Ocean City Beach Bum

This entry was first published at www.xanga.com/redroadhome on 6/29/06.

It's been a summer of new experiences. I had never been called "sandy" before tonight. The label came from a girl who was standing in the driveway of the house in which her family was staying as I walked home from the beach. A group of about fifteen of the people involved in the Coalition for Christian Outreach's Ocean City Beach Project had congregated at the beach after meeting in our "Spiritual Formation Groups" to chat and sing some songs of praise. Had never played guitar beside the ocean before, especially not on a hazy evening that made the lights of the amusement park and shops by the beach that much more illuminating. After about an hour people started heading back to the house, some in groups, some individually. I stuck around for a while and eventually mozied the four blocks by myself, my back covered in sand and my heart jumping with tired amazement. Big picture: little guy sitting during a big summer opportunity on a bigger beach in front of a bigger ocean that was all made possible by the biggest God.

Sitting before an apparently endless stretch of water continually lapping against land reminded me of our discussion of the nature of God's salvation in class last night: how God repeatedly illustrates His love in sacrificing of Himself to bless humanity. In Exodus 17, the Israelites bring a charge against Moses that could involve stoning. The word often translated "quarreled" is a legal term - in the day of the Israelite Judges, a person would bring a similar quarrel about another person before a judge. If the person were convicted, the judge may have personally punished the person with his staff, from which the gavel descended, or, if the crime involved blasphemy, adultery, sorcery, disobedience to parents, or genocide, the person would have been stoned. The Israelites accusation in Exodus 17: genocide - killing off the entire race of Israelites by leading them out of Egypt into the desert.

In reality, their quarrel is not with Moses, but with God, which Moses points out to them in verse two. But God's actions, instead of revealing a judging anger, as some may expect in the Old Testament, are pure grace. The Lord constructs a court setting, making Moses the judge in front with the staff, the elders similar to a jury, the people the prosecution, and as they all approach the rock, God, in his cloud, is present as the defendant. Instead of extended arguments describing accusations and defense, God�s instructions are simple: with the "god-judging" staff empowered by Himself to "kill" Egypt's god of the Nile in turning it to blood, strike the rock that may have even been inside God�s cloud so that life-giving water will pour out from it. No fairness in sight: simply self-sacrificing love.

A similar situation is presented in Genesis 15. To understand the significance of this passage also requires some historical background. In those days, when a smaller country was conquered by a larger one, the king of the larger one would force the leader of the smaller one into a covenant. The terms of the covenant were generally that the smaller nation would provide the larger nation with certain resources, and in turn the larger nation would prevent other nations from wiping out the leader's nation. This really wasn't the fair deal it may sound like today - in essence, the larger nation plundered the smaller nation every year without using an army. But as a part of making the covenant, the larger nation's king would command that a number of his foreign slaves be butchered, cut up into pieces and placed in two rows. Then the conquered nation's leader would walk through the rows in recognition that, if he were to break the treaty, the same would happen to him and his people.

Well in Genesis 15, Abraham is praised for his faith but appears also to lack some: he wants confirmation that what the Lord has promised will come about. So God sets up a similar situation, promising Abraham certain things about his descendants. Abraham, in cutting up the animals, would have recognized the setup and have expected to walk through, as the weaker one, in promising obedience to God so that the terms of the covenant would be fulfilled. Instead, God Himself walks through, expressing "May I be cursed if these things do not come true."

And the waves of grace continue to flow. God provided everything necessary to free the Israelites from bondage and sustain them through the desert, to bring about the fulfillment of His promises to Abraham, and, ultimately, to provide a just way for sins to be forgiven through Jesus Christ. If you're looking at salvation in a way that puts you at the center, wake up - this great and mighty God is so full of love that He has given and continues to give you more than you ever have or could deserve. Recognize the waves of grace that flowed throughout Scripture and continue to flow in your life and the lives of those around you, and know that behind them is an ocean: an infinite, awesome, powerful God that is worthy of all our worship and all our praise. Enjoy Him.

For a lot of people, the worst part about going to beach is the sand, which has a tendency to get in and on everything. Beachgoers complain about it and do their best to protect their belongings by placing them in bags, showering them in water, and always being careful. My tendency: get as much sand on my possessions as I possibly can. I want to remember this summer, to have it be a part of me forever; may the truths learned and inspirations felt here be like grains of sand washed up by the Mighty Ocean that permeate everything I bring before Him.

In front of our house, there's a dirty old fire hydrant. Whenever an emergency arises, some people use the usually-ignored object with fading paint to splash just enough water to postpone a disaster until next time. I can't help but seeing American society as trying to bottle-up such grace, such a God-centered view of salvation unless it's absolutely necessary, as in when twin towers fall. On the other side of the street is a large stone cross surrounded by flowers. May God be forever praised for providing an eternal foundation for salvation from which beautiful, fulfilling life spreads. And may we ever view God not as One who is only there for emergencies and is otherwise an ugly obstruction to life, but instead as the One that authors and completes the work of faith in the lives of those who rebelled against Him and deserved His wrath. Soli Deo Gloria.