Skip to main content

Living in the Mystery

The Christian faith is one that is full of mystery. We are called to live both distinct from the world yet also bound up and involved in redeeming it. Jesus Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith, is both completely God and completely human. We see these mysteries all the time in our faith, and at times it can be difficult to know what to make of them.

Often times are reaction to a mystery of the faith is to double down on one side or the other. Many Christians live their lives in constant fear of the world, working tirelessly to separate themselves from our culture and times. They take the call to be distinct from the world seriously but ignore the call to be bound up and involved with it. Still others do the opposite, becoming so bound up with the world that they are no longer distinct in any meaningful way.

This reaction is understandable because we don't like the unknown and uncertainty. We prefer to know where things stand, have a clear understanding of what to do, and know where the boundaries and enemies are to be avoided. Mysteries don't allow for that as much as we'd like. 

We are called to live in the mysteries of the faith. The first step is accepting that God is bigger than our understanding. This sounds like a no brainer, but in truth this is much harder to do than you might think. We all have a notion of who or what God is and we live in such a way that corresponds to that understanding. The truth is that no matter how lofty or holy your understanding of God is, it simply isn't big enough.

This is why God calls us to constantly encounter him in Bible study, worship, serving others, community, and so many other ways. One of the greatest challenges we must overcome is our own understanding of who God is. We must learn to be constantly conforming to the living God revealed in Jesus Christ and illumined by the Holy Spirit. 

This is how we start living in the mystery, knowing and trusting the living God. As we continue to grow and be shaped by him it becomes easier for us to stand in the tensions of the faith because we know all things are possible with God. It is here we must live, thrive, and remain.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be Kind

This last Sunday I was asked to preach and I struggled for a while with what to preach on. It's always difficult when you are filling in and everyone else knows you are filling in. You don't want to overlap too much with the current sermon series, but you also don't want your topic to be so unrelated to what's been going on that it has no impact.  I found inspiration simply from scrolling on Facebook. People, and it seems especially Christians, are mean.  Now of course not all Christians are rude and combative, but there are a shocking number who are. We argue in Facebook comments, send hateful messages, and generally act just like the world. This extends beyond the realm of social media and into our day-to-day interactions with so many. The Sunday lunch crowd at restaurants is infamously the worst tipping and most disrespectful, and these are mostly Christians who have just come from church. We need to be kind. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit, but it is one we often ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Justice

Our view of justice is narrow and limited. Typically when we, as Christians, talk about justice we are really only referring to punishing wrongdoers for their crimes. While that is certainly a part of justice that isn't the only thing. In the Bible justice consists of much more. Consider the book of Amos, one of the minor prophets and therefore a book that most Christians barely touch. Amos is announcing judgment against the nation of Israel for their infidelity to their covenant with God. What do you think is the most repeated indictment against Israel? Interestingly it's not idolatry, sexual immorality, or war although these things are mentioned. The primary sin of in Amos is Israel's neglect of the poor and their oppression of the needy. Over and over again Amos declares that judgment is coming to Israel because of their treatment of those less fortunate. The poor are trampled and the needy are crushed. There is no justice in the land. Biblical justice includes both crim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus or Nothing

"Non Nisse Te Domine." - Thomas Aquinas I have the above quote engraved on the bottom of a watch that my father gave me several years ago. It means "Nothing if not you, Lord." Thomas Aquinas, 13th century monk and one of the most influential theologians and philosophers in all of history, said this after having a vision of Jesus. Reportedly Christ appeared to him and said "You have written well of me, Thomas. What what you have as a reward?" "Non nisse te Domine," was the response. After that, even though Thomas had dedicated his life to writing theology and was in the middle of writing his massive Summa Theologia, Thomas stopped writing. He said it was because all he had written, tomes and tomes of brilliant work, were as straw compared to seeing the actual Lord. Whatever you may think about such a mystical event, I personally believe it happened but I understand the more skeptical among us, the response of Thomas is what matters. When asked for...
Post a Comment
Read more