CS Lewis said that what we 'fear' about poverty - why we recoil from it and them - is because we fear 'insecurity', or un-safety.
We are born into a life broken on all sides, on a one-way street to 'lights-out'. The world rallies to shelter kids from this reality for as long as possible (that is, if we are not kidnapping and abusing kids). Denial, abuse, fear on all sides. Let's not be morbid, but let's at least give a nod to the backdrop here... I love coffee. I'm in good company, as coffee is the world's second most traded product, second only to oil. It has that savory kick which takes life seriously, but then steps higher with rich aroma, and warming steam on the outside - to come between us and all evil - and warm on the inside that says there's hope, comfort. There's hope, and then there's living hope - a 'hope that does not disappoint.' (Romans 5:5) Jesus brought the promise of life, to life. He brought the Word off the page. (John 1:14) He took death captive, and put it to death. (1 Corinthians 15:54-58) One of the most dramatic images that Christ gave about his own message and salvation, is when he said, 'I am the door. He who enters through me will be saved.' (John 10:9). '... If you only knew this day what would bring you peace!' (Luke 19:42)
0 Comments
What does the bully in the playground and the CEO have in common? Well, in differing measures and histories, both have been 'given' their land, their sphere of jurisdiction.
Think of the hundreds and thousands of choices by others that underpin the infrastructure of the playground and the successful business, at any given time in history - relationships, politics, markets, weather, loyalties, betrayals, health, agreement, disagreement... That big, brash boy in the schoolyard, well, he didn't choose his size and strength, but he is choosing how to use it. 'Do you not realize I have the power to set you free or to put you to death?' Pilate asked Jesus (Jn 19:10). Jesus did not dispute this, but referenced a Power higher than Pilate's power: 'You would not have this power if it had not been given to you by my Father.' (Jn 19:11) Here the focus changes drastically - for Pilate and for us. It suggests that when all is said and done we will give an account for the 'power' (or positions) we held in this life - child, sibling, parent, colleague, employee, boss. Do I see my role as 'given to me' and do I live my role 'as working for God and not for men'? (Col 3:23) I knew a guy with a valuable book collection. I remember when I was told that his time was limited due to an illness. At that moment, there was not a book collection in the world that felt of much worth to me.
What makes anything valuable in this life? Is it not the love that goes into it? This love becomes 'value' and comes back to the lover. When you cease to love it - or cease to be - its value ceases. I think this is the haunting mystery of a derelict mansion. Deep, deep down we wonder what 'love' was at work through the corridors, what people were sacrificed for these ruins. And deeper down, we wonder what we are loving, living, and losing on the way... 'God is love.' (1 John 4:8) That love made you in his image (Gen 1:27), and pours through you back to himself. You are deeply valuable. This Love, this God, became man and walked with us, up to us, and calls us through His own 'door' to salvation. (John 10:9) 'Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' (Matthew 6:21) When finally pouring out a confession on Sonia, Rodya recounts 4 or 5 plausible motives for his crime. ('Crime and Punishment', Dostoyevsky, 1865) He agonizes as his own true motive evades him. His own self, as it were, eludes him. He seeks but does not find.
The deepest pursuit, the one which requires most calm, most quiet, is our pursuit within, searching for self, not adventure. We break into the quiet and dark hours of dawn to find a path for the day. What was yesterday, exactly? What was that relationship? Was it love? Do I know what love is? What self is satisfied in this aspiration? Is this footing really a footing? Where's the floor? When I feel safe, what wall marks safety for me? When I forget tragedy and all is good, is tragedy forgotten, or are those people just forgotten by me? Am I asking the right questions? Am I understanding the issues? Are my motives in asking sufficient to acquit me of the cosmic confusions, the global travesties, the blood on my hands - or on his hands - that I ignore? 'It's a long way down to nothing at all.' ('Stuck in a Moment', U2) It is against the backdrop of being - of not being - that a bedrock of 'spirit being' rings true. God told Moses, as a first floor for His own identity, to give the people this His name: 'I Am.’ (Ex 3:14) Jesus claimed this name (John 10:30; 18:37), and said that he would pour this name in Spirit form through the core of all who believe on him. (John 1:12; 5:24) True and false words are exactly the same. Same letters of the same alphabet string together the same words used by the good guys and the bad guys... In fact, even the 'holy writ' can be unholy in the mouth of the unholy. (cf Mt 4:1-11) So the words just carry the spirit of the speaker.
For this reason there is no encasement - not the words of the Bible, not a religion, not a leader (1 Cor 3:23) – that secure for us the truth of God. Jesus said that his own words 'were spirit' (John 6:63), that 'God is spirit' (John 4:24), that the 'Lord is spirit'. (2 Cor 3:17) Jesus told the 'rich young ruler' that the 10 commandments were not enough (Mark 10:17-27), and the church in Ephesus that their obedience and hard work was not enough. (Revelation 2:1-5) Jesus was always unpredictable to us, not because he did not know himself or the Father (cf John 5:19), but because we do not know what our own words truly carry, where our spirit really is in relation to God. To one he would simply say yes (Mk 1:41), to another a calibrating challenge (Mk 9:36), to another an apparently abrasive denial (Mt 15:21-28), and on and on, different every time. But always with the same purpose: to get past our words, to our heart, to bring our spirit together with his spirit. (Mt 22:36-40) I am a chief hypocrite in 2 ways. I speak of things that I do not and cannot live. I live convictions that I do not speak.
My dad used to say that you could fall off either side of a horse. There is nothing harder to take than hypocrisy - someone not practicing what they preach to others. But there is something as hard to take: someone not preaching what they live, what they believe. I fail miserably in both. Regarding the former, because of my pride; regarding the latter, because of my cowardice. One indicator regarding my 'health' in hypocrisy - or in practicing what I preach - is how I deal with others not practicing what they preach. CS Lewis once wrote, 'We must not be pharisaical, even to Pharisees.' I have been at my most judgmental when I denounce a judgmental person. Jesus, in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, levels the playing field, puts the man who calls a man a 'fool', shoulder to shoulder with the murderer; puts a man who lusts in his heart, side by side with the adulterer. Even the archangel, Michael, rebuked the devil, not by judging him, but by saying, 'The Lord rebuke you.' (Jude 1:9) My passive hypocrisy can be considered, at least on one level, regarding what I do believe to be true, but do not 'preach' - or what I do not own and make known. 'He who knows the good he ought to do, but does not do it, is guilty of sin.' (James 4:17). I believe certain things to be wrong - for me and for everyone - but I do them, and I do not speak out against them. |
AuthorPeter Walker. I hope you enjoy these reflections. Please feel free to comment!:) Archives
February 2024
Categories |