God in a Guest House???

Just a few days before Thanksgiving, my family had some good friends stay with us. We had not seen them in several years and both our families had grown in number. They had a beautiful family of five and according to my mathmatical skills, I quickly determined that we would have 9 total individuals in our home. This was exciting for us. Since living in Memphis, Tiffiny and I have not had many house guests, especially large families. Truthfully, one could become a bit anxious about the whole thing. There were dietary issues to consider, rooming situation to consider, the cleaning of our house, and the sharing of bathrooms.

On the second morning I was the first person awake and was curious to whether or not I would be able to fall into my normal routine of cereal, coffee, and Sportscenter. I know...overwhelmingly spiritual isnt it?

However, my initial sight was of three little children that I didn’t know very well staring at me from a slightly open door way. The oldest whispered, “Is Carson up yet?” Well, just a few minutes later I found myself pouring cereal into bowls, entertaining children, piecing together sippy cups, making coffee, drawing pictures, taking breakfast orders, and washing hands. From that moment until the day of their sad departure it seems that the bathrooms were always in use, special meals were being prepared, and entertainment was being planned.

Contrast that to another, purely hypothetical situation. Let’s say I had a guest house in my back yard. In that guest house was a fully equipped kitchen with 3 bathrooms, a fully stocked pantry and refrigerator, and 4 bedrooms each with king sized beds. If this was the case, first of all, my family would be living in the guest house!!! But, hypothetically speaking, any guest or family that would visit would not require a great deal of attention. There would be little interaction. Not much conversation. And, realistically, we wouldn’t get to know our guests as well.

You see, it is one thing to enter into a community of people and live in a guest house or king’s palace. It’s another thing altogether to live among your hosts and share in the details of common, shared space. And this is the way in which Jesus chose to reveal himself.

God wants be on familiar terms with us. He could have chosen another way. But God decided to not stop short of revealing his true nature to humankind. The incarnation was not a strategy of persuasion so that people would be convinced of the goodness of God. Persuasion would not have required full humanity. Neither was it a strategy of influence. When one person influences another, the relationship can only go so far. The one being influenced could never be completely sure that what he/she was experiencing is completely accurate. The eternal Word became fully human so that it would no longer be necessary to question whether or not God understands the human predicament.

God became fully human so that we could become fully human in Him.
God came and made his dwelling among his creation and this is how He desires to be known. In Jesus we see God.

The Inconceivable Incarnation!

God wants be on familiar terms with us. He could have chosen another way. But God decided to not stop short of revealing his true nature to humankind. The incarnation was not a strategy of persuasion so that people would be convinced of the goodness of God. Persuasion would not have required full humanity. Neither was it a strategy of influence. When one person influences another, the relationship can only go so far. The one being influenced could never be completely sure that what he/she was experiencing is completely accurate. The eternal Word became fully human so that it would no longer be necessary to question whether or not God understands the human predicament. God became fully human so that we could become fully human in Him.

God came and made his dwelling among his creation and this is how He desires to be known. In Jesus we see God. The Gospel of John states, "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the embrace of the Father, he has made him known." Here the point is that even though God is invisible, He has now revealed himself in an utterly unique way — by the incarnation of himself in his Son Jesus.

We should all find freedom in knowing that we are not responsible for taking subjective guesses about a of shadow side of God. God willingly chose to come to us and not stay in a guest house but chose to live among us so that we can know him personally in grace and in truth.
God is abundantly gracious in his goodness.

John Piper reminds us that, “this is the essence of God's reality because nothing reveals the fullness of his deity more than the freedom of his grace. He is full, happy, and sufficient in himself so that he does not need us to meet his need but is surging with infinite energy and fullness to meet our need. That's his grace. And that's the capstone of his glory. "We saw his glory . . . full of grace and truth."

Furthermore, God has not come to us in human flesh as a strategy to win us over. If it was a mere strategy then we would be overwhelmed with uncertainty. We could never be assured that God didn’t simply lay out a plan and then fall back with less than sincere hopes for humankind. In addition, the incarnation did not take place in order to simply influence us or persuade us.

Each Sunday thousands of pastors stand behind pulpits and try to responsibly persuade individuals to accept the teachings of Christ. In the political arena, we are already witnessing presidential debates in which candidates attempt to persuade you to adopt their agenda and eventually nominate them into a national race.

But God did something altogether different and is still at work through Jesus Christ who works on our behalf. God becoming man was the way chosen by God to bind himself to the believer for eternity. God’s purpose of the incarnation was not to influence you into some type of moral code or standard of living or even to make you into a better person. The incarnation was about God yearning to be close to humanity. This is who God is!

The How and Who of Christology: or How to Keep Your Distance from the One Thing that Matters

Bonhoeffer reminds us all that our study of Christ (Christology) begins with the question of Who? Sounds simple enough... but not really. Most followers of Christ, myself included, quickly assume that we have figured out the Who question and now it is time for only the How? We know who Christ is...at least we think we do and then we set off with endless attempts to cover up our humanity. I am victim of this type of faith most every day. I am guilty. I tell people how to have a relationship with Christ. I influence them on how they should live under the direction of God. I explain how Christianity is more supreme, even cool, and doctrinally sound than other religions and faiths. I pray about how I can do more, believe more, pray more, and understand God more. But where in the New Testament does it tell us to be addicted to the question of How?
Shouldn't our faith be more authentic than to spend so much time wondering how we can live our faith? As if our faith is something outside ourselves that we can gain ground or lose ground depending on how much faith we have for the day!
Who? Who are you Christ? Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? Who is the incarnate one who yearns to be connected with humanity? Who is this one who came not as a stategy or influence to win us over...but the one who came to bind himself to the human condition and therefore humanity itself?
You see how the question of How? wrecks things. We now are completely free of knowing the divine being who we refer to as God. We can skip the Who? and return to our strategic ways of trying to impress God long before we even seriously considered him. Bonhoeffer writes, "How?...is the serpent's question while Who?...proves its asker is ready to listen."
It's the season of Advent...or soon to be. We should do ourselves a service and begin asking the right question. How?..will come later but now it is time for us to ask Who? Let's ignore the impersonal question in favor of a personal question. Let's not imprison Jesus behind theoretical questions and dialogue. It is impossible to do such a thing anyway. We must pray that God gives us the courage to ask the question of Who? For to ask it may lead us to answers that are dangerous, risky, and mysterious.
Maybe my job, among other believers, is to take a rest on the tiresome attempt of trying to influence others to follow Christ 'according to my interpretation.' Rather, allow God to give me what it takes to live an incarnational life. Not a life of influence but a life of incarnational relationships.
Jesus is alive and active in the world. Even to write it make me wonder how much I believe it. But my faith can only grow if I realize that I must keep asking the who question much more than the how question. My Christology tells me that the how should take place naturally if the incarnational life exists in me.

Take another look above at Mary in Henry O'Tanner's Annunciation. Her face conveys the right question.