Vulnerability

God is vulnerable to us. The other day I told my step daughter my theories of why the old fashioned atonement theory no longer worked for me. To sum up my old atonement theory it goes like this: Humans sinned. This was an affront to God's justice and since he is an eternal being He needed a gigantic eternal balancing of the scales. Therefore he punished his Son in our place so he wouldn't have to punish us. Since  God is also the Son and he is an eternal being this sacrifice was big enough to cover us all. One dead deity Son was a big enough sacrifice to cover trillions of people. 

I don't want to even waste time talking about how ridiculous that atonement theory is. It makes God to be subject to something called justice and that He is powerless to overrule it and must sacrifice His son to make things square. He can't just forgive, He must make the eternal restitution in the sacrifice of His son. Secondly, who would torture His own son to save others?? Not me. It is plain hogwash and is blasphemous in that it makes someone who Jesus described as a kind Father out to be a blood thirsty Ogre.

So why did Jesus come? There are a lot of reasons which I will discuss in this blog as time permits in different articles but today I will start with vulnerability.

God Himself in the form of His Son ( that's straight line orthodox theology; God and the Son are one person in two forms , plus the Spirit) literally put Himself in our hands. Clothed only in weak flesh starting as a baby He turned Himself over to human hands to do with Him as we liked. First it was into the hands of His thankfully loving parents who could choose to feed Him or not. Finally he ended up in the hands of His enemies who chose to torture and kill Him. God was giving us proof that He is willing to give His heart, His very self to us. That is huge and I want to repeat it so you get it. God gives His heart to us. It's unbelievable. We can hurt Him. That is why He describes this relationship is terms of a passionate lovers relationship in so many places in scripture. He puts His hearts and guts into the relationship and He is harmless. We can hurt Him.

This is almost foolishness and frankly almost unbelievable. Why would the One who created the universe become vulnerable to you and me? He loves us. There is no explaining it. It has taken me close to 50 years to figure this out. I started out with the plain wonder of God as a child, then fear of God as a young adult , anger with God as a middle adult ( when I felt He had let me down) to finally and recently this last 10 years to finding myself in  the most amazing relationship I could ever conceive. What's amazing? Not that I am pious or obedient or reverent or have no bad habits. What's amazing is that I have this unbelievable lover and friend who is deeply committed to and involved with me at the deepest personal level possible. The only way I can put it is that I am deeply loved and I knowI matter to Him. This love relationship is like sweet honey in my deepest soul. It is the greatest pleasure in my life. I am constantly constantly amazed at the level of personal care and love I experience as His child and creature.

I haven't created all this or done anything especially religious to make this happen. I have a foul mouth and bad habits and can be lazy ( I could go through all my habits but they are run of the mill). The only thing I have done is be cheeky enough to believe I am infinitely loved like this. It ( this love) matters to me not because I am more religious than others but because it is so rewarding. He loves me and it feels good. How's that? 

So One of the reasons Jesus came , in my opinion, was to show without question, that He is giving Himself without reserve to us. He isn't protecting Himself and holding Himself aloof only for the super  heroic non sinners , but He is giving Himself to run of the mill "us" . He is giving Himself to nice people, cruel people, organized people, sloppy people; He is giving Himself to us.

                     

Vulnerability

God is vulnerable to us. The other day I told my step daughter my theories of why the old fashioned atonement theory no longer worked for me. To sum up my old atonement theory it goes like this: Humans sinned. This was an affront to God's justice and since he is an eternal being He needed a gigantic eternal balancing of the scales. Therefore he punished his Son in our place so he wouldn't have to punish us. Since  God is also the Son and he is an eternal being this sacrifice was big enough to cover us all. One dead deity Son was a big enough sacrifice to cover trillions of people. 

