5 posts tagged “jesus”
Speaking of death, I read a poem today by a friend, Mary Setliff, recently recognized by a local poetry festival, in which she potently describes cancer taking a friend. Her poem is called "The Bones of a Swan (for Will)."
Reading it, I was reminded of something that I read recently: swan bones are used in mythology to describe a magical building material out of which anything can be made. Imagine that: enchanted swan bones givng us "make-anything-you-can-dream-of" two-by-fours.
With my swan bones, I would build a city where anything you can dream comes true. And in that city, cancer, and death, wouldn't take anyone, but would transform them.
What a miracle that such a city has already been built, not with swan bones, but with the flesh and blood of a perfect Man, Jesus, whose death and resurrection works the most Perfect Magic of All.
And then, the last enemy, death, shall be defeated.
Jason Clark has published last month a review of a book, Did Jesus go to the Theatre? by an author named Nick Page. I love the title, and am interested in the book. Here is a link to a presentation by Page.
More from Newbigin, on the occasion of Easter:
The truths which Buddhism teaches would (as Buddhists understand them) be true whether or not Gautama had discovered and promulgated them. But the whole of Christian teaching would fall to the ground if it were the case that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus were not real events in history but stories told to illustrate truths which are valid apart from these happenings. (the Gospel in a Pluralist Society)
The Christian message--what is radical about the Message of the Gospel--is that it is not, as with other faiths, other religions, about "truth for life." It is about Truth in History.
The Gospel is not a myth in the sense that it communicates principles or generic notions of truth. Newbigin shows that it is true in the sense that it relates to Events Which Took Place in History.
So, this connects to what a friend said to me yesterday: "I believe all people in all cultures are good." I agreed, and added: some people in some cultures are decidedly better than many professing Christians. Still, something else must be said: it isn't about whether or not I am good or not...or you are good or not.
It is about whether He was dead and rose again. That makes all the difference.
Part of what Jesus wants for us in this world is to follow Him. Radical, I know. Following Him means having something called a Kingdom Mindset. Translation: He is in charge; He sets the parameters. He is King.
Unfortunately, we "mere mortals" are too often tempted to follow our own ways, our own programs, our own stuff, our own "kingdoms," whatever they may be. So, our good intentions often wind up thwarting Jesus' Kingdom Movements among us.
Of course, Jesus is no ordinary King. He is sovereign. So we don't thwart him in any traditional sense. But, when our ways oppose His ways, we run the risk of missing His blessing on our endeavors.
What are some ways that our religion, our rules, our protocols, and our structures can get in the way? Here is a partial list:
- Demand conformity of methodology
- Punish out-of-the box thinking
- Get tied to property and buildings
- Be threatened by giftedness that’s not like you
- Refuse to exercise discipline for the right things
- Be risk adverse under the guise of stewarding your people
These are part of a list from an article called, "How to Kill a Movement." I liked this article because it challenges me on the way things should be done.
The ones I've listed above are a few of my favorites. By that, I don't mean I like them, necessarily, but I think they are important. This is a painful list for someone coming from my protestant tradition--Presbyterianism--but that's just why it matters, I think. You can read the rest of the list here.
Reading the New Yorker recently, I came across a fantastic quote:
Doing a quick search online, I found that it is quoted nowhere else except here, by an actor and instructor of acting, on his blog. (Interesting blog, too.) I'd love to know the author of this quote, someone who is, apparently by the author of the article, a "philosopher."Without a killing, there is no feast.
But its significance to me goes beyond the field of acting or even philosophy.
Think for a moment: the Christian faith is compared to a feast. Themes of satisfaction, fullness of joy, and being filled (with the Holy Spirit, with grace, with love, etc.) abound.
What is remarkable is that this bounteous feast of grace has been prepared for us through the death (and resurrection) of Jesus. Even more remarkably, the one who prepared it, the Host, is the one whose death was required.
Reading elsewhere online, I came across this quote from Old Spurgeon, the famous 19th century Baptist pastor:
Gospel joys are elevating, they make men like angels. As in the gospel God comes down to men, so by the gospel men go up to God. I might also have shown you how absolutely peerless are the provisions of grace. There is no feast like that of the gospel, no meat like the flesh of Jesus, no drink like his blood, no joys like that which crowns the gospel feast. (Spurgeon on Isaiah 25:6)
