God's Tolerances
or, "A Tale of Three Millwrights"
It has been said, “Do what you can, and God makes up the difference.”?! Half true, but we do not do what we can; we do what we want. And, if one is honest, he knows there is too much truth to that.
Today I worked with Joe, a sure-enough millwright/machinist. He was balancing a factory balanced fan. When we got through, it was within ISO G1.0 standards. We had to take off about 39 grams of metal at 60 degrees from top-center. When we got through it was vibrating .294 mils at 1800 rpm. (not very much; printer paper is about 4.5 mils). And Joe’s comment was, “everything has tolerances”.
“What are God’s tolerances?” was the question that was brought up between us! Plus or minus 3 ten-thousandths?! Jesus said, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt.5:20) He also said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mt.19:20) The text goes on to record the bewilderment of the twelve, “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" And, then the response of Jesus, Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
A clue to resolve the difficulty can be found in Phil3:9 “be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”
Of course, this only applies if one has done the right things in the right way for the right reasons with the right people. YEAH, RIGHT?! A prayer of Jesus, in the midst of the agony of the Cross, was “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…” (Lk.23.34) Plus or minus how many thousandths? And, then there is Rom.5:8-10, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Plus or minus how many thousandths?! Ps.103:12 says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Plus or minus how many THOUSANDS?! (how far is the east from the west?)
My dad, RD, was a millwright, also. And, he was a good one. But, his favorite tool was a 16 lb. hammer. He could make anything fit! God has a bigger hammer! God is NOT a precision-fit craftsman. “Tolerances, everything has it.” Some call it “slop”, “play”, “backlash”, others “forgiveness”. There is a lot of “forgiveness” in his plan.
God’s tolerances include a lot of parameters: character faults, interpersonal friction, and even doctrinal misalignment. Yes, a machine runs better (to a point) with tighter tolerances. But, we are not machines. We need a little more “freeness” in our worn-out, corroded, misadjusted, poorly assembled lives.
You know, some call this tolerance thing “freeness”. Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (Jn.8:36) Can you hear the preacher? “free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty; I’m free at last!”
How close do you think one has to be? Your answer says something about your picture of God. One could call this “A Tale of Three Millwrights”. Jesus is not the fourth millwright, But, Jesus was a carpenter, though, not a millwright; he was used to hammering things until they fit.
What do you think?
If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening ... all over this land,
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between all of my brothers and my sisters
All over this land.
If I had a hammer
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