Go Away, God

The awareness of his sin causes Simon Peter to fall down at Jesus’ knees and say, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5.8; nrsv).

How true! How revealing of our human condition! We want to be left alone, in our sin. There is a part of us - pride! - that would rather be left alone, apart from God, than dwell in God's presence as the sinner we know ourselves to be.

Imagine if "Blind Bartimaeus" (Mark 10.46) would have preferred to remain blind than to call out that he might have his sight restored

Imagine if the leper whom Jesus healed had preferred his sense of personal integrity though denying their condition had not called out, "If you choose you can make me clean," (Matthew 8.2-3)

Even Adam and Eve, aware of their transgression, their "nakedness" before God, hide and cover themselves. God seeks them out even though, like Simon Peter, they wanted to remain hidden. God calls Adam and Eve out of hiding and clothes them with robes of righteousness, with garments of salvation (Isaiah 61.10).

So too Peter. All Peter has is the knowledge of his sin. He has no knowledge of God's grace and mercy. Jesus says to Peter: "Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching people [not fish]," (Luke 5.10).

Get Up and Do No be Afraid

When Jesus appears in glory with Moses and Elijah upon the mountaintop, a voice from heaven says, "This is my Son, my beloved; listen to him!" 

Hearing this, Peter, James and John fall to the ground in fear and awe.

Jesus then says: "Get up and do not be afraid."

Like the voice from heaven said, "Listen to him!"

God Makes Somethings and out of Nothings

One of the great themes of the bible emphasizes how God makes something out of nothing. Let’s look at some examples.

Of course there is the story of creation itself. In the beginning there was nothing – or at least a disordered chaos – and God called “into existence the things that do not exist,” (Romans 4.17).

Even God’s choice of the people of Israel to be his treasured possession emphasizes their insignificance: “It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples,” (Deuteronomy 7.7). God could have chosen a mighty empire for himself: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia… but God takes particular concern for underdogs, the weak, the poor, those whom others hold of no account:

“He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others … and we held him of no account. Isaiah 53.2-3

Surely there were people, nations, whose form, majesty, appearance might have attracted God’s attention and special concern, but, as the Apostle Paul writes:

“God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1.27-29

Or consider the story of David and Goliath. David was a little shepherd boy. David had no form or majesty, nothing in his appearance that we should hope in him. On the other hand, there was Goliath, a giant of a man, skilled in battle:

“And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. 1 Samuel 17.4-7

You know how that turned out!

And where was the Savior from; a mighty and renowned metropolis? No. “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel,” (Micah 5.2).

This theme is demonstrated in God himself. God may be sovereign and majestic, all powerful and all knowing; yet, in Jesus Christ, God divests himself of his sovereign majesty and power, takes on our mortal flesh, and makes dwells among us:

“Though he was in the form of God, [Christ Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Philippians 2.6-8

It is God’s way to create something out of nothing. The Apostle Paul warns that: “If those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves,” (Galatians 6.3). But Paul also reassures us! “We are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life,” (Ephesians 2.10).

You are what God has made you to be. As Paul says of himself: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain,” (1 Corinthians 15.10).

By the grace of God you are what you are. By grace; not by the Law, not by your upbringing, not by your work, not by the world, not by the devil and all his lies and evil tricks, but by God’s grace toward you; and this has not been in vain.

You may feel small, insignificant, nothing, but that is precisely the kind of material God makes something out of. Take hold of God’s promise. Believe it. Stand fast in it. Do “not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,” (Psalm 46.2). God is with you. “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 1.6).

The Scorpion and the Frog

"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8.32; nrsv

Aesop tells a fable of a scorpion and a frog:

A scorpion wanted to cross a stream but being unable to swim asked a frog to carry him across the stream on his back. The frog refused, knowing that scorpions were dangerous on account of their poisonous stinger, but the scorpion said, "I won't sting you because if I stung you we would both drown." This seemed reasonable to the frog so she let the scorpion on her back and began swimming across the stream. At the worst possible moment the scorpion stung the frog. The frog exclaimed: "Why did you do that? Now we will both drown!" The scorpion was equally astonished, "I don't know," he explained. "I can't believe I did that."