I don't want to even waste time talking about how ridiculous that atonement theory is. It makes God to be subject to something called justice and that He is powerless to overrule it and must sacrifice His son to make things square. He can't just forgive, He must make the eternal restitution in the sacrifice of His son. Secondly, who would torture His own son to save others?? Not me. It is plain hogwash and is blasphemous in that it makes someone who Jesus described as a kind Father out to be a blood thirsty Ogre.

So why did Jesus come? There are a lot of reasons which I will discuss in this blog as time permits in different articles but today I will start with vulnerability.

God Himself in the form of His Son ( that's straight line orthodox theology; God and the Son are one person in two forms , plus the Spirit) literally put Himself in our hands. Clothed only in weak flesh starting as a baby He turned Himself over to human hands to do with Him as we liked. First it was into the hands of His thankfully loving parents who could choose to feed Him or not. Finally he ended up in the hands of His enemies who chose to torture and kill Him. God was giving us proof that He is willing to give His heart, His very self to us. That is huge and I want to repeat it so you get it. God gives His heart to us. It's unbelievable. We can hurt Him. That is why He describes this relationship is terms of a passionate lovers relationship in so many places in scripture. He puts His hearts and guts into the relationship and He is harmless. We can hurt Him.

This is almost foolishness and frankly almost unbelievable. Why would the One who created the universe become vulnerable to you and me? He loves us. There is no explaining it. It has taken me close to 50 years to figure this out. I started out with the plain wonder of God as a child, then fear of God as a young adult , anger with God as a middle adult ( when I felt He had let me down) to finally and recently this last 10 years to finding myself in  the most amazing relationship I could ever conceive. What's amazing? Not that I am pious or obedient or reverent or have no bad habits. What's amazing is that I have this unbelievable lover and friend who is deeply committed to and involved with me at the deepest personal level possible. The only way I can put it is that I am deeply loved and I knowI matter to Him. This love relationship is like sweet honey in my deepest soul. It is the greatest pleasure in my life. I am constantly constantly amazed at the level of personal care and love I experience as His child and creature.

I haven't created all this or done anything especially religious to make this happen. I have a foul mouth and bad habits and can be lazy ( I could go through all my habits but they are run of the mill). The only thing I have done is be cheeky enough to believe I am infinitely loved like this. It ( this love) matters to me not because I am more religious than others but because it is so rewarding. He loves me and it feels good. How's that? 

So One of the reasons Jesus came , in my opinion, was to show without question, that He is giving Himself without reserve to us. He isn't protecting Himself and holding Himself aloof only for the super  heroic non sinners , but He is giving Himself to run of the mill "us" . He is giving Himself to nice people, cruel people, organized people, sloppy people; He is giving Himself to us.

                     

Mark" Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Kinda funny . He is the very image of God.... And when life is just kicking your ass or the worlds ass God does look like He is peacefully asleep and detached. To me it's always the great question in my limited mind..where the heck is He when things suck. On the other hand with eyes to see He is everywhere . More Mark 4 with random thoughts. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. What else would you expect?These two were drawn to each other like moth to flame. Jesus and sick humanity were made for each other . He fills up sick humanity....he fills it with himself. He takes our brokenness our emptiness our evil demon possession ( ie our crippling deficiencies, addictions, trauma related self destructive habits) and gives us His very being instead..He is all in..He goes all the way holding nothing back..merging the infinite God head with our lost ness. It makes no sense...why would He do this...? We can only guess at the answers..He is all love...but why? Who taught Him that? Why love..why not indifference? Or perhaps because we are made in His image..He sees Himself in us...and as a Father He cannot help Himself.( I like this one). He has to rush to us..... If we saw our young son fall off a bridge..even though it was to our certain death..many of us ( I hope I would.....) would jump in . However God ups the ante...these sons he jumps to a certain death for have turned against Him..despised Him..worshipped themselves and money and sex and power and greed. They kill each other getting these things and actually glorify the violence, psychological and physical it takes to get these things. When He pays us a personal visit in our world we make fun of Him, slap Him around, tell outrageous lies about Him, call Him a devil, strip Him naked and kill Him...( stabbing Him with a spear just in case He might survive it. We treat fish better.

