Category Archives: God

No bleach.

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Mark 9:1-4 (NIV)
And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” [2] After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. [3] His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. [4] And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

So…he predicts the visible glory of the kingdom of God right after laying out the plan for his death (ch. 8) and then 6 days later he takes his intimate companions to a mountain and–voila! He is changed.

I am struck by the description–his clothes were impossibly white. His physical presence was different–not the usual Jesus.

Most of us are either avoiding him or used to “the usual Jesus.”

Probably shouldn’t get too comfortable with either. I love Jesus, but I don’t make the intellectual mistake of assuming he is (to quote CS),

a tame lion.

He is not. He is holy. He is God. He is a little scary. How not a lot?

Only love.

The Kenneth Bae Predicament

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Have you heard of Kenneth Bae?

Probably not. Justin Bieber takes up more oxygen in the news world than Mr. Bae. From what I can gather, Bae was a tourist in the hermit kingdom until he was arrested and accused of crimes against the state. His guilt is not in question because torture is the go-to investigative tool of N. Korea and because just setting foot there is cause for the death penalty.

That is right–in North Korea breathing is a capital offense. Everyone is guilty.

I am praying for Kenneth Bae and I am deeply concerned about him. I am afraid no celebrity endorsement from Rodman or Clinton will save him.

But there is something else as well. I am willing to push the metaphysical idea of hell when such a ready example rises to the surface.

Life in North Korea is hell. How can we turn away?

The Man who would be King

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The Chinese character for king is three horizontal lines connected by a single vertical line. It has a story–

the man who would be king must be able to span heaven, earth, and the underworld.

Each horizontal line represents a location–heaven, earth, hell. The single vertical line is the King.

But there is more–the Chinese character for 10, a number of completion looks like a cross.. There is a perfect cross in the middle of the character for king.

Jesus is this king.

He takes on disfigurement on the Cross to save us, but his power is not in question–

the gates of hell shall not prevail against him.

He has vanquished death and restored our hope. What are we waiting for?

Transfiguration: our first glimpse of Home.

Part 1.5 of 2.

The character of the king

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Pastor Chuck Jacob preached a sermon recently on a particularly amazing portion of Isaiah 52 and 53. Much of Isaiah sees the future to the face of Jesus. And thanks to Handel, much of what Isaiah saw is put to soaring music as well as words of hope.

But. There is one small catch. Maybe two. First, Isaiah is thought to have been martyred for his prophecy, and second….

Jesus gives us hope by becoming our disfigurement. That is what Pastor Jacob describes–God made flesh and then made Calamity for us.

I often think about The Princess Bride Not only does Westley endure the unendurable in the quest for love, he then gives one of the most apt descriptions of disfigurement ever–

Wrong! Your ears you will keep and I will tell you why…so that…”Dear God, what is that thing?” will echo in your perfect ears. That is what “to the pain” means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

Tough stuff for a romantic fable, but an efficient echo of redemptive agony–Jesus became disfigured and unrecognizable as the real embodiment of the sin, filth, violence, and casual cruelty of Man. We, if we dare to look, see him as a monster as he dies for us. We fail to recognize the monstrous signature of our own clawing sins.

He goes to hell disfigured. But what would be a dreadful, eternal quietus for us is the force of redemptive power–him for us, God poured out for me.

Part 1 of 2

Disfigured vs. Transfigured

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This story will seem disjunctive to you:

It is late in the season for chicks. We are at a friend’s farm. A very kind friend. A good listener. We are recovering from a great blow to the heart of the family

My young son finds an egg in the chicken coop. He cradles it gently in his hands and runs into the kitchen where several large goose eggs are incubating.

A month later little Biscuit is born. Hatched, if you will.

My son saved that one small feathered life from being scrambled. A small story.

I have been thinking about what it is we are and what we are becoming. None of us will stay in our eggs forever. We will break out to splendor or be cracked over a waiting pot.

Mark 9:2 (NIV)
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

I am going to unspool this strange story tomorrow. But for tonight only this–are you being disfigured or transfigured by the small events of your life? Your secret fears? You abiding passions?

When Jesus is revealed in secret his splendor is unforgettable.

When you and I are exposed for our true and eternal selves, what will people see?

Splendor or the pot?

After the Sea

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We sleep in boats
Strewn out across
An unending sea
Cling to blankets, shelter, each other

An archipelago of contained air
All that holds us
Up inflatable dinghies,
Flotsam unstable

We call to each other
Sun-drenched dazed
Testing our new words
Like… beach balls….
Flood….
Antediluvian–
post-apocalyptic always

Cup your hands
Across your eyes
Look to the deep
Where the leviathan hides

Home.

An Interventionist God

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Mark 9:1 (NIV)
And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”

I don’t often suffer from writer’s block. I am bossy enough to write about something. But I do suffer from faith block and I do suffer from what-is-the-point-malaise. This is a malady wherein you seriously doubt you are doing lasting good. it has a nasty kick–discouragement and grief, loneliness, spiritual myopia.

This pronouncement of Jesus’ is enigmatic. All the disciples would eventually taste death–some quite unpleasant. What did he mean?

The kingdom of God is Jesus. His power over hell is defining–AD versus BC defining. We all must see this power–this complete and perfect ability of Jesus, king of heaven, to rob hell and death of their eternal sting.

That is power indeed. All else falls in behind.

The Bad Days

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Some days are just hard. You could tell me I need more sunlight or you could tell me that I need to leave the past behind me. I wouldn’t advise it, but you could.

But what I would say–

Grief is a big dog sitting on your chest
An arrow lodged in my sternum
The shadow on my daughter’s
Face
Lost people
And the dream of a family where everyone is safe
Someday.

Our Inner Voice

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I just read a poster–

the way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.

Wow, I thought, true.

I remember my grandmother’s wake–old style, do-it-right southern luncheon. I could hear her voice in my head exclaiming over how delicious the fried chicken was. That was the last time I heard her voice.

My mother’s voice haunts me. I miss her laugh and her intelligence and her occasional generosity. But there are many things she says to and about me I do not miss. I have taken steps to avoid those painful words.

After my daughters’ counselor read Just she said, Now I understand why you are such a careful parent.

I want more than anything for my children’s inner voice to be one of profound wisdom and love.

A love that lasts forever.

The Marriage Vow

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Matthew 22:12-13 KJV

[12] And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. [13] Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 6: 21 NIV

[21] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.