The recent solar eclipse attracted quite an audience. Though precise numbers are not available, there are estimates of up to 323 million viewers. And for a good reason: while total solar eclipses occur somewhere on the planet every 18 months, it has been 38 years since a total solar eclipse passed through the U.S., and 99 years since the last coast-to-coast eclipse.
To be honest: I had forgotten what an eclipse actually is. And so I rediscovered: eclipse is "...an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination...." https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/eclipse But an eclipse can also mean "... loss of significance or power in relation to another person or thing..."’https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/eclipse
And so I got thinking: what aspects of our faith, have been eclipsed in recent days, weeks, years?
And so I got thinking: what aspects of our faith, have been eclipsed in recent days, weeks, years?
As recent blog posts surfaced, a sense of equity for all races, ages and genders has been eclipsed. A commitment to a steward-like, sacrificial gifting of money has been eclipsed. A recognition of the priority of servant-like, global identity, rather than just national identity has been eclipsed.
But what is the overarching biblical emphasis signaled in each of these items?
For me, it's the Kingdom or Reign of God.
What's that? Well, in straight talk -- the Kingdom or Reign Of God is God's 'invasion' of each part of life -- as Jesus inflitrates all -- as Lord of all.
That's what's been eclipsed, over all.
Sadly, the Western Church has allowed God's full reign in Jesus to be eclipsed for some time. Writing in 1984, Mortimer Arias noted:
For me, it's the Kingdom or Reign of God.
What's that? Well, in straight talk -- the Kingdom or Reign Of God is God's 'invasion' of each part of life -- as Jesus inflitrates all -- as Lord of all.
That's what's been eclipsed, over all.
Sadly, the Western Church has allowed God's full reign in Jesus to be eclipsed for some time. Writing in 1984, Mortimer Arias noted:
"...We seem to be faced with what can be called an eclipse of the reign of God, lasting from the apostolic age to the present...'Jesus foretold the Kingdom and it was the Church which came,' said the French modernist scholar Alfred Loisy...[But in reality] Jesus proclaimed the coming kingdom -- and the early church proclaimed Jesus the Christ...The lordship of Christ [being] the new term for the kingdom (Acts 2:36; 1 Cor. 1:2; Romans 10:9). Jesus' eschatological message was: 'The kingdom of God is at hand." The message of the early church was 'the Lord is at hand.' (Phil. 4:5)..." Mortimer Arias, Annoucing the Reign of God. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984, pp. 55; 56, emphasis added.)
But the eclipse of the Kingdom still occurs, nevertheless -- for we still fail to share the full meaning of the Lord's immanence (e.g. the Lord is at hand) and the full impact of the Lord's contemporary Reign. As Arias goes on to muse:
"...We tend to present a purely Pauline theology mediated through the Reformation [get saved by faith, go to heaven]...[or]...a watered-down gospel of the 'teachings' of the 'historical Jesus' on 'God's Fatherhood and human brotherhood' [e.g. progressive 'do good' theology]...[or] a gospel encapsulated in the missiles of contemporary apocalypticism [e.g. end times fascination and fixation, etc.] Mortimer Arias, Annoucing the Reign of God. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984, p 115).
For me, a practical way of doing just that is readopting the word Master for Jesus. We don't often use the term Master (didaskalos) for Jesus, but it's found in the New Testament 58 times, with 48 direct references to Jesus.
Frankly, I find calling Jesus Master awkward, even disrupting.
I mean, when I call Jesus Shepherd or Savior, it's comforting and reassuring. But when I call Jesus Master it's intruding and disturbing. Why it sounds like Jesus wants to master me!
I mean, when I call Jesus Shepherd or Savior, it's comforting and reassuring. But when I call Jesus Master it's intruding and disturbing. Why it sounds like Jesus wants to master me!
And guess what: Jesus does! To be specific:
- Jesus wants to Master my appointment calendar.
- Jesus wants to Master my opinion of war.
- Jesus wants to Master my friendships.
- Jesus wants to Master my opinion of capital punishment.
- Jesus wants to Master my choices at the 'all you can eat' buffet.
- Jesus wants to Master my opinion of people of color.
- Jesus wants to Master my view on abortion.
- Jesus wants to Master my clothing choices.
Well, you get the point. Jesus wants to intrude and Master everything in my life -- and -- yours.
- Jesus wants to Master my opinion of the current President.
For Jesus is Master -- the Incarnate expression of the Sovereign God -- who is the ultimate Lord of All.
Frankly, our resistance to mastery is expected. As Charles Spurgeon reflects:
“Men will allow God to be everywhere but on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and make stars…They will allow Him to sustain the earth…or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth.”Been gnashing your teeth, lately? I have. I resist God's rule regularly...repeatedly.
But as I've advanced in several blog posts -- maturity in Jesus is directly related to the amount of life given to Jesus.
And that's the great debate, the great divide in the Church today, with different sectors/factors of the church giving only part of life to Jesus.
To greatly over-simplify:
- Conservatives give their personal agenda (devotion, e.g. heart and soul) to Jesus, but are selective in giving their social agenda, e.g. sparse commitment to justice, anti-poverty, peace, etc.
- Progressives, on the other hand, give their social agenda (activism, e.g. mind and strength) to Jesus, but are selective in giving their personal agenda, e.g. sparse commitment to 'being born again,' purity, temperance, etc.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30.Sadly, such totality of giving to Jesus has been eclipsed. But we are called to move out of the shadow of such shallow, shady spirituality -- into the light of the Son -- and regain life -- within the full, total, all-encompassing Reign of God.
For when the Reign of God is eclipsed -- God is eclipsed -- and life gets dark.
But God doesn't want life dark. God wants life bright.
And so God beckons us to come under His full mastery, His full Reign, His full Kingdom.
For that's the only way, we truly enter into the full Light, of a full Life!
Paul, I often find it interesting that some Christians, as you say, claim the tag of "Christ-ian" (that is, "little Christs"), but when it comes to lifestyle, they focus on "me first".
ReplyDeleteHow can that be? "Christ-ians" are, by definition, sacrificial. This calls for a serving Church, one that bows before "the other" to wash his or her feet; one who loves the unlovable neighbor next door, and one who reaches out to care for the poor and helpless in a foreign land or wherever they may be.
You are right, Paul, when you say that we choose to stay in the dark when, in fact, we have the opportunity, as Christians, to serve God by serving 'the other', i.e., the poor, the helpless, the lost, the forsaken.
Had it not been for people in my church who cared for me when I was young and helpless, I could never have become who I am today. God is good, and God's grace is bountiful. All we have to do, as Christians, is to look up, and then, to reach out. In doing so, we will save many peoples' souls, psyches, lives, and futures. That is the way of Light. That is the glory of the Gospel.
Love your faithful commentary, Jeanne. Thanks for taking the time to write and share your heart!!
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