Anchors

I made a startling observation yesterday. I was locking my bike to a bike rack outside of a grocery store, when I noticed the rack felt a little wobbly.

Upon further investigation I realized you would only need to unscrew a small bolt and the entire rack, plus whatever happened to be locked to it, would be yours!

This was slightly disheartening as I locked my $1500 cross bike to the rack and surveyed the parking lot for suspicious looking characters, of which I found many, but decided the convenience of leaving my bike outside the store outweighed the risk of potential theft.

This experience got me thinking about the false sense of security we take from all sorts of things: money, accomplishments, relationships, possessions, health, etc. But in the end these things are very similar to the bike rack - they appear secure but can and will let us down.

Hebrews 6.19 talks about the "hope we have as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure." The hope in this passage is that Christ has gone before us, reconciling us to God, and freeing us from the futility of anchoring ourselves to things that will not hold us.

I am constantly challenged to detach myself from those things that promise security but never deliver in the way God does.

The Formless Void

Hart's Ex Nihilo

"In the beginning...the earth was formless and void." We often encounter circumstances that challenge us. Those times in life when our posture is one of brokenness; when we feel vacuous and lacking in structure.

Maybe it is an end to a relationship or a crushed dream or a job loss or a devastating diagnosis. These circumstances can bring a sort of turbulent emptiness to our lives. We may feel life will never be OK again. 

"Then God said." Sometimes the voice is boisterous and unmistakable. More often it is still and small (1 Kgs 19). God speaks and brings something out of nothing; order out of chaos. Our existence that once felt empty and void becomes substantive and full. Purpose not yet experienced begins to reveal itself.

This is the hope we have: that God is good on his promise as ehyeh asher ehyeh (Ex 3.14), the one whose very nature is activity, and that he is constantly working to bring the world into rights and each of us along with it.

Sunshine & Rainbows: Luke #3

Life with God isn't all sunshine and rainbows. The silver lining we are blessed with, often comes with rain clouds. Take for instance the experience of Mary.

Mary's first knowledge that she will bear a son comes from the angel Gabriel, who informs her that she will be having a son, who not only will be king, but as the "Son of the Most High," will be divine as well (1.31ff). Gabriel further explains that the Holy Spirit will bring about the conception by "overshadowing" her (Gk. episkiazo), thus making the child holy.

Mary responds to all this by saying, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (1.38). Her faith is incredible and as we will see, she is overwhelmed with excitement (1.46ff). Overwhelmed with excitement is how we often feel when we are being blessed by God. 

But the story of Mary and Jesus continues. While at the beginning Mary is filled with tremendous joy, it won't be long until she experiences tremendous pain. Her eldest son will reject her (Mk 3.33) and she will have to bear the burden of watching his enemies plot against him and eventually succeed at taking his life. We often feel God is absent during these times.   

But the story doesn't end there. Mary experiences the resurrection - the new life made available to the whole world. And through her flesh and God's unending grace we all are able to experience new life.

Our adventure with God may follow a similar plot - we experience the monumental highs and the devastating lows. But through all of it we have a promise: that no matter what this life throws at us, we hope in the resurrection. 

Just Getting Started: Luke #2

We are only a couple verses into Luke when we run into our first problem. There is this religious couple, who follow all the rules, yet don't get what they really want - children.

Jewish culture regarded this as a sign of divine disfavor (cf. Gen 30.23; 1 Sam 1), often as punishment for sin. But this is not the case with this couple; they were "righteous" (1.6); some- thing is going to happen. 

Sure enough an angel appears to the husband and tells him that his wife is going to have a son. He asks, "How is this possible!? We are too old to have children" (1.19).

To which the angel responds, "I stand in the very presence of God and have been sent specifically to tell you this - you think I'm kidding? On that note, how about you don't talk for the entire duration of the pregnancy" (1.20).

The woman ends up conceiving, releasing her from the disgrace that had plagued her for so many years. God set something amazing in motion, and even the disbelief of those involved could not stop it.

The Gospel of Luke has just begun, and already barrenness is turned to fertility, disgrace to favor, and hope is brought to circumstances that seemed hopeless. This is the gospel in its purest form and we are just getting started!

Why It's Written: Luke #1

Why are there four gospels? Why are three of them (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) very similar while the fourth (John) is quite different?

Over the next few months I am going to tackle these questions by examining The Gospel According to Luke.

Luke was written around 85 CE, and while church history identifies Luke as the author (cf. Col 4.14), the gospel itself is anonymous. In fact, not one of the gospels identify their author.

This is noteworthy because of the strong statement it makes: it was the subject of the gospel that was important and not the author. What better way to highlight Jesus than to present his story anonymously.

Luke also composed the book of Acts, which comes after John, in between the gospels and the rest of the NT letters.

So why did Luke write his version? He tells us, in very polished Greek, "I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth about which you have been instructed" (1.3-4).

So Luke researched, talked to eyewitnesses, gathered data, and in the end, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote the third gospel.

As we journey through this book, may we come to better know the truth of the most important story ever told.

Dwelling In Perplexities

God has moved out of the fortress of pedestrian certainties and is dwelling in perplexities. 

He has abandoned our complacencies and has entered our spiritual agony, upsetting dogmas, discrediting articulations. 

Beyond all doctrines and greater than human faith stands God…

Deeper than all our understanding is our bold certainty that God is with us in distress, hiding in the scandal of our ambiguities. 

And now God may send those whom we have expected least to do his deed—strange is His deed; to carry out his work—alien is His work” (Isaiah 28.21).*

*Entire post is an excerpt from Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity by A.J. Heschel; S. Heschel ed., p. 293.

Love Wins

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete...but when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.