01 08 13 Manger Throne

One of the things that I love about permaculture is that it works.  For instance plants that are cultivated in partnership with other species make the land even more fruitful than single crop production, without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  An example of this is the three sisters: squash, corn and  beans allows one plant (beans) to draw nutrients up into the surrounding soil and feeding its neighbor plants, another (squash) to cover the ground and keep away weeds and invasive plants, another (corn) to provide a tall stalk, and yet another (beans again) climbs the stalk.  In this way all have just what they need to flourish because they grow in proper relationship with one another.

There is also a practical side to any healthy spirituality.  The Wisdom literature of the Old Testament (Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes), for instance, has a goal of showing that life is good—that is, practical—for people who follow the way of the Lord.  Any religious practice that is not a good way for God’s creatures to live simply does not make sense.

For this reason alone the arrival of the Lord God in the birth of Jesus requires some extra scrutiny.  How are we to interpret the defenselessness of Jesus as a proper way to make the Creator of the universe manifest among us?  How can we interpret the majesty and power of God when we what we see is a mewling infant, born in a barn, to poor and not very powerful parents?  If this is how God chooses to come among us, we absolutely must ask: Why?

I suppose I have already shared some thoughts on this—that God signals us through the birth and life of Jesus that God is with us, cares passionately about us, and continues to be at work in, through and around us.  But there are two more reasons that I really need to lift up.  Both are essential for humanity, but the second is especially important when we think of what redemption means for the planet today.

The first is that the salvation God brings through Jesus requires a partnership of God and creature.  God has the desire and power to bring salvation to the created order, but though humans may discover that they desire salvation, they lack the power.  Sin is real and we are stymied when we try on our own to fix ourselves, or our world.  It really does take a power greater than ourselves if salvation is to become real, and it is only by the power of God that our best efforts become effective for good.

Yet, God wishes this salvation to emerge into our creaturely reality—not just in some heavenly bliss after death.  If real existence is to become a celebration of God’s salvation, it requires the creatures to live it out.  And on earth, humans are the most powerful of all creatures. Jesus was born as the perfect communion between God and creature, so that God could join with the creaturely realm—including humanity, to bring real salvation to the cosmos. 

In Jesus, God’s power joins with perfect human obedience to bring salvation.  Christ demonstrated who God is to his followers and demonstrated what living a life of trust in God looks like for human beings.  Jesus also demonstrated the power of God in the world, teaching with authority, healing the sick, casting out demons and lifting up the outcast and the downtrodden.  These same actions demonstrated what Jesus was teaching: that repentance—intentional change on the part of humans—is necessary if God’s project of redeeming the earth is to continue.  Quickly enough, Jesus’ call for change brought upon him the wrath of the powerful.  It was for this reason that he was put to death.

The wrath of the powerful brings me to the second reason why it was so important for the majesty and power of God to appear in a defenseless human child.  The arrival of the Christ in such humble circumstances defines the Kingdom of God that is continually breaking-in on the world. 

Just because the ancient language of “Kings” and “Kingdom of God” is used, we should not miss how Jesus demonstrated that kingdom.  In the Kingdom of God, the King does not identify himself with the powerful and the mighty, but with the poor, the outcast and the defenseless. 

·      According to Bible scholars, at the time of Jesus’ birth shepherds were considered such renegades that their testimony was often not allowed in court.  Yet the shepherds were the ones given the honor at Jesus’ birth of being the ones to receive the angels, and then to be the first to proclaim the good news. 

·      The magi from the East were not even a part of the Chosen People, yet they were the ones who were so open to the new thing God would do that they saw the signs in the stars as a sign from God.  They were the ones we still remember because they demonstrated such faith that they embarked on what some believe was a two-year journey to find this newborn king.

·      Throughout Jesus’ ministry people were confused, and often put off, by the fact that he did not raise armies, did not force his control on the political or religious leaders of the day.  Instead he healed the sick, especially those whose sickness had caused them to become outcasts; brought repentance to sinners, whose sin had cut them off from God and God’s people; and stood as a stark contrast to all powers that exalted the powerful at the expense of the poor and the weak.

The arrival of the power of God in Jesus represents a move away from domination and control as a way of salvation, and moves toward communion between God and creatures as God’s way.  It must have been a shock when Jesus, a poor carpenter from Galilee, began his ministry, saying:

“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

                                                                                                            Mark 1:15

The questions for followers of Christ must therefore be framed something like this:

1. Do we acknowledge God’s grace in our own lives, accepting that we do not have the power or the wisdom to bring about our own saving transformation?
   
   
2. Accepting our need for God, and God’s offer of salvation through a relationship with God, do we then accept God’s way and purpose as our way and purpose?
   
   
3. Since Jesus demonstrated God’s way as being not through human ways of power and prestige, but through intentional relationships between God and God’s beloved creation, and through identification with the poor and the downtrodden…
   
   How shall we live out the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom into the world right now?  How shall we live in a ways that lift up the poor, the disempowered and the outcast?  How can we live in ways that that do not further the empowerment of a few and the disempowerment of so many others?  How can we live in ways that allow all creation and all generations to have the best chance to thrive, rather than focusing only on what we want, or what is convenient for this generation?

