Our Role In the Rescue

When Christians talk about "saving souls" they miss the full hope of the Gospel. The beautiful hope is that God will one day restore all of creation. Our role as followers of Jesus is to build for the kingdom.

NT Wright puts it this way: "God longed, in other words, to reestablish his wise sovereignty over the whole creation, which would mean a great act of healing and rescue. He did not want to rescue humans from creation any more than he wanted to rescue Israel from the Gentiles. He wanted to rescue Israel in order that Israel might be a light to the Gentiles, and he wanted thereby to rescue humans in order that humans might be his rescuing stewards over creation." Surprised By Hope

As followers of Jesus this has important implications. It means that what we do, now/today, echoes. It beckons us to see salvation on a larger scale: a radical healing of all creation. It means that when we care for our created world, spend time looking after the sick, or advocating for the oppressed we do so not to gain leverage in attracting/getting people to believe what we do about God, but rather that God somehow uses our work of mercy, love, and justice as building blocks for his kingdom; a kingdom that is both, in some manner, already present (visible through the work of his Church), and yet to come (in fullness with the Lordship and victory of Christ).

The Need For Forgiveness

Forgiveness is often misunderstood. When one forgives they are not saying: "what you did is 'okay'". Nor are they "forgetting" what took place (or the pain that has come along with a hurtful action).

Forgiveness is essential because it frees us from the need (burden) to collect on something that another cannot possibly re-pay: innocence, trust, hope.

Even more, it is in our capacity and availability to forgiveness that we find the forgiving God. In his book, Surprised By Hope, NT Wright writes: "Not to forgive is to shut down a faculty in the innermost person, which happens to be the same faculty that can receive God's forgiveness. It also happens to be the same faculty that can experience real joy and real grief. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ...If you lock up the piano because you don't want to play to somebody else, how can God play to you?"

That is why we pray, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Maybe today you need to forgive someone who hurt you; a family member that has long since past, an "enemy" of yours, or even more - yourself. In the space of your forgiveness of another may you experience the peace, hope, and love of a forgiving God.

Our Love of Fear

I remember as a kid loving to be frightened by scary movies on the TV. We would watch Chukie terrorize people in "Child's Play", Jason stalk people at camp, and of course Freddy as he haunted people in their nightmares.

As we get older our fears change from fiction to reality. We fear the big things that threaten life and security: disease outbreak, corporations going belly up, and violence from foreign military powers. Our fears run deep into our being.

In his short book "Following Jesus", N.T. Wright writes this about fear: ...we're afraid of being alone, of being unloved, of being abandoned. We mix with other children, other teenagers, other young adults, and we're afraid of looking stupid, of being left behind in some race that we all seem to be automatically entered for. We contemplate jobs, and we're afraid both that we mightn't get the one we really want and that if we get it we mightn't be able to do it properly; and that double fear lasts for many people all through their lives. We contemplate marriage, and we're afraid both that we might never find the right person and that if we do marry it may turn out to be a disaster. We consider a career move, and are afraid both of stepping off the ladder and of missing the golden opportunity. We look ahead to retirement, and are afraid both of growing older and more feeble and of dying suddenly."

At first glance fear seems to be an unwanted emotion, something that has crept into our psyche keeping us from dreaming, trying, and doing. Yet the irony is that we as people love fear. For us living a life in fear allows us to live a life "in control". Our fears (so we think) keep us safe; safe from disappointment, sickness, and hurt.

And maybe this is the point of it all as we strive to follow the God of the Scriptures who is continually telling his children to "fear not"; that our pursuit of control (through a fear designed to "keep us safe") will never bring about the fullness of love and life that God desires for us. It is only when we can let go of our fears and need for control that we can freely walk in the hope of life and possibility.

In what areas of your life do you feel you have to "control"?
What "fears" are preventing you from stepping into new possibility?