Month: April 2012

Is our God too small?

Published by mhelbert on April 13, 2012

Back in 1986 Peter Gabriel released the song, Big Time. Part of the lyric reads, “And I will pray to a big god, as I kneel in the big church.” Now, as I understand it the song was primarily about someone getting out of a small town. But, the words reveal something about how people view the Christian God. This God is small. This God cannot do anything about the hurt and evil in the world. This God has small, narrow-minded followers. This God cannot put up a substantive defense, so it’s necessary for the small, narrow-minded followers to defend God’s honor. And, for sure this God cannot handle the intellect of people who challenge the published words that the churches that bear God’s name adhere to.
This morning as I was praying, I considered a discussion with some people I know. People who love and desire to serve and worship God. They are, however, locked into a way of believing that has no room for the discussion of science, the authority of scripture, or anything other than a ‘simple reading’ of that scripture. The Bible must be taken literally or not at all. Then, I remembered something I read about John Calvin, the hero of reformed theology. When confronted with the discovery of the size of Saturn, the church became a tad perplexed. If God created a greater light, the sun, and a lesser light, the moon, then what was this ‘other’ light that was larger than the lesser light? This apparently rocked their theology. Calvin’s response? Well, the ancient writers used the knowledge they had at that time to render their conclusions. Now, we know better and that’s ok. Wow! We should have that mindset.
Anyhow, my mind immediately wandered off to consider the vastness of God, the creator and sustainer of all things. What can a finite mind discover about the infinite? How can it even touch or consider it? God, in God’s infinite grace, gives glimpses. Only as much as can be tolerated by our smallness. I received one of those glimpses. I began to realize that our arguments about what/who God is are intolerably small. We need to understand that God is not threatened by our discussions about science and evolution. Shoot! God created the human mind that has developed these! God is not concerned about our arguments about sola scriptura and inerrancy. God’s Word transcends whatever we can possibly understand. Yes, these are important to how we live our lives in this finite cosmos. It is proper that we discuss and argue and strive to understand our world, ourselves and how this all relates to an infinite God. But, we also need to remember that the Infinite will not condescend to fit our mold; we must be willing to fit into the Infinite. After all, we already have a BIG GOD!

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American Pie: Christian Style

Published by mhelbert on April 12, 2012

I am always on the lookout for pieces that help to put cultural hermeneutics in some kind of proper perspective. I have learned over the past few years that much of what I had thought true is actually a view that has been skewed by my position as a white male in North America. Not only is the view of this dominant culture biased in the extreme, it is wrong in more places than I can get to in a short blog. Thankfully, there are a multitude of others who see this as a problem and are discussing it in books, blogs, seminaries, colleges, and even some churches. The link I have posted here leads to one view that I think is important for Christ followers to ruminate on. Enjoy!
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/emergentvillage/2012/04/strange-christianity-made-in-america-part-iii-by-randy-woodley/#more-1228

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Sometimes I wonder…

Published by mhelbert on April 10, 2012

Recently, I heard a pastor talk about the place of human kind in the creation. His comments revolved around humans being the pinnacle of God’s creative work. Not bald eagles or spotted owls or sequoias; people. A case can be made for his point, but a poor case it is, indeed.
As I read the scripture I find that in the beginning, when God formed things, God put humans as eikons in the creation to be God’s representatives in the world. Kings in the ANE would place statues, or eikons, of themselves at various places in their domains to remind folks who was the real authority. People in the realm were subject to the king. Similarly, idols were used as representative images of whatever deity in order to show that the particular deity had some sovereignty in these places. In both cases the eikon represented something or someone.
Humans were/are God’s eikons. As such, we represent God’s interests in the world. We are stewards, not owners. The world does not belong to humans, but to Yahweh. We have a responsibility to watch over the creation and to honor and care for it. This includes the bald eagles, spotted owls and sequoias. To diminish these, as this particular pastor appeared to have done, is to diminish God’s presence in the world and elevate some human-made image above God’s image. I think we need to be careful before making irresponsible statements that are not based in the scripture nor the revelation of God.

