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:
- 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?
- 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?
- 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.
--------------------------------------------------------
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
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
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