God With Us: Word. Jesus. Christ.

Note: You can watch this teaching on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.

Some problems take time to sort out, some issues take a while to resolve. If we are lifelong learners, we can be confident that as we come to grips with new information and as our perspective changes with maturity, we will forever be in process. The process seems to be one where we construct ways of thinking, eventually deconstruct them as necessary given new information and experience, and reconstruct our paradigms based on the process we’ve undergone. We enjoy our newly constructed schema for a while until – uh oh – we are introduced to new information and experiences that start the process all over again. This has been called “the perennial tradition” by Richard Rohr and others, and I think it’s accurate.

My understanding of Jesus has gone through several rounds of this process. I am very familiar with the range of perspectives about Jesus – kind of important for a Christian pastor. Earlier in my life I simply accepted the birth narratives as literal fact. In time I heard about scholars who challenged the virgin birth, but I dismissed them because it seemed like they were challenging the authority of scripture as reliable and true, and therefore they were suspect and probably heretics as far as I was concerned. Over time and with more study, however, I began to understand the Bible differently – its own series of the perennial process – and had room to entertain the ideas I had previously rejected. We generally don’t have Eureka moments where we shift from one perspective immediately to another – major shifts take time because that level of change is very complex. Today I want to tell you how I understand Jesus this Christmas, knowing that in time this will change if I am open to new information and experience. Before I begin, I want to assure you of two things that I generally get questioned about: the Bible and Jesus. While I do not believe the Bible to be inerrant or infallible – these more modern concepts were foreign to Jesus and Paul and the entire rabbinical tradition and therefore should be challenged – I absolutely engage the Bible as sacred text. For Christians it remains our primary text to understand first the development of Judaism, and how the first followers of Jesus thought and lived so that we can think and live faithfully today. But because I don’t ascribe to the Fundamental/Evangelical doctrine of the Bible, I sometimes get dismissed as not teaching the Bible. I have been a pastor for over 26 years. I earned my doctorate studying the soteriology based on the Gospel of John. Between Sunday sermons, memorial services, weddings, and other special events, I have offered over 1500 original teachings, each averaging 16-20 hours of research and preparation. I don’t repeat a teaching. With literally only a handful of exceptions when I may have given a talk on another religious tradition, I have taught strictly from the Bible, even when offering a series that dovetails with a book. I am a Bible-teaching pastor. If anybody doubts it, they are welcome to view hundreds of hours of teachings on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel to try to prove me wrong. If you can do so, I will buy you an ice cream cone from McDonalds. As far as Jesus goes, I chose to follow in his footsteps at age 10, had a profound experience of the Holy Spirit at age 15 which amped up my relationship with God exponentially, sensed a call to become a pastor the summer before my Sophomore year of High School, had another dramatic experience of the Holy Spirit in college which further refined my faith and passion, and have remained an ordained pastor since July 23, 1995. My commitment to following the Way of Jesus has never been stronger or deeper. I will go to my grave proclaiming my faith even if that proclamation leads to the grave. I say these things because I do not agree with some classic views of Jesus that developed hundreds of years after his ministry that stuck for various reasons, or some newer revisions over the last few hundred years that have also gained traction. What I have resonated with more and more has been the original Jesus and those who experienced the power of his Gospel over the centuries. Many who challenged orthodoxy when it went against the grain of Jesus were silenced or killed. What I believe may be new to some of you, but it is not new.

Jesus was born and raised by Mary and Joseph. Was there divine intervention of some sort? Of course. Does that mean that Jesus was born of a virgin Mary? Not necessarily. Such a birth does not need to be literally true in my understanding. Could it be? Who am I to say? Yet I join the likes of Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright (and many others) stating that my faith is not deeply shaped by the birth narratives. At minimum, Matthew and Luke’s authors were signaling to the readers that God was up to something in Jesus’ birth, and it required the cooperation of both Mary and Joseph to pull it off – that’s a powerful message to proclaim. Jesus grew up and when he was in later adulthood for his time, he began his public ministry for which he is best known.

What was so special about Jesus is his relationship with God and his modeling of faith that allowed the Spirit to have full sway over his life as much as possible. It was this responsiveness to the Spirit that gave him insights that blew people’s minds about the scope of God’s expansive love, gave a new view of scripture, gave him power and courage to challenge political and religious authorities, allowed him to be a conduit of healing and forgiveness from the Spirit in unprecedented ways, allowed him to silently resist torture and death as a form of peaceful protest, and opened his followers’ eyes to his life after death. There has never been another who opened the Spirit of God to others like Jesus did. Therefore he is called Christ, or Messiah – we’ve never seen one so anointed as we have in Jesus. His life, death, and teachings opened the door for everyone else to welcome the Spirit into their lives as well and respond in similar ways toward similar ends. Jesus was the great witness to what living in fully open relationship with God looked like. This was very new. It marked a shift in consciousness that was not lost on his closest followers who learned the way and followed. He certainly validated his title of Christ, and his birthday is surely worth celebrating.

But I don’t think Jesus wanted to be worshipped as God. He said as much during his life. What is difficult for his original audience as well as today’s is differentiating where the physical Jesus ends, and the infusion of the Spirit begins. There are statements that Jesus made that surely seem to reflect a first century context more than an eternally benevolent God – so there are moments of distinction on that note. While an easy and honest mistake, I wonder if contemporary Christianity is guilty of Jesusolatry – worshipping Jesus instead of the God who inhabited him.

