Hitting Refresh

Last fall, sitting at the MD HS Boy’s Soccer State Match, I overheard a father behind me describing with not a small amount of joy, the adventure of purchasing his soon-to-be-sixteen-year-old-daughter's birthday present—four primo tickets to see the young female music superstar whose concert ticket sales broke the internet a bunch of times and made a lot of people really, really grouchy. He was, in the end, able to purchase them online, but only after an entire day sitting at his computer “hitting refresh every five seconds”, several thousand dollars in tickets, and another several hundred dollars in fees. I hope the concert was good.

As I’ve reread chapters 8 & 9 in Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, I’ve thought a lot about the patience, tenacity, and eventual joy of that man sitting at his computer all day just hitting refresh on behalf of his daughter. Here’s why: we tend to focus almost entirely on Christ’s past work of justification—our atonement—which is glorious. We should never stop talking about and celebrating what he did in the past in his life, death, and resurrection. But he’s also doing something in the present, and the Bible actually tells us precisely what that is: ever interceding and advocating for you and me. In essence, constantly, tenaciously, joyfully hitting refresh on our justification in the court of heaven.

I’m enthused about exploring this with you Sunday.