In the 53rd chapter of Isaiah we read a description of the Suffering Servant. The Messiah. The Christ. It's quite a dramatic depiction of not just the suffering of the Lamb of God but also the accomplishment of Salvation through His sacrifice. It is a passage that most Christians are at least vaguely familiar with and includes the statement that "by His stripes, we are healed" This comment refers to the scourging of Jesus before His crusifixion and points to the fact that Jesus suffering was necessary to bring about the forgiveness of sin. My understanding of this relationship took a leap forward a few years back as I sat at one of several stations during a Maundy Thursday service. This table simply had a Bible and paper and pencils for writing down your thoughts as you considered the whole story of Jesus' crucifixion. Following are my writings from this time.
"By His stripes we are healed. Those stripes have a very personal origin. My sin. My shortcomings. My intentional turning away. I am not a bystander in this crucifixion. I am actively involved. The beauty of this is that God twisted things around to use the very thing that brought His death to bring me life. No wonder it all confounds the intellectuals so.
-----though your sin be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
-----He doesn't say wait till tomorrow,
or you should have been here before.
He just says come.
He is nothing like me."
This is my second attempt at this idea and I'm guessing more will be needed. Paul's calling the Gospel a mystery didn't make it so. Paul was simply expressing a nugget of truth he had discovered. One that all who dare to follow Christ will encounter. While I am willing to argue that my faith is a reasonable one, not a foundation-less belief in some fairy tale or vague legend that has been verbally passed down for generations, it nevertheless, leaves me scratching my head a bit. When I apply faith to the compelling evidence of Jesus being who He says He is, I enter a new life. Not a life lived according to a different set of rules and regulations, but a life changed. Not perfect, but being moved to a more Christ-like place. Not through shock treatments and sleep deprived emotional encounters, but through my awareness of God's activity in my life. As I explore this intellectually, I am left with some illogical notions that seem to be, nevertheless, true. Isa. 1:18 says, "Come now, and let us reason together", says the Lord. (then Isaiah goes on to present an UNreasonable offer)
"Though your sins be as scarlet, They will be as white as snow;
Though they be red, like crimson, They will be like wool ......."
While God is unspeakably powerful and beyond our understanding and is Holy, (that is to say fully righteous or perfect, complete, if you will), according to Isaiah God isn't saying get your life in order and come back later to finish our little talk here. He doesn't turn His head away from our lives in disgust but presents us with an offer He calls reasonable. Then Isaiah beautifully exposes God's love and forgiveness with the "reasonable" offer that is presented. An offer that I suggest finds its most satisfying expression in Jesus. This is indeed the mystery. Our Perfect, Holy, God is orchestrating the most scandalous of propositions. The perfect man marrying a prostitute and unconditionally loving her. And just to add to the mysteriousness of it, on the wedding day, we get to wear white.
(If you're a music lover, like me, listen to the 2003 song titled "Wearing White" recorded by Martina McBride. It's a great companion to this idea.)
Thank you and have a nice day.
Where's God? It was kinda fun looking at those very busy pictures with images hidden within them. Maybe several bits of the drawing made up of twenty separate items that if viewed from the right perspective would render one larger item. Or someone holding a mature 40 foot tree in their hands which upon a closer evaluation would be revealed as a trick using perspective to fool the observer. Or those pictures that would be an eagle or a flag of the United States depending on which part of the picture you focused on first. Well, over the last few years, it seems I have become more and more aware of God's presence in each day. Not an awareness of His becoming more a part of each day, but aware of something that has always been true. A perspective that allows me to see the world as being a creation, (which it is), and to see each day as a chance to experience a unique expression of that creation. Some day I'm going to write a song about an incredible event that is hidden within this great canvas we call our world. An event that is often hidden from our eyes because of the business of our lives. An event that only comes into focus when our paradigm is informed by the creator. An event that would be considered miraculous if it weren't so common. An event that we explain as a normal part of the natural world but whose origin is unknown. An event that gives us life. And the beautiful part of all this is that it is free. It wasn't developed by a pharmaceutical company who has the rights to be the exclusive provider for several years and charge a lot of money until it goes generic. No, this life-giving substance just falls out of the sky with the same alacrity as God's love and mercy falls around us.
Can you see it now?
