The Word of God (Part Two)

The second hidden gem in John’s introduction is what he means by calling Jesus “the Word”.  An idea is a powerful concept.  Words and ideas can inspire people, create movements, change the world.  But an idea is hidden until it is expressed, either in word or deed.  E. Stanley Jones suggested in his book “Christ of the Mount” that Jesus, the incarnation of God, is the human expression of God in the same way that a spoken word is the expression of an idea.  If we want to know what God is like in terms we can understand, look carefully at Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.  Look at what he said, what he did, how he treated people.  He was humble yet strong.  Poor but kingly.  Loving but challenging.   

The phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” swept through American churches and inspired a 2011 movie, created the bracelet fad (WWJD) and spawned many websites that have a well-intentioned mix of Jesus’ sayings taken out of context and usually coming across as judgmental and even hateful toward the down-trodden and outcast.

In his earthly life, Jesus was both loving and judgmental.  But who was he loving to except the down-trodden and the outcast.  Who was he judgmental to?  The proud and the religious elite who had forgotten to be loving and merciful.  I am not saying we should not tell the truth about sin and its consequences.  The consequence of sin is death: separation from one another and from God.  If I am honest with myself, assuming I have been forgiven (and I hope I have been forgiving!), I have sinned and continue to sin at an astonishing pace.  We all will rely on His Grace.  If I have any hope at all in Jesus, how can I possibly judge whether someone else should not?  

The Word of God (Part One)

John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This introduction to the Gospel of John is one of the most powerful sections in the Bible.  It starts with the obvious reference to Genesis 1:1 but with an apparent sharp turn.  There are, however, two hidden gems to understand this passage better.  First, in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning” can mean “the first thing to know” or “the first thing that happened” - or it can mean “by the first” or “through the first-born”.  That is, literally Jesus was there in the beginning, co-creator with God the Father.  John did not invent this idea.  He merely restated what Moses wrote.  If you go to the very next verse in Genesis 1, the Holy Spirit is also there in the beginning: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”  

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Without him nothing was made that has been made.  The verb tense here is the imperfect, meaning an action that began in the past and continues.  The Alpha and the Omega, who was and is and is to come.  Creator of everything that has ever been, is now and everything that ever will be.

Stay tuned for part two! 

Ya Gotta Believe!

 If you remember the movie Chariots of Fire, you remember being moved by Eric Liddel’s stance to not run a trial heat on a Sunday because he felt it important to keep the Sabbath.  “I believe God made me for a purpose, for China, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”  The British Olympic Committee tried to convince him that “it’s only one heat” and for King and Country, he should run. 

- Duke of Sutherland: The "lad", as you call him, is a true man of principles and a true athlete. His speed is a mere extension of his life, its force. We sought to sever his running from himself.

- Lord Birkenhead: For his country's sake, yes.

- Duke of Sutherland: No sake is worth that, least of all a guilty national pride.

What Sutherland was saying is that if Liddel had compromised, he would have lost his connection with God.  I believe this is what happened to Samson.  It was not Samson’s hair, per se, that made him strong.  It was his belief that God had ordained him to be a Nazarite and that he was chosen before he was born to lead Israel.  His long hair was the symbol of that connection with God.  And when he woke up and realized that Delilah had betrayed him, he realized he had betrayed his faith.  Devastated, he could not raise a hand to defend himself and he ended his life in shame and in chains, capable only of one final act of defiance.

I would suggest that Samson had already been unfaithful to God in using his strength for his own gain, and perhaps that is why God allowed him to be put to shame.  Conversely, Liddel held firm to his faith, and won a race four times as long as he was used to running. 

This, I believe, is what it means to have “the faith of a mustard seed”.  When we face daunting trials and pray for God to see us through, can we go forward convinced that God will act?  The book of Daniel (3:16-18) has the famous story of the three friends thrown into the furnace for refusing to bow in worship to the king and is, I believe, a perfect example of how to have faith:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

In other words, they firmly believed that God would rescue them (and he did), but were not going to change their mind or their actions even if they knew he was not going to.  Similarly, as Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will but thine.”  