Not a very happy ending. If only the scorpion had been more honest about his propensity to lash out at people, even when doing so was not in his own best interest. If the scorpion had humbly admitted to the frog, "I would like you to carry me across the stream, but I have this dangerous propensity to sting things." That is certainly a humbling thing to have to admit, but taking note of this danger would have allowed the frog and scorpion to come up with a workable solution - perhaps attaching a cork to the scorpion's stinger! or simply declining to proceed - that would allowed them to live longer than as in the fable.

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16.18; nrsv

Miracles of Healing, Metaphors of Discipleship

I've begun to suspect that Jesus' miracles of healing are actually meant to be metaphors of discipleship.

When Jesus heals people unable to walk, perhaps it is an example of how Christ empowers us to walk in God's way, which we are unable to do of our own power. "I will make them strong in the Lord, and they shall walk in his name, says the Lord." Zechariah 10:12; nrsv

Jesus opens the eyes of the blind for the purpose of allowing us to understand God's love for ourselves and others we have condemned as unloveable. "I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them." Isaiah 42.6-9; nrsv

Jesus cleanses the lepers might be understood as cleansing hearts and consciences of sin and its concomitant shame and guilt. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me." Psalm 51.10; nrsv

Jesus opens the ears of those who cannot hear that they may hear what God is speaking. "Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts." Psalm 85.8; nrsv

Jesus heals a woman who's back is bent and unable to stand up straight, (Luke 13.10-17). There's always a since that those who suffer are being punished by God and that it would wrong to do anything that might go against God's judgment. Yet the Apostle Paul asks: "Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand." Romans 14.4; nrsv

Most profoundly, Jesus raises the dead. Those who are dead (in sin) cannot praise God (Psalm 88.10, Psalm 115.17), so God raises the dead that we may sing and rejoice in what God has accomplished.

The Last (Non-)Judgment

In "Hebrews" we read: "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account," (Hebrews 4.12-13; nrsv).

Then there came a woman of Samaria to draw water from Jacob's well: "Jesus said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come back," (John 4.16; nrsv). Later she tells the people from her village: "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” (John 4.28-29; nrsv).

This Samaritan woman was herself encountered the living and active Word of God, before whom no creature is hidden, the one to whom we must all render an account... and she survived! Her life was laid bare as Eve in Paradise, and there was no shame, no dread fear of wrath. Christ himself clothed her with his very own robe or righteousness:

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Isaiah 61.10; nrsv

Freedom, not Duty

What Jesus does he does out of a sense of freedom. He does not act out of a sense of duty, responsibility or obligation.

A contrary argument could be made from the statement of the Roman centurion who hoped that Jesus would be able to heal his gravely ill slave. The Centurion sent messengers to Jesus saying, "I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” Luke 7.8, nrsv; see also Matthew 8.9

The centurion assumes that, like himself, Jesus is also someone set under authority - God's authority - having been sent by God to do something and who does it. There is certainly some truth to that, but the truly beautiful thing about Jesus is that he is not God's soldier; he has authority but is not under authority.

Jesus did not empty himself (Philippians 2.7), take on our flesh and humble himself even to the point of death on a cross out of a sense of obligation or duty, but because he was free to do so and desired to do so. Likewise, Jesus did not heal people out of a sense of obligation or duty but because he delighted to do it.

"For freedom God has set you free," proclaims the Apostle Paul (Galatians 5.1). Again the apostle says all of creation yearns to catch a glimpse of the freedom of the children of God as a sign of its own liberation from its bondage to futility and decay (Cf. Romans 8.21).

If God has set you free you are free indeed. What will you do with your freedom?