Easter Morning

Easter morning I woke up early enough to savor a cup of good coffee and listen to a sermon by Tim Keller called 'I am He'. It was a wonderful morning! And because I had been fed spiritually that morning, I didn't get angry when I went to church and there was nothing in the sermon. There were glimmers of something, times when he was on the edge of having something wonderful to say, but... he...just...couldn't...get it out. Sigh. Still, I was happy to be there. It was made clear to me a number of people have missed me over the past three months - they may not have contacted me outside of church, but when I went back this past Sunday, many people came to me to tell me how much they missed me. I have put my church in a box and when they jump outside of the box, I'm surprised. I hate it when I do that, but I do it all the time.

Some of what Keller said was this:

If the christian religion is right, then it has to be a superior religion, because it is God himself who has come for you. If it's right, then it's superior. But if it's wrong, if it is the teaching of a megalomaniacal psycho, then you should despise it. If you have a mild response to Jesus Christ, then you have no intellectual integrity. If you hear what he said about himself and if you decide he is right, then you have to fall on your face and beg him to command you... or if you decide he's wrong, then you have to despise him. But if you have a mild response to Jesus Christ, you have no intellectual integrity and you don't know who he is.

"Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips... I am come undone." Nobody can stand on their faces before God. Jesus gives them a glimpse of who he is and it is enough to knock a Roman legion on their faces. If you fall to the ground you are vulnerable. If you lose your footing, you've lost, the enemy is too great for you.

What is spirituality? God is a divine presence, God is a divine love, and if I'm spiritual then I'm in tune with that divine love.

Mysterium tremendum - when people actually got near the holy, the sacred, when they actually began to experience the reality of God -- it was traumatic. Getting close to God is traumatic. Nobody can stay on their feet in the presence of God. Why? Very simple. Our self image is based on performance. Everyone's self image is based on performance. Our identity is fragile, so when we get into the presence of superlativeness, it's traumatic. If you have to live or work with someone who is SO much better at your job than you, or someone who is SO much prettier than you, then our self image is shaken. Nobody can stand in the presence of God. Our culture has lost this idea. We can't even stand people who are so brilliant and so pretty without feeling mediocre.

If you are a secular person you should hope for judgement day, because then everything will be put right. But here's the problem if there is a judgement day, what hope is there for you and me? If the soldiers beforeJesus Christ, in the garden, who was veiling his Glory, couldn't keep their feet, how can we expect to stand before God?

Solution: Christ said: If you are looking for me, then let these men go... There were at least 200 soldiers that came and looked for Jesus. If you are arresting a dangerous insurrectionist, you certainly arrest their followers. But Christ said "let them go" which means, "forgive them". Take me... me for them... Let them go and take me...

The Cup - all thru the OT, the cup is a judgement day thing, it is justice and suffering and punishment for the ones who deserve it. Christ says, I will go to the scaffold for you. Jesus is the judge who was judged. Why? Because he loved all of you so much he didn't want to lose any of you. On judgement day you will be able to stand, because you believed in Him. He went to the cross and took our judgement day early. If you really believe this and you won't lose your footing on judgement day, then you won't lose your footing now. When you are criticized or when you are wronged, now... If you don't believe this, then you will lose your footing, you'll become hard, critical, bitter, maybe even evil. If you don't know if you believe this in your heart, if you think you believe it in your head, but not your heart, there is a comfort.

Look at Peter - after three years of hearing the gospel from Jesus, at a key moment Peter takes his sword and attacks. Christ goes over the gospel for him again... Father-Cup-Father... Christ shows unyielding love and no amount of pain will stop Jesus Christ from saving us, no amount of stupidity will stiop Jesus Christ from saving us, and no amount of daily failure will stop Jesus Christ from saving us.

Sorry for all the paraphrasing! That last part really was a comfort to me.