Each generation needs to live out the answers to these questions in ways that fit them; life is about change and so we must constantly adapt to that change.  However, whatever form we live out the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom on earth (that is, this thing-that-is-always-new) it must always be lived out in word and in deed as a participation in God’s movement.  It is from God, not ourselves, that the creativity and the power for real change comes.  It is from God that our best efforts are empowered, and become effective for good.

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For me and my wife, the permaculture movement has provided some excellent guidance for living out the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God at this moment in history.  Permaculture

·         seeks a way of life that builds human cooperatives and other collaborative human relationships that are not based on exploitation or hierarchical empowerment;

·         seeks a way of living with the earth that Christians may recognize—a way of life where humans live-out the Genesis 2 commandment to live in relationship with the land, getting their food from it and caring for it;

·         seeks a way of life where human societies are based on cooperative relationships, and human life and society know themselves to exist in relationship with all creatures on God’s beloved planet, beginning with the people and the land in their immediate vicinity.

Manger Throne:--a Christmas Song

What kind of King would leave His throne
In Heaven to make this earth His home?
While men seek fame and great renown
In loneliness our King comes down

Jesus, Jesus, precious One
How we thank You that You've come
Jesus, Jesus, precious One
A manger throne for God’s own Son

You left the sound of angels' praise
To come for men with unkind ways
And by this Baby's helplessness
The power of nations is laid to rest

What kind of King would come so small
From glory to a humble stall?
That dirty manger is my heart, too
I'll make it a royal throne for You

My heart is a throne
My heart is a throne for God's own Son

Where the Christ is Found

 

“In him we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 2:18)

I once had a poster that shared a piece of wisdom that in necessary for a healthy spiritual life.  The poster depicted a kindly face on a poster with this statement at the bottom:

I have two pieces of good news:

There is a Savior,

And it is not you!

I have always appreciated this piece of wisdom.  Although God gives meaningful purpose to our lives, we do need to remember that we can only do our part, and that we should not entertain the notion that we need to be in control of how things turn out.  It is a trap to begin believing that we should be in control of things that are beyond our control.

This is something Cindee and I are trying to live out at our home and in our lives.  Like all human beings, we need to live better on the planet than we have if we are to be a part of the healing of our damaged planet.  We are trying to grow or collect more of our own food, to live in a more environmentally friendly house, to be part of building local networks, and to do other things that enhance healthy, sustainable interdependent relationships between people and other creatures. 

But the truth is, we are limited in our understanding and in our personal power.  We are limited in our understanding of anything—even in understanding the complex natural environment on the property where we live.  We can do our best to help the land and life on the property to flourish, but we truly only know so much, and so our best efforts will inevitably miss the mark to some degree.

Similarly, we can, and do, work hard on land relationships and on community relationships.  But truly, we all know that we can’t control the weather, or invasive plant diseases, or other natural phenomena.  And the maintenance of friendships and human relationships is always complicated.  The point is, we can do our best with the understanding that we have, but it would be a mistake to think that we to think that we actually have control of very much.

You and I are not the Savior.  And this is good news, because it is only that knowledge that keeps us sane.  When we forget that fact (like when we start believing and acting as if we should be in control of things we cannot control) then we begin thinking and acting in ways that are good neither for ourselves nor for those around us.  In short, we try to be what we can not be, rather than what and who we truly are.

Yet, in God we discover that there is salvation, and that salvation appeared to us in Jesus.  Christmas is about a baby’s birth—the birth of Jesus, the Savior.  In that birth we receive some profoundly important information about God. 

·      We see that God is not distant, but chooses to be found with us and among us;

·      We see that God is not uncaring, or unmoved by our needs.  Rather, God is responsive to our true needs.  In Jesus we see that God joins in creation’s history and joins in our lives;

·      We see that God’s relational nature works through the whole created order, including everything from angels from heaven, to the creation in which we live (the Star in the East), to the political systems (prophesy fulfilled through a journey for a governmental census), to the people who witnessed it (shepherds, receiving and proclaiming the news).

So…as I think about where the Savior was found, I am left thinking about how well I incorporate this knowledge into my life, and I challenge you to do the same.  For my part, today I am thinking about questions like these (you can come up with your own):

·      How consistent am I in keeping track of what I do have control over, and what I do not? 

For me, my best grade card on this score comes from my emotions.  When I am living with an undercurrent of fear, or anger, or shame, then I am either being lazy about something I can do, or I am trying to get control of something beyond my grasp.

·      Knowing that God cares about my world and about me, how well am I keeping my eyes open to what God is doing in the world, or in my life?

Since God is at work to care for and redeem the whole created order, and wishes us to participate in God’s work, I need to pay attention to all that is happening around me.  Maybe a related question for me would be this:

Where can I recognize God’s presence, moment by moment, as my life continues to unfold?

·      AND…how consistent am I in going to God with my celebrations and my concerns? 

God wishes to be in relationship with me (and all of us).  Personally, I find that it is in living out this relationship (including prayer) that I am most successful in letting God be in control, and in participating whole-heartedly in what God is doing.