The Heartbeat of the Universe

‘What is God doing among us ?’

I spoke in church on this topic yesterday. I thought it would be a great opportunity to look at the many changes the church has negotiated over the last twelve months or so. I thought it would be the perfect occasion to dream forwards, painting a picture of what I thought this church could become. But then I read the question… 

You know, it is easy to be apart of a faith community that declares Jesus is Lord, who worships and prays to God Sunday by Sunday, who are even effective in reaching out into their community. It is much more difficult to be apart of a community who are aware of what God is doing among them.  

It struck me in a way that left me feeling uneasy… I can become so busy personally doing ‘good’ for God – that I can so easily miss out on what God is doing.

I was chatting recently with a wise grey haired friend of mine who pastors a Baptist Church in Sydney. He said something during our conversation that stuck with me. He said, “All we ever have to truly concern ourselves with as a church is what God is doing among us and getting into sync with that… participating with God in that”.  

That sounds straight forward enough, even like common sense. Yet when you really think about it, when you reflect and ponder on it for a while… the practical implications are huge. This is about a community developing an exquisite sensitivity to the Spirit of God, so that God’s purposes and the intentions of the community are one. It’s about finding a way to resonate together, to vibrate in tune…

So the million dollar is, ‘What is God doing among us ?’ ‘Are we aware and sensitive and participating with God in that ?’ It’s like standing on the edge of a yawning abyss and trying to work out how the next few moments might pan out if you take a few steps forward. There is fear… there is anxiety… there is halting hesitation. 

Immortal, Invisible God

Lately I have been thinking about Acts 12. The Apostle Peter is in prison when suddenly an angel appears to him but is seen by no other. This angel leads Peter past three sets of guards through one rather large iron-gate and Peter remains invisible… no one sees him. It reminds me of a passage in Proverbs (1:20ff)…  Wisdom is depicted as a woman crying out in the street, on the busiest street corners. She is raising her voice in the squares but the busy people passing by don’t even notice. Wisdom remains dimly perceived… invisible.

Then there is the arrival of Jesus the Messiah. He appears unexpectedly, invisibly – in the guise of a peasant baby in a rural Jewish backwater. Even the people who are aware of his coming are invisible, beyond the awareness of the Roman Empire & the Jewish Religious Establishment. They are Magi from the East and shepherds, the elderly Simeon & Anna…

Later, as Jesus begins teaching in Galilee… He startles people by pointing to the invisible ones… ‘Blessed are you who are poor… blessed are you who are hungry now… blessed are you who weep now (Lk6:20ff)… I tell you, whoever doesn’t receive the Kingdom like a little child will never enter it…’  (Mk 10:15). Even the practice of Jesus’ teaching is to be mostly invisible,  ‘And when you pray… go into your room and shut the door & pray to your Father… in secret’ (Mt6:5f).

And Jesus is humiliated… condemned to death. He is crucified publically, very visibly. Yet only three days later the Risen Jesus begins appearing to individuals and to small groups of his closest followers. He is present and reassuring, recognisable but different. As quickly as Jesus appears, he disappears again from their presence.

 This is the tension of our faith. We live in a world perceived through the senses yet our faith is in, ‘the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen’ (Heb11:1). ‘Day after day pours forth speech…’ all attesting to the glory of God in our world yet, ‘there is no speech, nor are there words, their voice is not heard’.

Our invisible God is more present & active in our world than we will ever know,  yet God mostly chooses to work below the radar and behind the scenes of human history. Amazingly God’s invitation is for us to participate with Him. We are His hands, His eyes, His ears and His feet…

I like what Abraham Heschel says. He says, “There are phenomena which appear irrelevant and accidental in the realm of nature but are of great meaning in the dimension of the holy.”  That means our mostly invisible, everyday actions, can be of great consequence in our world. And they are effective because they are mostly invisible !

Yes We Can

On Wednesday afternoon this week, I walked in from a day of being out & about. I turned on the TV and began watching the closing stages of the US presidential election. Seeing Barack Obama, listening to him speak and the crowd’s reaction was electric. I felt that tingling sensation of particularly significant moments in life. 

And I thought to myself, ‘Why am I responding this way ? This is an American election!’ (I live in Australia). Then I realised, this man inspires me…  He inspires me in a way the John Howards and the Kevin Rudds of this world don’t.

Now I don’t know if Obama can deliver on what he says he will do. Time will tell. Politically he is a lot less experienced than either John Howard or Kevin Rudd but the invitation of his victory speech in Grant Park, Chicago – was clear. It was to participate with him, to journey forward together. His message was despite the challenges, despite all the difficulties ahead, as Americans united together, our creed will be, ‘Yes we can !’

It’s interesting… the Jesus I read about in the Gospels also inspires me. As a follower of Jesus I don’t want someone on my side who necessarily has all the answers, who says, ‘Follow me because I know what to do’. I’m not sure I even want a hero – someone of amazing courage & strength to save the day!  When life gets tough, I want someone who stands right by me in solidarity, who listens to me and accepts the imperfect reality of who I mostly am.  

When I read the Gospels Jesus is like that… Sure, he is anointed by God and there is a thunderous voice from heaven saying, “This my son with who I am pleased… listen to him”. However what makes him a credible witness and so popular among the people is his accessibility. Jesus listens to people, he eats with social outcasts… his stories & his words inspire, offering hope and acceptance and healing.

