Imageo Dei

The Image of God...

What does it really mean? I know it is not physical, but what is it? Is it the image of Him that is only complete when it ignites with the Christ to be had? Is it the receptacle waiting for the blood of Christ to be dropped in so that redemption will spring forth like a sprig of green grass? Is it a key given to the potential, elected - the chosen one who will one day by chance or ordinance be accepted into the exclusive fellowship of believers?

We are all made in the image of God. What part of "all" do we not understand? Perhaps the image is an opaque glass container in which sits a beautifuly white candle. Both are visible and recognizable. But when the wick is lit on the candle, the beauty is breathtaking. It is no longer a receptacle with waxed wick. No. It is transformed by the touch of the fire.

Perhaps that is what it is all about. Am I the "Christ" that He wishes me to share? Not some theological dissertation or restricted fellowship. Not a clique or sect or denomination. I have been lit for the reason of illumination. Is it the Christ in me, not the Christ in my Bible or in my sanctuary that is so hard to believe but so necessary to do so?

Is the perfection we aim for the very thing the world cannot believe or cannot draw close to? Hmmm....

A Promise

I am lying in bed next to my husband. It is 2 AM and he has had a rough week. In addition to ongoing medical and financial issues, he is suffering a stomach virus. This illness is a drop in the bucket in comparison to what he is going through. But this is the proverbial " straw that broke the camel's back". Through the years, he and I have found comfort in tough times, by my reading scripture out loud. I have been doing that and he asks that I find the words to his favorite hymn. I do and start to read them to him:

Hymn of Promise by Natalie Sleeth

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

My husband's back is to me and I suddenly see the jerking of his shoulders. He is crying. Now, a man crying is not all that unusual, but my husband is a big strapping ex college football playing guy and this is rare. Life has literally slapped him up side the head with a big dose of woe and this simple song has released the torrent.

The phone rings, a call from work, and he must go in for a little while. I hate it and am worried about him. But after dressing, he looks at me and with a smile, says, "It is going to be OK".

As I hear the front door close, I know it will. Not because the difficulties have been resolved or the viral side effects completel relieved. But because in the dark of the tunnel, he has seen a small pinpoint of light. He cannot tell me exactly what it is, but he knows it is not a train, and that is the only hope he has to cling to right now.

Funny, how sometimes that is all we have and it turns out to be enough. Not the promise of promotion, good health, or financial security. But the faint glimmer of hope that this too shall pass. He walks with us through the wind, the fire, the water. The fire may be quenched, the winds calmed, and the waters quieted. But not necessarily so. He walks with us "through". How blessed that word is - "through". Not set up camp, hunker down, or build a condo there. Through it to the other side. That is the hope my husband had in his words and his smile this morning. And he shared it with me.
Praise God!

"Please & Thank You" or "Thank You & Please"

In a small department at my college, there were three separate instances of a young woman losing their grandmother. Taken their ages, this was not unusual but in the small group, it was devastating. I don't know if it was the loss or the fact that there was an inability for anyone to recover and offer the others their sympathy or empathy. I found myself returning to one of my favorite scripture.

Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known. And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Being a rather anxious person, the "peace that passes all understanding" has been a difficult and elusive commodity. In reading the scripture, the words "with thanksgiving" took on more of an importance. In praying for the young women, I thanked God for the importance of grandparents and realized the loss in my life. It was bittersweet, because from where I was sitting, my grandparents deceased, I could understand the beauty of their memories. Things I never appreciated when they were alive, but that lived on after their deaths. It was incredible. I realized in my praying, thanksgiving was a list by rote of all the things I am grateful for. Most of the time, though important in my life, listed without much thought or feeling. I realized also in praying for these young women, the peace that passed all understanding was the fact that I knew God would be in the situation and He would bring the sorrow and grief to fruition. And there it was - the peace. Not that there would be no pain and suffering, but that it would be part not the whole. Though I may not always be able to do it. I "pray" I remember to say "thank you" before I say "please". Because it is for me.

Christ in Me

Why do we feel as a church, as Christ, that people have to come to us, rather than us going to them? If Jesus had ministered only to those that came to synagogue, he would have had a very tumultuous and an assuredly much shorter ministry. Christ came to me - when I was a fundamentalist, an evangelical, a charismatic, a moderate, and even now in my more liberal theology. He was always the heart of my desire. Funny, but I felt he looked and acted totally different in each stage of my spiritual life. But you know what. He did not change. I cannot go back and tell you at any time, that he revealed any part of him that was not in line with his character. He was to me what I needed each step of the way. But he was always Christ. I just see so clearly now that my need of him was more important than my theologically correct perception of him. And he knew it and he allowed it. He did not compromise who he was in anyway. And as I grew, I learned how to love him each step of the way. And what I saw was what I wanted. I wanted to draw closer and in drawing closer, I was transformed. I hope for the better.