Thoughts on the Death of Jesus

Lord Jesus I read about you yesterday....the way 3 times you felt utterly lost in your humanity....once you just flatout said...."Father let this cup pass" or modern translation..."can I please not suffer and die?...because with you all things are possible." But then you said "never the less....I really want to do what you want not what I want." Then when you hung for hours on the cross you said "my God my God why has thou forsaken me" that was the legitimate question in your heart..."why did you leave me. I can't breath, I am utterly debased..and you my best friend, my Father is silent. You have never acted this way before...." Then you said..."Father ( your eternal best best friends) into your hands I commit my spirit" You just said.."my lover my friend I just give up into your hands." Then finally you just shouted after they crucified and speared you...as inhumane an act ever committed. It really is incomprehensible what you did.....you existed before all....you reigned above all, then you created us...your lovely lovely creation..made from your most inner being....and we were alive. Then we were lost, somehow we did not choose the good way you pointed. We were cast into mixed bag of good and evil and death and mortality we know so well. You decided to come and get us.....you couldn't change our choice....but you became us, you became sin....you lived and walked among us....you even personally became unique friends with those lucky enough to be there at the time. However beyond all this..and I don't understand it..you let them do this unimaginable violence to you...to the bitter end......to death. Thanks oh thanks oh thanks. It was necessary.....

Friends sometimes I write my self little notes when I'm reading the bible....some of the stuff I was reading made me think of just how much fun we have as a small group or any group members..who meet in Jesus name. So I'm passing my notes...with no (zero) agenda. I also included our buddy Nicholas from Haiti who many of us have met and Denny will meet, in January. Here's my notes: So Jesus passes by a tax collector named Matthew. Tax collectors were the most despised and shamed of men. This Tax collector guy Matthew makes his living off his own people by helping Rome subjugate and strip the Jewish peoples' wealth. The tax collector himself knows and his people know he is a man who is very low on integrity. Jesus asks Matthew to follow him...Matthew gets right up. "Why not ? " Matthew says to himself...this man Jesus is overlooking my sins and wants to be with me..I am definitely going..and I am not going to ask questions in case He changes His mind. Then Jesus does the completely unexpected....he goes and dines at Matthews' house! The religious people are incredulous. Perhaps in our time Jesus would be socializing with an active homosexual, or an active sex addict or an active alcoholic, or even an insurance man who preys on widows. Jesus dines with such people. We don't hear a lot about Jesus trying to straighten people out. His cousin John spent a lot of time telling people to clean up their act.....but Jesus seemed to just dive right in with people as they were. ( a famous Christian author , an admitted drunk once said ,Jesus loves as as we are, not as we should be) Right before Jesus dined with Matthew, the tax collector, they brought him a paralytic . Jesus, with out even interviewing the man, immediately pronounces the forgiveness of all His sins. The man didn't even ask to be forgiven....nor did He repent! He didn't have time...Jesus just pronounced a blanket pardon before the man had any response. In fact it wasn't even the paralytics idea to go see Jesus; His friends dragged Him there. Jesus is the friend of sinners....that's who He hangs with and that's who He is comfortable with. Why....? My guess is that a sinner..a tax collector or the like, knows they bring nothing to the table. Jesus either accepts them flat out...or it's hopeless. That's not a bad spot to be in with Jesus. Yes, such an incredible forgiveness probably changes ones behavior over time. But the point is, behavior change or not, Jesus dines with sinners.....and He is fun to be with! I think the best memories His disciples had , were dining with Him at that big wooden table. I picture them laughing and joking...clearly they were so comfortable with him. John His special friend would always sneak into the chair right next to Jesus, and even rest His head on Jesus' shoulder. What a level of comfort they had with God in the flesh! When The Apostle John was an old man on the isle of Patmos, he would write letters to the small churches about His old friend Jesus ( who had since departed.) John would stress over and over that the one thing He learned from His friend was to love love love. ( John also loved the Beatles.) John even went so far as to say if you have fear in your heart...you just haven't seen how much you are loved . He also said that as a disciple you live in a continual ongoing bath of forgiveness. John was talking about our friend Jesus who loves us more than Himself. John was so staggered by Jesus love He once said this: "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! " John just couldn't get over the magnitude of this gift. As for us modern folk , we aren't doing so bad. Jesus says we hold a special place with him. Jesus says we are particularly blessed because we have believed in Him without seeing Him. John 20:Blessed are those who believe without seeing me." ... Just a personal note to those in my two small groups: isn't it obvious He joins us at table when we meet in His name? He is so fun and He still reclines at table with us..fulfilling His promise.." That whenever you gather in my name I am in your midst.