The Jesus I encounter in Scripture is mostly weak and vulnerable. When they punch him he buckles over in pain, when they beat him he bleeds, when he looks out over Jerusalem… he cries out of a breaking heart… overflowing with compassion. 

Jesus’ invitation to people is no secret formula. It is no hidden way to a prosperous life. Jesus’ invitation is to follow him, to participate with him so that together following God in all his ways becomes a journey filled with possibility and hope. Our creed is, ‘Together, empowered by the Holy Spirit… yes we can participate with Him in repairing the brokenness of a hurting world’.

This is the Jesus who inspires me… the Jesus I want to follow. 

The Old Blind Woman and the Tree of Life

You know there is a second part to the story of the five blind men and the elephant. Remember that the men are arguing and fighting over their perspectives about the elephant. They are punching off into the air and into each other as they are driving home their particular points of view.

Now this scene would have been very amusing to the casual – sighted – observer. However, the next person to happen upon the five fighting men is a wily old woman, who is also blind. In the midst of all the confusion and arguing about the elephant, the woman decides to go & find out for herself what all the fuss is about.

So she gently and perceptively begins examining the elephant. Instead of feeling in just one place, the touch of the woman moves over the whole wondrous animal, from the long sinuous trunk all the way around to the tail, which feels like a gnarly piece of rope.

Then the blind woman turns around to the five blind men and shouts, “Enough ! I have discovered the truth. I know who is right.”

Shocked by the presence of a woman and the confidence in her voice, the five blind men stop their fighting and arguing at once.

“Tell us!”, they exclaim in one voice.

“I have examined this elephant with mine own two hands,” she says, “and I have decided that you are ALL right.”

“How can this be ?”, the blind men ask. “How can an elephant be a wall and a fan and a tree and a spear and a snake?” And they are all sorely confused.

The wily old woman explains, “You see, an elephant is a wondrous creature that is like a great tree. On this tree grows leaves like huge fans, giving the most wondrous shade and a continuous breeze. Then the branches of this tree are like long spears protecting it. For this is the Tree of Creation and of Eternal Life, and a great talking Serpent still hangs upon it”.

“Unfortunately, you have not known of this tree until today because it is usually hidden behind a great wall, that cannot be reached, save by the most worthy Son of Man”.

“However, with my wisdom & great insight, I have discovered a most holy rope, by which the wall may be climbed. And if one touches the tree in the correct manner which I alone have come to know, you will gain Eternal Life.”

The five blind men all become very interested in this, of course.

And the wily old blind woman then names an extremely high price for her services – Eternal Life doesn’t come cheap you know! – And she walks away wealthy & smiling from the five foolish blind men.

How easy it is for a woman to pull the wool over the eyes of a man… How easy it is to take dimly perceived notions and turn them into some grand systematic theology. How easy it is to live in this world and to not see. How easy it is to become so immersed in our own point of view, that we become blind to truth…

Oh to live life with our eyes wide open, steping forward into a greater awareness of God’s reality moment by moment… It reminds me of Paul’s words in Corinthians, ‘Now I only know in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known’ (1 Cor 13:12b). 

Of Five Blind Men and an Elephant

 

blind_men_and_an_elephant

One day five blind men, who knew nothing about elephants, went to examine one to find out what kind of a thing it was. Reaching out randomly, each began touching & feeling it in a different spot. One man reached out and felt the vastness of its side, while another grabbed onto its ear. The third blind man stretched his arms around a leg, while another was feeling along the cool smoothness of a tusk. The fifth blind man became fascinated and entwined in the trunk.  

When blind men were all satisfied that they now knew the true nature of the beast, they all sat back down to discuss it.

“We now know that the elephant is like a wall,” said the first blind man. “The evidence for it is conclusive.”

Then ear toucher corrected him saying, “I believe you are mistaken, sir, the elephant is more like a large fan.”

“You are both wrong,” said the third blind man who felt a leg, “the creature is obviously like a tree.”

“A tree?”, questioned the tusk feeler. “How can you mistaken a spear for a tree ?”

“What?” exclaimed the fifth blind man who had felt the trunk. “A spear maybe long and round, but everyone knows it can’t move by itself. Couldn’t you feel the sinuous muscles of this creature ? It’s definitely a type of snake! Even a blind man could see that!”.

The argument grew more & more heated, until it erupted into a violent scuffle. The five blind men were punching off into the air as much as they were hitting into one another. All the while they were still arguing their particular points of view.

I really like the story of the five blind men and the elephant. I like what it says about the nature of truth… what it says about the enormity, the complexity of the reality we experience… moment by moment. I like what the story says about the nature of people – of men particularly.

How is it that people become so convinced about their own point of view ? How can they become so blind & stuck and hold onto their partially formed ideas to the exclusion of all others ? 

I like what the 13^th century Persian poet Rumi says about this story. He says, “The sensual eye is just like the palm of a hand. The palm does not have the means of covering the whole beast.”

I have been a Christian for twenty-plus years now and I have a similar sense about being a follower of Jesus. I agree with the Apostle Paul, living in the presence of an unseen God is like seeing through the glass dimly.