Fullness of Grace

From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. __John 1:16__

I’m what you might call a borderline universalist, meaning that I harbor tendencies toward the idea that, because of God’s grace being so huge, everyone is going to be with him in the end. I’m not there completely. I still think that there is a vast amount of judgment and exclusion language in Scripture that needs to be addressed and interpreted. And I still believe that there at some point has to come a decision on our end to either embrace this grace or give it the finger, so to speak. It’s passages like this that keep reminding of the immensity of grace. And maybe that’s what I’m believing more in: that God’s grace is already given to everyone, that everyone is forgiven through the cross of Christ, that everyone is getting into the party at the end, but that there will be some that refuse to enter the party and enjoy what God has given them free of charge (a number of Jesus’ parables point to this idea of inclusion, though I don’t have time here to go into them). Let me just break this passage down into bite-sized chunks to reveal my thought process and some of the questions that remain unanswered.

From the fullness…  My thesaurus tells me that a synonym for “fullness” is “extensiveness.” Either way you say it you are dealing with the whole measure of God’s grace in Christ. Every. Last. Bit. God is holding nothing back, not keeping any grace in reserve. He’s packing every ounce of His grace into this deal. Imagine packing for a trip. You are limited to one large duffel bag and you have to fit everything into that one bag. You cram and pack and smoosh. In order to get the zipper closed you have to sit on the bag and have your spouse hold the zipper teeth together in order to get the thing zipped. This is fullness.

…of His grace… This is God’s unmerited, unearned, unfair, unjust, undeserved, (perhaps) unasked for favor that comes through the Word-made-flesh (see 1:14—“full of grace”). There is nothing you can do to gain it. Nothing you can give to buy it. And I dare say, nothing you can do to avoid it. It comes from Him simply because. It is the reality of how the world really works.

…we have all received… Who is “we”? Does he just mean Christians? What does John mean here buy “all”? I suppose that I tend to lean towards “all” meaning, well, all. Everyone. If you draw breath then you are included in the word “all.” You, me, and the crack-whore down the street—everyone of us has received blessings from God because of His full, overflowing, duffel-bag-zipper-busting grace. Maybe some of us don’t even realize that we’ve received all of these blessings from God. Maybe this is pointing to the fundamental way that reality is. Maybe it is our decision whether we choose to live inside that fundamental reality or not, open our eyes to see, open our hands to receive and open our hearts to accept the beauty of God’s fullness pouring down around us like rain.

shalom, matt

Recognize

Finally read my Bible today. First time in, oh, four-ish months. A friend of mine is in New Zealand and happens to be currently making me look foolishly silly in the spiritual realm (Props K-dog!), kicking it Jesus-style (props to DC Talk for that one), and generally experiencing God with the intensity of Isaiah 6 (read it yourself, lazy). Anyway, she mentioned that she had read through John, so I thought I might start on my own venture into the great mystery Gospel of John, perhaps I would might even find a similar encounter as well.

Interestingly, my first foray into the Bible in several months (I still can’t believe I let it go this long. I’m an idiot.) revealed an interesting picture from the opening poetry of John’s story. In verse 3 John is talking about this Word (Greek logos) that was both God and with God in the beginning, meaning that the Word has been around for a freaking long time, like, you know, forever. John says that through “Him” all things were made and that without Him nothing that is could be. If it is then it finds its is-ness (not to be confused with Izzy-ness, which can only come from listing to Iggy Pop albums) in the fact that it (whatever it is) was made through Him, the Word.

Move on down to verse 10. This very world, which finds its is-ness, its being, in having been created through Him, fails to recognize its own agent of life moving among them. He becomes his creation and his creation, not only fails to recognize him, they don’t even receive him. Read: He was in the world, and though the world was made through him , the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

The thought struck me as I was reading this: how tragic would it be for my son to fail to recognize me. How disheartening from the perspective of Christ, to know in the core of your being that it was you through whom all things were made, every person that he came into contact with, and to have those people fail to see you for who you were. Or worse, to see you and fail to receive you. It seems to me that this passage could be seen through the lens of a grieving parent whose own children don’t acknowledge them as creator, as the life-giver. Notice what John says in the next verse. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become (their whole is-ness being transformed) children of God

shalom, matt

Things That Would Be Better Than Working a 12-Hour Shift When You are Coming Down With and Illness

I’ve been sick for, like, 5 days now. Not fun. Started getting sick at the beginning of 12-hour shift. Even less fun. Thought I might kick it during my two days off on Monday and Tuesday. No dice. Felt like crap on Wednesday and Thursday (two more 12 hour shifts). Wanted to die. Went to the clinic. Nurse Practitioner told me it’s viral and I just have to wait it out. Fantastic. So, that’s why I’ve not posted anything in a while. In response to all of this I present to you the list of Things That Would Be Better Than Working a 12-Hour Shift When You are Coming Down With and Illness.

Working an 11-hour shift when you are coming down with an illness.

Bull-fighting naked with only a Twizzler (cherry) and a napkin to defend yourself with.

Relaxing at a beach-front condo on the shores of the Lake of Fire in Hell.

Eating pumas (without milk).

Listening to an All-John-Tesh hour on the radio.

Wander around the lion cage at the zoo wearing meat pants and shouting “The Lion King sucked” through a megaphone.

Consume your body weight in pork rinds and Funions.

Halloween party with schizophrenics.

Jogging in corduroy pants and a wool sweater.

Watching women’s basketball.

Working a 12-hour shift when you are really sick.

Being run over by a cargo ship.

Two words: Lifetime Channel.


Hope you are healthier than I am.

shalom, matt  

If I could start a "church"...

If I were to start a church what would it look like?


Its primary reason for existing would not be to perpetuate its own existence.


It would be a force of good in the community.


A building would only be as necessary and debt would not be incurred to build it.


Its main focus would not be on programming for the masses.


It would be a messy community of people who are screwed up but leaning on grace.


It would be a place where everyone is cared for by others in the community of faith.


No paid staff; or at the most a minimally compensated staff.


It would not be the “new” thing in town. Church-hoppers are not welcome. only those seeking life, grace and Jesus.


Its goal is not size but depth.


It will preach love of God and humanity and how that gets lived out.


Sunday mornings will not be the main focus. Every day of the week is the focus.


Sunday mornings will be for two purposes: 1) to celebrate last week; 2) and prepare for next week.


Every gift is welcomed and will find a use in the community of believers.


It would be a place of rest.


It would be a place of work.


It would hold those two things in tension, seeking a rhythm, a synthesis of the two.


Its tithes and offerings will be for the good of the community, not simply sunk into supporting the building.


Its people will be living Eucharists, broken and poured out for others. Communion will celebrate this.


It would have no official membership, if you show up then you are part of it.


It will celebrate the sacraments: marriage, communion, baptism and the like.


It will recognize and learn from the ancient Church.


It will adhere to the Apostle’s Creed as the basis of theology.


Women would have equal place in leadership.


It would teach and practice the spiritual disciplines.


It would forget its own identity in Christ, instead of aping someone else’s.


It would be a place that sought life in the Spirit as opposed moralism.


It would be a place that someone would want to be.


It would welcome doubt and skepticism, seeing them as faith taking shape.


It would interact with and redeem culture, listening for the voice of God there.


How about you? What would you add to this list?


shalom, matt