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Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Life is worth living. Death is trivial.
(Video on the way)
My reflection on the first chapter of Dorothy Sayers' Letters to a Diminished Church.
Here is a video of me reading this blog (a video of some thoughts I had while I discussed this blog with Beka is below the text).
Life is worth living, and death is trivial. This is the conclusion from an encounter with the risen Christ. We find that we live in his life, and our death is swallowed up in his victory. Don’t get me wrong. We shall surely die. But what is death on this side of the resurrection? We have tasted of the love and life of the Eternal Creator of mankind who stepped entirely into his creation. Jesus of Nazareth... the man who was born with animals… amongst blood, tears, and the sound and smells of a manger. He stepped into creation through creation itself – being born from a woman and in such lowly conditions. This is our God. Our God lived a human life. Our God died.
And we shall surely die. The day Jesus was born he began his temporal march toward the cross. The day we were born we began the heart-beat countdown. Each fresh breath drawn draws us nearer to our last. We shall surely die. But what is death in light of the death of our God? – in light of his luminous resurrection? Without the work of Christ, death had power. Death had authority. Death had finality… an unswerving judgment. Death was to be feared.
But, Death, who are you now? You are the gateway from present eternal life that is seen as in a mirror dimly to the crystal clear life lived in a spiritual body… our new, resurrected, “fleshy-and-glorious” bodies. But I am content now to walk with my Lord here… in this life.
I am content here in this life, because the Christ eternally blessed human life as he lived. Human life is now made worthy of the Eternal Creator-God’s participation. If life is worth the life of the Eternal Word, then it is worth my living. For those of us who have encountered the living Christ, we know that life is worth the living and death is trivial.
We may say, "But my parents are divorced." "I have cancer." "My friends have betrayed me." "Children are starving this very moment in Africa." "Unborn children are being massacred this very moment in America." "I’m mentally handicapped." "I’ve been psychologically raped by deficient parents… or foster parents." "I was viciously tortured and murdered, alone and terrified." "I’m sucked into a depression as thick and black as tar… I am empty inside." "What part of this life is worth living!!??"
Jesus says, “Life is worth living.” His eyes water as he reminds us of his words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus knows divorce. He reminds us of Judas’ betrayal and how his closest friends abandoned him at his arrest, torture, and murder. Jesus knows alone. He bore the cancer of sin. He became sin. All disease and death stemming from the fall swallowed him in sin as thick and black as tar. Or better said, he swallowed every disease and death stemming from the fall and became sin as thick and black as tar. He sweat drops of blood. Every abortion, every child who starves so the West can slobber over Blue Belle behind plasma screens in air-conditioned homes, every child destroyed by darkened parents… Jesus absorbed all of sin’s pain, judgment, death, and sting on the cross. Sin’s emptiness swallowed the cross. Christ’s resurrection filled the void with redemption.
We have hope. Life is worth living. There is light. There is strength, and dignity. There is life and it is Christ. He is life. He is hope. He is light. He is grace, mercy, truth, redemption and reconciliation, vindication, peace, purity, purpose, power, and perseverance. He is light. He is our future. He is our present. He is alpha and omega, firstborn of all creation and firstborn of the dead. He is creator, sustainer, the judge of the quick and the dead, and He is the re-creator. He is Love.
Atrocity is not ok. Jesus has not ascended to the Father so that we would be free to sin, but so that we would be free to move with the Spirit beyond our atrocious pasts toward his future of redemption. Life is worth living, and it is worth redeeming. Life’s redemption was worth the life of God. Live your life as Christ would live it.
And as we live our lives under the umbrella of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection… what is death. This trivial trail from mirror redemption to crystal glorification? All we can do is echo the apostle and say that to live is Christ, to die is gain. Live life with no fear but the fear of God. Oh majestic fear that feeds the fires of courage deep within the caverns of my soul… the fear that produces perfect peace… the fear that brings true inner death and so breaths full inner life. Life is worth living and death is trivial.
Lord, continue to make my life worthy. Preserve me from death only that I may die daily in your love so that I may present your renewed humanity to mankind.
