Showing off my birthday card

I turned 35 this week, and had a great birthday. I received lots of birthday well wishes via facebook (thanks everyone), as well as a few birthday cards. One card in particular is special to me because it is signed by about 40 inmates. While most people are afraid of prisoners and wouldn’t want to go into a jailhouse, I rather enjoy prison ministry, and really like being employed by the SC Dept. of Corrections as a chaplain.

I thought about those inmates who wished me a happy birthday this week in terms of Sunday’s sermon. The topic Sunday was RESTORATION. As you can imagine, the incarcerated would love a chance for restoration. Some of them get a chance to pay their debt and regain what was lost, but most never fully feel restored.

In the book of Ezekiel, God expresses that His people didn’t deserve another chance, but for the sake of His character of love and mercy, He would restore them. This would mean that God would eventually send his people home and lead them to rebuild the city walls and temple. But it really wouldn’t be the magnificent temple that they once had. It was something a lot less glorious.

Just like my incarcerated friends know so well, there are consequences to our sins that God may allow us to go through, and yet He still wants to restore us. Restoration doesn’t mean that we get off without paying for our actions, or that we recoup everything that we once threw away. It does mean, however, that God will not allow those actions, once forgiven, to change His love for us. Restoration isn’t about stuff; it’s about relationship with a personal God who can say to a penitent nation or a convicted murderer, thief, or molester, “I’m there for you.” That’s what God meant when he renamed the restored city “Jehovah Shammah”…the God who is there!