even the depths of God

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

This is Paul writing to the Corinthians. I love this passage, but something made me stop when reading it today. I actually went back again to make sure I read it correctly.

Paul starts by saying he came not with lofty words or ideas, he just brought to them Christ and Christ crucified. So that nothing else could get in the way. He pointed to the moment we were all bought and made children of God, co-heirs of the kingdom. Then he talks about wisdom, which many of us lack (usually I am included in the lacking wisdom group more often than not…) and how the Spirit moves in and through all of us to search the depths of everything and to bring things to light. And then I read it…

“for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

Now Paul has spoken before about the depths to which the Spirit goes into us to bring out the things that are too deep for words, the sighs and moans that make up our innermost wants and desires and needs…

But what is the depth of God? And why does the Spirit need to be searching there? It makes a powerful play or statement about the Trinity – That the Father is the only one who knows the times and the places things will happen, and the Son sacrifices Himself for the restoration of relationships, and the Spirit, moves and goes where it pleases, to reveal the inner most truths, even those truths at the very depth of God!

So if you are having problems figuring out your life, don’t sweat it! Even the Holy SPirit has to search out the depths of God to bring things to light!

So let God be God and just hang on for a nice ride, and enjoy the journey.

God’s Holiness…

This is a depiction of a Cherubim… Does this look like an angel to you?

The scene in Revelation 4 depicts 4 living creatures on each side of the throne. They have eyes all over them, on the front and their back. They have 6 wings, and eyes all over them… Does this look like and angel to you?

And imaging God’s holiness…

Rolf Jacobson from Luther Seminary argues that the singing angels did in Heaven is not actually melodic sounds but shrill cries because of God’s holiness. God’s holiness is so great that the angels can not stand to be in it… Can you image what it will be like for us?

How about the scene we got yesterday in Isaiah 6 of Isaiah standing in the temple of God and realizing where he has. And Isaiah says that Isaiah said, “Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips.” If that would have been me, I probably would have said, “Oh no I’m done for!” Remember the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where the ark of the covenant is opened? The only ones who did not get their faces melted where the ones who did not look. All hell broke lose, or was it hell or was it God’s Glory? God’s holiness was contained there in and that is what did the damage. He is so holy we will not be able to stand in His presence.

What can you do to be able to stand or survive in the holiness that God exudes?

Trinity…

This is an icon of the Holy Trinity that I have fallen in love with. It is so beautifully depicted and shows us the reason behind the Trinity.

On this Holy Trinity Sunday we talk about one of the doctrines of the church that we do not understand or comprehend. We try to explain the Trinity through things we know…

Like an egg – it is 3 things in 1 – a shell, white and yolk…

Or an apple – it is 3 in 1 – skin, meat, and seeds…

Yet you can have an egg shell all by itself, and you can not have one member of the Trinity without another…

So what is the Trinity all about…

Romans 8:12-17 tells us how we are children of God and heirs of the kingdom. Everything that is God’s will be ours. And we are co heirs of everything with Christ.  Why do we deserve this? We are sinners and are not like Christ, but God does it, and that is what we get. The familial relationships that can not be broken over time. Just like that brother or sister you love to hate – you are stuck with, and you are stuck with God, because He wants it that way.

So remember that Trinity is about relationship. The 3 in 1 is a relationship and the above icon shows us the relationship that is open, see the space at the bottom of the icon? That is the space that is open because the Trinity is not complete, there is space there for you.

You are invited into the dance with the trinity, into relationship that will change your world forever!

If the world hates you

Have you ever been hated?

Have you ever hated anyone?

I was told once in a bible study I was leading that hate is a very harsh word, and as Christians how could we ever hate anyone… Well I hated someone. They had wronged me and my family, and they did things that I never thought someone who loved me could do. I guess to make matters worse, this person that I hated was a member of my family, it was a sister… She had wronged all of my family. And I hated her for what she did to us. I love her today don’t get me wrong, but she hurt us badly and that made me feel very strongly… But I love her because she is my family. Get it. It is the old statement that I do not like, “love the sinner, hate the sin.” You see it is impossible to love the sinner and hate the sin, because we are one and the same, we are the sin that we commit and the sin that we commit effects every other member of the body of Christ. It is not possible to separate the sin from the sinner, except for God. Hate is a strong word, and that is why Jesus used it here…

If the world hates you, beware because they hated me before you. They will hate you because you are like me, and you love like me and act like me.  We are to be known for our love, not for our hate… We are to help others the way Jesus did through the comforting and moving of the Holy Spirit, instead of pointing out the sins we see others committing. Sins are what keep us from God, what create idols in our lives, and a sin for me may not be a sin for you… So who are we to judge. We are to love and help others know God. Then God will change them through the giving of the comforter, the advocate, the Holy Spirit…

Love so much that the world hates you. Love them like Jesus…

let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Isaiah 2 tells us the story of all nations streaming towards the mountain of the Lord.

We hear that all peoples are coming to hear and learn from the Lord. That He will be the judge and arbitrator and all nations will seek His justice…

What is Justice in the biblical sense?  Have you ever stopped to think about that? I mean really, according to the Bible what do you deserve? Ok sure there is that Jesus guy who came and paid the price for all people… But let’s just take Him out of the equation for a moment. Without Jesus what do you deserve? What is justice for you according to the Bible?