Some extra thoughts I had about this blog:
My reflection on the first chapter of Dorothy Sayers' Letters to a Diminished Church.
Here is a video of me reading this blog (a video of some thoughts I had while I discussed this blog with Beka is below the text).
Life is worth living, and death is trivial. This is the conclusion from an encounter with the risen Christ. We find that we live in his life, and our death is swallowed up in his victory. Don’t get me wrong. We shall surely die. But what is death on this side of the resurrection? We have tasted of the love and life of the Eternal Creator of mankind who stepped entirely into his creation. Jesus of Nazareth... the man who was born with animals… amongst blood, tears, and the sound and smells of a manger. He stepped into creation through creation itself – being born from a woman and in such lowly conditions. This is our God. Our God lived a human life. Our God died.
And we shall surely die. The day Jesus was born he began his temporal march toward the cross. The day we were born we began the heart-beat countdown. Each fresh breath drawn draws us nearer to our last. We shall surely die. But what is death in light of the death of our God? – in light of his luminous resurrection? Without the work of Christ, death had power. Death had authority. Death had finality… an unswerving judgment. Death was to be feared.
But, Death, who are you now? You are the gateway from present eternal life that is seen as in a mirror dimly to the crystal clear life lived in a spiritual body… our new, resurrected, “fleshy-and-glorious” bodies. But I am content now to walk with my Lord here… in this life.
I am content here in this life, because the Christ eternally blessed human life as he lived. Human life is now made worthy of the Eternal Creator-God’s participation. If life is worth the life of the Eternal Word, then it is worth my living. For those of us who have encountered the living Christ, we know that life is worth the living and death is trivial.
We may say, "But my parents are divorced." "I have cancer." "My friends have betrayed me." "Children are starving this very moment in Africa." "Unborn children are being massacred this very moment in America." "I’m mentally handicapped." "I’ve been psychologically raped by deficient parents… or foster parents." "I was viciously tortured and murdered, alone and terrified." "I’m sucked into a depression as thick and black as tar… I am empty inside." "What part of this life is worth living!!??"
Jesus says, “Life is worth living.” His eyes water as he reminds us of his words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus knows divorce. He reminds us of Judas’ betrayal and how his closest friends abandoned him at his arrest, torture, and murder. Jesus knows alone. He bore the cancer of sin. He became sin. All disease and death stemming from the fall swallowed him in sin as thick and black as tar. Or better said, he swallowed every disease and death stemming from the fall and became sin as thick and black as tar. He sweat drops of blood. Every abortion, every child who starves so the West can slobber over Blue Belle behind plasma screens in air-conditioned homes, every child destroyed by darkened parents… Jesus absorbed all of sin’s pain, judgment, death, and sting on the cross. Sin’s emptiness swallowed the cross. Christ’s resurrection filled the void with redemption.
We have hope. Life is worth living. There is light. There is strength, and dignity. There is life and it is Christ. He is life. He is hope. He is light. He is grace, mercy, truth, redemption and reconciliation, vindication, peace, purity, purpose, power, and perseverance. He is light. He is our future. He is our present. He is alpha and omega, firstborn of all creation and firstborn of the dead. He is creator, sustainer, the judge of the quick and the dead, and He is the re-creator. He is Love.
Atrocity is not ok. Jesus has not ascended to the Father so that we would be free to sin, but so that we would be free to move with the Spirit beyond our atrocious pasts toward his future of redemption. Life is worth living, and it is worth redeeming. Life’s redemption was worth the life of God. Live your life as Christ would live it.
And as we live our lives under the umbrella of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection… what is death. This trivial trail from mirror redemption to crystal glorification? All we can do is echo the apostle and say that to live is Christ, to die is gain. Live life with no fear but the fear of God. Oh majestic fear that feeds the fires of courage deep within the caverns of my soul… the fear that produces perfect peace… the fear that brings true inner death and so breaths full inner life. Life is worth living and death is trivial.
Lord, continue to make my life worthy. Preserve me from death only that I may die daily in your love so that I may present your renewed humanity to mankind.
Some extra thoughts I had about this blog:
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