Luke’s writings in the New Testament are a marvel. Not only does he set his story in world history, Lk 2:1 and 3:1, but Paul’s speech in Acts 26 confirms that the events he announces and proclaims were not done in private.
This founding narrative for Christianity exemplifies the power of God in portraying that the Word will prevail against all internal or external threats to silence it. As Gamaliel states it to the religious elite: if this is of God you won’t be able to overthrow them – in that case you may even be found fighting against God.
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Nature is related to and distinct from its Creator. In the emerging creation, the Creator is involved in, but not entrapped by the natural world. Idolatry flourishes in the confusion of the two. Yet, God and nature are not one and the same. This truth is crucial for Christian spirituality, for what we worship is not nature, but the Creator.
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Christians devote a tremendous amount of time and energy in attempting to exorcise tension. In my view, this is a utopian misinterpretation of living spirituality and not the direction God has for us. To be in tension is to be in-between. And being in-between corresponds to the theological marker of the Kingdom of God, to life in the world, and to who we are as creatures of God.
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As Easter approaches and we prepare to be more intentionally immersed in the death and resurrection of Christ, may this remarkable event weigh heavily upon us in new and refreshing ways at this time of year. How grateful we are and hopefully growing more to be, that Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God, brought salvation to Israel and the world, was victorious over death through the resurrection, and opened the way into deep and everlasting community with God. On this basis, each of us can experience our own release from captivity in Egypt; our own exodus, which will take us through the Promised Land into a new heaven and earth.
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We are damaged agents - like leaves fluttering in the winds of time. The conviction of confrontation with God should be deeply integrated with being spiritual people. Pain, anger, and tragedy may beset us and it is helpful, through not always satisfactory, to know that we’re in the good company of Sarah, Job, Jeremiah, Mary, and Jesus. Their plight and its expression may be preserved for us for a reason. That is, we too may clamor for forms of speech that will give voice to our cry in the wilderness, as we long to be heard, responded to, released, and redeemed.
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To live a spirituality of the cross of Christ is to participate in the drama of God’s salvation. Let’s follow in the footsteps of the Crucified and Risen One, be focused on the Scripture, and open to the Spirit, as we are shaped by the dialogue of our community with God, each other, and the world. In the light of the power at work within us and our destiny to image Christ, may we rejoice and be thankful for this day.
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Not likely that God wants his people to be deaf, blind, and devious. Let’s start listening, seeing, and being trustworthy.
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Self-contempt or false pride should not be considered as a viable means, even to a good end.
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The momentum of the dark winter leaving is like falling into spring light, which brings a myriad of fresh possibilities for an awakening. Newness all around us is bursting forth in a variety of creative surges that heighten our awareness and address our context. Out of life comes death and out of death comes life, but they are not equals. Death is parasitic. Life reigns.
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The Phenomenon of Quitting church is reaching epidemic proportions. Caught in the vice between those who exchange the gospel for a social code and those who market it as a consumer product, streams of people are flowing out of churches. From what I can tell, many of them long for God, love, truth, credibility, justice, and redemption, but are disappointed with what the church is offering. Bagels and coffee, and promises of health and wealth, are limited and breaking down. Thus, today’s pseudo–gospel is having less and less traction, and for this we should rejoice. Yet, the fallout is serious, in that the legitimate questions people are asking are not being addressed, nor are these folk being provided with a place to dwell, which has more to do with spirituality, than merely a geographical home. Rich and diverse gospel-centered communities are essential to the renewal of the faith and will contribute to the demise of what has been known as church for far too long.
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Unless the church confronts the greed of the world, instead of participating in it, a Christ centered concern for the voice of the poor and oppressed will be gagged and the exploitation of the weak and disenfranchised will continue unabated. If ever there was a time for the church to be reading Scripture not merely for itself, but against itself, it is now. Join this reading against itself community and start having an impact on the world.
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Guilt trips and manipulative practices imposed on others are expressions of unconscious Christianity. “But please Lord don’t make me aware Lord. I’d like to continue to have it my way, to be in control, and to get others to do what I want them to do, for my name’s sake.” While it’s true that conscious Christianity can also indulge in destructive actions, in contrast to unconscious Christianity, there would at least be a deep recognition that relating in these ways is to be challenged and transformed.
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Unconscious Christianity.
“Oh no, don’t tell me that I have to be concerned about what I believe and how I act. Never crossed my mind. You know, I mean, I just treat others the way I see fit. Furthermore, I pay no attention to how my beliefs are entirely incongruent and don’t really have to make sufficient sense. After all, I’m humble, broken, and sinful. I’m so impoverished that I have no sense of responsibility. God will take care of everything for me. That’s certain. Just read your Bible. I actually have little knowledge, but I can tell you exactly what God is doing in my life and should be doing in yours. Hey, I’m really in this for heaven. Aren’t you?”
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As readers of the scriptural story today we are foreigners to the text and its ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman context, yet we are not excluded from its time, narration, drama, and spherical refraction. The possibility remains for us to be grafted into the revelatory story of God’s creation and redemptive outpouring of love in Christ, which offers us a place on the stage of the cosmic drama of life. Renewing people and the earth is part of God’s majestic story. Fortunately, we’re invited to participate.
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Images in words give wings to imagination.
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