This was written as a kind of flow-of-consciousness during our last basement service at church. Apologies for the seeming lack of cohesiveness; it all works together....really.
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Man could not keep God’s laws -- OR -- Man could not match God’s character; & therefore act in holiness.
Jesus was fully human. Jesus, therefore would suffer the same failings that the rest of us have - an inability to consistently act with righteousness. Only by a complete merging with & yielding to the Spirit of God did Jesus overcome these failings. The perfection inferred upon Jesus by Christians today is not owed so much to His cosmic origin & position in the Kingdom - although these are crucial; but we find his perfect action & righteous thinking arise from His full & perfect union with the Spirit.
Therefore, our (us followers of the Way) actions & thoughts are no longer subject to our outward circumstances - although these are important; but we now have access & opportunity to the same Spirit as Jesus - & therefore the same perfection of action & thought that He exhibited during His life on earth.
Where does ennui for the Christian come from? Why do we feel the wind die from our sails? Re-assessment? Yes. When “progress” seems to stop in our lives, God is calling our attention to Himself. He’s not calling you to greater holiness or discipline or more works. He is simply calling us to greater & deeper relationship with Himself. Any of those other external things may (or may not) follow, but they mean nothing without the anchor of deep relationship with the Father; a relationship that takes just as much time & investment as any other human relationship.
Being filled with the Spirit means, for us, that the Father is palpably present with us at all times, in every situation, just like any good friend sharing life with another. Subsequently, reading Scripture or singing hymns holds no greater place within God’s pleasure than playing golf, Xbox or any other thing we might enjoy.
Worship is not required of us. God’s a big boy. He is pleased with Himself & His work. He has no need for our worship or approval. Worship, in any mode, is for our benefit. In holy worship, we rest rightly within our place in the universe; we align with the Cosmos.
I understand your cohesiveness here. Though I understand your thought processes fairly well already. Fore knowledge helps.
ReplyDeleteYour first paragraph about Jesus being fully man and God is something I've understood for a long time. Even since I was a baby Christian. I think this concept is one of the first things I really came to understand about our God and His work in a meaningful way.
The only thing I would add to your thoughts here is that we must acknowledge that Christ didn't just overcome the failings, he felt the temptations just like we do. Maybe even more because he was/is bestowed with real power! This is evidenced when Christ was tempted in the wilderness by our adversary. In the end he offer Jesus a kingdom in what he believed was his world. Jesus felt the temptation to forsake the Father he knew better than any man before, but, though the text doesn't say it, I like to think he immediately refused. Maybe even laughed in Satan's face as he said "You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him!" (Matt. 4:10; exclamation mine)
And before I start on the second paragraph I must say. I must say, I had to look up ennui on Wikipidea.
I've been feeling this way for sometime. Much like Jason. I feel an unrest in me. A desire to move forward. But from God I feel no such direction moving forward. Even after all of the things I've been learning and He's been directly teaching me in the last few years. I still feel a need to be on the move from my own self.
Needless to say this idea you put forth is very provocative to me. To think that this isn't my fault, that I'm not to blame directly for this "slump", that what is really going on is that God wants me closer, really wants me to accept Him as Father, for direction and teaching and discipline, is freeing, exciting, and a little scary all at once. Because if He wants me to slow down or even stop and draw closer to Him, that means He wants to prepare me for bigger things! Perhaps even prepare me for the battle that will illustrate much of my life! I knew that this was a time of preparation for me but in this light it is so much more relevant; that much more urgent and meaningful!
And then connecting this idea to worship as a life style with the understanding that God does not need our worship is freeing as well! If worship is for our benefit but still brings joy and delight to God why should we fret and worry over it? Even when it doesn't go like we planned or we think it could have been better or different, our Father knows our hearts and our intentions and He still finds joy in it! Like a dad seeing his young son draw a picture for him. To anyone else it looks like a wavey-lined stick figure, but dad understands. Dad gets it! His son is showing his love despite not having amazing art skills, despite not having the experience to know what is perceived as bad or good.
So when we can make a skillful noise, painting, sermon, book, prayer, or whatever else for God in worship how much more joy does our Father feel? And when we allow the spirit to live and breathe through us we can make every moment worship for God. How much more when our whole lives are lived for Him?
Good stuff. I'm looking forward to what you guys have to say too.
Wow. That ministered to me. Extra wow because you were commenting & expanding on something I wrote. Dad's good.
ReplyDeleteIsn't he though? And that is what this whole thing is for right? A little iron sharpening iron for the digital age.
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