Month: May 2018

Sudoku is a puzzle I rather enjoy. Sometimes, I get a bit stuck. Then I go away and leave it for a while. When I come back, suddenly, in a different light, everything makes sense. The numbers all fit in the right places.  ‘Aha’, I say.

 

Today’s conversation with a contact here left me feeling like a Sudoku puzzle that is finally coming together. And yet, unlike a Sudoku puzzle nearing completion, this game is far from over. Without going into details, since other people are involved, let me just say that I came out of a meeting today with a deeply contented ‘Aha’.

 

It seems like significant strands of life are all fitting into place – academic study – dreams of being a regular traveller to the mountains here – language learning – English teaching – even the management of annoying dietary issues. It’s early days yet, but I am hopeful that, 5 ½ years after prayerfully deciding to focus on a particular minority group here, I’m about to get some traction up. (I’ve blogged about that ‘call’ before.)

 

This week’s blog post is really just a note. There is lots I’d love to write about, but I have two assignments to finish for college over these next two weeks, as well as people to see and places to go.

 

I’d like to finish with a public note of thanks to the One who holds all the strands of our lives in his hands. Sometimes, life can be confusing and uncomfortable, like a Sudoku that seems simply unworkable. God’s sovereignty is just as real then as it is when everything is going well. I am quite sure that there will be difficulties ahead for me too, not least because we are engaged in a spiritual battle. Today, however, I am thoroughly enjoying the ‘Aha’ moment.  Ahhhhhhhhhh.

 

I find myself reluctant to start this blog post because the topic is too big. I am glimpsing a cosmic theme through Scripture. How does the gospel impact the spirit world, and where do we fit in? Put on your metaphorical seat belt … this could be quite a ride.

 

It’s not all about me

Bottom line:  The gospel isn’t primarily about restoring my individual relationship with God (though this is vital, especially from my point of view). It’s much bigger than that. We do have a central role, though, as the people of God made in and restored to God’s image. The apostle Paul put is like this:

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20 – my emphasis.)

I’m a well-educated Western woman.  I understand a lot about the physical world, and what I don’t know, I can learn if I’m at all interested.  But my knowledge of the spirit world is much more limited. As a Christian, I welcome the Holy Spirit to indwell me, but beyond that, I imagine the spirit world to be distant from my sanitized first-world life.

 

Integration of the spiritual and physical worlds

That’s not how the God sees it. The Bible integrates the spiritual and physical all the way through. When I read the Bible with a worldview that encompasses the spiritual, I notice angelic visitors – dreams and interpretations thereof – a pillar of fire and cloud –  Shekinah glory – theophanies – prophecies – inspired music and dance – superhuman strength related to long hair – the battle between the archangel Michael and the ‘Prince of Persia’ – heavenly courtroom scenes – animals which recognize spirits and even talk on occasion – glimpses of glory – satanic interference through instigation of a census – idols which fall before the Ark of the Covenant – and the list could go on and on.  And that’s only the Old Testament. Things get even more wild in the New Testament, where God Himself breaks into history clothed in humanity, is crucified, buried, rises and ascends into heaven in human form, promises to return in glory and sends his spirit – himself – to indwell people like you and me.

 

“Jesus loves me….”

All this is too much for my little mind. I resort to singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…”. It is true – Jesus does love us immensely. We are made in the image of God and we are very special to God (Genesis 1:26-27 and Psalm 8). God loved us so much that he became one of us and, in Jesus, went to the cross for us (Philippians 2:1-11).

As I get to the words, “Little ones to him belong; they are weak but he is strong,” I am reminded of the kingdom’s upside values in which strength is shown in weakness. I think of the church, for example – the messy, confused and often confusing community to which we belong.  God’s “… intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms….” (Ephesians 3:10, my emphasis.) We, with all our issues and idiosyncrasies, are the means by which God’s ‘manifold witness’ is made known to the spirit world?!

 

Rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms

Let me back up. Who are ‘the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms’ before whom God’s ‘manifold wisdom’ is being displayed through us?

I turn to Colossians. “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17) God (through Jesus) created the spirit world as well as the physical world that I enjoy so much, and he holds it together. There are spirits which worship their Creator. But we also read about rebellion in the spiritual world (Isaiah 14:12, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6 and much of Revelation). The sneaky serpent of Genesis 3 is a case in point of a spirit which has set itself up in opposition to God.

The passage in Colossians continues, taking us back to where this blog post started. “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20 – my emphasis.)

My mind reels. It shouldn’t come as such a surprise. This truth was prophesied very early on in what we sometimes call the ‘proto-evangel’, literally meaning ‘first gospel’. The first hint of God’s plan to save the cosmos was proclaimed to the serpent before the curses on man and woman had even been pronounced. (See Genesis 3:15 – it wasn’t good for the serpent.) How does the cursed serpent of Genesis 3 relate to ‘…your enemy, the devil … a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ (1 Peter 5:8)?  How does the reconciliation process of God with the spiritual world intersect with our tangible day-to-day life?

Implications

I don’t have fully developed answers to these questions. But I am already thinking about some implications of the cosmic truths I am glimpsing.

When I consider that our corporate existence as the church is a statement to the ‘rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms’, I am more intent than ever to do all I can to create a united, mutually loving community. We are the place where God himself lives. His Spirit is in us. The impact of the church goes beyond the communities in which our church buildings are situated.

