Before Tr8s -- On the Platform: September 2010

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Way of Repentance

What many fail to realize is that the Great Rebellion from our side is about power, but from God’s side it’s about freedom. Ironically, God’s placement of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil within our reach guaranteed we could turn from him any time we wished. God gave humans the freedom (and power) to choose him or the tree.

I suspect God made a similar offer to Lucifer eons ago—probably used the same tree. “Lucifer, you can be with me forever and have anything in the universe, but stay away from that tree on Earth.” Lucifer couldn’t resist, rebelled, and also drew us in, “You think you have everything, but God won’t let you eat the fruit from that tree. Are you his slave that you obey everything he says?”

I think God would have liked for us all to have ignored the tree, but maybe the tree was like a cross. Pain, misery, death, and loneliness teach us the peace, joy, life, and love God grants to those who seek him. Maybe he knew we couldn’t appreciate him until we spent some time on the outside. “I want a two-way relationship with humans, so I’ll let them rebel—when they see the other side, they might look again to me.”

Jesus is the “fix” for the Great Rebellion. He is the way back to Eden for anyone who wants to return to the cool walks in the evening with God at one’s side. Jesus is the way to a personal relationship with a personal God. Jesus demonstrates the way and attitude necessary as one approaches God.

Perhaps this is a good place to mention a lot of nice things happen on the way to the God. The Rebellion likes to trivialize and redirect our attention to by-products of a relationship with God. Thus, on this rebel planet, who is surprised that Christianity has grown self-centric?

Here are some of the ways the Rebellion has taken the by-products of a godly life and spun them into the objectives of human life:

eternity in heaven
salvation from hell and evil
power in spirit and influence
healing/physical well-being
blessings/prosperity
inside guidance
happiness, joy, peace, and love
pride in being right and good
supernatural abilities

The truth in Christ is these may be found on the way or in God’s presence, but they tend to be paradoxical. Heaven requires one be last. Salvation comes through trials. Power is practiced in meekness. Healing is something to be given to others. Prosperity is valuing the little things. Inside tips are for the betterment of the faith community. Happiness, joy, peace, and love are often bestowed in tribulation and persecution. Pride comes before a fall. Finally, supernatural abilities tend to be most often manifest during martyrdom.

Christ was one with the Father and his life might be seen by many as a first rate tragedy of misunderstanding, hatred, and betrayal ending in a terrible death. The steps up to God’s throne were not an easy climb because he carried the sins of the world on his shoulders. Assuming one has the desire to submit to the will of God, approaching the throne is fraught with challenges. Our sins clutter up the steps.

King David, in Psalms 51, as he attempted to draw close to God, finds he is blocked by his sin. David writes, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” As we draw close to God we find our sins stand on the steps—between us and fellowship with God.

Fortunately, Jesus bore the burden of our sins and shared with us the way to take care of sin that separates us from God. He knew sin blocked us from having a relationship with the Father. He even went so far as to submit to the human side of the process with the help of his cousin, John the Baptist, at the Jordan River. After the ascension Peter reiterates the proper way to deal with sin.

The way?

Repentance.

On the platform waiting...

Imagine one is finishing a long journey, expecting to reunite with a loved one. Also imagine another waiting on the platform for the arrival of a loved one.

I like stories that could be built around these possibilities.

The saddest situation would be a person finishing a long journey who arrives to find no one. I stumbled upon the analogy while thinking of a few of my atheist friends. They don't think anyone is waiting. They don't even think their train will pull into a station.

I recently mentioned this to a student who works in our office at the college. This student traveled in a group of students who went with me to Greece last year. One of the really good things about the college work program is faculty become acquainted with students over a number of years. It gives us time to share about whatever is on our minds.

On this morning, as the student poked her head into my office to say hi and I was thinking about railway platforms. She said, "Good morning," but eventually sat down as I field tested the analogy.

I mentioned how sad atheism seemed to me. No hope. No expectations. This is it--what you see is what you get. I guess that would be slightly okay if one had a great life, but most atheists I know aren't exactly riding prize horses.

