The Story Continues

Paul writes to his friends in Ephesus:

¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.(Eph 1)

This is one more part of the story.  

The story of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Disciple and us.

As I suggested in my last blog, we are all very much a part of this ancient story.

The story — the unending circle — didn’t end when Jesus ascended.  

Jesus never stopped teaching. 

The great thing, about the plot of this story, is God didn’t just send Jesus to the Jews and Gentiles along time ago.

God sent Jesus, and the Holy Spirt, for all times to all people -- to the ends of the earth.

I may have told you this story before; but it needs telling again.

During a Junior High  Confirmation Retreat, in the early 1990s, the young people were especially cautious about expressing themselves in front of their peers. So I decided to have them lie in a circle on their backs looking only at the ceiling.  That way avoiding eye contact with each other.

During the conversation one young man took the courage to speak his honest opinion:

“I don’t know why we have to waste all this time learning about something that, happened thousands of years ago, has nothing to do with my life.”

I didn’t even attempt to contradict his thought. 

It was, after all, his own opinion.

And, I for one, am of the opinion that we can never force faith on someone else.

Jesus certainly did not force.

However later that day I had the opportunity to speak, indirectly, to his comment.  I did this by simply witnessing to what I personally believed about the faith story; and how it connected with today’s world.

This old, old, story is never ending and all encompassing.  And the Holy Spirit is the inclusive glue. The existing connection between the days when Jesus walked with human feet; and spoke with a human voice.   And now, is the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit.  To keep us up to date on all that God is still doing among his people today

All we have to do is to stay tuned.

To take time, from our time-limited-lives, to listen; and keep learning.

Relationships, after all, are alway a two way street.

Does God's Power Actually Live In Us?

⁴⁹And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised;

Jesus tells his disciples, in Luke 24: 44-53, What has been and what will be. 

What is clear, from this ascension story, is that we are being told about transition.  A movement from what was, now and before, to what will come from now into the future.

There are two key components to this faith story.  

One is the tension between Jesus’ radical values while he was physically with his followers.  When they were carefully taught the ways they were to live.  And about God’s never ending presence with them

The second is the wisdom to know — discern — God’s activity through them now; as it has lived through Jesus himself.

Once the disciples had been given all of the information they needed

And believed that Jesus was indeed the promise Messiah.

And that he did indeed come back to life after his crucifixion.

Then it was time for Jesus to leave them to the task of carrying on his work; as he had instructed and modeled.

The point is then made clear that he wouldn’t leave them without help.  He would leave the same power he himself was guided by while he was here on earth  — God’s unfailing presence in the Spirit. 

God never left Jesus to his human inabilities..

God does no less for the disciples.

The circle of faith still works the very same today.

Jesus came,

         Jesus left,

                 God stayed,

                          God stays, 

                                          though it all.

From before Jesus, God has been consistent.  Always and forever present and active in the world.

And we are all apart of the story.

44 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.  50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. ⁵¹While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; ⁵³and they were continually in the temple blessing God.(Luke 24)

Did Jesus Come To Bring Peace?

A friend son-in-law, who is of a different religion, are having many conversations about the Christian Bible.

Clarification: 

There are some major struggles, when reading or discussing “what the Bible says.” The problem comes with the many metaphor, analogies used; not to mention its cultural context and different languages used.

I was sitting here thinking about their conversations when  two Bible verses came to mind.  Both basically have nothing to do with each other.  Yet in many ways have a great deal to do with each other.

One verse is found in Luke 2: 

—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

The other is from Matthew 10:

34 ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

The verse from Luke was said by Simeon when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple for his dedication.

Simon’s words were, what I will call, a prediction. 

The verse from Matthew came from Jesus, as he taught the people how to understand his purpose for coming into the world.

You will have to read these two verses in their full  context for yourself.  It is never very wise to take one verse out of its original setting.

This morning I would like to think about how the ‘sword’ fits with the common belief that Jesus came to bring peace on earth.  One way we might begin this discussion is to realize Jesus created a bunch of tension within his surroundings.  

He did!

The tension came when one family member believed in Jesus and the others did not believe. Or one faction of social, or religious, groups believed and the others didn’t.

Remember, the Jewish people where very  protective of their beliefs — their faith — as well as their sacred rituals and laws. 

Jesus teachings bumped up against these strictly practiced ritual and laws.  He not only called into question their validity; but often he refused to practice them.

He also called into question the integrity of the Pharisee, Sadducees and Scribes. 

Then when you add the fact he called himself the “Son of God,” you have a sticky mess within the small nation.

Simeon’s uses, of the word sword, was a way of telling Mary that her heart would be broken watching her son be shunned and then crucified for what he came to do.

Jesus’ used the word sword figuratively — not in a literal way.    What he might have been suggesting is that peace often comes with struggle; comes with decisions that aren’t always popular.

My take is, the peace Jesus brought would cause some big changes in their ways of thinking and believing.

Something that is never very peaceful.

Tension often comes with change.  

