The Nun God

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Robert Franklin

nuns singingI had the opportunity to listen to a radio show that featured former nun, Karen Armstrong, as she promoted her new book, A Case For God.  According to the interview, Ms. Armstrong has been able to transcend the insufficient ideas and ideals of the major world religions and to formulate a hybrid/synergistic understanding of God.  Ms. Armstrong is definitely for God, but not the “primitive” God worshipped by modern religious adherents.

It cannot be argued that Ms. Armstrong has spent considerable effort studying human concepts of God  and that her conclusions represent some of the best of modern scholarship. I am amazed that her careful study has not resulted in any novel conclusions. She makes the same basic assertions about God humans have been making throughout recorded history: God is a human formulation, an attempt to access the transcendent.

For the most part I believe she is correct.  The gods of humans tend to look like us.  The god of Israel, however, is said to create us to look like him.  This god is not supra-human, he is perfected truth; this god is both accessible and incomprehensible; finite enough to become flesh, infinite enough to simply speak all our “discoveries” into existence.

This is the god who can send his beloved covenant people into war-induced exile, who could watch women and children die horrific deaths, who caused famine so severe his people starved. This is the very same God to whom Isaiah calls the inhabitants of Jerusalem to shout praises of joy.

“Let all the people of Jerusalem shout his praise with joy! For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you.”” (Isaiah 12:6, NLT)

The gods of our imaginations make sense to us.  The god of Israel can judge from the holiness of his heavens and yet live in the midst of a people who have rejected him. The god of Israel confounds the wisest mind and is sensible to the simplest mind. He is truly the Nun God. 

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Disagreeing with Jesus

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Robert Franklin

disagreementWe have a long and infamous record of facing God-in-the-flesh and telling him that he is either mistaken or wrong. The hubris of the human soul surely causes the heavenly audience to gasp is horror on a regular basis. For my part I can only shake my head in shame as I remember the numerous times I have unjustly challenged people much wiser than I and I tremble at the thought that I have been so bold as to consider myself “counsel” to God.

The gospels bluntly witness to this hellish phenomenon. Take a look at Luke’s list of all the people who decided the position they held was right and righteous even if it opposed Jesus.

2.48-Jesus’ Parents: Jesus treated them wrongly by worrying them.

4.20-Jesus’ Hometown: Jesus was just “Joseph’s son” and not the fulfillment of scripture.

4.28-Jesus’ Hometown: Jesus did not speak from God, but was a blasphemer worthy of death.

5.21-Pharisees: Jesus cannot forgive sin.

5.30-Pharisees and Scribes: Jesus can’t keep company with tax collectors and other social outcasts.

6.1-Pharisees: Jesus and his disciples have no right to labor (even for basic food) on the Sabbath.

6.11-Scribes and Pharisees: Jesus was not allowed to heal on the Sabbath

6.30-Pharisees and Lawyers: Jesus testimony about the “Baptism of John” was incorrect, John’s baptism was not of worth

7.39-Simon the Pharisee: Jesus is not a prophet because he allowed himself to be touched by a sinful woman.

7.49- Dinner guests: Jesus has no right to forgive sins.

8.37 -Garasenes: Jesus had no right to deprive them of their pigs.

8.53- Mourners of Jairus’ daughter: Jesus has no power over death

9.13- Disciples: Jesus cannot work though ordinary people to feed thousands of people.

10.29 -A Lawyer: Jesus’ definition of who is a “neighbor” was incorrect.

10.40- Martha: Disagreed with Jesus allowing Mary’s to sit and learning at his feet.

11.15-Members of a crowd: Jesus casts ort demons by Satan’s power not God’s.

11.27 A woman: Disagreed with Jesus regarding the veneration of Mary.

11.45- Lawyers/Pharisees: Disagreed with Jesus regarding the condition of their souls.

13.1- Unnamed: Disagreed about the righteousness of desecrated Galileans.

15.2- Pharisees and Scribes: Disagreed with Jesus hanging out with, and loving, sinners.

16.14- Money-loving Pharisees: Disagreed regarding serving money and God simultaneously.

18.9- Ones that trusted in themselves for righteousness and viewed others with contempt: Disagreed with Jesus statement that God loves the penitent heart.

18.15- Disciples: Disagreed as to the importance of children coming to Jesus.

 18.39- Crowds outside of Jericho: Disagreed with Jesus’ care for blind Bartimaeus.

19.6-Citizens of Jericho: Did not think Jesus should be visiting with a person like Zaccheus.

19.39- Pharisees: Did not believe Jesus was worthy of praises as he entered Jerusalem.

20.2- Scribes and Elders: Believed Jesus to lack the proper authority to teach the Scripture.

20.27 Sadducees: Disagreed with Jesus regarding the reality of the resurrection.

21.5 Temple admirers: Disagreed with Jesus regarding the permanency of the Temple.

22.24. Disciples: Disagreed regarding how to be truly great and what was the measure of greatness.

22.33- Peter: Disagreed with Jesus regarding his ability to be faithful.

22.50-Disciples: Disagreed with Jesus about whether or not to use force to protect him from arrest.
22.70-Council of Elders: Disagreed with Jesus’ assertion that he is God.

23.39-Thief: Disagreed that Jesus was the means to salvation.

One gospel record, thirty-five disagreements with Jesus, thirty-five assertions of the will of humans against the revelation of God’s perfect love and wisdom.

