He Spoke With Authority

And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? - Luke 4:22

Last week we were talking about miracles as part of the revelation as opposed to meeting a need.  It strikes me as I write that Jesus did not turn stones into bread to satisfy His own hunger when it was suggested by the devil because it was not revelatory.  The devil knew who He was.  Perhaps it is good that we not try to prove ourselves to the Accuser, whatever form he takes.  Anyway, what was true of the works of Jesus is true as well of His words.  He comes to bring the Gospel, in His Incarnation, His signs, and His words.  The prophets, Isaiah in particular, spoke of the One who would bear good news to His people.  Jesus had gone to Nazareth and was in the synagogue there on the Sabbath where He read from the scroll what we know as Isaiah 61:1-2: 

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;

When He finished reading, ... he began to say to them, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.  "Gracious words" can also be "words of grace".  Jesus spoke eloquently, but, far beyond eloquence, His words carried with them the power of salvation.  If they were received, those words would impart grace to the hearer. 

However, despite the wonder created in the hearts of His auditors that day, they almost immediately began to react against this onslaught of grace.  They remembered the boy raised in the house of Joseph the carpenter.  They remembered Jesus Himself working and sweating like all common men.  Those residents of Nazareth were unable to reconcile the image of the one who had walked among them as a child and a young man for so many years with Him proclaiming Himself the prophesied messenger.  Soon, they had worked themselves into such a frenzy that they attempted to murder Jesus solely for telling them the truth about Himself.

I was reading on the blog of Vox Day (Theodore Beale)  -- which I do not necessarily recommend, about his debate over a couple of books with one Philip Sandifer.  Sandifer is an atheist who, in discussing the existence, power, and authority of God, says:

I have no concern whatsoever that his authority is legitimate, however. It is not, at least over what I understand to be me, Philip Sandifer. The self that I am solipsistically invested in has an independent consciousness from your god. I am but a sinner, cast out into a material world and fundamentally separated from your god. But where you view my sin as my imprisonment in a lowly, materialist prison, I view it as my freedom from the tyrant you choose to serve.

Jesus spoke with authority.  This is offensive to people like Sandifer who would, even if they believed a Creator existed, deny that the One who created them had any right to tell them what reality looks like (i.e., give the Law).  These poor folks are convinced they are so intelligent they can "understand their experience in the world" apart from God.

(Seriously, man, I've been there — still got the shovel.  You ain't even figured out how stupid you are yet.)

John Milton knew this dude: 

Here at least
we shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
to reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.

In the Shadow of a Turning

Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ... They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word.  -- Ezekiel 13:3,6

Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, You must not do that!  I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus.  Worship God.  For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. -- Revelation 19:10

I am troubled these days by the lack of truth in so much of what is said and done.  Nothing is as it seems, and people, sadly, seem to prefer pretty lies prettily lied to the genuine and authentic.  Prophecy, as we noted recently, is, at its solid heart, a revelation of the way things are rather than what we might like them to be.  Bob has said that true thoughts are prayers.  Telling the truth may not make one a prophet, but the spirit of truth is the spirit of prophecy. 

In a world where we are inundated with fiction and fictitious imagery, deceit and deception, it can be difficult to find verity.  Movies make our most fantastic imaginings appear as convincing and certain as a flint rock.  Manipulated models substantiate the maker's beliefs.  We convince ourselves that if we can just ignore a few inputs, plaster over a few weak points in the wall, that our new and improved version of Babylon will withstand all assaults by solemn light. 

Should we find it reassuring that our situation is nothing new?  In a way, I am heartened to know that humanity has survived this game of blind man's bluff countless times, but I am also disappointed that we have learned so little from history.  We are invariably fooled by what we think is the superiority of our age.  The plan only failed before because the operators didn't have our technology, our science, our grasp of the cosmos and its laws.  Like the visionaries of Ezekiel's day, our false prophets will be shocked when their proclamations go unfulfilled.  They have spoken in the name of their gods.  They have heard the voices of their deities.  The science is settled.  The program is a success.  The law was passed. 