Providence (and not Rhode Island)

Weird word - providence. Kind of antiquated in a sense, but it speaks volumes. I can't really put my finger on it. Heck it's not my finger that needs to wrap around it. It's my mind. When I was a child, there was a song I remember singing,

Be not dismayed, whate'r betide,
God will take care of you
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you

God will take care of you
Through everyday
O'er all the way
He will take care of you
God will take care of you

Being a neurotic, anxious, worry-ridden kid, this song was one I repeated or sang on many an occasion. He would make everything better. All bad things would turn into good. God would spin straw into gold. He would take care of everything.

But as I grew older, things happened to me and my loved ones, that were in no way good. And I have to be honest, it was sometimes very hard to see the outline of His hand in those bad things. The events literally rocked and split my world apart.

But as I re-read the stanzas of this hymn today, I realized it was not "them" - circumstances, trials, tragedies - that He promises to take care of. It was me. He does not promise to make "it" better. He promises to care for me through the struggles and in the chaos I travel. My only job is to believe that and live like I do. Not always easy, but how fine it is when I can.

God's Economy

The teachings of the Bible can come across pretty harsh. The Old Testament especially. A lot of killing people, beheading, stoning, etc. Even the sayings of Christ sometimes didn't match the man he was. I think sometimes, we take the statements at face value. The statement's face, not the man who made it.

One is "Judge not lest you be judged" As a child growing up in my homogenous Christian world, I could almost see God behind a huge mahogany podium, black robes, wire rim glasses perched on his nose, looking down on me, gavel in hand, ready to pronounce my sentence. All because I was critical about a friend. It was a simple cause and effect, sin and punishment kind of thing to me.

Lately, I have questioned that. I think it may mean, if you judge other folks, 99% of the time, you are saying the same critical things to yourself. It is a habit. You can't cut someone else down without nicking yourself. I hate doing it and I try my best not to, but it is a hard habit to break. But what a difference it is making in my life. The less I criticize others, the less I criticize myself. It seems I was the judge in black robes. Not God. I am sure it doesn't make him shout for joy, but He is pretty much pointing out one of the economic realities of kingdom living. My cause and my effect. Hmmm - wonder what else I can find.

Grounded

The scripture for my Sunday School lesson today was from Mark 10:35-45. It is the story of James and John asking Jesus for the favor of sitting at his right and his left. It is so easy to chalk them off as greedy, glory grabbers.

But as I worked through the scripture preparing, it made me wonder just how Jesus dealt with his own humanity. It says that he was tempted but did not sin. How did He do that. He could not have been immune because that was not how He or God operated. If he came to earth, he came with all the foibles, weaknesses, and humanness in that mortal frame. The only difference between Him and the everyday Joe or Jo was His divinity. So often, I read the scripture "He went off alone up into the mountains" and thought of it only in the context of needing time apart to be with God. To refresh, rejuvenate, etc. But perhaps, He needed time apart from the temptation of fame, notoriety, and power. That fame, not sought but thrust upon Him by the throngs of miracle seekers and well-wishers. The demands of those seeking Him, his disciples included.

Perhaps when He said "The Father and I are one" it was not so much a statement of identity as one of repetition, a reminder of his human make-up. That he was a human-like vessel for the divinity of God. The power was God's, He was his incarnation.

Perhaps Satan knew exactly what he was doing when he tempted Christ in the desert. Power and fame were a pretty powerful drug even to the Son of God. How hard was it to keep the perspective, when throngs followed you constantly, wanting a word from you, a touch from you, even from the hem of your garment. How very hard for Him and how very hard for Him to explain to those who he would leave behind.

As Christians, the very thing within us of any worth is the very thing that can create a trap to snare us. How do we resist? If our blessed Savior was tempted, how can we possibly not be taken down. Perhaps by remembering we are a vessel. That any good within us is not of "us". That we have two choices. One to be a conduit of His mercy and love to those we come in contact with. To do this, all we have to do is remain open, that His love might flow through us. Our other option is to allow the inherent arrogance and pride squeeze and constrict the flow of Him in me.

How do I combat this? Each and every day saying, not only thy will be done, but adding thy will be done through me. Praise God I can say that and Praise God that He hears and answers my plea