Feb
14
Written by:
Blake Shipp
2/14/2011 2:24 PM
ke:I don’t know why, but for some reason I seem to think I have seen and heard it all. Then, someone does something or an event happens that stumps me. Yesterday in my community group, one of our members asked an interesting and insightful question, one that honestly stumped me. The basic gist of the question concerned how Jesus kept the Law. It was a question spurred on by our recent sermon series. The question went something like this, “If the Law shows us the right way to live and if Jesus kept the Law perfectly, then how did he do it because the Law is impossible to keep?" Hmmm. I hadn’t ever thought of that before. It was one of those moments in group where we all just looked at one another and said nothing. We couldn’t process it simply because we hadn’t thought about it before. I suppose we could have simply leaned on Jesus’ divinity, claiming that it trumped his humanity in this instance, but truthfully, we couldn’t go there. It was too honest a question to provide a pat answer.
All last night I thought about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it this morning. I think maybe a light bulb is about to go off in my cranial processor and it brings with it some interesting implications. Here is where I am right now. The Law is impossible to keep, for us, but not for Jesus. Why? Wasn’t he human? Doesn’t Scripture say that he was tempted in every way that we are, yet he never sinned (Hebrews 4.15)? So, how did he do it? I think it has something to do not with his humanity or divinity but more to do with where he stood as a human. He seems to stand in a different place. Here’s what I mean. When Jesus walked the earth, he did it as a man, a man who was in full, intimate fellowship with the Father, a fellowship that was so tight that he spoke of his oneness with the Father (John 17.20-22). It was a fellowship in which Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in him. This intimate relationship of living in the Father and the Father in him seems to have made all the difference. Living from this place—a deep connection with the Father—Jesus found himself empowered and able to keep the Law. It is this place, this standing that is absent in me.
Think about it. Who of us lives in complete oneness with the Father? Crazy question, huh? None of us do. By nature we live in a state of brokenness. We are out of place, disconnected. The result is that we can not by any means live as God has instructed us to do. So that makes me wonder, can we live at all as God desires? I think we can because Jesus points to this relationship of oneness as the way we are to live. The same oneness he has with the Father is to be the oneness we have with him. It is in this oneness that we find ourselves empowered to live (John 15.1-8).
OK. So those are some deeper theological thoughts, but there are some powerful implications to these thoughts that won’t let me go, thoughts that point to a new way of living. The first implication is that life on God’s terms is actually possible. Jesus has laid out the path, oneness with him. That may sound far-fetched looking at our present lives and progress on the faith journey, but the promise of life is there. Second, the path to this life is really simple. This path isn’t about trying to live rightly. It isn’t a path that has to do with effort on living at all. It is a path that is all about surrender. It is a path of seeking to connect with Jesus. So, the one thought that comes to me about going forward is about how to connect with Jesus, how to become one with him. That thought has no simple answer. Here’s what I am learning about the answer in my own life. It takes a new rhythm for living, an intentional seeking after intimacy with Jesus. I’m not talking about daily quiet time, though that isn’t a bad idea. I am talking about a new way of life, one that slows me down and opens me up to spend time—every moment—with Jesus for in this and only this is life. I am experimenting with this in a several ways. Most recently my family has sought to instill the rhythm of practicing a weekly Sabbath and I daily seek God’s continual presence, moving to spend each day with Jesus. I would be interested in what you have to say about how you seek to do this. Perhaps together we can move closer to oneness and thus together find God’s life.
A fellow traveler,
Blake
Spiritual Formation Pastor
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5 comment(s) so far...
Re: How then shall we live?
I love the way you talk about the path to God and true intimacy as being "about surrender". I think that's the key to removing the focus on "how many good Christian things did I check off my list for today", and reframing it on "How many moments was I in God's presence today".
For some reason, as I was eating dinner tonight and letting my mind run on (thinking about some reading I'd done in preparation for the Monvee pilot, mostly) I suddenly had the strong thought enter my mind....like a flashing neon sign...that I was living in the lap of luxury. To have food so plentiful and easy that it took almost no effort to prepare it, and to have the "free time" to ruminate on my own life, my Christian walk, or whatever else took my fancy. My mind flashed back with a vivid image from my Senegal missions trip (back in 2007...still seems like yesterday to me). The memory was of a woman in a village, who prepared her very "best" lunch for myself and Esther Beatty. It was plain white rice, with a few scraps of dried fish almost like a garnish on top. She set it down, handed us two spoons, and stood back. She wasn't eating. She was giving us ALL the food. She couldn't be dissuaded and coaxed to join us. All she wanted was for us to be fed, to be happy, to enjoy her hospitality. I was aghast. I didn't know how to graciously accept such sacrifice. I made some comment softly to Esther along the lines of insisting she eat, too. And Esther said with her usual candor, "If you don't just go ahead and eat, you might as well slap her face". And in there somewhere was a connection in my little mind, about how God lays a feast out before me, all the time. And all the time, I think I know better how it should be done, or I fail to appreciate it.
I think God uses whatever we are, and wherever we've let his Spirit guide us, to bring us to who he meant us to be.
And a lot of it for sure seems to involve slowing down, and being aware. REALLY aware.
So glad to be on the journey...
Barb
By Barb on
2/14/2011 9:26 PM
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Re: How then shall we live?
Barb,
You have hit on an important insight, that of God using all of life to transform us. All of life is transformative. We don't have to withdraw from life to experience God's work in life. Everything from my kids throwing temper tantrums to hitting all the green lights on the way to work can be and is used by God to transform us. The key is, as you say, partnering with Him. Some of this is slowing down and being aware. I wonder if at times this awareness does not lead us back into action, perhaps with a different focus and vigor.
By Blake Shipp on
2/14/2011 9:49 PM
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Re: How then shall we live?
Yes, what seems to happen is a sort of cycle...God using a mundane event to spark awareness, that awareness shaping every thought and action that follows (at least for awhile), and then as I sink back into my daily existence and lose sight of the wonder...wham! God points out something else for me to become aware of, excited or passionate about, or that helps recall my mind to Him. A lot of times those little ordinary events have as much "Ah-HA!" packed into them as anything you could wish for, as a spiritual experience. Very cool.
By Barb on
2/15/2011 7:52 AM
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Re: How then shall we live?
Blake, I enjoy reading your thoughts regarding living God's intended life. It is comforting to know to that we share the same struggles.
By Henrik on
2/16/2011 10:00 AM
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Re: How then shall we live?
Henrik,
There are only normal people on the journey of faith. No super heroes are allowed. We all struggle with the same things. We just happen to be at different stages of seeing the effects of God's grace transform our lives.
By Blake Shipp on
2/16/2011 11:37 AM
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