the Lord God Almighty in a personal, powerful and life-changing manner.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess; for He who promised is faithful. Let us know the love and compassion of the Father; seeing our significance in Him and for Him. Let us know that He alone is worthy of our lives, our hope and our purpose. Instead of daring to be great, let us dare to show his greatness. He has made us worthy of showing his greatness to all the earth; that we may delight ourselves in Him, seek Him with our lives, find Him in every aspect of our hearts and be so filled with Him, that his compassion echoes the worthy call of love from our hearts to others.