Responsibility Beneath the Rainbow of Grace
Personal Matters
Stressed people are all around us; the school teacher overwhelmed with the expectations of the admin of a private school, the business person striving to meet the never ending demands of a large project, the pastor burning out in “the work of the Lord”. As a young minister I made 1000 home visits in my first 9 months of ministry, along with many other obligations the schedule was exhausting. Situations like the above are all driven by a powerful inner sense of responsibility. Something happened during my recent visit to Cambodia which speaks directly to this issue. Whilst my wife feared that speaking to genocide survivors would re-traumatise me[1], I have actually been feeling significantly less pressured by the circumstances of life since returning home. A key reason for this has to do with a sharper focus on the boundaries of our Christian “call”.
The Same but Different
Twenty years ago a sense of call to a wider prophetic ministry was aggressively rejected by the leadership of a local traditional church. One reason for my being in Cambodia was to discern whether God was re-calling me back into the institutional church to speak for him. My experience two decades ago was so extraordinarily wounding that I needed a very clear word from the Lord on this matter; which came in an unexpected way.
Early one morning as I was boarding a bus in the seaside town of Kep a rainbow appeared with one end on the land and the other in the bay. Later that day I was flying into the city of Siem Reap; it was raining again and a rainbow came out with one end on land and the other in the huge adjoining lake. A favourite passage came to mind; “I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven…with a rainbow over his head …He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring….Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”…And I was told, “You must again prophesy….” (Rev 10:1ff. ESV). The footnote in my Bible comments about “John’s receiving power to continue to prophesy.” This seemed a clear enough confirmation that I was being called back into a previously bitter situation to speak in the name of Christ. But how was this to be different from my last experience in such a way that it would leave me free from carrying the responsibilities of the all too likely burdens of rejection (cf. Matt 5:11-12)? The answer for me involves the same healing remedy needed by all my seriously stressed Christian acquaintances.
Rainbows of Grace
The key to freedom from over-responsibility lies in the meaning of the rainbow over the head of the mighty angel whose sovereignty over all things (sea and land) is conducted under a bow of grace (Rev 10:1-2). When the rainbow appears after Noah’s flood it signifies God has placed a limit on his earthly judgments (Gen 9:12-17), but when it is manifested “around the throne” of God in Revelation 4:3 it signifies the indestructibility of the new creation come in Christ. This is intimately connected to a prophetic declaration the Lord had me utter some years ago at Uluru (Ayers Rock), “Judgement has been taken away.” If judgement is taken away we need fear no lasting breaking apart. Those in Christ “do not come into judgement, but have already passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Having passed final judgement the reign of God brings the believer into indestructible peace and wholeness. We need no longer strive over responsibly “to hold things together”.
Every detail of our lives is now lived under the reign of God’s “throne of grace”; we are enclosed within the rainbow circumscribed throne of a sovereign sympathetic to our weakness. We may freely approach God’s presence confidently in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV). No matter what the external pressures of life Jesus will never lead us into places beyond the strength he has given us (1 Cor 10:13; 2 Cor 12:8). “The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.” What then are we to make of the stress-filled lives of many believers? The answer lies in discerning the limits of our calling.
Inside and Outside the Circle of Grace
A simple model represents the Christian life as a circle with the cross of Christ at the centre of a throne in the middle. Christ is occupying His rightful place on the throne of our lives[2].
God’s design is for the throne of Christ in our lives to be perfectly aligned with his throne in heaven, and that the boundaries of our thoughts and actions (our life circumference) are in perfect symmetry with the rainbow of grace that circles the heavenly throne. When this happens the peace of Christ truly rules our hearts no matter what the external stresses of life (Col 3:15). Let me give a concrete example of what this might mean.
As I was praying with a very frazzled person recently I could clearly see a circle around her life representing the limits of the responsibility to which God had called her. Whilst she remained inside the circle i.e. within the rainbow of grace, all was well and the pleasure of God was real to her (Rom 12:2). However when she imposed responsibilities for personal performance on her own life her sense of the satisfaction of God was lost. Outside the beauty of the rainbow canopy of God’s rule anxiety reigns! This is our problem.
Conclusion
Jesus promises his followers sweet rest (Matt 11:28-30). This rest is enjoyed by faith in the fact that the crucified and exalted Lord (Heb 4:3) has fulfilled the sum total of human responsibilities before God. Nothing we ever think or say as ir/responsible people can result in the “coming apart” of the new creation coming in Christ. To allow others to pressure us to do the right thing, or to put such pressures on ourselves, is to deny the revelation that judgment has been taken away. To realise that in Christ the rainbow of grace is always over our heads is at the centre of God’s call on our lives. Herein lies our peace.