This is the final installment in a series of three. Please read the previous two before this...
And then, when it seems like dusk has set out irrevocably for night. When despair is palpable, something changes.
Off the beaten path, in a forgotten town, in a stable, there is a young pregnant girl, nervous, eyes squinting as she fights off the beginning pains of labor. People have judged her for being pregnant before marriage. Rumors had spread. Even with an angel’s assurance their was challenge and heart-ache. Now, on the ground of a stable the pain continues...
Next to her is a young man. His eyes dart around, nervous. He holds the girl, as if protecting her. He gets up. He walks back and forth, around the donkeys and other animals in the stable. A few days ago he had a vision of an angel, it was bright startling and reassuring. Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:20-21).
But that was a few days ago; all the reassurance that gave, it faded in the face of the pressure and pain of the coming birth. It was almost as if both the young man and the girl were aching with the question “Where are you now God? Sure there was a vision of an angel. Sure. But how about now, in this manger. On this cold night. Where are you?” The cry in the very heart of humanity since the garden: “Where are you God?”
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”
(Matthew 1:23)
The answer to not only Mary and Joseph’s cry, but humanity’s cry of where are you is answered in the manger amidst animals and a nervous and scared young married couple. Immanuel: God with us. In Jesus God tells all of creation: ‘I am with you.’
11 May all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
Psalm 72:11-14
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:2-6
Showing posts with label Biblical Theolgy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biblical Theolgy. Show all posts
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Christmas II
Christmas doesn’t begin in a manger, it’s roots go to the beginning of time, to the depth of God’s persistently loving heart, to the depths of humanity’s great and expansive need.
As God’s ‘where are you?-searching-love’ echoes throughout time, through prophets, in covenants and promises. Humanity cries a similar cry. Abraham and Sarah cry ‘where are you God?’ as they hope for a child--when it looks like hope is gone and the promise trampled and forgotten. Jacob cries ‘where are you God?’ on a road by himself, away from his family, on the run from his older and angry brother. Leah cries ‘where are you God?’ when her husband Jacob looks at her with disgust. Joseph cries ‘where are you God?’ when his brothers nearly leave him for dead, then sell him into slavery. ‘Where are you God?’ Moses’ mother cries as she sends her oldest son away, hoping that Pharaoh won’t find him. ‘Where are you God?’ Israel cries out in slavery. ‘Where are you God?’ Israel cries out in the desert, as it wanders seeking a land of promise. In exile, away from their homes, Israel cries ‘where are you?’
‘Where are you God?’ is a question that echoes in hearts from Abraham to Nehemiah, in places from Egypt to Babylon. like a son that longs for his father’s provision, like a daughter that wants her mother’s arms creation cries out “Where are you God?”
God cries out: “Where are you?” with a deep longing love.
Humanity cries out: “Where are you?” with a great expansive need.
As God’s ‘where are you?-searching-love’ echoes throughout time, through prophets, in covenants and promises. Humanity cries a similar cry. Abraham and Sarah cry ‘where are you God?’ as they hope for a child--when it looks like hope is gone and the promise trampled and forgotten. Jacob cries ‘where are you God?’ on a road by himself, away from his family, on the run from his older and angry brother. Leah cries ‘where are you God?’ when her husband Jacob looks at her with disgust. Joseph cries ‘where are you God?’ when his brothers nearly leave him for dead, then sell him into slavery. ‘Where are you God?’ Moses’ mother cries as she sends her oldest son away, hoping that Pharaoh won’t find him. ‘Where are you God?’ Israel cries out in slavery. ‘Where are you God?’ Israel cries out in the desert, as it wanders seeking a land of promise. In exile, away from their homes, Israel cries ‘where are you?’
‘Where are you God?’ is a question that echoes in hearts from Abraham to Nehemiah, in places from Egypt to Babylon. like a son that longs for his father’s provision, like a daughter that wants her mother’s arms creation cries out “Where are you God?”
God cries out: “Where are you?” with a deep longing love.
