Becoming Sweetly Broken

Vineyard - Live at the Rockies -- has this amazing version of "Sweetly Broken," which is one of my favorite songs. It details the faithfulness and pure mercy that we receive when Jesus draws us to our knees at the cross -- becoming sweetly broken and surrendering our lives to Christ.

I really think that the song speaks so much in this day and age because sweetly broken is really a metaphor for giving up all power and control to Christ, giving him our lives for reconciliation to the cross. What does this mean?

Reconciliation
Rather than seeking pure justice, reconciliation seeks to bring together two parties that are not one. It doesn't punish the offending party, rather it seeks to mend the bridge between the two -- to bring completeness and a renewed or new relationship. It's actually a big buzz word now as the new wave of wars in this century is not between countries, but rather between countrymen.

According to the news, civil wars are replacing world wars. And in Rwanda, Darfur and other countries, researchers are saying that reconciliation is the key to a peaceful coexistence . Justice isn't the main issue, rather a bridge to both warring cultures is -- even when mercy doesn't seem to need to be handed out. The other key to reconciliation is that the offending party wants to change their behavior so much so that they actively work toward that goal.

Mercy for me?
I wonder so many times how Christ can extend his mercy to me over and over again. I can be somewhat of a perfectionist and when i mess up -- the last thing i want to do is say i messed up again. But when i go to the cross, i don't receive justice or punishment for my sins because Christ has already done that. He just asks that i come and receive his sweet mercy.

It's the Holy Spirit that works in our lives to sweetly break our selfish desires, our fear, our need to be right and everything else that isn't of him. As the mentor of C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald stated, "Such is the mercy of God that he will hold his children in the consuming fire of his distance until they pay the utmost farthing, until they drop the purse of selfishness with all the dross that is in it, and rush home to the Father and to the Son and the brethren—rush inside the life-giving Fire whose outer circle burns. "