John 3:16-21 - "God Is Light" (6-7-09)

Samuel Miller had a chance to watch Karl Valletin in Munich Germany, the last metaphysical clowns. As the curtain lifted, the stage was completely dark. In the darkness was a solitary circle of light in the middle of the stage. Vallentin appeared in his clown costume and began to intently look around the circle of light. A policeman appeared on the scene and inquired if he lost something. The clown replied, “Yes the key to my house. The policeman joined him in the search for a long time and finally asked, “Are you sure you lost it here?” The clown answered, “No, I lost it over there”, pointing to a dark corner of the stage. “Why”, asked the exasperated policeman, “Are you looking for it here? To which the clowned shrugged his shoulders, “Because there is no light over there!”
Today is Trinity Sunday and it may seem foolish to try to talk about the trinity. The book The Shack attempts to personalize this theological principle of the Christian faith. But often God is not center stage. By shining light on such a topic, we discover the floodlight of God’s love for living which is often not very center stage in our lives. Recently I read regarding the trinity, “You will lose our soul if you don’t believe it and you will lose your mind if you try to explain it.” So today let us get lost in the light of the glory and grace of God as we think about God as light. We read in 1 John 1:5, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
God is light and the Greek word for light is “phoes” which we get the word photo, photon and photosynthesis? This is the process by which sunlight is turned into energy that is converted into other, different, forms of energy by biological systems. It's an amazing process. Our vegetation needs the light of the sun. We need sunlight otherwise we get SAD, Seasonal Affect Disorder. Light is very important.
So how does God as light relate to our growing in this light in relationship to the Trinity? Christian Schwarz wrote a book called the Threefold Art of Experiencing God. The book shines light upon the various ways we view and experience God in the trinity. God the creator enlightens our minds. Light is the natural symbol and expression of truth. No good work can be done without light. Genesis 1 said that in the beginning God said, “Let there be light.” God created light first in the explosion and bang of creation. The first reflection of uncreated light came first from God and it come first for us and to us. When Isaiah is exposed in the temple before God, he admits he is a man of unclean lips for he has been blinded by this majestic light of God’s presence. In Christ, we remember that John the Baptist came to bear witness to the light and that light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall never overcome the light of Christ. In the Holy Spirit, we remember the fire of Pentecost and the fire that led Israel through the wilderness. God’s light shines in these three forms of the creator and nothing defeats this light.
I’d like you to think of the opposite of light. What is the opposite of up? Down! The opposite of west is east. The opposite of Cubs is Sox. What is the opposite of light? Darkness!? No! There is no equal force or power than light! Darkness is just the absence of light. They are not equal or opposite forces. Even just the smallest amount of light cannot be overcome by darkness. Darkness is just the absence of light; it does not even exist on its own.
Now we might be afraid of the dark or we forget that God is with us even in the valley of the shadow of death. But we don’t need to be afraid to walk into the light of God’s love and grace. John 3:16 says God So Loved the world - You and Me - that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” God didn’t do this to condemn us but that we might have life. Yet even though the light is available and salvation is at hand, there will still be times when we stay in darkness and the shadows. We may carry the darkness of the past. There may be shadowy pain that we have never spoken of before that once exposed to the light will cause us to see that it is no our identity.
This light is a love that shines upon us and everything. God is inviting us into the light, and the darkness can’t overcome it. Darkness in our lives occurs when something is covered over or covered up. We have an easier time recognizing the darkness in others or we can see what is covered up in them, their lack of love or kindness or patience. We often have greater trouble acknowledging the shadows in our own lives.
We sometimes cover for one another because we don’t want to be exposed to the light. But John 3:19-21 remind us that “the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” We are those people do not want to be exposed.
God is inviting us into the light of his love! There will be times when you do not want your whole life to be flooded with light. Some things--secrets, sins, and relationships--we do not want to let go. They shape our identity! There are things that we would rather not deal with; would rather not have God shine any light upon. When we see such darkness, we usually hide in the shadows. But the light of Christ shines in the darkness and the darkness shall never overcome it. Living in the light calls us to surrender to the light of God, capturing our hearts and fears and allow God’s light to heal and restore.
There was once a battleship heading straight towards a light in the distance that was coming up in its path and seemed to be awfully close. The captain of this battleship had the signalman send a message out to this on-coming vessel, telling them to veer ten degrees to the starboard. A reply came back from the source of light, saying, "You veer ten degrees to the starboard." Well, the captain of the battleship didn't rise up in the ranks for no good reason -- he was incensed at this challenge to his authority. So he sent a message back saying, "I am a captain. You veer ten degrees to the starboard." The reply came back, “I have no rank. You veer ten degrees to the starboard." And all of this was escalating. The captain pulled out his big one, he said, "I'm in a battleship. You veer ten degrees towards starboard." The reply came back, "I'm in a lighthouse."
God is light and is guiding us through the storms of life safely into through the rough seas of life. God’s light continues to enlighten us and heal and restore us today.
Let us pray: Gracious God, you are the light of the world so guide us through the shadows of life. As you were with Jesus when darkness covered the whole earth on the day of his death, shine upon us today that we may walk in the light of your love, we pray in Jesus name, Amen.