The problem is all the people like Ezekiel and Jeremiah, all the deniers, the capitalists, the extremists, the bitter clingers, religious fanatics, the old white men who refuse to surrender their racial and gender privileges.  It's the Jews, the Catholics, the fundamentalists.  There's always somebody that won't go along with the system, that won't bow to the image.  And so it goes. 

God is in control, and He has, by His wisdom and sovereign will, brought me to this place and this time with this mind.  Perhaps I will be a silent watcher or a weeping martyr or a happy warrior.  The truth is patient, as patient as mountain, sea, and sky, powerful as the trembling stars, and as fearless as the light that awaits the face of the globe turning from its own shadow.

Et Tu, Edistuo?

I must have been born inside out
with sunburnt skin for a soul
where I could feel each shackled wince
as a burning touch, straitened
in the unshell strapped down
with gut, sinew wrapped and muscle bound.
Outside in fingers feel only nerve endings,
and those murmurs I hear in my turned in ears
are the swallowed words of my turned in mouth.
Standing on my head as my wrong way feet
backtrack across my unchambered heart.
My superpower is night vision
but I see only the back side of my eye balls
in the infrared of my conscious mind
while primal fears parade in flashing neon
round about for all to read
except me.
Carve your initials in my bones
and paint my skull cap red.
What do you suppose will go on my coffin
when what ain't me is dead?

Light Conversation

If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. – 1 John 1:6-7

I always thought honesty and truth were closed related -- silly old paleo-conservative, classical liberal me. The postmodern progressive, the materialist, men like Hitchens and the former OC jester can be honest enough, even pure in a sense, yet be completely in the dark with regard to truth. When the concept of truth is divorced from its Source, it becomes nothing more than a consensus interpretation of derivative existence, conveniently useful in some cases, but devoid of light. Honest self-evaluation won't automatically lead to enlightenment, especially if we are only comparing ourselves to others or people in general.

And then there are some people who manage to be blithely unaware of their own inconsistencies while seeking Truth. In fact there are people whom I would have to acknowledge as Christians, recipients of the grace of God in Christ, who are at best blunt instruments with regard to self-examination. I have a relative by marriage that is the perfect example of this. I was talking to her the other day about her late husband, who really was a saint. She commented on how hard the man was to live with and the fact that he had a quick temper. I told my wife afterward that I was surprised blood wasn’t running out of my mouth from biting my tongue. The woman is rigid, demanding, and arrogantly self-righteous. Is she a Christian? Obviously, it’s God’s call, and I can’t be certain – I mean, but for the grace of God, she could be an ax-murderer. Always remember: when you meet an idiot who claims to be a Christian, the Lord may be doing the best He can with what He has to work with.

That brings us to the idea of walking in the light and practicing the truth. The tension in our relationship with the Lord is always about how much control we are willing to surrender. How much are we going to give Him to work with? Surrender is function of trust, of the extent of our belief, our faith in the Father. We talked yesterday about having no need to fear God, for He is pure and true in Himself with no shadow of deception. He can be fully trusted. Yet we hold back.

I think I am afraid of not being myself. If I let God have too much control, control of everything, will I cease to be me? Will I become bland and homogenized? Will I just be part of the herd?

“I Gotta Be Me” is the world’s favorite song, yet it is the world system that is peopled by poor imitations, by slavish devotion to fashion and the herd mentality. That is not God’s way. The Lord does not try to categorize us and make us fit into little pre-formed pigeonholes. He wants us to be more than we are, not less.

In my better moments I thought walking in the light meant being aware that I can’t do anything behind God’s back, and that’s true, but it doesn’t go far enough. The King James Bible uses the word ‘conversation’ in contexts which seem odd to the modern reader. Conversation once had additional meanings beyond simply talking to someone. It could mean behavior, manner of living, social intercourse, and it could even have a sexual connotation. It could mean to understand through study and contemplation, as we still speak of being ‘conversant’ with regard to some subject or body of knowledge.

We are called to have conversation with God, with light and truth. To walk in the light means that we are conversing with the Lord, aware, speaking, listening, and interacting with Him in every chamber of our being. That’s my goal today, to let the Son shine in.