|
||
|
New Creation - Resurrection is our hope. It was the hope of most 1st century Jews, it was the hope of the early Christians, and has been the hope of the Church for the last 2,000 years. - we were not meant for another world (as most Greek philosophy and early Christian heresies proclaimed)…but THIS one. God’s plan, and this has always been His plan, is to restore his creation of its rebellion and brokenness. God longed to set it right, to rescue it from further corruption and chaos and bring it back into order and fruitfulness. He longed to establish his wise rule/sovereignty (His kingship or kingdom) over the whole creation…which would mean an incredible act of healing and rescue. - But He didn’t want to rescue humans from creation any more than we wanted to rescue Israel from the Gentiles: He wanted to rescue Israel so that Israel would be a light to the Gentiles, and so he wanted to rescue humans so that they would be his rescuing stewards over creation. That’s the underlying dynamic of the kingdom of God…and the driving force for what we’re looking at today: new creation. Basically, through Jesus, God has given us our job back. Not only that, but through His Spirit, he gives us the ability to actually begin doing it once again in the way he intended (by restoring us from the inside out). The Spirit helps us begin to live right now the way in which we will all live at the Renewal and Restoration of All Things…through how we relate to God, how we relate to each other (both corporately and individually), and how we relate to the creation and environment around us. All the NT writers agree: at Easter, through the resurrection, something broke into this world. Something about the cosmos fundamentally changed…and as a result, the world, this world, can never be the same again. - And it had all happened through one person: Jesus of Nazareth. And because he defeated death—because death and decay and human rebellion at its worst tried its best to silence him…but couldn’t—Jesus is now the rightful king and ruler of if all. The early Christians understood that he is in charge NOW. HERE. God’s kingdom had been inaugurated, and we are to now live in light of that. We need to understand this: the early Christians weren’t persecuted and sentenced to death because they simply claimed different spiritual beliefs than the Romans. They weren’t killed because they professed the existence of a God who provides a hope that gets us through this life until we can be with Him in the next They were put to death because they said there is a king currently in place over and beyond Caesar. They were executed as “enemies of the state.” They posed a threat to the current order and way of things and the interest of the Empire, much of which was built on the backs of others. - In the 1st century it was said of Caesar that he was the visible image of the invisible God…but in Colossians we see Paul subverting that idea and ascribing it to Jesus. - It was common in the first century for a garrison of Roman soldiers to come into your village or neighborhood and demand that you drop to your knee and proclaim that “Caesar is Lord.” The early Christians said, “No. Jesus is Lord. And one day every knee will bow to HIM and proclaim that he rules over all…including Caesar.” - In the first century, messengers were often sent out into the Empire to announce the euangelion, or “word of good news”: that Caesar has defeated your enemies, and through his victory you now have peace. Trust in him, in Rome, in Rome’s military might, and you will be saved. - the early Christians (John in his Revelation) says: No, rescue has come through the non-violent victory of the slaughtered lamb. Peace comes through his reign, and that alone. Rescue doesn’t come from military might or strategies of pro-active defense, but by becoming a new creation and seeing things for how they really are, by being rescued out of the entire cycle of violence and power. - As the Empire spread, it stationed outposts among cities and villages, pronouncing them to be establishments of Rome, regardless of distance from the capital city. The citizens where thereby proclaimed citizens of Rome, and expected to live in such a way that would further the cause of Caesar and the Empire (and pay a lot of taxes). - But Paul said, “No. We are citizens of heaven, living in such a way that the cause of God and his reign, his project of restoration and resurrection, flood this world, transforming it. And it did. It is. Now, the world then—and the world now—lives in a world where scarcity is the currency, and so we hoard for ourselves because we believe there isn’t enough to go around: money, land, resources, rights. But Jesus comes with a new kingdom that challenges the ways of the old one…and with it comes an economy of abundance. - Because when we think in terms of abundance, then there’s always plenty to go around. You can share your jacket, your home, your land, your money, your resources, your basket of fish and bread. You can