Shadows and Analogies

So, today's sermon got me thinking about Christ on the cross.  So much emphasis is placed on His physical suffering, as He was tortured and eviscerated....as if it ought to be some sort of guilt trip.  "Look what he endured for you.  It hurt really bad.  Feel guilty, and out of that guilt, try to behave." -And then the spiritualists reply with chatter about altered states of consciousness, where one is unable to feel physiological pain. (And that IS a reality; there are documented instances of people having invasive surgery while in a trance-state, under NO anesthetics, and they felt no pain.  That is real.  And Christ certainly was capable of invoking such a state, to save Himself any pain He would have felt.)  But I say: that is missing the point.

An aleph- a term math majors might be familiar with- tends to represent an "infinite reduction," numerically.  In Judaism, it is the first letter of the alphabet (aleph = alpha), and it represents the Beginning.  But its written symbol also represents "God above, man below, and That which connects them.  (In Sanskrit, the term "That" translates as God.  -And so, one could say, That which connects God to man, is God. = Messiah. = Christ.) Anyway, to thicken the plot, in philosophical/existential terms, an aleph also represents a single point in time/space, where everything collides- none of which is minimized, but simply concentrated into a singular point of experience.

And so. Back to Christ on the cross, and His suffering.  He may or may not have *actually felt the physical torture inflicted upon Him.  That is beside the point; that suffering is a mere shadow, an analogy pointing toward HIM as the ultimate, holy ALEPH- that point at which ALL is concentrated into a singularity, if you will.  You know that terrible feeling of guilt and conviction when you've done something wrong, and then it is doubled by the disappointment you have caused others with your actions?  Shame?  Regret?  These are very REAL, tangible feelings we've all experienced.  -Christ, on the cross, felt THAT-- the infinite WEIGHT of every wrong thing, every transgression, EVER committed by man. He felt the [rightful] rage, disappointment, and heartbreak of the Father who created us.  ALL of this was poured into a 'singularity' - that time He spent on the cross.  His physical pain was NOTHING compared to that.  It is, practically, *beside the point.*  It's a shadow and a weak analogy of the existential suffering Christ endured.

Christ IS the Aleph- that singularity at which ALL converges.  He is the Alpha and the Omega.  Scoff, as you may, at what was done to Him physically. -That's NOTHING compared to Him seeing your very own FACE, while He hung on the cross, experiencing punishment for every last wrong thing you ever have and ever will do.  And loving you, no less.  He could have called down 10,000 angels to take His place. But He didn't.  He suffered, lovingly, for OUR wrongs.  It is NOT a guilt-trip.  It is an invitation into GRACE.  It's an invitation into, "hey.  You know all that stuff you don't like about yourself, and wish you could change?  I LOVE YOU.  Let me MOVE INTO your heart, and make those changes FOR you."

Again, friends, that is NOT shame; it is GRACE.  It is the Creator of the universe saying directly to YOU, "I love you so much, I'd rather pay your debt than live without you."  There IS NO guilt, shame, or hiding.  IT IS DONE.  He took care of it.  Be free, knowing that, and do not take it for granted.  

A Moveable Feast

I actually don't know what that book is about, but that phrase came to me when I was thinking what to title this blog.  In science, in order for a theory to be sound, it must be reproducable.  In other words, it must be applicable. The process must be something that others can themselves carry out, and find similar results.

This morning at church, Mark talked about the Holy Spirit.  Allow me, before I go on, to digress a moment to talk about the holy trinity.  Of course, that means God AS the Father, God AS the Son, and God AS the Holy Spirit.  Now philosophically, that's a mess.  Let's just admit it!  But here's how I figure it. If a little tiny Tiff can have "inner dualities" -that even exchange ideas,and sometimes argue!- and still just be ONE person, then just mayyyybe God Himself can be a triumvirate, and still just be ONE God?? Anyway, so God the Father is like- I dunno- the "head" of the whole deal. I'm really not sure.  But I know that God the Son is Christ- the physical incarnation of God.  And God the Holy Spirit is just that- God's very spirit- and that is what I refer to as the "moveable feast."  Anyway, back to this morning's sermon.