This rendering of Jesus takes nothing away from him as far as I am concerned. He is still special and deserving of allegiance. One massive benefit of viewing Jesus in this way is that it makes his final prayer attainable – his dying wish that his disciples would be one with God just like he was. If such union required a virgin birth, we’re all screwed! If, however, what Jesus was getting at was that what he experienced was available to all people, then that means it is actually possible. That is incredibly powerful news. I can celebrate Jesus and worship God. And, because Jesus was so inhabited, infused, open, and welcoming of the Spirit of God, I think we can still say that when we see Jesus, we see the face of God. No demigod required. More, it means that we human beings can actualize the Spirit similarly, experiencing and exemplifying the presence of God incarnate, becoming united as one, as much as we are able, for the restoration of ourselves and the world in which we live. May it be so. May we do our part to be the answer to Jesus’ last prayer.

Some questions to process...

1. How were you introduced to the historical person of Jesus? Was he framed as a fully human and fully God character unlike any other human being in history, therefore making him sinless which paved the way for his death on the cross to become a final sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins so that we would be welcome in heaven one day (if we consciously accept the offer of forgiveness)? Or was he framed as just a human being, a Jewish reformer who spoke into his context in ways that so rattled those in political and religious authority that he and his threat were eliminated?

2. The idea of a demigod was anathema to Jewish theology even if it was welcome and common in Roman and Greek mythology. If Jesus was a demigod, does this mean God went against Godself? If Jesus was not a demigod, how does that impact our view of who is was, what he had to say and do, and why he mattered?

3. “Christ” isn’t Jesus’ last name, but a denotation that something especially God-anointed was happening in him. It also may mean that we rethink the nature of Jesus and Christ as separate statements. How does that mess with you?

4. What if Christ is the eternal presence of God that is everywhere, in everyone, in every part of creation? What does that mean for how you see yourself? All other people? Creation?

Other Stuff to Consider…

Selections from John’s Prologue; Colossians 1:15-20 (NLT)

In the beginning the Word/Blueprint/Way already existed.

The Word/Blueprint/Way was with God,

and the Word/Blueprint/Way was God.

[Love] existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through [Love]

and nothing was created except through [Love].

The Word/Blueprint/Way gave life to everything that was created,

and [Love’s] life brought light to everyone.

The Light/Love shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

The one who is the True Light,

who gives Light to everyone,

was coming into the world.

Christ/Love Incarnate is the visible image of the invisible God.

Love existed before anything was created & is supreme over all creation,

for through Love God created everything

in the heavenly realms and on earth.

Love made the things we can see

and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through Love and for Love.

Love existed before anything else,

and Love holds all creation together.

Christ is also the head of the church,

which is Love’s body.

Love is the beginning,

supreme over all who rise from the dead.

So Love is first in everything.

For God in all Love’s fullness

was pleased to live in Christ,

and through Love God reconciled

everything to Godself.

God made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

by means of Love’s/Christ’s emptying/blood on the cross.

St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer:

Christ with me
Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me

Christ beneath me, Christ above me
Christ on my right, Christ on my left
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me

Selected Sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of John*

“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life... The time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth...

“I have a kind of food you know nothing about... My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”

“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does... I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”

“Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.”

“I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!’”

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.

“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth... “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

*Jn 4:13-14, 23-24, 32, 34; 5:19, 24; 7:37-38; 8:12, 31-32; 11:25-26; 13:34-35; 14:6-7; 15:9-17; 17:3, 17-23 (NLT)

Who Is Christ? By Richard Rohr (Meditation 12/2/2018)

What if we’ve missed the point of who Christ is, what Christ is, and where Christ is? I believe that a Christian is simply one who has learned to see Christ everywhere. Understanding the Universal or Cosmic Christ can change the way we relate to creation, to other religions, to other people, to ourselves, and to God. Knowing and experiencing this Christ can bring about a major shift in consciousness. Like Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9), we won’t be the same after encountering the Risen Christ.

The Universal Christ is present in both Scripture and Tradition, and the concept has been understood by many mystics, though not as a focus of mainline Christianity. (See John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:15-20, Ephesians 1:9-12 if you think this is some new idea.) We just didn’t have the eyes to see it.

The Universal Christ is Divine Presence pervading all of creation since the very beginning. My father Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) intuited this presence and lived his life in awareness of it. Later, John Duns Scotus (1266–1308) put this intuition into philosophical form. For Duns Scotus, the Christ Mystery was the blueprint of reality from the very start (John 1:1). Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) brought this insight into our modern world.

God’s first “idea” was to become manifest—to pour out divine, infinite love into finite, visible forms. The “Big Bang” is now our scientific name for that first idea; and “Christ” is our Christian theological name. Both are about love and beauty exploding outward in all directions. Creation is indeed the Body of God!

In Jesus, this eternal omnipresence had a precise, concrete, and personal referent. God’s presence became more obvious and believable in the world. The formless took on form in someone we could “hear, see, and touch” (1 John 1:1), making God easier to love.

But it seems we so fell in love with this personal interface in Jesus that we forgot about the eternal Christ, the Body of God, which is all of creation, which is really the “First Bible.” Jesus and Christ are not exactly the same. In the early Christian era, only a few Eastern Fathers (such as Origen of Alexandria and Maximus the Confessor) noticed that the Christ was clearly historically older, larger, and different than Jesus himself. They mystically saw that Jesus is the union of human and divine in space and time; Christ is the eternal union of matter and Spirit from the beginning of time.

When we believe in Jesus Christ, we’re believing in something much bigger than the historical incarnation that we call Jesus. Jesus is the visible map. The entire sweep of the meaning of the Anointed One, the Christ, includes us and includes all of creation since the beginning of time (see Romans 1:20). This Advent, let us wait in anticipation for the eternally coming Christ.