Dearest e-votees-
We are in a world where we are taught to look out for ourselves. Our primary task is to make sure our needs are met and our ravenous desires are sated. We are to choose what suits us.
Jesus prayed for unity for all those who come to belief in him in John 17. Jesus wants us to be like him and put the needs of others on a par with our own. Our task shifts to make sure that the needs of all are met and that those who are hungry all have a place at the table. We are to choose to take up the cross which is what suits those who follow after Jesus.
The tension is one as old as the dirt in the garden of Eden. Are we gods? Or are we God's? How we answer that should make all the difference in the world.
Peace,
Karl
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We are in a world where we are taught to look out for ourselves. Our primary task is to make sure our needs are met and our ravenous desires are sated. We are to choose what suits us.
Jesus prayed for unity for all those who come to belief in him in John 17. Jesus wants us to be like him and put the needs of others on a par with our own. Our task shifts to make sure that the needs of all are met and that those who are hungry all have a place at the table. We are to choose to take up the cross which is what suits those who follow after Jesus.
The tension is one as old as the dirt in the garden of Eden. Are we gods? Or are we God's? How we answer that should make all the difference in the world.
Peace,
Karl
----------
3 And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? 4 For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. 9 For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9, NRSV
Jesus came into the world and became one of us. That is what we call the incarnation. He took on flesh. He took on meat and bones. He took on a personality and a voice, an appearance and a biography, an ethnicity and mannerisms. In the person of Jesus we come to know the 2nd Person of the Trinity--the Savior, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Son, etc., etc. By knowing Jesus we have a vision of the unseen God. (see Colossians 1:15) When we see Jesus we see the Father. (see John 14:8-9). Jesus reveals God to us. If we want to follow in the ways of God we are wise to belong to Jesus. We belong not because we choose Jesus but rather because Jesus first chose us. As God helps us live into the choosing we come to know God.
Other people can help incarnate God to us. They are not God in the sense that Jesus is but they can help to reveal God to us. Through their personality and stories, through their caring gazes and testimony, through their culture and their rituals these people can help us to experience Jesus and by extension the Holy Spirit and God the Father. When we see the image of God in those people we see God. By knowing them and their faith stories we have a vision of the unseen God. They reveal God to us. If we want to know God more fully it makes sense that we might find delight and joy belonging with them. There is nothing wrong with having allegiance and positive regard for one who has made God known to you.
Who are some of those people in your life? What are their names? Who are your Paul and Apollos and Cephas? In my own journey they have names like Sue, Robert, Wilbur, Rick, Deanna and Kim. Who are they for you? I give thanks for these people that have shaped your faith and revealed God to you.
The issue becomes when we substitute the messenger for the message. The workers in God's field are not to supplant the harvest that is God's. God is revealed through others so often in our lives but that shouldn't cause divisions. If we are the spiritual people God is wanting us to become we can give thanks for Paul and Apollos and Cephas without choosing favorites. We belong to God. Those who have made that clear belong to God too as our brothers and sisters. Choosing favorites among our siblings is simply unwise.
The real joy is that God will use us, too, to reveal God to others. As people look at us they will hopefully see God's image and God at work. When given opportunity we are best to imitate John the Baptist: "I must decrease that Jesus might increase." (see John 3:30) The world teaches us to admire the one in the mirror. But the wise one knows it is better to reflect God and to deflect honor and praise heavenward.
God, thank you for all who have incarnated you in our lives, particularly Jesus. Help us do the same all to your glory. Amen.
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. 9 For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Other people can help incarnate God to us. They are not God in the sense that Jesus is but they can help to reveal God to us. Through their personality and stories, through their caring gazes and testimony, through their culture and their rituals these people can help us to experience Jesus and by extension the Holy Spirit and God the Father. When we see the image of God in those people we see God. By knowing them and their faith stories we have a vision of the unseen God. They reveal God to us. If we want to know God more fully it makes sense that we might find delight and joy belonging with them. There is nothing wrong with having allegiance and positive regard for one who has made God known to you.
Who are some of those people in your life? What are their names? Who are your Paul and Apollos and Cephas? In my own journey they have names like Sue, Robert, Wilbur, Rick, Deanna and Kim. Who are they for you? I give thanks for these people that have shaped your faith and revealed God to you.
The issue becomes when we substitute the messenger for the message. The workers in God's field are not to supplant the harvest that is God's. God is revealed through others so often in our lives but that shouldn't cause divisions. If we are the spiritual people God is wanting us to become we can give thanks for Paul and Apollos and Cephas without choosing favorites. We belong to God. Those who have made that clear belong to God too as our brothers and sisters. Choosing favorites among our siblings is simply unwise.
The real joy is that God will use us, too, to reveal God to others. As people look at us they will hopefully see God's image and God at work. When given opportunity we are best to imitate John the Baptist: "I must decrease that Jesus might increase." (see John 3:30) The world teaches us to admire the one in the mirror. But the wise one knows it is better to reflect God and to deflect honor and praise heavenward.
God, thank you for all who have incarnated you in our lives, particularly Jesus. Help us do the same all to your glory. Amen.
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