Mark put a LOT of emphasis on the idea of Jesus setting aside the privileges of Godhood while He walked the earth. -Now let me clarify.  He was STILL God.  But He set that aside, because something else needed to get credit for His actions. I love this, because it is lovING.  Think about being a parent (social worker, boss...), and setting aside your knowledge of how to carry out X task, and letting your child (client, subordinate....) do it themselves- NOT because you literally cannot, at that moment, do it yourself- but because you need that _____ to get credit for doing it him/her-SELF.  THEY need the credit.  The analogy I'm drawing is not one of parent and child, but one of capability and credit.

See, Jesus was ABLE to work all the miracles He did on this earth AS God Himself.  But He set that aside,and allowed the Spirit of the Father work THROUGH him.  Now, wait a minute.  Jesus didn't do those things out of His OWN Godhood?  -Nope.  This is why it was important to review the trinity.  Jesus as God the Son *set aside* those capabilities, and allowed the Holy Spirit to work THROUGH Him, like I said.  Well isn't ALL the power ultimately just, ya know, GOD's?  Well yes.  But through separate conduits.  Christ set aside His ability to be a conduit, because He needed the Spirit to get the credit.

Why?  Well, several reasons.  First of all, letting the Spirit work through Him points everything back to the Father.  And that is foundational in the Gospel.  Second, because this creates a reproducible blueprint.  In order for God to become FULLY available to humanity, God had to BECOME a human, and to design a "process of connection" that is REPRODUCIBLE with any and all humans.  Christ set aside His Godhood and let the Spirit work THROUGH Him.  Then he sent the Spirit to US, so the Spirit could work THROUGH us!  Thus, the Holy Spirit is a Moveable Feast.  <3

More Sunday Afternoon Thoughts

So we're still in John 14, and Greg said some wonderful things this morning about the Lord.  He talked about the exclusivity of Christ's claims, and how the world takes issue with them- or conveniently overlooks them- and the logical fallacies that ensue.  He channelled the beloved CS Lewis when discussing a popular saying that encompasses the 'convenient overlooking'- "I like Jesus, I just really don't like the church...." [Sidenote: ya don't HAVE to like "the church" as an institution; it's quite ok if you don't!  In fact, many Christians don't like "the church" as an institution, either!]  Anyway, Greg talked about how you can't "like" Jesus, if you're paying any attention to His claims.  That is, you either worship Him, or think He's crazy.  But when the whole deal is closely examined, there really isn't a middle ground.  

Further, Greg called the church- and Christians- on the carpet for being arrogant.  And it's true, we often are, and that's ugly.  But I loved what Greg points out: Christianity is the ONLY religion which has NO right to be arrogant.  That is to say, we don't get ANY credit.   Christ did everything FOR us.  There is no fumbling toward moral perfection, or seeking ultimate 'godhood,' or any pats on the back for 'being a good person.'  Are we called to work on ourselves as human beings and take responsibility for our actions, etc?  Of course.  Called to 'be more Christlike, with the guidance of the Spirit?'  Yep. But within the context of the gospel, I did not "do something impressive to earn the title of Christian."  All I get credit for is believing.

And speaking of believing, so many people take issue with the exclusivity of Christianity. But the thing is, if you really take a close look at ANY religion or worldview, you'll hit a point somewhere down the road that it becomes exclusive.  Ya can't believe "everything," cuz that is contradictory.  If there exists any truth at all, then it follows that there are, therefore, un-truths.  And here's what Greg said that I got SUCH a kick out of- Christianity is really the most *inclusive* of all the exclusive systems.  Why?  Because everyone's invited.  One simple instruction: Believe.  All of this has already been done for you, God ALREADY loves you and ALREADY wants you for eternity.  Just believe that.  "But why does there have to be a story of redemption to begin with?  I mean, why would God create a world that He would then have to go back and 'fix' with the resurrection?"  Well, cuz He gave us a choice.  As a perfect Being, He can't abide *imperfection, but He loves us, so He paid the price Himself.  -And DON'T think that sacrificial redemption is strictly a Judeo-Christian concept.  Because the entire history of spirituality is littered with it- as well, with the concept that humans aren't perfect, and that this imperfection needs to be addressed- whether that be legally or spiritually/existentially.  Point being, the idea of addressing our short-comings with sacrifical redemption is not JUST "internally cogent" to the Christian narrative-- it's universal. 