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It’s Easter

Published by mhelbert on April 8, 2012

Well, it’s Easter. The day when countless Christians celebrate the empty tomb of Jesus. It must have been quite an event for those alive at the time. For about 3 years Jesus had been teaching and healing. He had proclaimed the inauguration of the kingdom of God. He was the hope of Israel to free them from Roman domination and establish Israel as the jewel of God in the world. After all, look at the power with which he spoke and performed miracles. He had to be the Messiah of God. But, that last week was strange. Jesus began to act in counterproductive ways. He trashed the temple court. He said some things to the ‘powers that be’ that seemed to insult them. In fact, he seemed to be pushing against the very people who should have been allies. Rome was the enemy, not the Temple.
Then, it ended. Jesus had tweeked the nose of the wrong person and wound up hanging on a tree. All of the hopes and desires of these past few years…gone, dashed, dead. From Friday evening through Saturday I can imagine the followers of Christ trying to reassess their options. They had given up so much to follow and support Jesus. Now, they had to figure out how to return to their previous lives and explain to their families and friends that they had really messed up. Humiliation on top of humiliation. How could they have been so wrong.
But then, a report from some women. The tomb was empty. Something, no one knew exactly what, had happened to Jesus’ body. One of them said that someone, maybe an angel(?), had said that Jesus was risen. Talk about confusion and conflicting emotions! Just take a few moments to reflect on the internal reaction of these people. From triumph to defeat to tentative hope. Could it be true?
We know that it was. Jesus left the tomb; the realm of the dead. He appeared to many and, ultimately, entered into heaven where he sat down at the right hand of Yahweh. It’s this that gives the cosmos hope. Not just humans, but all of God’s good creation. During this time, the celebration of new life, may God Bless You Real Good.

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The Father turned his back…I don’t think so

Published by mhelbert on April 6, 2012

This is my 100th post. Holy Smokes! Maybe someone should bake a cake. So far, this has been fun for me. I’ve enjoyed trying, sometimes not so successfully, to get my thoughts organized and written. I hope that any who have chosen to visit here have not been disappointed by my lack of eloquence and understanding. This is, after all, a blog. It’s not meant to be a formal repository of all spiritual and experiential truth.
With that being said, I feel a need to rant just a bit. It’s my blog; I can do that.
Today is Good Friday. It’s the time when the Christian world remembers the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. After an eventful, and sometimes turbulent, public ministry the end came with a sudden ferocity that shocked those who were intimately relating with Jesus.
One thing that many people try to explain and understand is, what actually transpired on this day? Yes, we know that Jesus was unjustly tried, tortured, and hung on a tree where he died. But, what happened between the Father and the Son that day? Some have tried to say that between the hours of noon and 3 P.M., when darkness covered the world, the Father was compelled to turn away from the Son because your sin and mine were placed on Jesus. The Father’s holiness could not look on this sin. Therefore, the first and second persons of the Trinity were separated from one another for this time.
I’m sorry, but I don’t get this. Let me just share a couple points. The first is the ontological impossibility that I see in this. The very nature of Yahweh precludes this ‘separation.’ The Church has believed that there is, has, and always will be a perfect unity in the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This unity cannot be broken because it is God’s will that it remain intact.
Another reason that is equally compelling for me is that this view gives a distorted image of the Father. What kind of Father would abandon his Son like this? Perhaps even stronger language is required. What kind of God would this represent? At best, one who is selfish and easily offended. At worst, one who is incapable of saving anyone. Now, I know that this idea of Jesus being totally forsaken and abandoned by everyone, including the Father evokes an emotional response that may cause someone to make a decision to follow Christ. But, what kind of God are these people deciding to follow? How deep is the commitment that is made by these people? I think that the distortions that this concept give of God, the loving Creator and Sustainer of the cosmos, are too many to recount.
So, what can we understand from this? Jesus, hanging on the cross, cried out, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” Rather than taking this as Jesus, the divine Son of God, perceiving a real break in his eternal relationship with the Father, we should see Jesus, the Son of man totally identifying with the humanity he came to redeem. We sometimes forget that the incarnation means that God came to dwell with humankind as a human being. As such, Jesus was open to experience all that being a human person could experience. As he came to the end of his life, he fully and completely became Emmanuel, God with us. As David expressed in Psalm 22 these very words that Jesus spoke; as the prophets cried out time and again, “where are you, God?”; as Job in the depths of his misery cried to see and speak with God who had apparently abandoned him; as countless women and men throughout history have experienced the desolation and loneliness of suddenly realizing that all seemed lost, Jesus tasted the true human condition, embraced it, and totally identified with it. The result? I am saved by a person who understands me. I have a high priest and advocate who knows what it’s like to live in a world that needs a compassionate Savior. More importantly, I have a heavenly Father who will not abandon me because I may get dirty while walking through this world. I have a God who is not afraid to get the divine hands dirty while lifting me from the muck and mire of my life. This God; Father, Son, Spirit can be trusted with our very lives because Jesus is Emmanuel.

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Just a thought…

Published by mhelbert on April 5, 2012

The story of the Father and the prodigal is one of my favorite stories in Scripture. It reveals the relentless love that our Abba has for humanity. This love, lavished on us, reveals that Yahweh also desires our love. Desires it so much that Jesus, the one and only Son of God, was ‘sent’ to make it possible for all of us to become the adopted daughters and sons of God. I don’t know about anyone else, but I find this amazing. Especially, as I look back over the train wrecks that I have left in my wake. God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, not only still puts up with me, but LOVES me!
And, not only me. The Scripture also speaks about rain falling on the just and the unjust. Luke 6:35 even takes it a step further. “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Yahweh is kind to those who would be enemies. How cool is that?
The text is clear at this point. We, as Christ followers, should emulate our Abba, even as Jesus did. It’s easy to say, “Oh, yeah, I love my enemy.” But, it’s the doing of the love that we sometimes lack.