Well it's been a while

Its a couple days after christmas. Lots of wine, presents, visiting and fun. Of course Christmas brings some melancholy also. Its the passing of another year. My folks are in their late 70's and eighties and I myself will be 60 this year. My children have children and well..time is just flying.

We had some goof faith discussions around the fireplace this year. My agnostic and slightly inebriated aand beloved Uncle Bob (every family has one) wanted to talk about faith and how we (my Dad and I) could possibly believe such stuff..

My dad who has fought 5 cancers in the last decade and now suffers from small cell lung cancer decided to field the question. I must say he did so eloquently and with dignity. He calmly laid out the evidence of design theory. This is essentially the age old argument that a universe of such complexity of design could hardly be an accident. However he quickly added that that is no proof and that faith is necessary no matter how much proof there is.

I laid low in the discussion only quickly adding that the bond and love we feel for those around us must speak of a higher order than simply an infinite accident of coincidental atom splitting.

My uncle remarked that he really respected my Dads quiet words.

This made me think a bit about my own faith. I have been actively believing in Jesus for 40 years. Some parts do come easier. I do trust that Jesus is watching out for me and that whatever new situation I come into that i am not alone. however i still have to start from nothing. There is no proof and i have to dig in and believe.

The most difficult part for me is that the old earth keeps on rumbling along with no outward visible evidence of the divine, He is perfectly happy to keep his mouth shut
and remain the annonymous benefactor; dispensing sunshine and rain for all. Most of us are born with parents who love us and our basic needs are met. Obviously there are troubling exceptions to that rule.

When He does appear its as a refugee baby in a far off land born to a peasant girl in a barn. I, who have believed for 40 years, still struggle with this random story of the revelation and incarnation of the creator of all.

I sat next to my stepdaughter in church as the minister told the Bethlehem baby story on Christmas eve. I turned to her and said this story is so preposterous it must be true!

This Grace in which we stand

Christians sadly often think they are specially chosen by God as if they are in some exclusive club.

The truth is the entire world is in the same club. What's the club? The club is of the forgiven human race whom God has decided to absolve of all it's past present and future sins eternally.

No there are no conditions ... You don't have to change or be good or get the right attitude. God has the right to do whatever He wants and He has decided to give this gift gratis to the planet. He has flatly signed an unconditional release, acquittal and not guilty verdict on the entire planet. We may think this is I'll advised and may even promote more bad behavior. But what's done is done and God is at peace with His decision and Has literally swore He will not change His mind.

My friend Who shall remain annonymous will write me right after she sees this post and say " wait a minute you have to do something... You have to believe" Yes and no. Believing doesn't make it true ( your forgiveness). You are forgiven eternally whether you come to the party or not.

Here is an illustration I am borrowing from an author. Pretend you are chronically I'll and have been hospitalized for a couple months. Every night you worry that the leaky roof on your house is letting rain in and destroying your house.

You worry and fret every night and can' t sleep because you know you can't fix it. One day your brother in law waltzes in to your hospital room and announces to you that last week He got a work crew together and completely tore out the old roof to the rafters and replaced it with a brand new roofand it's leakproof!