And so, back to God.  He paid the ticket.  Cuz He loves us.  But He won't *make us choose Him. So like I said, sure it's exclusive.  But how much, really?  Everyone's invited, and the only think asked of you is to believe. "So, all the God of Christianity is asking me to do, is believe that Christ is the Messiah?" -Yep.  "Riiiight.  What about all that other stuff that's associated with Christianity, then.?"  -Well sure, we're called to do all sorts of things.  And sometimes we don't do them.  Or worse, sometimes we get deluded into believing that our worth as individuals (or more accurately, as immortal spiritual beings) is DEPENDENT upon those things.  Then we get bossy and insecure....and arrogant and judgmental..... Oops.  There we go, again.  The thing is, if you truly believe in your heart of hearts that you HAVE a debt- and that it's already PAID- then a lot of those other trappings tend to fall into place quite naturally, out of gratitude and humility. 

Let me draw you an analogy.  First, put into your mind that quote from Christ, "I am the bread of life."  -So, ok.  As a human being, I ought to do lots of things.  I should go to work, pay my bills, be nice to my friends and family, keep some semblance of cleanliness in my apartment, get some sleep, bathe once in awhile, and I should probably eat. -Actually, at the lowest common denominator, I as a physiological organism must first and foremost, EAT.  Everything falls behind that (even sleep, if you consider that, at some point, your body will MAKE you sleep, but it can't MAKE you eat).  That other stuff is very important too, but we MUST eat to stay alive and DO those things.  -Ok, so back to my quote.  "I am the bread of life."  -As a spiritual being, God's top priority for you is to really believe that He is truly, deeply, and intimately crazy about you- moreso than the most devout lover.  And He manifests that love in the personhood of Christ.  See what I did there?  We must eat.  Christ is the bread of life.  Again, all that other stuff (whether it be the functions of a modern human, or the functions of a Christian) is important, too.  But first, "eat."  And by that, I mean believe in the fantastic love that an infinite- yet personal- God is wanting to show you (and really already is, whether you recognize it or not).

So to bring the wheel full-circle, yeah Christianity is exclusive.  And Christians can be jerks, just like everyone else.  It's really not possible to be human without being a jerk sometimes.  And it's not possible to construct a worldview isn't exclusive in one way or another.  But with Chistianity, everyone's invited, no matter what.  No matter what.  He just wants you to believe.  That sounds to me like a pretty sweet deal.

I’ve been thinking a lot about God, and the misconceptions we all have about Him.  I could go on ad infinitum, waxing my own ego with “profound thoughts on a Supreme Being….”  But really, today, I just want to share a few ideas which are fresh on my mind and heart. 

I can hear my skeptical friends in my head, every time I sit in church, and I always find myself thinking about how the ugly things they believe/suspect/fear about Him are basically not true.   Like, how we’re not forgiven until we accept Christ.  –No, we’re ALL already forgiven.  Part of accepting Christ is choosing to believe that.  God already forgave you, but He doesn’t want to be a puppet master- He won’t *make* you choose Him.  He’d rather you choose Him as an act of love, just as He chose us as an act of love.  He didn’t have to, but He did.  -We don’t have to, but we can.

Or how Christianity is “a crock, because Christians believe they’re not sinners anymore, or that they’re exempt from the judgment of God, so they can do whatever they want.”  -Nope, we’re all still a bunch of sinners; we just try to seek the guidance of the Spirit to try to live better lives.  And we do NOT have a “free pass to do whatever we want now that we’re saved.”  If we truly believe the spiritual and existential gravity of that concept, that means that we are now *compelled/convicted* to try our best NOT to take advantage of God’s grace.  But as long as we remain in this human body, we are still broken and fallible.  God understands that.  He simply asks that we as HIM to walk with us and guide us, so that He can provide some light to our path.   

Or how about, “if I believe in God/become a Christian, bad things will stop happening to me” - ?  Well no wonder you’re disappointed, if that’s what you believed.  NOWHERE in that book, is that promise made.  Does He promise a “peace that surpasses all understanding?”  Yes.  But I can tell you from experience that profound peace *in the midst of* common human struggles is a LOT more powerful than a simple lack of complication.  After all, what men (humans) do we revere more? –Those who ‘succeed’ at living uncomplicated lives?  Or those who face great pain and adversity, and manage to take it on with grace, perseverance, humility, and resilience? –THAT is what God is offering.   

