Cruciformity

Another quaint George Herbert poem…

Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning

If I lack'd anything.

'A guest,' I answer'd, 'worthy to be here:'

Love said, 'You shall be he.'

'I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,

I cannot look on Thee.'

Love took my hand and smiling did reply,

'Who made the eyes but I?'

'Truth, Lord; but I have marr'd them: let my shame

Go where it doth deserve.'

'And know you not,' says Love, 'Who bore the blame?'

'My dear, then I will serve.'

'You must sit down,' says Love, 'and taste my meat.'

So I did sit and eat.

 

I spent the last couple of weekends down in Canberra, seeing friends and family and celebrating the marriage of two good friends, Nate and Tara. It really represented to me the fruits of the kinds of families which you don’t get to see very often. It went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to have a great time.

What surprised me most, however, was just how many people were there that I hadn’t seen in the same room for a long time. Isn’t it great when you catch up with old friends?!

 

2 John 12   Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to be with you and talk face to facea so that our joy may be complete. 

 

 

It’s quite easy at college and life more generally to draw comparisons between others and yourself. Of course this usually means that I feel bad because I fall short in a way that others succeed and it’s sometimes in the most elementary things.

I’ve drawn much comfort from some of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians where there are a number of passages that render such comparisons utterly meaningless. Consider where Paul doesn’t care if he’s judged by others (in chapter 4), or where he speaks of the necessity of every varied part of the body of Christ (in chapter 12).

Last night I listened to a sermon by Piper as he reflected on his own inadequacies when he compared himself to Jonathan Edwards. (Oh, how many people I know would long to be like Piper!) He quoted these comforting words of Paul in 1 Cor 15:10 that have been somewhat life-giving for me:

“by God’s grace I am what I am”

I’ve been reflecting a bit on God’s love for a sermon this weekend. My almost complete lack of nous when it comes to romance leaves me feeling a little behind the eight ball but thankfully love is broadly relevant in life in general.

In my experience love is just about everything that is important to me. My security and significance (to borrow from Larry Crabb) come almost exclusively from my friends, family and colleagues; I love the love of my friends, the warm embrace of my family and the approval and endorsement of my colleagues.

Recognising this, then, it’s clear how God’s love can have such an impact on a person. If Almighty God whose whispers formed mountain ranges desires YOU, then this would blow the categories of security and significance - you’d be unstoppable.

Of course, this sounds good but how can we have any confidence that God does love us? The diversity of speculation that is rendered of God’s volition in various instances would suggest that we have a low degree of certainty. But thankfully God has rendered speculation itself unnecessary as he’s shown us what he’s like in his son Jesus:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:6-8, NIV)

God’s love precedes our loveliness: we were powerless, ungodly, unrighteous, sinners and God’s enemies. It’s at this point that God demonstrates his love for us. In fact, ‘demonstrate’ is probably too weak a word- he ‘proves’ it through the death of Jesus. Here is the love of God: the emotion-ridden self-sacrificial, gracious self-giving of God for his enemies.

Moreover it’s not merely something that God does but rather something that God is. It’s not a job or a mood or an obligation that he takes up and sets down. No, God is love. He always loves in his own being (Father, Son and Spirit) and his love for us is the overflow of this just as with all of his works.

As Paul indicates in Eph. 3 the implications of this are fathomless. Assurance of God’s love, proven in the cross of Christ is hugely significant in my circumstances each day. What better words to express this that Paul’s in Romans?

… we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5 NIV)

 Light is sweet,

and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.  

 

I made a very brisk trip to Canberra on Thursday morning only to return on Saturday morning.

On my return leg I was reminded of the charm of catching the train. Apart from needing to get up at sparrow to battle the FREEZING cold of Canberra that I’ve come to forget (or repress), just about everyone is peacefully sleeping, slack jawed and awkwardly positioned in their chairs. It just seems to drift along almost silently and infrequently stopping. Perhaps the think I enjoyed most this morning was the sunrise and spectacular scenery. Charming, really.

I also had a wonderful opportunity to see my family and a couple of friends. Having not seen them since Christmas, it was good to experience their love for me and to be able to express it to them also. It showed me how refreshing it is to have people in your life that really love you and care for you despite your foibles.