A broader understanding of the gospel, incorporating the spirit world, also has significant implications in how we share the gospel with those who acknowledge the spirit world. I think of my language teacher, who has god shelves, prayer beads and prayer flags in and around his home. I think of the local Vietnamese restaurant staff members who put coffee, fruit and incense sticks in front of god shelves here in Melbourne. I think of millions of people around the world who are not blinded to the existence of the spirit world by too much education and who do their best to keep the spirits from creating trouble for them.

For every point that I have made in this blog post, there are ten more questions tangled in my mind. Perhaps … just maybe … if I ever make sense of it, I will write a book on this matter. (That is the third ‘book project’ to be put on the backburner. I’m running out of back burners.) First step, though – a blog post. Second step – an essay on this topic, due in much too soon.  And then I will move on to think more about practical applications of these truths. Any insights, comments or corrections you may like to share will be appreciated.

Do you ever feel stretched beyond coping, caring for the complicated people God has put in your life? Spare a thought for the 70 elders of Moses’ day. Between them, they were responsible for probably about 2.4 million people, including Israelites and God-fearers from Egypt. They were called to manage traumatized travellers and were exhausted themselves.

Then God gave them a glimpse of glory.

“Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:9-11 NIV)

This was no ordinary retreat. This was the day that God’s covenant with Abraham was confirmed with his descendants, now a nation. Just over three months before this day, the Israelites had left Egypt, stripping their neighbours of wealth and joined by others who also feared Israel’s God. In the three months since gaining freedom, they had endured a lifetime’s worth of highs and lows. Finally, at the foot of Mt Sinai, Moses called together the elders and explained to them the laws which God had given his people.

———

Imagine yourself in the sandals of one of those elders. You relay the words of Moses to the people for whom you are responsible. They enthusiastically agree to live God’s way. Like there is a choice? Almighty God had led them by fire and cloud out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, he had drowned their pursuers, and had provided victory in battle, as well as food and water as they needed it. Of course they would live God’s way. Of course they would be a distinctive people of God.

Moses explains to you and your elder-colleagues how the people should prepare for the ceremony in which they would renew their allegiance to God. You make sure that those under your watch comply. Everything had to be washed – bodies and clothes – with water from the mountain stream. No sex was allowed during this time of preparation. Men were sent to put up markers to show that the mountain was off limits.

On day three, dark clouds descend on the mountain. Lightning, thunder, smoke and trumpet blasts make your skin crawl.

Shaking together as one body now, the people of Israel promise to obey God’s Laws. Moses and Aaron kill the animals set aside for sacrifice and splash the blood of the sacrificial beasts over the 12 pillars they had set up. Then Moses sprinkles blood over you. Your freshly washed clothes, hair and body are now sticky with blood. Blood, blood and more blood is sprinkled over the crowds. Moses beckons. You are being summoned … to the off-limits mountain. Your heart plummets.

Step after step, you and your elder-colleagues follow Moses. The air is electric, quite literally, with all that lightning. With each burst of thunder, your body jerks involuntarily. Moses points to a big flat rock, rather like a large table. Together, without need for words or instructions, you look up.

The ground above is brilliant blue – bluer than any sky you’ve ever seen. Through it, you can make out the shape of a man’s feet. Only it isn’t a man. It is Almighty God. You breathe deeply, inhaling what you expect to be your last breath. For you have seen God.

Yet you breathe again. And again. Food appears on the table of rock. Is it meat from the sacrifices? Wine appears too. You eat and drink, wishing that you could stay here forever.

———-

The modern woman interrupts at this point. In contrast to fine details in surrounding texts about how exactly the Israelites were to live, Moses summarizes this incredible glimpse of God’s glory and the covenant meal in just three short sentences. As readers, we are left wondering, wishing for more.

Unlike the elders, we have other records of people who also glimpsed God’s glory – Ezekiel and John. And we have rich descriptions of the life of Jesus, God incarnate. All those early elders glimpsed were the translucent tiles under God’s feet.

Poor elders. With a word of warning from Moses about likely disputes amongst the people, they were sent back down to the rabble. Moses stayed up on the mountain with his aide, Joshua. By the time he returned, 40 long days later, the people were worshipping a golden calf. In response to Moses’ call for holiness, over three thousand Israelites were slaughtered by the Levites. Plague ripped through the community. The golden calf was ground into dust, which Moses sprinkled into the same stream that had been used to cleanse the people, and from which the people were forced to drink.

Sometimes I feel like one of those elders. Life seems to spin out of control, and glimpses of glory seem long past. Yet in other important ways, we are not like the sandal-clad elders in their blood-stained clothes. The covenant meal that they enjoyed on the mountain side that day marked the Old Covenant, outlining how the people should meet God’s holy standards. They had to descend the mountain, returning to the terrified masses below who were unable to live up to God’s standards. We, however, can look to Jesus. Through him, we can gaze on God’s majesty at any time – now just a glimpse but one day clearly – even and especially in the midst of the complicated communities in which we live.

“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them…. You have come to God, the Judge of all … to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant…. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks…. … let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe for “our God is a consuming fire.”
(Selected verses from Hebrews 12:18-29, NIV)