So, I said, "What if we are making up our own eternity?" Sort of sweet and sour justice. This idea isn't even remotely scriptural, but it might be a worthwhile reflection anyway. It eventually helps one explore hope in the end.

This game has only one rule, "As one wishes, so be it." Justice is built in. One gets whatever they wish AND gets to compare it with what God had prepared. So, if one is an atheist, he or she would get nothing or whatever it is atheists expect...and then see what God had planned. To summarize: one dark, lonesome hell with a balcony view of heaven.

If you build a mental paradise in which you are a ruler with wealth, power, vestal virgins, or whatever, that's what you get! However, you have to polish the gold, figure out how to make it rain to keep the plants alive (if you remembered plants), find water, keep all the vestal virgins happy, fight off those who want what you have...you catch my drift. Another hell with a view of something better.

After a few plays one begins to see it is best to try to imagine God's plan and wish for that. Sort of another take on Paschal's wager. Every other play leaves you in a hell or paradise without the one who makes it all work and hang together. A few plays later one begins to experiment with how much one can hope and still stay in God's plan.

One also realizes quite quickly that if "what you wish is what you get" were a reality, most Christians would be little better off than the average atheist in terms of expectations. How embarrassing would it be to get to heaven and not recognize God? God would probably say, "Yeah, we never talked much."

So, hell (at least to me) is on the other side of the fence from heaven, watching everyone have the time of their eternities...all the while knowing one COULD have had it. I can't imagine anything worse than being stuck with myself and my pitiful worldview for eternity. I'm glad I'm not in charge.

It's like this, for now: In this life rain falls on the just and unjust. Peaches grew for Mother Theresa and for Vlad the Impaler. This life as a jumping off place for the next one. Some may recall the story of Lazarus and the rich man. He's on "the other side" and begs Lazarus, "dip your finger in the water, come and cool my tongue, 'cause I'm tormented in the flames..." Jesus told this story.

So, what about heaven? Hopes of heaven, theoretically, might include anything conceivably in harmony with God's character. Jesus talked about the Kingdom of Heaven all the time. Kingdom of Heaven this, Kingdom of Heaven that. He also said he was going ahead of us to "prepare a place." Revelation talks about streets of gold, etc. Regardless of this life, there's nothing wrong about hoping. I've heard the argument we should quit worrying about the future and live now. I agree, but even so, I continue to think ahead and pay my electric bill so I'll have power next month.

I've traveled a lot. Streets of gold or cobblestones are all the same to me. What makes a place are the people and whether you feel like you belong or not. In my hopes of heaven I see myself living in God's house (today it's a Tudor two-story; horses in the pasture south of the waterfall) with all those I love filled full of God. When I see my father and Uncle Jim, I'll see God in my father and Uncle Jim.

God and I will sit with friends and family by a warm fire with snow gently falling outside. Starbucks coffee and cinnamon twists. The snow will be shoveled and the temps mild when we go outside to look at the waterfall before sunset. Sunsets can happen on the hour and one can have spring in the morning and autumn in the evening. There will be a soundtrack. The music will soften while we talk and reach breathless crescendos with each sunset. My dog, Duchess, will be there at God's feet. It'll be great if only two of these things happen.

The greatest thing is, God can imagine better than I can.

So, here's my new game: Can I wish a greater good than God? Can I hope at a level even God will find interesting?

Here's my best try so far: I hope everyone who ever lived finds grace and has a heaven better than mine.

Of course this is mostly nonsense. Mostly. But it has gotten me thinking near God-sized thoughts. I'm starting to hope more than I used to. I'm a Christian. I believe we arrive at the final station through the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I think about those without hope. I'm starting to think about those verses in Romans that talk about Christ's death being as powerful as Adam's sin. Through Adam's sin all fall short; through Christ's death all...maybe...

There is one more platform story. The last is a person who expects no one, but is surprised by someone.

Before Tr8s -- On the Platform

Tr8s

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Jesus and Text

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Way of Repentance

Tr8s

Followers