Word of Life Church Podcast

"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold." Nothing of this world can resist the inevitable entropy of life and death. Only that which is eternal can be the center that holds so that things don’t fall apart. Which just another way of saying only God can occupy the orbital center of our life.Christ is before all things,And in him all things hold together.–Colossians 1:17

Saint Patrick’s BreastplateChrist, be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie,Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise,Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.Salvation is of the Lord.Salvation is of the Christ.May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

The dark night when Nicodemus came to Jesus reflected the dark night of his own soul. For a long time Nicodemus had lived in the sunny land of a Pharisee’s certitude. Nicodemus had it all figured out. He had all the answers. He was the Bible Answer Man. But then along came Jesus and suddenly his equations no longer added up. Jesus was an untrained, self-made rabbi from Galilee who was not a Pharisee — and yet God was obviously with him. All of this created deep theological cognitive dissonance for Nicodemus.Jesus was the monkey wrench in Nicodemus’ theological system.Jesus was the pebble in the shoe of Nicodemus’ certitude.Jesus was the solar eclipse that suddenly cast a shadow of doubt into Nicodemus' soul.

We live in an unprecedented time of the exponential growth of human knowledge. Some have suggested that knowledge in some sectors is doubling every 12 months. This does not necessarily mean that we are getting smarter, because knowledge is not the same thing as wisdom. For Christians, Jesus is for us the wisdom of God. In Christ we learn Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and it is curated in the halls of patient reflection. We will learn and grow in wisdom either by listening to wise people or by suffering through our own failure.

Because Jesus prevailed over the devil in his wilderness temptation, and remained true to the Father’s will all the way to the cross, the world now has a saving alternative to the death dealing ways of Pharaoh and Caesar. Because Jesus was formed in the Scriptures and not the dominant script of idolatry and injustice, we can be formed in the Word of Christ and overcome the devil. As the Apostle John said, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

As I call Christians to the practices of radical forgiveness and nonviolent peacemaking that Jesus embodied and most clearly sets forth in the Sermon on the Mount, I often encounter Christians using Romans 13 as a kind of rebuttal. Their argument goes something like this:“God has ordained the government and has given it the sword to execute vengeance; therefore we cannot be opposed to war because Romans 13 sanctions ‘Just War.’”But this is an egregious misinterpretation and misapplication of what Paul is talking about.

On Mount Sinai we only see the back of God; so assumptions are made and at the bottom of the mountain people are executed in the name of holiness, justice, etc. But on Mount Tabor we finally see the face of God in Christ, and at the bottom of the mountain people are healed and set free from their demons. On Mount Tabor the Theology of Terror (back of God theology) is excelled by the Theology of Love (face of God theology).

“It is simply out of the question that God ‘helps’ the Germans or the French or the English. God does not even ‘help’ us Swiss. God helps justice and love. God helps the kingdom of heaven, and that exists across all national boundaries. The foolish mixing of patriotism, war enthusiasm, and Christian faith could one day lead to the bitterest disappointment. We will not join in drinking this intoxicating potion. We want to look steadfastly and unwaveringly to God, who loves everyone equally and who is above all the nations.” –Karl Barth, 1914

If God reveals himself to us as I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE, it seems to indicate there is to be a "divine unfolding" over time. How we first know God will not be how we will know God as we stay on the journey. This doesn’t mean God is changing. God is immutable. God does not mutate. God does not change. But from our perspective it may certainly appear that God is changing.This is the divine unfolding.

We share this planet with seven and half billion other people. What are they for? Are they mere “extras” in a movie called "ME"? Are they resources to be used in the advancement of our selfish agendas? Are they objects to be analyzed, categorized, and utilized according to how they benefit us? Of course not! That approach to the worth and purpose of people is entirely antichrist! People are bearers of the divine image, and as such they are to be unconditionally loved and respected, always accorded justice, and given proper dignity as an expression of our love for God. To mistreat, use, and abuse other people is an insult to God. It's a kind of blasphemy.