"The Shack" - book reflections (6-5-09)

The Shack - By William Paul Young

Trinitarian Images: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

1. I can't help but think of the book by Christian Schwarz, The Threefold Art of Experiencing God, when I think about the trinity and the various aspects of God as Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer
2. Elouisa; “EL” is God, like El-Shadai, El-Ohiem, Dani-EL; etc.
3. Holy Spirit – wind, as in the “ruah” (Hebrew) of God that moved over the waters in creation.The Holy Spirit is wind, fire and breath; when someone dies, we say they gave up their spirit in their last breath. When you lose you breath we say you got the wind knocked out of you

Book Reflections

1. The shack is where his daughter was killed. When he is called to return their a few years later, he is brought into a higher place of dwelling with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This seems to connect with Paul’s vision of being caught up into “paradise” and his thorn from 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. This dwelling is the eternal Dwelling Place of God. The shack becomes the temple of the Lord; Jesus “dwelt” (abode) with us in John 1:14 & John 15:4-7.The 23rd Psalm says, “Surely, His goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Garden of Eden – dwelling place with God.Heaven is a future redeemed dwelling place with God.
2. In the middle of this reading, I woke one night singing these words: "Let us go into the house of the Lord. Let us worship, praise and adore; singing this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us go into the house of the Lord." Dwelling in this relationship brings peace and joy. Singing is a fruit of that joyful abiding.
   
3. Praying the Lord’s Prayer, it says “Our Father” and the word in Hebrew and Aramaic is “abba” and “papa” is another way of refereeing to this endearing and intimate quality of a father or dad. Perhaps this book will rekindle in people the call to pray and develop a relationship with God.
   
4. The weekend away seemed very much like the three days Jesus was in the tomb
5. Image of surrender –page 139
6. Sophia – Greek word for wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-7 encourages seeking out understanding)
7. There were aspects of religious pluralism that was either supportive of or denouncing it on page 184.
8. The purpose for the "LAW" is just to point us to grace it seems from the page 204 writing. We also remember that the "law" is given first of all for good order, to address the human desire to "trespass" boundaries in relationship with God and others. The law also convict us of our sin, like a mirror, pointing us to our need for grace.
   
9. The Holy Communion image from page 238 was too privatized.
   
10. The focus of the ministry of reconciliation that the book seems to come to a conclusion with is rooted in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24 where repentance and forgiveness is to be proclaimed by the disciples.
    

Bible Passage Related in the story

1. Page 103 – suffering compared to the future glory from Romans 8:18-19 where it says, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God…”
2. Page 103 – God is love from 1 John 4:7-12, as when we read verse 8, “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
3. Page 129 – Redemption of our bodies from Romans 8:22-23 where it says, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”
4. Page 135 – Tree of knowledge from Genesis 2:17
5. Page 138 & 175 – God is light from John 3:18-21
6. Page 168 – Chasm or Veil from Luke 16:26 – “Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” Or from 1 Corinthian 13:12 where it says, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
7. Page 179 – New city is Jerusalem from Revelation 22 with trees and river
8. Page 180 – “Church” is in Matthew 16:16 – “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” The word church here is ekklesia (ecclesiology) in Greek and it’s the only time used in Gospels. It means a community or group of followers.
9. Page 183 – Holy Spirit guides as in John 15:26 – “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
10. Page 184 – People are beloved as in 1 John 4:7; Romans 1:7 & Jesus at his Baptism and Transfiguation
11. Page 184 – We are all children of God, as in John 1:12 and Romans 8:14 and Galations 3:26
12. Page 195 – Mack is called an idiot; Luke 23:34 where Jesus said, “Father forgive them, they don’t know (idios in Greek) what they are doing.”
13. Page 205 – “All things are lawful” from 1 Corinthians 10:23 - “All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful, but not all things build up.” This passage relates to the freedom of the Christian.
14. Page 224 – God’s Purpose from Romans 8:28 where it says, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
15. Page 227 – Ministry of reconciliation from 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 where it says: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”
16. Page 245 – Time-warp displacement” – God’s time from Psalm 90:4 – “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
    

Reflections by: Rev. Dr. Michael E. Thomas
pmethomas@comcast.net
June 5, 2009

"Spiritual Truths" - John 15:26-27; 16:12-13 (5-31-09)