cancel debts. You can beat weapons of war into farm tools, things that help bring about cultivation and life. And when that happens, the systems of this world don’t know how to react: Emperor Julian (4th century): “Atheism [i.e., Christian faith] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them." Now, this new kingdom that’s been inaugurated…it’s not here in it’s complete fullness. And it won’t be until God’s ultimate act of restoration and resurrection of all things, until death is absolutely and completely swallowed up by life and, as Isaiah wrote, the myrtle has absolutely taken over the briars and thorns. - But just because it’s not here in all its fullness doesn’t mean it’s not here. It is, and we need to work toward it becoming even more. Paul says the Spirit is given to us as a down payment, an initial deposit and foretaste of the incredible reality that is to come. And we are called to partner with God, empowered by his Spirit and this new way to live and relate to each other and the world, to cultivate this new creation that is being birthed from within the old. And the writers of the NT are constantly reminding the early Christians that this is the twist the story has taken, and we need to realize that: - Paul talks about Jesus being the new Adam…where through the old Adam death was introduced, in the new one (Jesus) life has come. And through that, Jesus has redeemed our original job, to creatively tend and carefully cultivate creation…and so now we’re to go on tending and creating this new creation in all its dimensions and possibilities. - John talks about this idea of new creation in his gospel. He starts his gospel with the phrase: “In the beginning…” The only other place that phrase was EVER used in the Jewish scriptures was in the creation narrative. So everyone would have realized John was saying something about creation, about God bringing something into being. - then, throughout the last week of Jesus’ life he is very specific about talking about which days of the week he mentions, aligning Jesus’ presentation and crucifixion with certain days from the creation narrative. - and John ends the week of old creation with the death of Jesus, with the power and rebellion and corruption of man seeming to win. But John’s gospel doesn’t end there, and he picks the story up with these words: “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark…” (sound familiar? read first two verses from page one: Gen 1) - Do you see what John is doing here?! - Then goes on to talk about how Mary Magdalene runs into Jesus, but mistakes him for the…GARDENER. - it’s the first day of the week. They’re in a garden. Jesus is the gardener, one who tends and cultivates…NEW CREATION. And we are now in Jesus. And Paul says if you are in Jesus…you are a new creation. We are called to tend and cultivate since the new Adam, Jesus, has recovered the original task we gave up. C.S. Lewis: “The story of the Incarnation is the story of a descent and resurrection…one has the picture of a diver, stripping off garment after garment, making himself naked, then flashing for a moment in the air, and then down through the green, and warm, and sunlit water into the pitch black, cold freezing water, down into the mud and slime, then up again, his lungs almost bursting, back again to the green and warm and sunlit water, and then at last out into the sunshine, holding in his hand the dripping thing he went down to get. This thing is human nature.” So according to the early Christians, a new thing has happened—a new reality is taking over the old one. A reality that calls us out of exile, not only from Egypt and any Empire we find ourselves in, but from sin and death and fear and greed and scarcity. The ‘promised land’ that we’ve been brought back to inhabit is no longer a spit of property in the Middle East…but the entire world. - But it’s not all neat and tidy—there’s still work to do. And so we enter the beginnings of this new inheritance: Anywhere healing is needed, we’re there. Anywhere restoration is needed, we’re there. Anywhere conservation and love and mercy and grace are needed, by the very power that brought Jesus from death to life…we’re there. In all honesty, so far this is only the introduction of what I had actually planned on talking about. This idea of new creation and how it plays out within us and around us and through us…it requires a lifetime to work through. In the kingdom of God, in bringing about even more of this new creation, we have to stop thinking in binary terms (1’s and 0’s). We live in a world that loves to polarize things and set things against each other. The creativity and healing and restoration that is bursting forth in the new creation cannot due what it needs to do if we’re thinking in these terms. Albert Einstein: “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” Or as Jesus said to Nicodemus: We have to become ‘born again’—we have to approach this new kingdom bursting into the old one in a whole new light, as if we’ve never