|
Opening Prayer
God, give me the faith to believe in what is beyond my understanding
God, give me the hope to see beyond the difficulties of the present
God, give me the love to serve both foe and friend
In Christ, Amen.
(Brian K. Wilcox)
Comments
There is no way to follow Christ without intimacy. Intimacy is not just with persons or God, intimacy is with the common life of everyone, indeed, all nature. An Eastern Orthodox Bishop, Kallistos Ware, writes, “God saves us by identifying himself with us, by knowing our human experience from the inside” (The Orthodox Way). So, to be godly, or like-God, we participate in this work of salvation with God. We do not just receive salvation by the action of God; we participate in salvation of other persons and creation through entering into the intimacy of the Trinity.
Entering the Trinity is relational, dynamic, evolving, and personal. We enter the life of creation, getting up close, sharing a within-ness. We join in the working out of Grace in the lives of creatures. We participate, through intimacy, in the transformation of nature into a new heavens and earth: meaning, a new everything.
Can you think of a more exciting life? I cannot. But, this path, the way of applied incarnational Christianity, entering the ongoing working of Christ, is much richer than the teaching that salvation is a legal transaction whereby God, as a judge, imparts pardon and frees us from the consequences of sin. In much teaching on salvation, we only receive, in this way we receive and participate, and not only individually, but in the salvation and healing of all nature.
Like God, we cannot know salvation but by involvement in the process of salvation, and we cannot be involved separate from all else God is involved in and seeking to save. There is no salvation, no holiness, without active intimacy. To simply receive is to remove myself from the context of salvation.
Active reception is to receive within the context of participation, placing me in the universal matrix wherein the Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is still identifying himself with us, knowing all creation from the inside. Amen.
Reflection
What does it mean for you to participate in salvation, your own and that of all nature?
What is active reception in regard to salvation?
Consider, if you are not already, sponsoring a child through Compassion International. You can find out more about Compassion International by going to www.compassion.net to read about sponsoring, in the name of Jesus, children living in poverty. Thanks! Brian K. Wilcox
|
