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As some of you know, I've had a little bit of a rough time lately. This is perhaps too much information for this forum, but I should let you know, especially since I mentioned some of my struggles in my essay "Transparency."I recently placed my mother in a nursing home. What can I say about that? And in the past few weeks I've attended four funerals; and I learned of the death of one of my favorite college professors early last week.
And then there's the death of my dog, a beloved companion who's been part of this family for 13 years.
Worst of all, my wife is sick. No, no. What's worse is the recent news that her sister has ALS. On Sunday I joined my family, sans my wife, in Boston (Chelsea, to be exact) for the Walk To Defeat ALS. (I walked alone, camera in hand, largely to hide the fact I was sobbing. It was an awesome day, but I am weak.)
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This may mean little to anyone here, if anyone happens to even stop in much anymore. No doubt it will most likely only speak to my Christian friends. But I thought I'd share it. It's something I wrote to a friend the other day, someone who has lost her faith and now defines herself a "weak atheist." She is a lovely soul.
Recently she was voicing criticism about the Christian message, that the most important thing is God, about what He wants, needs, expects, requires. That it's all about Him, about His exaltation and glory, and that all thoughts, particularly those wrought in suffering, have to be shaped towards God's inexplicable Greatness. In response, I sent this along:
I guess what I am saying is that Christianity is not what you’ve said it is. The highest good is whatever God would die for: He did not die for Himself, but for humanity. He became a Servant, even a Servant of death. That’s news that no Islam, Hindu, or Buddhist revelation has even remotely reported.
The Christian God is the weak God.
It's something to think about.
Peace to you.
BG
6 comments:
To me, that weakness you describe which was voluntarily assumed, is what speaks the truth about the Gospel. It is those misconceptions which are evident at most atheist web sites which "specialize" in critiquing the Christian message which never cease to astound me.
As always, my prayers for you.
Cheers.
Bill-I am very sorry for all the travil in your life that you are having now-my best wishes to your wife, and sister in law.
I have to "confess", as it were, that I did not understand the ending of your blog , where you said the Christian God was the weak god-that shot totally over my head. Could you expound on that a little more to my addled brain? Thanks!
Oh that was me, Danni Lee, that left you the last post-I guess I have not mastered the intricies of posting!
Dear DL,
I apologize for being a little too opaque in expressing my thoughts.
I am not sure where I should begin. Perhaps I will begin with the Apostles' Creed:
I believe in Jesus Christ,
[God's] only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended into hell.[bold added for emphasis]
Perhaps the following statement borders on heresy, but I shall take that risk: God would rather be in hell with us than in heaven without us. That the God of the universe, incarnate in Jesus Christ, descended to hell, having once inhabited the very heights of glory, in order to BE with us, is too much to consider.
The fancy Christian term that comes to mind is "kenosis," that God "empties Himself." The idea is reflected in St. Paul's letter to the Philippians wherein he describes the humility of God:
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Phil. 2:5-8)
If Jesus is the incarnation of God; if, as St. Paul said elsewhere, "the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ bodily," what we witness is a God willing to be weak to make us strong. God endures the suffering of birth, and the humility of a manger for his nursery. He freely embraces the pain of life, the risks of temptation, the hardness of work. He is God, and yet he walked among men as son, brother, friend, servant. He is the God-Man, and yet does not mention -- really -- the man who claims to be God -- Caesar Augustus -- who ruled over Palestine from afar; the real God chooses meekness rather than pomp to mark his entry into the Roman Empire.
Christ chose to associate with the untouchables; in effect, he was born among them. And yet he was not averse to associating with those who were considered touchables; he was a man who would dine with sinners and "saints."
Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, much to the chagrin of St. Peter, who felt it undignified. And Jesus died on a cross, crucified with criminals, hung on a pole on the trash heap outside Jerusalem, the city of peace.
In short, Jesus Christ showed himself in weakness, not in abject (prototypical) strength: he came to serve, not to be served. In fact, St. Paul extends this sense of weakness to the heart of the Christian's life: Christ's strength is perfected in our weaknesses: "For God chose the foolish things of this world to confound the wise."
I hope this attains to something like an answer for you. If not, I can try again.
Peace.
Bill Gnade
Bill,
Greetings from Scotland, just popped by and read this post which touched my heart.
I'm not sure that this will give you comfort, but some years ago my husband and I went to Bible college to train to work in Nepal. We gave up what I then considered "everything" to serve God. Within months our world turned upside down, our daughter was diagnosed with Leukaemia, our son began to have severe epil;eptic fits ,my father died of cancer and within two years my husband also died.
I got very angry with God, but I learnt trust. I have no understanding of the "Why's", only that I have empathy with others that struggle. You are right in saying .."God would rather be in hell with us..." despite everything ,15 years later I still wander along after Jesus,sometimes via the scenic route. All else may change ,HE does not .
Thank you Bill for the clarification-I understand much better now!
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