seen it before. We have to let go of constantly thinking in terms of: 1’s or 0’s this or that physical or spiritual hymns or choruses synthetic or organic right or left liberal or conservative Because, at least what I’ve noticed, the entire time we’re arguing over which is right or superior or the only answer…the problems aren’t ever actually being solved. New creation isn’t actually being cultivated. Maybe we’re arguing over which style of music is better or more “Godly”...but in reality, neither of them may be because they’re all centered around us and how we feel rather than God and his saving acts, what he’s doing and ultimately going to do. Maybe they’re both equally missing the point if they’re derailing God’s Story into a different story. Or maybe each actually has something valid to offer, something we need, but each, in and of themselves, is insufficient. - as a people who’s relationship with their God has been restored, does our worship and gatherings reflect Him in creativity and freedom and love and grace? Do we understand that sometimes this means reaching way back into the history of the church and the wealth of riches that can be found there…but also reaching forward and discovering new ways to worship and live in community and deep relationship…as well as everything in between. And maybe we’re arguing over whether synthetic or organic fertilizers should be used…when the real issue that needs to be looked at is our current philosophy of farming. We now live in a global economy, a global Empire you could say, where it is always summer someplace in the world. We can get a strawberry in the middle of December if we want…but should we? Do we understand what that does to the land and environment when we overtax it, to altar it in such huge ways that’s required for such large-scale farming in such different countries and environments? - in a world where water is becoming more and more scarce…are we aware of the ways we’re using it (thinking about what it means to love our neighbors…some of whom might not actually live in a house but have antlers or wings or fins and inhabit this watershed with us?) As caretakers of creation, how seriously are we taking our role? - maybe part of reclaiming our humanity means reclaiming some of the boundaries God intended us to live within… And maybe we’re arguing over “faith vs. works”…without realizing that either one of them, by themselves, fails (or that we’re still kicking a horse that’s been dead for 400 years). James said that faith without the works that exercise it and make a difference in this world is dead. You just end up with a corpse. - Faith and works go hand in hand: you can’t have one without the other. My faith and hope in the new creation that is being birthed into reality compels me to work toward helping it become more and more. In a tangible world, this has to be done in tangible ways…not just through meeting “spiritual” needs. But in and of ourselves, we can’t do it alone—we need the renewal that comes from God and now animates us in this new life. We have been given this new nature in order to develop and be at home in this new creation, neither of which has been fully consummated yet, but we work toward it. As Paul said: “Not that I’ve already obtained all this, or that I’ve already been made perfect…but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. This one thing I do: forgetting what’s behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal of the prize for which God has called me…in Christ Jesus.” So we press on toward Restoration. Resurrection. Shalom. That the kingdoms of man become the kingdoms of God. That justice breaks forth like streams in the desert. That wells are dug. That debts are cancelled. That new forms of resolution are explored and tried. That biodiversity is conserved and the environment respected and carefully tended. That food is fairly distributed. That rifts among family/community members are healed. That relationships are built. That affordable housing is made available. That music and art and creativity speaks to the very essence of who God is and celebrates the creation and life he created and that he sustains and encourages and takes joy in. To live this way isn’t easy. To live this way requires sacrifice. To live this way, you can expect persecution from those who are benefiting from the way things currently are. Some of them might even be fellow followers of Christ. But if I can quote The Fray: “Sometimes the hardest thing and right thing are the same.” And if I can quote Jesus: “The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” May that not be said of us here today.
May we ask the hard questions, the questions that need to be asked. May we be a
community marked by the tending and cultivation of restoration and new creation,
of true community (not just ‘church’ community). May we partner with God,
empowered by the Holy Spirit, to rip the thorns and briars from the ground and
make way for the kingdom that is here and yet still coming. |