The truth is that my shaver still works and that is not why I have grown a beard since last week. That’s the truth. I just want to see what a beard would look like on me at this point in the year. But today is Pentecost and the Holy Spirit leads us into all the truth. We are Pentecost people so look at someone and tell them they are Pentecostal. Ah, what does that mean? It seems that those people don’t seek truth but only an emotional experience of faith.
Yet truth is what we are being led into as Pentecostal Lutheran Christians. We keep search for truth. We want to know the truth. I’d like you to raise you right hand and place your hand on a Bible. Are you here to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Well I recently stumbled upon some truth. How many planets are there in our solar system? Eight you might say but I still say nine. In the past years, Pluto has been downgraded to just a moon! Well I still think of it as a planet! The truth is, we thought the earth was flat at one point and the earth was the center of the universe and found out otherwise and the faith community persecuted scientific exploration. We are emerging from one generation to another with more insight and knowledge on our quest for truth.
We know that the opposite of truth is called a lie. We don’t like to be deceived or receive false information. There is even a commandment that deals with truth telling, “You shall not bear false witness against another.” We hear in John 8 that the evil one is called the “father of lies”. So I don’t want to be a liar and still say that there are nine planets or the earth is flat. Pastor Steve Young’s fundamentalist pastor back in the early 1960’s still believed Revelation 7:7 where it says that the four angels of God stood at the four corners of the earth. He still thought the earth was flat and the NASA program was a hoax.
Truth can be discovered three main ways. We first find truth through experience. Unfortunately we learn more from the school of hard knocks. Experience teaches us that there are many things we learn by experimentation. The stove is hot but it’s not until you get burned that you have experienced that truth. This form of truth relates to those things that happen and are verifiable through experimentation. When we experiment and test something to be true, this can lead to a form of idolatry where experience rules.
But we also discover truth through reason. Luther said unless he could be convinced by scripture and reason, he wouldn’t recant what he had said about the truth of the gospel. It is reasonable to give a sixteen year old drivers license? Yet reason is the presupposition of faith and faith is the “fulfillment of reason as the mind understands the finitude of our abilities to experience of understand the immeasurability of God”. (Tillich). Reason can point to faith as making sense because we reason that we are finite.
But beyond reason we discover revelation. Revelation is the experience in which the unveiling of the infinite or ultimate concern grasps us and breaks into our finite lives and we find peace. The word for truth is aletheia, which is the Greek that means the “unhiddenness” or revelation of a mystery! We discovered God’s unhiddenness in the absolute truth found in Jesus Christ. John the Baptist came to testify to the truth that is Jesus Christ.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus said that the “Spirit of truth” would come upon them. The spirit of truth is mentioned also in John 14:16-17 where Jesus said it will live in the disciples and the world cannot receive this truth because it is hostile to the truth about our nature; about laws and about grace!
The “Spirit of Truth” would also testify about Jesus, which means it would bear witness to who Jesus was by reminding them and teaching them. The Greek word for “witness” is martereo (or martyr) which was a legal term from Roman law; to testify about something, in this case the ultimate concern has broken into our finite world and they should tell everyone. The reality is we have been brought here because we recognize a few truths first of all about ourselves. The “Spirit of truth” leads us to see the truth about ourselves and the reality that we do break the truths of God’s commands. The “Spirit of Truth” will testify to us and through us not only about us but also about grace revealed in Christ. It is that same “Spirit of Truth” that leads us to be graceful toward others. We must beware of “excessive certainty" that prevents us from connecting with people who don’t believe in objective truth. We hear the lie that there are no absolute truths, which is an absolute statement of belief.
The last thing the “Spirit of truth” will do will to “guide them into all the truth.” This expresses the reality that there is a “constraint in time” with the disciples, for they only have three years with Jesus. It acknowledges that the revelation of God will continue in different ways in the future and the Holy Spirit will guide them. Our desire to learn and develop is a God given presence. We want to learn more and we do discover knew knowledge that shapes our faith. We actually learn more about God when we study world religions, medicine, biology, sociology, math, psychology, anthropology, math, music, art, etc. Students who are seeking and asking questions should be encouraged to do so and be guided with an open mind and heart.
The Holy Spirit is leading us into all the truth. When we confess our faith in God through the words of the Apostle’s Creed, we believe say that we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church. That means we discover truth not in a vacuum but it is revealed to us also in the context of community that is catholic, universal. We believe in the “communion of saints”, that in the sorrow of loss we know the truth that not even death separates us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus. When we confess that we believe “in the forgiveness of sins”, we know that we make mistakes in our journey toward all the truth. And until that day when the “life everlasting” is fully revealed, we discover more and more of the truth about ourselves and God.
Let us pray: Gracious God, send your Holy Spirit to lead us, call us and gather us in community where your spirit stirs. Come Holy Spirit, intercede for us with sighs too deep for words to express because we don’t even know how we aught to pray. Come Holy Spirit; breathe on us again, we pray in Jesus name, Amen!