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January 20, 2008 As far back as anyone can decipher, (which is pretty far back, actually), the animal know as homo sapiens communicated to one another about God… Or rather, they communicated about gods (small "g" and plural). In the most primitive, elementary way the world was a vast MYSTERIOUS place… and could only be understood IF there were beings MORE POWER-FUL than anything they could SEE… IF such ALL-POWERFUL beings were in charge. So THUNDER, for instance, was believed to be the GOD of THUNDER… STAMPEDING in the skies above, OR blowing on a ram's horn, OR battling the gods of LIGHTNING & WIND &RAIN. The BEAR, the WOLF, the SUN and the MOON ALL were ruled in turn by each of their own gods. This is most significant NOT BECAUSE it's interesting anthropologically BUT BECAUSE the earliest evidence we have is that homo sapiens – HUMAN BEINGS – have always believed something GREATER THAN THEMSELVES. Human beings have always believed in God – or rather, gods. WE look back upon the primitive beliefs of MULTIPLE gods as being NAÏVE – IGNORANT – INNOCENT. And (truth be told) we all feel just a little SUPERIOR to our most ancient ancestors... PROOF of our much more profound INTELLIGENCE & SOPHISTICATION are all around us… Dead-bolt locks, helicopters, aluminum siding, MRI technology, telescopes, HDTV, NASDAQ, history books, dentures & hearing aids… Just to name a few. And for those of us of a Judeo-Christian heritage, we PRIDE OURSELVES in KNOWING that there is only ONE, TRUE GOD. We PRIDE OURSELVES in our KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM & POWER. And yet… We are MORE in need of SAVING than any of our ancestors. We are MORE in need of GOD than any who have come before us… But we are NOT so much in need of the IDEA of GOD … We are NOT so much in need of GOD as a PHILOSOPHICAL & SCIENTIFIC proposition… We are NOT really in need of a well-developed THEOLOGY of GOD … We ARE in NEED of FIRST-HAND, UP-FRONT & PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with GOD. How do we DO that? How do we cross the CHASM of earth-bound human being-ness, and the DIVINE, HOLY-of- HOLIES? Can we simply WILL OURSELVES into a relationship with GOD? Can we simply DECIDE to BELIEVE in GOD? Do we just make up our minds to TRUST GOD? Here's a GLIMPSE into how RADICAL this gets: GOD wants to be in a very intimate, personal relationship with US SO MUCH SO that GOD goes to the extreme to BECOME "REAL" FOR US… "REAL" in the only way we're able to RECOGNIZE "REAL." GOD COMES TO US as a REAL, true, living, breathing, physical HUMAN BEING. GOD comes to us… to be WITH us… to KNOW us & to be KNOWN BY US in ways that would've been impossible if God had remained just beyond our BODILY way of knowing. How does GOD become "REAL" for us? By FOLLOWING JESUS. NOT JUST BY reciting creeds, reading the Bible, or engaging in the Sacraments. NOT JUST BY "BELIEVING IN" the IDEA of Jesus… But by FOLLOWING JESUS… William Willimon speaks to my HEART & MIND by saying: "Jesus (the Christ)… was not 'the greatest person who ever lived,' not 'a great moral example,' not a wonderfully, insightful wisdom teacher. He was GOD IN THE FLESH. It was not that the disciples encountered Jesus as a wonderful person (and) then, after his death, got all worked up in their grief & began thinking, 'You know, he was almost like GOD .' It was rather that, when they encountered Jesus, particularly as they encountered him AFTER his RESURRECTION, everything fell into place, their eyes were opened, and they were able to say with one voice, 'You are the Messiah, the Christ of God'" (Wm. Willimon, Pulpit Resources, 2008). "John Chrysostom (c. 347-407), called by his hearers, 'The Golden Tongued,' speaks eloquently & frequently of the Incarnation (of God in Jesus). God loves us so much, says Chrysostom, that God came down among us & talked our talk, walked our walk, so that we, even in our LIMITED understanding, might KNOW GOD ." (Ibid.) In a sermon on Genesis 3:8 (about Adam & Eve in the Garden, after they had eaten of the fruit of the forbidden tree in the middle of the Garden), "Chrysostom speaks of the GRACIOUS way in which 'they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden.' Chrysostom (says) that it is a WONDERFUL GOD who RISKS ALL and DARES to stroll BESIDE US in the garden, uttering things to us that WE CAN UNDERSTAND, getting down on our level" (Ibid.) I think this must ALL be what Jesus means when he beckons US to "COME & SEE." But NEVER does Jesus want us to keep this GOOD NEWS to ourselves! The most LOVING response we can make is then, to "GO & TELL." SHARE this GOOD NEWS OF GOD IN CHRIST! SHARE IT… Not because it makes any kind of LOGICAL or INTELLECTUAL sense, but because it HAS and it DOES and it WILL bring MEANING and HOPE and PEACE to YOUR LIFE. And if you can't do that because that's NOT TRUE for you? Find someone for whom it IS true… & ask them to share their story with you. You may be surprised to discover that GOD has always be PRESENT in YOUR life… And that Jesus the Christ is no stranger to you. And if THAT still doesn't do it, PRAY to be shown GOD'S FINGERPRINTS… Because they really are ALREADY there for you to discover. GOD'S FINGERPRINTS … COME & SEE! |
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