Well whether you believe it or not.. You have a new roof and your problems are over. If you believe Him you will enjoy your hospital stay and get some rest and peace. If you don't believe Him you will worry and fret even though you have a new roof.

All faith does is allow you to enjoy the benefits of your roof. It doesn't create the roof. Your brother in law put the roof on before He knew whether you would appreciate it or not.

Admittedly to lay there and not believe your brother in law and to continue to fret and worry is a he'll of a thing to do in the misery department.

Now back to my main point about the nonexclusive club. Jesus flatly states if He dies He will lift "All men to Himself". He really is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the disciplined and principled (??)..Noooo He takes away the sins of the entire world!

Christians aren't special. Let's be honest, they are not even especially sin free. A good share of the time they embarrass themselves and the gospel with their mean spirited political views and biases and colossal public disgraces.


So what is the advantage of a Christian?
1st Timothy 4:10
"God is the savior of all men, especially those that believe"
Here's what Christians have. They believe that God showed the planet who He was in the man Jesus Christ. They believe this Jesus was God in the flesh inviting all to the party..the drunks, the straights, the gays, the tax cheats, and all the riffraff. The nice people are invited also although a lot of times they are busy.

So Christians are lucky to believe this. They can maybe sleep at night because they believe their roof is not leaking. However they better not think they are special and in the club and the world is not.

So the entire planet stands in this unconditional grace and forgiveness. Everyone is under this cloud of forgiveness from Hitler to Mother Theresa. Hitler is a tough one isn't it? His evildoing was appalling and unparalleled. But somehow the eternal word brought Him into being and the image of God was in Him.

Will Hitler be in heaven? Who knows but I say He has a decent chance. God has certainly made a way for Him to get there. We ourselves aren't going to be there based on our behavior are we? In fact the bible says we are dead in our sins and our only hope is to be resurrected in the righteousness of Christ. Well that's His only chance also. He will be raised from the dead with the opportunity to enter the party if He accepts this weird gift of acceptance based on no merit of His own. Luther once said " God forbid that I should limit the time for acquiring faith to this present life. In the depths of the divine mercy there may be opportunity to win it in the future state"

It's clear that some will turn this down. It's hard to fathom... But our drive to justify ourselves is very powerful... Don't underestimate it.

Now in this piece I have gladly strayed from old time Evangelical Christian theology because it makes no sense. That line of thinking would say you have to accept Jesus consciously in this life to see heaven. Well that eliminates way more than 1/2 the planet. I do agree no one enters the kingdom but by Christ. Yes; Christ has saved Mohammed the little boy born in Tunisia who was run over by a school bus. Yes Christ has saved His Father who never gave salvation much thought and spent most of His conscious hours driving cab to support His wife and 6 children in fluxing Mohammed on $125.00 per month.

Jesus death and resurrection is way more than enough to guarantee their eternity. There is certainly the mystery of iniquity that must be allowed for. These two Muslim folks I used for examples may decide they don't like this giving person with pierced hands who asks nothing from them. Whenever they meet Him in truth they may decide it's not for them. But we are not to decide how Jesus meets them whether it's now through a radio broadcast or later thru Jesus meeting Him at their death. You cannot bet against Gods mercy!
Mercy always has and always will triumph over judgment or none of us have a chance. This planet has never stopped topping itself thinking of new ways to harm each other and turn justice on it's head. But God has never changed His mind and waits as more and more billions of people born in His son's image become eligible for His grace and forgiveness..

Why do we love bad news even when it works against us?Why do we react against the absolutely tipsy turvy grace of God? Why are we more comfortable with comeuppance and conditions which can never be met and being certain those nasty people get what's coming to them?

Even when it makes us miserable we won't allow someone to take grace too far. Why people might take advantage of such grace and start living immorally! Well people do that anyway. People don't need permission to do whatever they want; they just take it when they want it.

If God had allowed our behavior before or after we hear about the gift, to determine whether He would give it...we would all be lost.