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Atonement stuph…

Published by mhelbert on April 4, 2012

It’s that season…Easter! The time when Christ followers around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And, ever since that time discussions have ensued as to the meaning of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
Over at Theoblogy, Tony Jones has an interesting clutch of posts on the Atonement. Here is a link to a page that contains links to the discussions thus far. I’ve not read them all, but the discussion is open and diverse. I hope that you enjoy reading them!
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/tag/atonement/

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Playing with Mud

Published by mhelbert on April 3, 2012

A few years back I heard a lecture by Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim. In it he spoke about God’s use of agency in the affairs of the world. One area, in particular, had to do with the creation story. He painted an image of Yahweh stooping down to play in the mud. Yahweh took some clay and molded it and fashioned it into humankind. One can visualize the care with which the great Creator God took. There is an intimacy present with this image. Yahweh, with dirt under the divine fingernails, breathing God’s own breath of life, the Ruach Elohim, into the clay bringing life to this carefully and wonderfully designed new creation.
Yahweh is still playing with mud. If not for the water of life poured out on the dust, which is humanity, we remain dust to be blown away. But, because of Jesus we can become clay in the hands of the great Re-creator God who molds and fashions new humans…while getting the divine fingernails dirty.

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God in Humanity

Published by mhelbert on April 1, 2012

I was reading a portion of the Gospel according to Mark this morning. In chapter 14 Mark related the episode of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. As I reflected on the prayer in verse 36 became my focus. “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Most folks look at this as evidence of Jesus submission to the Father. They, therefore, jump to apply it to us. We must submit to the Father. However, I noticed something else. For the first time, at least as far as I know, Jesus will was something other than the Father’s. Up to this point Jesus had taught, healed, delivered and done everything as he saw the Father doing these things. His practice was in harmony with the will of the Father. But now, at the beginning of his passion, there is an apparent difference emerging. Jesus’ total identification with humanity was being revealed. Jesus’ will was that the cup would be taken from him. This cup that contained loneliness, separation from friends and family, loss, pain, humiliation, death. He experienced anxiety and fear. He tasted “self” as a person. This would culminate in a few hours on the cross as Jesus’ identification with humanity was complete: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken my?” Just as Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, and countless others had experienced the reality of separation between humanity and divinity, Jesus, totally immersed in his humanity, cried out his anguish to God. This is the human condition. The difference lay in Jesus’ response, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” I am glad that the one who sits at the right hand of God, the one who will judge, is also one with me.

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Devotional

Published by mhelbert on April 1, 2012

One of the things I enjoy is to read excerpts from various devotional materials as part of my daily preparation. Presently, I am using Devotional Classics: Revised Edition: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups. This morning’s was taken from the writings of E. Stanley Jones. Jones worked in the early 20th century among high-caste Indians and Muslims in India. His practical insights into living a ‘converted’ life were pretty profound. He, I think properly, linked lifestyle and virtue to evidence of one’s conversion. For him it was not simply a matter of propositional truth, but one of lived reality. The gospel message was not something that someone could understand intellectually, but absolutely needed to be lived and experienced in practice.

With that being said, one thing that jumped out at me today was his clear understanding of our unity as humans in the world. In a time when prejudice and race/class separation were the norm, Jones’ voice was prophetic. He wrote, “A little girl was kneeling on her father’s lap and was telling him how much she loved him, but she was looking over her father’s shoulder and making faces at her little brother. The mother saw it and said: ‘You little hypocrite, you telling your father you love him and then making faces and sticking out your tongue at your little brother.’ Christians who hold race prejudices do just that. They tell God the Father they love him and then look over his shoulder and tell his other children they despise them. How can we love God whom we have not seen unless we love his children whom we do see?” (Pp. 284-285).

Today, those of us in the predominant culture in the West tend to think that such things as racial prejudice and separation have been dealt with and we must move on. We are, of course, seriously deluded if we think this. Race, class, and gender prejudices are a reality and a curse now, in our time. The evidence is overwhelming when we consider the current political competition in the U.S. We are being asked to continue to accept white patriarchy in the person of Mitt Romney. We become activists for a ‘godly’ agenda that negates the actual presence and activity of God. Henri Nouwen wrote in Turn My Mourning into Dancing, “Activism comes from an unbelief that insists that God does not or cannot move and act; it wants to replace God’s supposed slowness or inaction with our activity.” How many Christians with good intentions have become activists against the LGBT community? Against President Obama? Against Muslims? I think that Nouwen was correct.

We, as Christ followers, are called to something else. We are called to a relationship with Yahweh that includes Yahweh’s good creation and the humanity that inhabits it. We are called love God and the God’s children who we can see.

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