Humanity cries out: “Where are you?” with a great expansive need.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Christmas I
The scene is not Bethlehem, but a Garden. There are no wise-men, no mangers. There is a man and his wife. She has taken a bite of a fruit, she has passed it on to her husband. Suddenly shame fills them both. Some call this “the Fall”--look closely you can almost see a spike driving apart creation from it’s Creator.
It was evening when “the man and his wife heard the sound [... of] God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”’
If you listen closely you can hear the pain in God’s voice, where are you? “Where are you?” He asks as the man and woman hide among the leaves. A question that is not, of course, fully a question, because God knows the answer; He asks where are you? The way a loving father looks into his disobedient son’s eyes. Where are you? The way a patient mother looks into her reckless daughter’s life.
The story of Christmas that begins not in a manger, but a garden, not with the smell of frankincense, but the tasting of a fruit, as God paces around the garden. This “Where are you”-love resounds in covenants, promises and prophets. It spans centuries and generations. Throughout time God’s love echoes. This love, His fastidious-searching-where-are-you-love knows that reconciliation--sure, fixed and definite--will eventually come like a spike in His heart.
It was evening when “the man and his wife heard the sound [... of] God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”’
If you listen closely you can hear the pain in God’s voice, where are you? “Where are you?” He asks as the man and woman hide among the leaves. A question that is not, of course, fully a question, because God knows the answer; He asks where are you? The way a loving father looks into his disobedient son’s eyes. Where are you? The way a patient mother looks into her reckless daughter’s life.
The story of Christmas that begins not in a manger, but a garden, not with the smell of frankincense, but the tasting of a fruit, as God paces around the garden. This “Where are you”-love resounds in covenants, promises and prophets. It spans centuries and generations. Throughout time God’s love echoes. This love, His fastidious-searching-where-are-you-love knows that reconciliation--sure, fixed and definite--will eventually come like a spike in His heart.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The Phenonemon of the Kingdom
Mark 10:15 “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
We have to re-learn how to see things. Our hearts our often hard (Mark 10:5). Our hands are often doing things they ought not (Mark 10:43). We have trained ourselves according to the patterns of this world. We need the Spirit to be our pedagogue to train us in all holiness so that we might grasp the Kingdom with new eyes. Or, we always enter into a posture of disection--critical analysis--thus keeping our eyes from witnessing the glory of in-breaking Kingdom. We need eyes that for the first time grasp the beauty of color, the phenomenon of the Kingdom.
All this, it would seem, is what Jesus is referring to--and certainly more.
This reference to receiving the Kingdom like a child is another way of explaining the new birth and the conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus. We must have our minds renewed so that we can grasp the Kingdom anew—the world has been, too much, our teacher.
We have to re-learn how to see things. Our hearts our often hard (Mark 10:5). Our hands are often doing things they ought not (Mark 10:43). We have trained ourselves according to the patterns of this world. We need the Spirit to be our pedagogue to train us in all holiness so that we might grasp the Kingdom with new eyes. Or, we always enter into a posture of disection--critical analysis--thus keeping our eyes from witnessing the glory of in-breaking Kingdom. We need eyes that for the first time grasp the beauty of color, the phenomenon of the Kingdom.
All this, it would seem, is what Jesus is referring to--and certainly more.
This reference to receiving the Kingdom like a child is another way of explaining the new birth and the conversation Jesus has with Nicodemus. We must have our minds renewed so that we can grasp the Kingdom anew—the world has been, too much, our teacher.
Monday, July 05, 2010
A Very Partial Biblical Theology of Creation Care
I'm presenting a seminar on Creation Care with a lot of High School students in Kentucky. Below is a brief part of my presentation. I'd love your thoughts...
...
Biblical Notes on Creation Care
"Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26
"I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for good. And to all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for good And it was so." Genesis 1:29
Both the former and the latter verses are often referred to as dominion verses. They refer to humans ruling over creation. Some say that these verses show that creation has no value apart from what it can give to us. Creation exists as a bag of resources for human consumption. Some people that do not have a faith in Christ point to scriptures like this and say, 'See the Bible is one of the main reasons why we're in the mess we're in. The Bible tells people that they can do whatever they want to creation, because they "rule" over it.' While it's clear that God intends for us to "rule over" creation what exactly does that "rule" look like?
