The Father
"Jesus wants to make it clear that the God of whom he speaks is a God of compassion who joyously welcomes repentant sinners into his house. To associate and eat with people of ill repute, therefore, does not contradict his teaching about God, but does, in fact, live out this teaching in everyday life. If God forgives the sinners, then certainly those who have faith in God should do the same. If God welcomes sinners home, then certainly those who trust in God should do likewise. If God is compassionate, then certainly those who love God should be compassionate as well. The God whom Jesus announces and in whose name he acts is the God of compassion, the God who offers himself as an example and model for all human behavior.But there is more. Becoming like the heavenly Father is not just one important aspect of Jesus' teaching, it is the very heart of the message. The radical quality of Jesus' words and the seeming impossibility of his demands are quite obvious when heard as part of a general call to become and to be true sons and daughters of God."
The inevitability of Nouwen's conclusion doesn't make it any easier to swallow. As a teacher, I know the importance of setting reachable goals for my students, of giving them planned successes. Saying that I am to become the Father seems to me like giving a problem involving definite integrals to one of my Algebra freshmen.
And yet, there it is. We may be the prodigal, lost and knowing the need to return home. We may be the elder son, intolerant of the welcome the younger is promised. Either way, we are to become the father: loving, compassionate, welcoming, forgiving, trustworthy, an example to all who see us. Yeah. Right. Well, he never said it was going to be easy.
There are days, weeks even, when I'm comfortable with the idea of telling others to imitate me. Most of the time, though, I find the call to be Christ-like a bridge waaay too far. Fortunately, God knows this too. And He is there to stand in the gap, to make up for the righteousness we lack. It's why we "put on" Jesus in baptism...so that when God looks at us, he sees him. We wear the son like clothing while we struggle inside with the metamorphosis that changes us into something better than we can even imagine.
I don't entirely know how to become like the Father. But I know that I want to and that He wants me to. And so I trust in Him and try every day to become.
posted by Thurman8er @ 11:07 AM
4 Comments:
Preach on, brother. I appreciate your thoughts so much. They help me live out the kind of life you describe.
How hard it is sometimes to get out of His way.
Isn’t it funny that a group of people whose heritage is supposedly a high view of scripture and a high view of man, hasn’t been able to articulate, threaten, teach, or even preach their people to see the very need to become like God.
And not just on Sundays and Wednesdays (for those of us who still have Wednesday services) (tongue in cheek) but 24/7. Where has this lesson been in all of the “Newcomers / Fundamentals of our Faith” classes?
Praise God that we are more aware of this most urgent need in ourselves and for our churches.
Makes me want to say amfta.
I find it easier to follow (or imitate) those who, like you, realize and admit the ways in which they fall short. The reason is because I fall short and I need to know that we are striving together to be who we need to be. That Jesus made is our example. That we are struggling, together, is my encouragement.
kmyal (what kumbaya sounds like with a mouth full of crackers)
This thought reminds me of the verse, "Be followers of me as I am of Christ." Jesus is alive and well--not only in the eternal sense, but through us in the temporal sense. We focus a lot on the death of Jesus and well we should, but lets not forget that Jesus is not dead and He is not only alive in the spiritual realm way off somewhere. He is alive and well through us! What a thought!
Post a Comment
<< Home