In John 1:47, Jesus of Nazareth is recorded as meeting Nathanael. Nazareth was an obscure and dirty Roman outpost full of corruption and prostitution. Upon hearing that Jesus was from Nazareth, Nathanael commented, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Poor Nathanael, unbeknownst to him, it was like saying something about your boss while she’s standing right behind you.
In a few moments Jesus “saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.” Do you get it? Israel? Nothing false?
No? Another name for Israel was Jacob and Jacob was full of falsehood. Jacob’s life was a fraud. Deceptive, deceitful, treacherous, Jacob seemed to thrive on intrigue and double-dealing. Jacob even tried to run deals with God. That means that like us, he wanted to do things his way with the sheen of God’s approval. Yet God went along with it all.
That’s what always gets me about my Creator. His endless patience. His willingness to let us bumble along and screw up what He is accomplishing through us. God takes liars and freaks and misfits of various stripes and uses us to bring good into the world. God steps into the messy places of our lives, places that we’d rather no one know about and He cleans us, and heals us and loves us like no one else in the universe.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
He cleans us? Can I get penciled in for a divine sponge bath?
I'm curious... how do you feel about people who desperately seek God and find nothing?
Jacob wrestled with an angel, not the disappearance of the divine. Even in his impudence, Jacob's struggle with God only brought him closer.
If Hell is the absence of the divine, and God is no where to be seen, what does that say of us?
“ He cleans us? Can I get penciled in for a divine sponge bath?”
You might already be penciled in.
======================
“I'm curious... how do you feel about people who desperately seek God and find nothing?”
I’m curious as well. Is that what happened to you?
=================
“If Hell is the absence of the divine, and God is no where to be seen, what does that say of us?”
For many of us, God is everywhere to be seen. No this isn’t hell.
No, I realized pretty early on that there's no God, well before I was 13. I think it's harder for people who don't question that early.
I know people who struggled to believe for a long time. Some are/were stuck with their parents/spouse. Some struggle simultaneously with something like homosexuality or even just porn because they feel it is a horrible thing they are doing. Even Mother Theresa seemed to have doubts.
I'm curious what evidence all of us non-believers are failing to see. Are you counting babies and sunsets?
Yeah, here is a conversation that I had at work tonight
Coworker- "Everyday I pray to God that I age gracefully"
Me- "No, you need to stop praying and start working at aging gracefully".
We both laughed. And, she knew I was right.
Post a Comment