Fall 2009 40-Day Fast, October 22, Day 6: Blessed at the foot of the cross

Today I listened to a sermon called “The Cross Shouldn’t Be Our Kryptonite” by a friend, Pastor Ken Fong of Evergreen Baptist Church Los Angeles [http://www.ebcla.org/]. I’m not exactly sure about the kryptonite metaphor but Ken’s message hit me hard about understanding the power and the blessing of admitting our need for the cross. It was a message that spoke to me about regularly, even daily, examining myself —not for sin so that God can condemn me, but for sin and shortcomings so that God can forgive and bless me.

The idea isn’t that we do this to become perfect, because no one is perfect. We do this because God is perfect and knows how to love and care for us perfectly in ways that don’t punish us, make us pay pack for our wrong doings, or belittle us. Instead, God says, “Let me bless you even though you are not perfect.”

Blessing comes because of our imperfection. I am blessed by the undeserved, unearned, unmerited grace of God. To receive it I need to live like I need the cross –  acknowledging daily that I am not sufficient to answer all of life’s tough situations and that I certainly am not sufficient for saving others, myself, or the world.

If you would like to listen to Ken’s sermon, you can find it on iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=61076624&id=129600028
(The beginning is a report to the congregation of its capital campaign. Ken begins speaking about 8:30 into the audio.)

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