Are you facing a trial?  Insurmountable odds?  As Al Michaels famously said, “Do you believe in miracles?”  And as Tug McGraw said, “Ya gotta believe!”

The Unforgiving Servant

 One of the reasons I believe the Bible is the Word of God is how practical it is in “real life”.

The parable of the unforgiving servant, in Matthew 18, describes a man who owes his master 10,000 talents and cannot pay.  He begs his master for time to pay and his master instead tells him that his entire debt is forgiven, wiped out.  The newly debt-free servant goes out and sees a fellow servant who owes him 100 denari and demands payment.  That servant gives the same speech that the first one had given: give me more time and I will pay.  But the first servant has the second thrown in jail.  The master hears of this and revokes his magnanimity, having the wicked servant thrown in jail “to be tortured until he should pay back all that he owed.”

Jesus ends with “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”  

If you don’t have the talent or the denari on your currency exchange, a denari was worth one day’s labor, so the second man owed the first about three months’ labor.  A talent was worth 20 years of labor, so the first servant owed the master 200,000 years’ labor.  For perspective, scientists estimate that humankind has existed in total for about 100,000 years. We might say that God is willing to forgive the debt of every man, woman and child who ever lived, twice over.  

Recently, I have been burned by someone I trusted.  I find myself thinking of this parable often these days.  What does it mean to me that I have been forgiven by God?  How does that impact my willingness to forgive others?  How should it?

I cannot find the term “forgive and forget” anywhere in the Bible.  That seems to be reserved for God who casts our sins “as far as the East is from the West (Psalm 103:12)” and “remember (them) no more (Jer 31:34)”.  Instead, Jesus commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  He did not say to treat everyone like a friend, because, as JRR Tolkien wrote, “It needs but one foe to breed a war, not two… And those who have not swords can still die upon them.”

I am working out the difference between forgiving, that is, not seeking revenge, and reconciliation.  Forgiveness, we can and must do, regardless of whether the other person shows any contrition.  Reconciliation requires real work from both parties.  I believe I have forgiven my friend that burned me, though sometimes, I must admit, it still smarts and I have to forgive him again.  I have taken him aside and spoken with him, one on one, about how I see things.  He was unmoved.  He is not a Christian, so I cannot count on him to understand forgiveness and reconciliation.  As such, I believe that the Bible says that forgiving him is enough.  Perhaps one day, he will come to Jesus and he and I can heal our relationship.  I will pray for him.  

I hope I am striking the right balance with my friend.  I hope he will find God's forgiveness. I hope you might find this instructive.  I hope.  I hope.

The Transformative Power of Love

 Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The Old Testament is filled with genealogies.  Matthew and Luke’s gospels each trace Jesus’ back to Abraham and Adam.  Yet being part of a Christian family, going to church every Sunday, does not make me Christian any more than standing in a garage could make me a car.  So on the one hand, it is reassuring and inspiring to think of that “great cloud of witnesses”, on the other hand, it is potentially damaging if that somehow prevents us from living out the rest of this passage.  I believe Luke’s genealogy traces the faithful believers in God from Adam, the “son of God”, to Jesus, God Incarnate.  From one believer to the next, from one person to the next.  

When we are baptized and when we are confirmed into the Church, in the Episcopal arm of the Body of Christ, a bishop lays hands on each of us.  That bishop was blessed by a bishop at their ordination.  And so we could trace back the heritage of our faith all the way to Peter and to Jesus.  

At the Dante presentation last month at St. Luke's, Dr. Riccardo Bruscagli talked about the transformative power of love.  This transformation only happens one person at a time.  From one believer to the next.  Who are you sharing your faith with?  Who might look for you among their cloud of witnesses?