Week 1 (Hope): Wrap Up

A week reflecting on Hope.

Hope is a vulnerable emotion isn’t it. It’s the first suspect after a betrayal, disappointment, abuse or grief.

“J’accuse!” as Aaron would say, pointing. “It is YOU that lead me into that trap. It is YOU that opened my heart. It is YOUR FAULT!”

And Hope in God, a God who is both here now and coming... a God who is not distant but invested... a God who is at once all powerful and all loving...

“You believe that God is coming to rescue you, is he?” said scornfully shielding a heart full of pain and rage and disappointment. “Where was God when...”

If hope at all is vulnerable (and occasionally stupid), Hope in God is shear idiocy beyond comprehension. It’s Santa for adults. A temporary and dangerous illusion meant to sooth us from the harsh realties of life.

And yet... the Christmas season is all about Wild, Expecting Hope. Vulnerable Hope. Hope that God would not just rescue us but join us. Hope that God would not just create us but enjoy us. Hope that God has come and is coming. Hope that we are not rejected despite our ugly and hate, instead we are sought for, fought for and recklessly loved. It's a Huge Hope.

From my perspective, Hope in God is either a naïve, reckless numbing that is occasionally harmless but frequently leads to delusion, hatred and death or a Courageous Virtue that has embedded in it the opportunity to change reality by first changing the heart. 

I choose Hope, but I understand if you can't or don't or won't. I will try to Hope enough for the both of us. 

Week 1 (Hope): Born to Be Our High Priest

Today is a weird day for me...

Priests...

Jesus is born to be our high priest.

Priest...

I don’t really like that word. I think I might have stopped being a Catholic in large measure because of that word. In my mind it’s like spiritual patriarchy. Priests are the special people (really men) who are close enough to God to speak to and for Him. The ultimate we know better than you. Blech

I definitely like the idea that Jesus is the priest. Like if there has to be one, I like that it’s Jesus. But I still bristle at the role altogether. 

But God is definitely pro-priest. As ever, He has not consulted with me and insists on ALWAYS being right. So that means digging in.

As I’ve contemplated this morning, I am thinking that it’s our conception of power that’s the issue. That the self-righteous, pride of position that I assume/insert/project is poisoning me.

There’s some weird mention in the reading of Melchizedek too. You know I had to look that shit up.

And I won’t say I had some lightbulb moment or anything. But what I did realize is that this “priest-king of righteousness” (that’s what Melchizedek means) is introduced as a servant (he comes to feed Abram bread and wine after he just fought a bunch of other kings to rescue his shit heel cousin Lot). It’s a contrast between Melchizedek (serving, non-violent) and the other kings (imperialistic, violent) that jumps out. And Jesus chose to be compared to THIS priest.

This seems important. That Jesus is not a high priest who is gloating about his position. He comes out to meet us and tend to us in war. To bless us.

If that’s was a priest is supposed to be, I can see why God is for that.

See what I mean... always fucking right.

Every single time.

Merry Christmas!

Week 1 (Hope): Born to Fulfill the Law

Today us about Jesus fulfilling the law.
Christians have a complex relationship with the law. So did the Jews. Paul says the law was a “cage” and a “mirror”.

Cage because it corralled sin in action, quarantining it, flattening the curve. It did nothing about its existence. Nothing to heal it.

Mirror because it makes us aware of the sin in our hearts and lives. You can’t look honestly at the law and think you are gonna measure up. I mean crap - it starts with Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and have no other gods besides me...

Fail. Epic fail. I worship beauty and money and my own bloody intelligence. And I will several times today even if I devote myself not too.

However, the problem with the Jews and now the Christians too (and frankly the Buddhists, the Hindus, the Atheists and the Muslims too) is that we all lie to ourselves and think we can clean our sin up. Here are our plans: (1) We WILL follow the rules. OR (2) We say the rules themselves are wrong.

Gods way was different. He said I will fulfill the Law. I will live it out as you can’t. I will do it for you and come and teach you. This is our hope.

Go tell it on the mountain ladies... Jesus Christ is Born!

Week 1 (Hope): Born to Bless The Nations

The passage from Galatians today is long and it’s hard to wrap your mind around what the hell Paul is trying to say outside of its context... (Galatians 3: 7-29)

He’s writing to Jews in this passage. Jews who are confused about what made them acceptable to God. Jews who had spent hundreds of years believing in a sort of spiritual feudal economy... they inherited God’s love and Grace by birthright (kinda like a prince) and lost access to it by breaking the rules (the law). It was a system of inheritance, entitlement and responsibility. It’s not all that different from much of the way Christianity is practiced in America. You inherit your standing in a local church by birth (your parents take you) and you learn all the rules and things your supposed to believe and say (the law). As a result you are entitled to God’s favor and forgiveness.

But the way Jesus “blessed the nations” was to crush all of that. To usher in a era of generosity, grace and gratitude. He does this by acknowledging that we are not entitled to His thrown by inheritance (all of that ‘not seeds but seed' talk) and we have not measured up to earn it through behavior (all of that law talk). Instead we are loved simply because God loves us. Because He Chooses too. Period.

And it’s not just for the Jew but for all mankind - thank God because I am definitely not Jewish.

All we need to do is believe and respond with gratitude.

Week 1 (Hope): Born to Do What Adam Could Not Do

Jesus did what Adam could not do...

And what Adam could not do is trust God.

Isn’t that fascinating.

That is all started with trust. That sin entered the world through Eve’s inability to discern the voice of the enemy and her openness to distrusting God.

Adam then follows this up by wanting Eve or trusting Eve more than God.

Like a pull in a sweater... sin has unraveled reality ever since. Cascading forward, our desperation only unraveling creation all the more. Less and less and less trust. Less and less and less obedience.

And in the midst of our chaos, Jesus is born. Born to do what Adam and Eve could not... trust and obey even to the point of death.

Through His obedience the fabric of reality is now being rewoven into a new heavens and earth, filled with trust, obedience, truth and light. The pulling of the sweater only yielding more fabric, more substance for this new reality.

The old is passing away. The new has come.

Week 1 (Hope): Born to Bring Light Into the World

Advent 2020 - The First Sunday - Hope

This week we reflect on the 400 years of waiting and looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.

Those people waited, just as we do today, for God to bring light into a dark world.

We have the certainty of Jesus life and the light he has planted in us and the HOPE of His return to reign completely - where death and darkness are no more.