not having easy ready answers

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience…

1 Peter 3:15-16a

The older I get, the more I question even my own questions or answers, for that matter. My typical response to things is “I don’t know,” or “It’s complicated.” That’s not to say that I don’t have some opinions on a whole range of issues. And even convictions. Although given the nature of things, much of it can be on matters that are rather open ended. The answer may be good insofar as it goes, but it’s open to refinement, and even some correction.

But when it comes to life itself, and what’s at the heart of it, I wouldn’t hesitate to think, and hopefully say, It is God in Jesus, and the good news in him in his incarnation and life, death and resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit, with the promise of his return. That is something I believe without so much as a thought that it might need some correction here or there. Of course only God fully understands even the most simple gospel truth, such as John 3:16. We understand by faith as much as God helps us to, of these simple, yet profound truths, which are brought home to our hearts and minds by the Spirit of God.

And we’re to tell them to others. Not having all the answers, or being a know-it-all. But simply being able to point to the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. In whom we have put our faith and hope, our all. And through whom we know God’s love, which we share with all others. Jesus.

Advertisements

peace of mind and heart

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Usually when I turn to this passage, which naturally I know quite well by now, it’s when I’m already lost in anxiety or worry over something. And that’s quite alright and good. We need to go to such promises as this when we’re struggling, or not doing well. But what if we could apply this passage in such a way as to simply avoid worry and anxiety altogether? Or more realistically keep growing toward that ideal, so that any lapse would be short lived, and increasingly rare.

Easier said than done. But words are where we start. And the Word (John 1). Scripture which points us to Christ and the gospel. But the importance of the specifics in scripture should not be minimized.

Trying to apply the passage above means that whenever something happens which might cause anxiety, immediately we bring it to God in prayer with thanksgiving. Praying as best we can, but looking to God for the answer. And more importantly, simply resting in God, or more precisely, as it says, in God’s peace, which surpasses and transcends, or is greater than our understanding, or all understanding, for that matter. To have our hearts and minds guarded in Christ Jesus is what more and more should be the norm for us. But we have to keep bringing the concerns that come our way to God in prayer. And in a sense we can say, leave them there. In and through Jesus.

holding on to wisdom

“Now then, my children, listen to me;
    blessed are those who keep my ways.
Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it.
Blessed are those who listen to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway.
For those who find me find life
    and receive favor from the Lord.
But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
    all who hate me love death.”

Proverbs 8:32-36

Lady wisdom speaks to us in Proverbs, in words which we all desperately need. Too often though, we simply think because we read the words, and agree with it in our head, that all is okay. But those words, and that truth must seep into our hearts, and change our lives. And that takes time.

Wisdom is desperately needed all the way around. From the beginning in the reverential fear of God, to the end, and all times in between. We will fail sometimes in following wisdom, and reap something of the consequences, but even then we need wisdom from God to know what to do, and what not to do. Trust in God is paramount, which means depending on both God’s word and God’s Spirit. And being interdependent on God’s people.

We need to seek and embrace wisdom for all it’s worth. This needs to be a passion in our lives. And we’ll find our way to it through utter dependence on God in the midst of real life. Not in a vacuum somewhere off in an ivory tower. God wants to teach us wisdom right where we live, in real life. After all, that’s what wisdom is for.

We need to keep at it, not thinking we will arrive, but in pursuit of it our entire lifetime. Believing that God will faithfully and generously provide it to us as we ask for it as needed (James 1). And finding it most of all in Jesus, who is wisdom from God to us, even in the way of the cross (1 Corinthians 1). For all of us, yes, everyone, in and through Jesus.

Jesus is the center

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1

I love the ceiling in an Orthodox church in our area, in which there is an iconic painting of Jesus in the center, surrounded by apostles and prophets. It is such a beautiful reminder of what we’re told in scripture, and quite specifically here, that Jesus is indeed the center for our life and existence in God. He is the one who brings us to God, as the God-Human, and through his incarnation, death and resurrection, along with his ascension, the pouring out of the Spirit, with the promise of his return.

And being center, or the one who has preeminence, or supremacy, our thoughts need to be fixed on him. In him we see the Father. And he is the one hope for the world to bring the needed justice and salvation, indeed the grace and actual kingdom of God. Beginning now even through the church. In God’s love, in and through him.

grace to continue

The week of Jesus’s death and resurrection, which we now call Holy Week was a most difficult time for Jesus’s disciples, as we see from the gospel accounts. It is practically amazing that all of them except Judas not only were in it for the long haul, but gave their lives up in martyrdom because of their testimony to Jesus, and his death and resurrection.

This reminds me of the grace we need to continue no matter what. Why do some drop out of the Christian faith altogether? Some do, and there are surely a good number of reasons surrounding that. But the crux of the matter from one angle is the failure to simply continue in the grace of God available in Jesus. We see from various passages in the New Testament that simply to continue on in the grace of God is what keeps us keeping on in Jesus. We all need that.

