Known and unknown and the doors between

William Blake, quoted by Bishop Carlton Pearson in "The Gospel of Inclusion."

In the universe there are things that are known and things that are unknown and in between there are doors. If that is the case then the doors remain ajar through which the curious can peak. The tragedy of theology is that these doors have been closed.

I've been looking at this idea in a multi fold approach. With respect to the cross and the gift that was given by God at Calvary. Christ's sacrifice at the cross was God opening a door for humanity to peak through; to get a glimpse of what it is to love, sacrifice and give, to be the ultimate Good Samaritan. That action by God enables human kind to wrap its arms around the ultimate act of love as an example to live by. I believe by that action we are commanded to be Christ like. We are charged to strive for perfection, knowing that in our lives most of us will never be called to sacrifice as Christ did.

So, when we're commanded to be a Samaritan and sacrifice in a small way, through and act of kindness, generosity, hospitality, a smile, being polite, loving the Christo-eclesia folks who attend church on Sunday with whom we might have friction or disagreements or out right hostility, it is indeed a very small challenge in light of the gift of Calvary.

Imagine the doors that we open when we treat others to a glimpse through that door with a small act of kindness. Think about the example we lead when we pass our lunch out the window of our car to the homeless person begging at the side of the street. Think about the gift we give when we smile and engage a store clerk.

As important is how we treat those with whom we "share belief." Often we share a common belief in Christ as a savior but we get mired in the nonsense of personal opinion. We slug it out over marriage, abortion, salvation, sexual orientation, divorce, alcohol and all the while loosing site of the cross, the death, the suffering, the Resurrection and the church as bride of Christ. We need to knowingly nod to our brothers and sisters, let them have their say, respect their stance, value them as a person and love them.

These seemingly insignificant examples are priceless gifts to opening the door and looking into Christ-like service. In light of Christ's sacrifice these small gifts seem like nothing but in fact they are excellent illustrations of how simple it can all be.

Ephesians 2 4-5

Ephesians 2:4-5(New International Version)
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

One of the hardest things for me to be mindful of, and I’ll admit that this is strange as a self professed “evangelical;” is the gift of Christ the Messiah. I get God and his infinite power, good, love and creativity. I get Christ the Messiah but sometimes I have a difficult time connecting that God is Christ incarnate and sent to Earth do minister, suffer, die and resurrect to save human kind from itself.

Typically my daily prayers are made to God because for some reason I can get my arms around the nebulous concept of a formless, faceless omnipotent and powerful God. On some visceral level I understand God but I tend to fall apart on the duality of God and Christ the Messiah. I think it’s a matter of ok, so God sent Christ, himself to Earth, to minister and shepherd human kind, but who was in control in Heaven or the realm of God. Yes, I know everything is God’s realm; but you know what I mean? Don’t you?

I guess maybe I need to dissect it this way. God is everywhere and even though for a fleeting second in his reality he occupied the human body that was the Christ, the Messiah, he was and is everywhere at the same time. God knew who would follow Christ, who would attend his sermons, who would seek him out for healing, who would be born, who would die. He so infinitely knows all that he could see and foresee all of this mapped out into the future. God actually created the map and the plan. So with all of that down I can wrap myself around the duality of Christ and God and the Trinity of God, Christ and Spirit. One triune God fully God and fully human and fully spirit at the same time whose sole purpose to reconcile God to human kind.

That is the grace of God.