We are all unholy and unable to be with God, therefore the justice we would receive in the biblical sense would be eternal separation from God. We would not want to go and learn from the Lord, we would not be streaming to Him seeking the living water that He gives, we would be running away because we know what we deserve, what is just for us. Isaiah knew this all to well a little later on in chapter 6 when he finds himself in God’s temple, and Isaiah knows he is unworthy to be there…

We would not stream to God to arbitrate our issues, or to be judge over us if we wanted true justice for ourselves. But is that what we want? We know we are taken care of by that Jesus fellow, but all those other sinners out there need to know God’s wrath because they are obviously a worse sinner than I am.  They need to have divine wrath brought down on them… But remember watch what you ask for because you just might get it, what you are asking for about someone else, they just might be asking for you.

The truth of the matter is none of us deserve to stand in the temple of the Lord, none of us will ever get to be with God eternally on our own, and God’s justice is to let us be there anyhow, because of what He did.

So today and always let us walk in the light of the Lord, and seek His justice, which is grace and mercy that every should come to be in a relationship with Him. He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love for all His creation. That includes you and your neighbor who is the worst sinner of all, which is what your neighbor says about you…

for those who are in Christ Jesus

“There is therefore now no condemnation” are comforting words used by Paul to start the 8th chapter of the epistle to the Roman’s…

They are comforting.  Now there is no condemnation.  There is no condemning of us any more. But hold on there is a catch the no condemnation is only for those who are in Christ Jesus…

Ok so we are all ok then right? Because we are obviously in Christ Jesus… But if we set our minds on fleshly things and seek after our carnal pleasures then we are pleasing the flesh and living in the flesh and are not in the Spirit, and therefore not in Christ Jesus…

Paul continues, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

If we are in the flesh then we can not please God and therefore are condemned by our sins. If our mind is set on the Spirit we will have life and peace, but otherwise we have death. But are we not constantly living in the flesh? We have to fight ourselves daily to live in the realm of God and not go after our own desires and needs. We are constantly fighting with the body to get our way and to fight for our promotion and the needs we want met. We continue in the community we are a part of so that we get our 15 seconds of fame, and glory, so the mission we do as a body will make us have some kick backs…

All of us our sinners and constantly living in our flesh and therefore condemned.

Thankfully though this chapter to the Roman’s is not the end of the letter, but the climax to the need for a savior and what He has done for us. He makes us all saints, and therefore we are in Christ Jesus. So fight your flesh, but know that the battle has already been won!

so I send you…

John 20 19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

Jesus returns from the grave, and immediately He gives the marching orders for troops…

Jesus came to teach us how to live and what it means to follow God, and here He gives the disciples, the Spirit, the breath of life. He breaths on them and send them out. Just as God sent Him here to teach us, now He sends out the disciples to teach the world how to live and love as Jesus did. It is Life 101 if you will! It is the way we should live. Sent!

We are a group of people so filled with God that we have something we have to share. We have something we know is so good that we have to share it. And that is what God does, He sent Jesus, and now He is sending us.

So go, and tell. You are sealed and filled to be His messenger. So go and tell everyone that Jesus was born, died and was raised from the dead, and He is coming again to take us with Him.

So go sent one!

Body parts…

Today’s lectionary reading continues the passage from 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul tells the Corinthians about the gifts we are given and how we are knit together.

No one is any more important than the other. “and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect;” Paul tells us that the lowly members are given more respect. The members that think they are all that really aren’t and need the rest of the body. The ear can’t say I’m the best and only part you need… No part is able to be the body by itself…

“But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, 25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.” God arranged the body so that we are all put on a level playing field and no one can hoard power over another, no body part can claim to be the lead and the one who calls the shots. We are all to have the same care for one another. We all need to care for each other. This means that any member of the body we cut down, or put down, we are only cutting down and putting down ourselves! We are not helping them, as many will say, but we are hurting ourselves. God through Jesus went ans was with people. He loved them where they were and gave them the love and grace that each of us received that we did not deserve… He loved everyone where they were. Yes He did say to them, “Go and sin no more.” After someone more religious pointed out their sin, which He says to us and we ignore or our flesh takes over. By claiming to be better than someone else and pointing out how they are wrong with God is not helping the body, but hurting us all…

Take care of the body, love as you have been loved… and remember you can not go it allow, and you are no better than anyone else.

Gifts…

I watched the first Tinkerbell movie last night with my girls… I was struck by the opening seen where Tinkerbell has to find her gift, what her talent is. She looks at the people and judges them by appearance and walks past the hammer which is for the tinker fairies… She does not want this to be her gift and spends the majority of the movie trying to learn a different talent even though the glowing hammer was more than any other fairy. It was her gift and that is what she needed to do. Once she figured that our she was the most productive and able to restore the chaos that she had caused by trying to be something she was not. That is what Paul tells the Corinthians and us in 1 Corinthians 12, that we all have a gift and it is our responsibility to do that function for the body and only we can do it. And ear can not be a foot, or a hand can not be an eye. The stomach has the job it has because that is what it’s gift is… do not try to be someone or something you are not. Be who you are. You will be the best you there is!

“Your talent makes you who you are, you should be proud of it.” ~ Tinker Bell

Dry Bones Past 2… (A different take)

A wonderful song that I forgot about but just heard again… May we all be filled with the Spirit Wind!