The grace of God here simply refers to what we need to keep us both believing and following our Lord. Of course there is much involved in that, as we see from scripture. We continue to follow Jesus not because of us, or our circumstances. But always because of God’s gift to us in Jesus. Not even with the natural good by creation that is in us, that we are. But only through the new creation in Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). And so we follow. Only in and through him.

turn your attention, look to, and focus on Jesus

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

John 12:20-22

Recently we saw what I think amounted to a good documentary on the life of St. Patrick of Ireland. I thought it dealt with what I have read and been taught about his life, evenhandedly and well, for the limited time it had, not including the myths that are either historically unwarranted, or can’t be substantiated. What I like best about it in retrospect, became apparent to me after looking at a popular (I take it) more like film, acting out his life. In this film, the actor playing Patrick was quite charismatic, I suppose, which is beside the point, because actually the actor playing Patrick in the documentary, surely would have been as well, if by charismatic we mean seeing the gift of the Spirit at work through his prayers and life. But if by charismatic, we mean a strong figure who attracts the attention of others, than that was every bit the Patrick portrayed in the film. He looked tall, rugged, strong, a face one could hardly forget, in command, one people would look to, and have confidence in, just because of his appearance. But the real Patrick, or the one that I believe is much more in keeping with what we know of in accordance with historical evidence, and from what we see about this in scripture, was humble, self-effacing, yet firm in his commitment to God’s call on his life. A broken vessel, sharing the gospel. The one as portrayed in the documentary.

Interestingly, in the scripture above, the Greeks didn’t care about seeing the disciples, or followers of Jesus. Or anyone else for that matter, it seems. They wanted to see Jesus. And Jesus surely wanted to see them, as well. But he thought of the great ingathering of Greeks and of all peoples that would take place through what he was about to do. This was Jesus’s response, and what followed:

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

John 12:23-33

Jesus is the one we need to see. It’s not us, or someone else. Only, and forever only: Jesus. Through him we see God. And we see the one who wants to make us fully what we were created to be in what amounts to nothing short of a new creation in him. But it is never marked by our own greatness or goodness. Only his.

Our lives are only as good so to speak insofar as they point to Jesus. If people’s attention is turned to us, that’s not to their benefit in the least, but actually to their destruction. But insofar as we can see Jesus in someone else, that is wonderful, and what’s meant to be. But it is marked by the way of the cross. What we reflect on during this time of the year, as we look forward to remembering Jesus’s suffering and death for us, and the resurrection that followed.

“We would see Jesus.” Yes, me, too. In and through him. Amen.

Jesus’s full participation in being an ordinary human (and what follows)

When it comes right down to it, every human being in an ordinary person, including Jesus, who though being God, became human, so that he is God and human at the same time. Remarkable. But yet somehow an ordinary human being.

When I say ordinary, I mean genuine, real, nothing more/nothing less. The truth of the matter about ordinary people is that really all ordinary people are extraordinary in the sense that they are made in God’s image, and therefore unique within creation. What it means to be in God’s image probably involves a number of things, including the special task God gave humankind at the beginning to be steward rulers, one might say, over God’s good earth. To rule under God, and to be in relationship with the God who essentially is Relationship as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus will forever remain unique, since somehow in mystery he is both fully God, and fully human. That God, yes God became human in and of itself is remarkable, because while God in essence is of course unchanged, yet God’s participation in humanity, even sharing in humanity by becoming human is a radical change. But it just goes to show how extraordinary, ordinary people are in the first place.

And so I like to highlight in my mind both just how ordinary we humans are, and how God in Jesus partook of that ordinariness. Remember during Jesus’s life that those who knew him noted nothing more remarkable than that he was the carpenter’s son, and the carpenter (Matthew 13; Mark 6). Not that such wasn’t good; it was simply in contrast to the work he was taking on, and the claims along with that.

But I also want to highlight that each and every human is also extraordinary, at the very least in creation and potential, and in ways we might not suspect or understand, and yet can begin to appreciate. That actually includes every human being. And how in Jesus, God takes us up into the full potential and meaning of what it means to be created in God’s image. Of course Jesus is the complete, exact, full, we could say unblemished image of God in humanity. As Colossians tells us, “all the fullness of the Deity…in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9; see also Colossians 1; Hebrews 1:3).

Humans are special in being uniquely related to God. That is evident in creation, and made clear in new creation, entered into by faith, with baptism accompanying that, picturing another aspect of why God became flesh, to take us humans through death into the fullness of life.

And so we need not diminish who we are, nor should we get any kind of big head about it. Humans are indeed humbled yet exalted in and through Jesus. We have a special place and identity in and through him. So that we should embrace our humanity in terms of God’s good creation and will for us fulfilled in new creation in and through Jesus.