    What Jesus came to bring was major change.

          Change in the major mindset of human thinking.

Change not only on religious issues; but ethical matters and leadership style as well.

One More Trinity Picture

The Trinity Train

I envision the Holy Trinity to be like a very shinny silver train.  It glows as bright as the sun, so it is very difficult to look at it with all its splendor and glory.  Unlike this picture which shows three separate cars, the Trinity Train is all one unit.  

God the Father, the Creator is at the head of the train.  He is the engineer.   He is in charge of everything including where the train goes on this planet and when.  He wants all people to ride on His train.  So God made arrangements with His Son, Jesus to work out the details of how all people can come on His train.  God sees all and knows all through the big windows in the front.

God the Son, Jesus is the conductor on the train.  When the train pulls into station, many people gather around the train.  They push towards the open door, all wanting to go on the train.  The door is too high for people to climb into the train by themselves.  Jesus is standing in the door way.  He wants all the people to come on the train. People ask Jesus, “What can I do to ride on the train and how much does it cost?”  Jesus answers them, “You don’t have to do anything, because I have already done everything for you.  You don’t have to buy a ticket because I have paid for your tickets. Just trust me and believe me”.  Many people don’t understand (believe).  Some people leave. Many “good” people stay and think they should be allowed to ride the train because of all the good things they have done. They give Jesus their list.  Some people try to give money to ride the train.  Jesus looks down with compassion at all the people.  He sees into their hearts and can see the ones that truly BELIEVE in Him.  Jesus reaches down and carries the believers in His mighty arms and puts them on the train.

God the Holy Spirit rides in the back of the train.  From the back window the Holy Spirit throws out tickets (the Word, the Holy Bible) to the people. These tickets tell the people all about God and give instructions on what has to be done to ride the train. The Holy Spirit explains that God loves all the people He created and that He wants all of them to ride on His train and be with Him forever.  The Holy Spirit further explains that because people are no longer holy and perfect like God and that they have not followed ALL of God’s instructions, they not allowed to ride on God’s train.  The Holy Spirit shares God’s plan for how they can still get to ride on the train.   God’s plan was that He sent his Son, Jesus to be a sacrifice for us. By doing this, Jesus made all believing people perfect in God’s sight. So our ticket to ride God’s train is to believe in what Jesus did for us.

Comment Two One Imagining The Trinity

"I had earlier replied to your column but as I look at the email address I replied to it says NOREPLY+FEEDPROXY@GOOGLE.COM.  So I'm guessing a direct 'reply' to your blog may not actually get to you.

But that's okay, since the earlier 'imaginings' of the trinity weren't as good as one that came to me today.  And that is of a train climbing up and around a good sized mountain, with the force of the locomotive supplying the effort and wisdom to our journey as the Holy Spirit, God directing and orchestrating our journey as the track that train is traveling on, and the conductor as the embodiment of God & the Spirit as Christ was.

Still not great, but again for someone of limited brain & imagination, it's a picture I can see and relate to."

I am very excited to have had two response to my question about what the Trinity looks like.

What I am wondering is if others have sent comments to me via this google.com place.  I do not know what this address is or why; but if any of you have sent comment and haven't had them commented on by me then this third party is the reason.

My apologies

As far as the image of a train, I love the imagination of it.  I can see it and feel the power.  Thanks.

A Comment From a Reader

This morning I received a comment on my blog about my request to imagine what the Trinity looks like.  

“I read this analogy that describes the Trinity in a way that I could understand. (These are my words/description, as best as I can paraphrase.):

- The Father -

Think of God as the author of a book. All the thoughts, words, scenes, and characters are His and His alone.

- The Son -

God decides to put himself into the book as the character, Jesus. That way, through the Jesus character, God is really in the book - saying and reacting to various situations that occur in the plot. God writes himself into the story. The version of Him in the book is independent of the version of Him writing the book - yet it is still Him.

- The Holy Spirit -

All the other characters in the book have a bit of God in them. Good or bad, they are creations of God, the author.

So God, the author, consciously or unconsciously leaves His mark on everything He creates in His book.”

Thank you for entering the conversation.  I actually really appreciate it very much.

Your analogy of the Trinity is interesting; and very good.  But after I read it I thought: but that doesn’t really tell me — show me — what the Trinity looks like to my eyes.

I was hoping for something my imaginatation could see -- perceive -- by the description of your words. 

When our professor asked us to imagine what the Trinity looked like my mind at first was just blank.  Then during the week end, while I wason a long bike ride,  and it came to me.

It was a bright light with three dimensions.  In the center of the light it was very white. Then it began to spread into a soft yellow.  The soft yellow blended into a more pure yellow. 

When I got home from my bike ride I called a friend, who was an artist, and ask her to paint the Trinity for me.

In class that next Monday.  The professor had many pictures, from history, of the Trinity.  But they where like models made of wood or clay or something.  To me they were just a piece of wood, or clay,  that can be touched a held. 

