So my church in San Diego follows what is called the lectionary. Each week there is a Psalm passage, an Old Testament passage, an Epistle passage, and a Gospel passage to read. And it goes through a three year cycle where every three years the church body will have read the entire bible. During the season of lent, the lectionary goes on crack and has these same 4 groups of readings for each day. Today's reading was especially powerful to me because it deals with all of the things that I have been learning this year. The OT passage was Jer.2:1-13, the Epistle passage as Rom. 1:16-25, and the Gospel reading was John 4:43-54.
Jer. 2:11 and Rom. 1:23 both speak of how humanity (specifically Israel in Jeremiah) has exchanged the glory of the imortal God for man's created images, idols. And it is this act of forsaking God's glory that has caused God to speak judgement through Jeremiah and has caused humanity to wallow in their sexual impurity -- trading the truth for a lie.
My Gospel reading, however, seems to be a startk contrast with the first two readings. This passage is the story of Jesus healing the official's son. But what is key to note is that it's not just that the official's son gets healed, but that as a result his entire hoousehold now believes. A key theme in John's Gospel is the reveation of God's glory (cf John 11:40); and through interpreting the Gospel through the lens of the prologue, we see that Jesus IS the revelation of God's glory. Jesus' life is a life lived with in and out of God's glory; and therefore is representative for how we should live our life.
In this passage, Jesus performed a healing that led to an encounter with the healer. He never just healed to heal, or for his own fame, but always so that people could have an encounter with the living God and therefore have life to the full (Jn. 10:10). This is the mantle that we as the Church need to pick up. We must begin to walk in the glory of God instead of exchanging it for an idol (i.e. a smaller God, putting God in a box, a God who can't do signs and wonders). So to walk in the glory means a return to Jesus as revealed in the Gospels -- signs and wonders accompanied by teachings. We need to pray for God's Spirit to fall afresh upon our churches so that there can be a new outpouring of miracles, visions, prophecies, and teachings that allow for greater intimacy with the Father.
Let us walk in the glory
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So to walk in the glory means a return to Jesus as revealed in the Gospels -- signs and wonders accompanied by teachings. We need to pray for God's Spirit to fall afresh upon our churches so that there can be a new outpouring of miracles, visions, prophecies, and teachings that allow for greater intimacy with the Father.
Could you elaborate on this? What of churches that don't necessarily value gifts of the spirit in such manner? I don't know.. I'm just really puzzled by the whole concept. Like when you say "fall afresh", what is it you mean? Like, fall like it used to? fall still? fall for the first time on new church? Does Gods grace only manifest itself in miracles to other denominations...
ha! Sorry Gudy, I just have so many dang questions about everything that I can't possibly be happy with what I know until I'm dead and see truth without these chains of human ignorance.
I welcome your questions because it ensures that I understand what I believe and aren't just spouting some indoctrination nonsense that I have picked up from my friends at PLNU. So let's begin!
I'll start with my elaboration with what I mean. When I read the Gospels, I see a Jesus who walks from city to city preaching. When he arrives wherever he starts by proclaiming that the kingdom of God is near! He then heals the blind, the mute, those with leprosy, the paralyzed and even raises some people to life. He then teaches about the Kingdom (usually in parables). The picture we get of Jesus is that he brings the kingdom of God in acts such as feeding the poor (feeding of the four thousand), in miracles, and through teaching.
So if that is what Jesus did, and Jesus is God's self-revelation to humanity, and we were created in God's image and are called as the Church to live a life that should like a lot like Jesus', then we should be doing signs and wonders and teaching all in the hopes of somehow participating in bringing forth God's kingdom here on earth. And I believe that this can only be done when we as the church live in complete dependence and walk in step with God's Spirit. Jesus' ministry never begins until he is baptized and the Spirit falls upon him. Well that same Spirit that empowered Jesus for his ministry empowers us for ours.
Granted, I think I need to (and other people as well) expand on what I mean by signs and wonders. Miraculous healings, speaking in tongues, getting prophetic dreams and visions, and raising the dead are the usually what come to mind that term is brought up. And for good reason. But again, when we look to Jesus, all of his miracles revolve around the reintegration of the marginalized into society. the paralyzed, the blind, and the lepers all lived on the outskirts of society. They had to beg for money or in the case of lepers, had to announce their uncleanliness to all who approached them. By healing them, Jesus says, Go back to your families and your friends, show yourself to the priest so that he may pronounce you clean so that you may enter again into fellowship with your brothers and sisters.
I think seen in this light, any effort or step that leads to the reintegration of the marginalized is a miracle. So a congregation that opens up its meal times to the homeless and actually shares life with them through the eating of meals at the food table is just as miraculous and is living life through the Spirit just as much as another congregation who speak in tongues and receive prophetic visions. Because in both cases, it is God's Spirit that has caused both to happen.
And so by fall afresh, I think I mean that the Church needs to remember that ANYTHING they do must be done in the Spirit. But not only that, the fact that it is the same Spirit as the one that fell on Jesus means that they have just as much authority over sickness and the principalities of this world as Jesus did.
A blog is a completely inadequate medium for this conversation, but I really do thank you for your question. Hope that helps, if you have more questions please write them and I'll respond again. But we need to talk soon, because this whole notion of walking in God's spirit and moving in the gifts of the Spirit has been rocking my world this semester.
Much love Niall
By the way, check out these two websites, they will blow your mind.
http://www.globalawakening.com/Groups/1000035814/Global_Awakening/Global/GFS/godsquadshow_com/godsquadshow_com.aspx
Watch the big video for the one above this sentence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgGu782dNX0
I have a lot to think about and you're right, a blog isn't a place to discuss these matters.
I'm gonna come down to SD soon on a saturday night and stay through Sunday so we can hang out.
Love ya man,
Ham
while it may seem inadequate, i think the blog is a great place to discuss this stuff. that way the rest of us can read too :-)
lots to think about
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