Then there’s “where was God when X bad thing happened?/ Maybe He LET (or worse, MADE) X bad thing happen in order to teach me a lesson/bring about ____ results/’make’ me get closer to Him.”  -What a mean guy, if that’s what you believe!  God ALLOWS all sorts of things.  Like I said, He gave us free will, and He has no interest in running a puppet show.  But He neither causes pain, nor does He ignore it.  Where was He when you were sobbing in a heap on the floor?  He was sobbing in a heap right next to you.  In other words, He’s got your back; He hurts when you hurt, just like your best friends, significant other, or close family members hurt with you, because they love you.  God doesn’t MAKE bad things happen- He hates ‘bad things.’  But that ship sailed, and it’s for another conversation.  In the midst of those bad things, He’s chomping at the bit to *use* them to bring you closer to Him and His love and comfort, and to provide any wisdom, growth, and healing that might be available in those circumstances.  But as is the nature of free will, it’s our choice to make ourselves available to what He’s offering in the midst of our pain. 

And on that note, let’s talk a moment about blaming God.  I’ll readily admit I’ve been mad at Him a good share in my own life, and assuredly will be again.  Not because X or Y was “His fault,” but because I too wish He just didn’t let us hurt.  Thing is, He’s a big boy, and He can handle us being mad at Him sometimes.  That doesn’t make those bad things His fault, though.  If I am hurtful toward someone else, is that God’s fault?  No.  I did that.  Likewise, if someone else hurts me, is that God’s fault?  Nope.  I just saw a comic strip where, in one panel, a baseball player is thanking God for his home run.  In the next, there’s a starving orphan and a drawing of God in the sky with a snide, indifferent smile on His face.  “If God is all-powerful, then how is it He gets credit for all the good things, but *doesn’t* get credit for all the bad things?  Why doesn’t He stop the bad things?”  Well I believe, like I said, that He didn’t CAUSE the bad things.  He is a good God.  But He did allow them, and my personal belief is that his “grand master plan” will ultimately answer for all of that, in ways we don’t have the capacity to understand.  But it brings to mind a quote I love: “I cried out to God, ‘look at all the horror and suffering in this world!  Why don’t you send someone to do something about it?’  And God answered, ‘I did.  I sent you.’ “   So yeah, if you hate all that ugliness, then ask yourself what you’re doing about it.  Ask yourself what GOD could do about it THROUGH you, if you *let* Him.

Like I said, there are other things I have thoughts on regarding God, but I’ll stop here, save only a couple more thoughts:  “Why would God care about what’s going on in my daily life?” –Well, He doesn’t have to.  But I believe He’s a being of love.  And if He is, then He MUST care that intimately.  “Why would God even be paying attention to us, considering we’re just a tiny blip in this immense universe?  I mean, isn’t that a bit self-centered of us humans to think that, if there IS a Creator, He would actually be paying any attention to us at all?”  -Well sure, He doesn’t need to.  But I’ll tell you that, if He *can’t* -as in, isn’t able to, in light of the immensity of all existence- then He’s not God.  But if He is- if there IS God at ALL- then caring about us and paying close attention to our daily lives- is certainly NOT beyond His infinite power.  “God is not limited to MY lack of imagination.” [-one of my favorite Al-Anon quips]  (Because, like I said, if He is [limited], then He’s not God.)       

An Angry Prayer

They say that You're not limited
by MY lack of imagination
But my faith & peace are tried
with total consternation
from this in-the-darkness feeling
I can't see & my mind's reeling
Doubt creeps in, & now it's stealing
my belief that You're revealing
the right amount of truth for me,
-for just today, it's all I need.
That's what they say, "stay in today,"
& by the Spirit, You will lead.
But do You know how hard it is
to have unanswered questions?
I grit my teeth & bite my tongue
against all my suggestions,
to "make me this" and "give me that"
& heal my loved ones NOW.
If You want me to live Your will,
You'll have to show me how.
Cuz right now, I feel really tried
And I'll admit that, for today,
I'm angry and dissatisfied.
Your light feels pretty far away.
See, on one hand, I know it's true
That my heart rests within Your hands,
and in spite of my lack of sight,
You have in store most wonrdous plans.
But on the other hand, dear God,
I'm overwrought with doubt and fear.
I know it's wrong to doubt Your grace,
But please show me that You are near.
My heart, it's burdened with a weight
that has a thousand names.
I'm angry with this life today,
and all her foolish games.
Yet, deep down in my heart, I cry
out to Your name, my God Who Saves
who brings together heav'n and earth
Who holds me through the end of days.