In v. 26 humanity's creation in God's "image [... and] likeness" is connected to humanity's ability to "rule". We can rule over creation because we were created in God's image, God being the supreme ruler. "Rule" or dominion is only possible because we are image-bearers. So the right question is: "How does God rule?" God rules graciously, lovingly, carefully. Therefore, we should--if we are to live out our calling as image-bearers--also "rule" over creation: graciously, lovingly, carefully. A medieval rabbi named Rashi spoke of how if humans embodied God's image and dealt with creation "with wisdom and compassion, we will rise above the animals and preside over, them, insuring a life of harmony on earth. However if we are oblivious to our power and deny our responsibility to creation, we will sink below the level of the animals and bring ruin to our selves and the world" (Splendor of Creation, Ellen Bernstein 113). This is an interesting perspective as the Old Testament often depicts bad rulers as sub-human beasts (e.g. Daniel 4).
So humans are called to "rule over" creation but to rule as God rules: graciously, lovingly, responsibly.
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work (serve) it and take care (keep, protect, watch-over it) of it." Genesis 2:15
While the first two verses (1:26, 29) speak about the human responsibility to rule over creation, this verse describes the human responsibility in a different yet complimentary way. The two main verbs that have to do with with Adam ("work" and "take care of") have interesting meanings in the original Hebrew. The word that is often translated "work" in the Hebrew means: "to serve, to till, to dress." The following verb, often translated, "take care of" in the Hebrew means: to guard, protect, or keep. Elsewhere this same verb is used to describe how God guards men during difficult times (Genesis 28:15, 20; Ps. 12:8; 16:1, 25:20).
...
Biblical Notes on Creation Care
"Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26
"I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for good. And to all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for good And it was so." Genesis 1:29
Both the former and the latter verses are often referred to as dominion verses. They refer to humans ruling over creation. Some say that these verses show that creation has no value apart from what it can give to us. Creation exists as a bag of resources for human consumption. Some people that do not have a faith in Christ point to scriptures like this and say, 'See the Bible is one of the main reasons why we're in the mess we're in. The Bible tells people that they can do whatever they want to creation, because they "rule" over it.' While it's clear that God intends for us to "rule over" creation what exactly does that "rule" look like?
In v. 26 humanity's creation in God's "image [... and] likeness" is connected to humanity's ability to "rule". We can rule over creation because we were created in God's image, God being the supreme ruler. "Rule" or dominion is only possible because we are image-bearers. So the right question is: "How does God rule?" God rules graciously, lovingly, carefully. Therefore, we should--if we are to live out our calling as image-bearers--also "rule" over creation: graciously, lovingly, carefully. A medieval rabbi named Rashi spoke of how if humans embodied God's image and dealt with creation "with wisdom and compassion, we will rise above the animals and preside over, them, insuring a life of harmony on earth. However if we are oblivious to our power and deny our responsibility to creation, we will sink below the level of the animals and bring ruin to our selves and the world" (Splendor of Creation, Ellen Bernstein 113). This is an interesting perspective as the Old Testament often depicts bad rulers as sub-human beasts (e.g. Daniel 4).
So humans are called to "rule over" creation but to rule as God rules: graciously, lovingly, responsibly.
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work (serve) it and take care (keep, protect, watch-over it) of it." Genesis 2:15
While the first two verses (1:26, 29) speak about the human responsibility to rule over creation, this verse describes the human responsibility in a different yet complimentary way. The two main verbs that have to do with with Adam ("work" and "take care of") have interesting meanings in the original Hebrew. The word that is often translated "work" in the Hebrew means: "to serve, to till, to dress." The following verb, often translated, "take care of" in the Hebrew means: to guard, protect, or keep. Elsewhere this same verb is used to describe how God guards men during difficult times (Genesis 28:15, 20; Ps. 12:8; 16:1, 25:20).
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