You could see the object in the pictures.  But I have to say I liked my better(;

I had that picture for a long time. But somewhere in my many moves it got lost.  However in my mind it will never be lost to me.

It is the untouchable Light of the world.

How Do We Move Through Our Moments

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.(Jn.10)

I want to share with you the wisdom of a simple baker.  His name is Jacob.

I take this story from Noah benShea’s book Jacobs Journey.  

I hope it touches you as it has touched me.  

Jacob the Baker was on an unfamiliar journey to an unfamiliar place.  And he used his imagination to make his moment into meaning.

“If every moment was holy, thought Jacob, then every step that has brought me here is sacred.

He imagined his path as if it was the current of a river. 

As he stared into the flow, he saw the seemingly unending line of moments given to him.  Then like a man marking a trail, he began to put his prayers between the moments, making the common profound by pausing.  

Using prayer to tie knots in time, Jacob isolated the details that would pass before others as a stream of events.

In this way Jacob secured the moments in is life, returned their individuality, allowed the luster of each of them to be observed, and appreciated and saved, transformed his moment into a string of pearls. (p. 43-44)

“The way to discover what is of value in life is by taking time to treasure the moments.” (p.49)


I pray for Jacob’s wisdom on these long days.

Sometimes, during these long days, I am tempted to mentally complain at the passing of moments with seemingly no purpose.  I want more.   More to do. I want people to see.

                                                                        

Jacob’s imagination, about his lonely moments on a lonely path into the future of the unknown.  Helped to make his time move forward with substance and meaning.   He used his moments as time for prayer; and possibility.  

I am thinking this morning that imagination brings abundance to our lives, if we are paying attention.

Imagination

No one took me up on my invitation to imagine what the Trinity might look like.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed.

I am disappointed not because my readers didn’t respond; but because imagining brings life and fun and change to an other wise moth-eaten theology.

We are all involved in the most precious journey of our live — the search for the truth of God.

  

A God by, the way, who has been, for centuries,  restricted by the human imagination.  

People have become so serious, so sober, so un-playful  when it comes to God. 

We have become afraid to fool with what seems to be set in stone.  Like the Ten Commandments.  

I know that was true of myself when I first began my journey as a pastor.  I didn’t think of God as someone to be taken lightly.  And I didn’t.  I still don't.

However.

The professor challenged our intellectual mind-set by asking:  What does the Trinity look like?

Because for far too long our faith — religion — has encapsulated  a religion — I didn’t say faith — that keeps God at arms length.

It took me years to have the freedom to understand that God likes giggles.

That God has a tremendous sense of humor.

That God gave us the ability to imagine way beyond what seems to be true.

That God gave us the freedom not to do it, or think it, the way “it has always been done” or thought.

Our lack of freedom, when it come to faith, has stunted God’s possibility to help us share His amazing laughter.

Here is the deal, the God I have gown to know and trust is not found in rituals, traditions, creeds or on a pedestal untouchable some where.

He is roaming around all about us hoping that we will kid with him, and laugh with him, and share his playful  nature with the world.

Just Imagine

The other day I wrote  a blog on some ideas that Ted Loder talks about in his book ‘Guerrillas of Grace.’

This morning I want to share some of Loder’s thoughts on  “Imagination.”

Pastor Loder suggests that imagination liberates, pre-figures, allows options, extends, adjusts, reformulates and offers possibility.

“Imagination is crucial to paying attention, for attention is far more than observation.  Imagination involves penetrating something, or being open to being penetrated by something, in order to sense its meaning, its possibility, its depths, its ‘story.’….  Prayer, through the process of imagination, becomes apart of the answer to the remainder of the question, ‘Without us, God will not do what?”      (Refering to St.Augustine’s quote:  “Without God, we cannot;  without us, God will not,”(p. 15)

In my mind:  Imagination is the unlimited dimensions of possibility.

Some years ago there was a phrase the church began to use — “Just Imagine.” 

It was used to prick people’s people’s stale ways of thinking and doing ‘church.’

In other word it was meant to move us off center and get us to think about new possibilities.  

It was an important phrase, as it turns out. Because some twelve years later (today) the church has been smacked in the face with the challenge of finding new ways to be relevant — meaningful — to a generation that has gotten left out in all the traditions of the past.

It occurs to me that since early March our American culture has been actively challenges to have an imagination.

People are doing life differently.

Churches are doing ministry differently.

Businesses are doing business different. 

Institutions of learning are doing things differently.

The medical professions are certainly challenged to revert to creative way to serve the massive influx of patients.

Our imaginations have actually created some very positive changes.

This time has certainly offered an opportunity to pay attention to many parts of our life style.  

And thats not a bad thing, I’m thinking.

 Point of interest;

In our theology class, my second year of seminary, the professor challenged our intellectual mind-set by asking:  What does the Trinity look like?

He was asking us to use our imaginations to explain an extremely difficult theological concept.

Just for giggles, on an other wise ordinary day, tell me what your imagination say about what the Trinity looks like.