The most disturbing disagreement I find people currently hold today is regarding how to become a follower of Jesus. The range of opinion is far too diverse to record in one blog entry. Consider what Jesus said about being his follower:

“Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23-26, NLT)

Would you agree?

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Awesome…I Mean It!

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Robert Franklin

Awesome...I Mean ItIn the ’80’s “Awesome” became a byword.  Pretty much any thing that surprised us or we thought was a positive, even the genuinely insignificant was declared “Awesome!”  It is now two decades later and our sense of awe about anything is gone.  The last time we heard the term was during the bombing of Iraq.  That military campaign, reduced to the size of my television screen, did little to inspire awe in me, although I am sure it frightened the hearts out of those who endured it.

I experienced awe as I tried to take in the sight of the glacier covered mountains of Alaska, or the immensity of the Grand Canyon, of the enormity of the Sahara Desert.  I have stood on a rocky precipice perched high above the Pacific Ocean and watched storm-driven breakers crush the shore with a mighty ferocious roar.

I am a servant to the truly awesome.  Someone who far outweighs the most fantastic, humbling, overwhelming, frightening aspects of his creation.

Someone so powerful that his mere presence causes me to no longer fear my powerful enemies.

Someone so just that I never worry about being left without my promised eternal inheritance, even though I don’t deserve one.

Someone so holy that I dare not disregard his command.

This week we will be experiencing a sliver of what it means to worship a truly awesome God at Main Street.  I pray this upcoming Sunday will reintroduce and remind my local family to the extravagance of power and authority we are connected to in Christ Jesus. 
Someone who is truly awesome.

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International Songs of Joy

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Robert Franklin

kingdedede earthshakerLet the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.  (Psalm 67:4, ESV)

Sometimes we fall into the pit of believing that God favors our nation above others.  The Psalmist, an Israelite, begs a different position.  According to the songwriter, God’s character, God’s work is so pervasive that it touches the whole earth.  Long before the angel told Mary that Salvation had finally arrived, this song of joy proclaimed the expectation of salvation among all nations.  Surely if it is true that God rightly judges every culture, every language, every lifestyle and guides all the affairs of humans, he is worthy of every glad song. 

It is disheartening to open the ear to the songs of the day:  songs to sexual self-gratification, songs to anger and bitterness, songs to self-praise, songs to disconnected emotional ecstasy.  How deep is this well of self-delusion, this dark hole that facilitates our smug self-dependence?  Will we ever see day’s light again and humbly, gratefully fall face to the earth and bless God through earth shaking melodic thanksgivings? 

God’s patient care and gracious abundance demand nothing less. 

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The Original Star Song

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Robert Franklin

ht_colliding_galaxies_090421_ssvWhere were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?…When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy! (Job 38.2a, 7, NASB95)

Before the advent of artificial lighting, the stars were a wondrous mystery.  Moonless nights served as invitations to consider the immensity of the treasure sprinkled across the heavenly expanse like diamonds scattered on black sand beaches.  Our ancient ancestors believed in gods other than themselves so the stars stood witness to a perceived reality which inflamed their imaginations. Story after story arose from the hearts of artists as they sought to explain why such smallness could access such grandeur. hubble 1We were not left to stand, chins upturned, mouth’s agape and eyes unwilling to blink for fear of missing a moment of the extravaganza.  God stepped down and put his arm around the shoulder of the seeker and pointed out the highlights of his creative eminence.  ht_Cocoon_Nebula_090305_sshLift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, he calls them all by name; because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40.26, NASB95) ht_hubble5_080423_sshAs dawn’s light encroached and the faint echoes of the star-song could barely be heard, God’s parting words were surely, “You’ve not seen anything yet.  I will yet blow the minds of your great grandchildren three thousand years from now.”

And he has indeed…keep shouting joyful praise! 

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Earth Splitting Joy

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Robert Franklin

And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise. (1 Kings 1:40, RSV)

earth splitThe “splitting of the earth” is an obvious hyperbole, so much so that most modern translations choose to render the Hebrew word,  baqa, as “quake” or “shook.” The original is the appropriate word for the story and the translator’s choice of an alternative is not helpful in this instance.

The reading of this verse drops us into the middle of political intrigue here.   God, through David, chose Solomon, firstborn son of an adulteress, to be King of Israel.  David’s other son, Adonijah, believed himself to be the rightful heir to the throne of Israel.  Adonijah had gathered military and religious leaders to himself and was in the process of hosting his own “victory party” when the rumble of joy came rolling through.  True to the nature of political sycophants, as soon as Adonijah’s guests heard the explanation for the jubilation of the city, they disappeared as quickly as possible.  No one likes to be caught with the loser, especially if the alliance may threaten life or personal fortune.

Adonijah means, ‘the I AM is Lord.’  The Lord did not tell Adonijah to take possession of Israel.  The Lord did not instruct Adonijah’s allies to attempt to install Adonijah as king.  Adonijah forgot the meaning of his own name and so his cup of joy turned sour while still in his hand.

And the earth split.

Those who waited for the blessing and direction of God were able, at the right time, to express joy with such fury that the earth responded to the tumult.  On the other side of the rift, those who presumed to be their own gods did their best to silently “fade into the woodwork.”

The question for us is this:  Which side of joy are we on?

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