Have you seen ‘Legends of the fall’? There’s a lot that I didn’t like about Brad Pitt’s character but one thing that he does is really love his family. I’m reminded of this also from ‘the Godfather’. Maybe not the first place you’d usually think of looking for role models but it really was challenging for to think about how I treat people close to me.

I think that a combination of these things left me wanting to love people more. I remember preaching on 1 John and really struggling to know how to apply it to people’s lives. How do you teach and motivate people to love each other? I still don’t really know how to love people myself. But I feel that I’ve learnt something of a lesson. My friends and family and Brad taught me something about this. I finished reading John’s Gospel this morning and found another good example to follow there too. 

I’m confident in the power of words to communicate love, but I’m struggling. I guess it’s hard to explain love without actions… In any case, there’s no doubt that love is charming when it’s understood….

For those slaving away in the workplace daydreaming about the school holidays that once were or even coveting what is perceived to be the lot of Bible College students: frolicking in flowery fields, fondling moon-beams, lavished with leisure and spending entire days imagining what we might do tomorrow… Well, it’s not entirely untrue… One of the requirements that College gives us so that we don’t become too elated with pure bliss, in true puritanical, reformed tradition, we are required to read 500 odd pages of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. So in recent weeks this has been a dark cloud over my head.But this morning I was reading Calvin (that’s right, Saturday morning - and don’t worry I was doing it last night too!) and was quite moved by something I read. I have to confess to have enjoyed a lot of what Calvin has to say and particularly his passion for God’s truth. In fact, some of his passages are solid gold. At one point he recounts the hope of Old Testament saints and in particular those often identified as his covenant people: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God’s covenant people. A basic knowledge of Genesis would tell you that these men lived catastrophic lives and yet their hope was in God throughout.My holidays have been OK but quite tough at times (in ways and for reasons I won’t expand on here). But this morning Calvin referred to a Psalm that quite nicely sums up this Christian faith and reminded me where to keep my hope.

Psa. 30:4    Sing to the LORD, you His faithful ones,

and praise His holy name. 

5 For His anger lasts only a moment,

but His favor, a lifetime.

Weeping may spend the night,

but there is joy in the morning.

 

Sorry, I haven’t posted recently. I’ve been too busy with Calvin, Hebrew and (thanks to Ando) Old School New York Funk… Check this out…

Perhaps the most depressing thing about my all-too-recent studies, after hammering away at Greek and Hebrew vocab, is opening up my required reading and having to do English vocab. One of these words was ‘exculpate’ - “To show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing”. But while unfamiliar with the word, sadly, I’m all too familiar with the concept. If only I could communicate clearer the first time and avoid all of those frustrating meta-conversations. Hopefully nobody saw me unsuspectingly walking down a naughty street at Kings Cross earlier tonight and drew the wrong conclusions. Hopefully people don’t find me guilty of being extraordinarily boring because of the state of my blog!

In 2 Cor 10, superficial, swish, sweet-talking leaders had persuaded the congregation that Paul had reared that he was passé, embarrassing and even dangerous. So Paul is in this kind of situation where he needs to exculpate himself. And part of me really wants Paul to lay down some smack. Do you remember Mr Mayage in Karate Kid being underestimated by young punks? He gives it to them. I really want Paul to give it to the Corinthians and show them what a real apostle looks like.

Here Paul uses warlike and powerful imagery that suggests he might just do this. He says that he fights to demolish arguments, take captive thoughts to obey Christ, and punish disobedience. He’s not to be underestimated because he’s got the ammunition to make serious damage! But here Paul’s attitude to power is not the same as that of ‘the flesh’. Can you see the weapons that he uses? The strength of his appeal to them: by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ.

2Cor. 10:1 Now I, Paul, make a personal appeal to you by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ—I who am humble among you in person, but bold toward you when absent. 2 I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are •walking in a fleshly way.a 3 For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way,a 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments 5 and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 6 And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

In 2 Cor 10-12 Paul does exculpate himself, he sets forth the truth about his claim to being a genuine apostle. But doesn’t set the record straight in a way that is all too common in our world: using violence; or looking to get some kind of revenge or recompense; or looking to gain a soap-box for his own cause; or look to push other people down to push himself up. Paul is not the same as others in this regard. He paradoxically demonstrates the genuine power of his apostleship “by the gentleness and graciousness of Christ. His medium and his message show that his ammunition is the love and grace of the Lord Jesus, powerful to demolish strongholds.