Monday, January 10, 2011

What are you seeking 1

This past Sunday, January 9 we began a new series of talks, entitled What are you Seeking? I’m taking the title from the question that Jesus asked the two followers of John the Baptist as they trailed after him.

The thing that is interesting to me is their response. They want to know where Jesus is staying. Jesus response is equally interesting, come and see. Both are relational responses. I think that the ultimate answer to the question what are we seeking, is that we are seeking relationship with our Creator. We can seek after many other things, but unless we are richly connected with our Creator, we will always be left with a hungry heart. We will be perpetually seeking after things that will not satisfy.

It seems to me that our culture as a whole is seeking. What is interesting/distressing/potentially exciting (depending on your perspective – for me I guess it is a mix of all three) is how many people in our culture our opting out of organized religion. The Nones are the most rapidly growing segment of religious affiliation in the USA.

The more I pursue a relationship with Jesus (or perhaps more accurately, the more I am aware that Jesus is pursuing a relationship with me) the more I become convinced that Jesus did come with a revolutionary message of Love. That he came to bring us into a right relationship with God and each other.

This is where the forgiveness of sins, becomes really crucial. If the universe is relational (and it increasingly looks like it is) than sin is less about a violation of rules and more about a breaking of the right relationship we were meant to have with God and each other (can you feel how relational – say the ten commandments are – and why Jesus gives a relational summation – Love God and Love People – you really can’t get much more relational).

When this fabric of relationship is torn, then forgiveness becomes absolutely necessary (think about your closest human relationships and how they really only thrive where there is forgiveness).

This is why it is crucial that Jesus save us from our sins. We need saving/forgiveness because sin alienates us and shatters the Shalom we were made for (both to enjoy and to contribute to – think about the opening chapters of our story in Genesis – all the rich relationships for which humanity was meant and how humanity’s act of rebellion alienates them from God, each other and the land).

I opened the talk with the question what are you seeking, and had hoped to end with what is Jesus seeking, but alas I had talked for too long in the beginning.

So here is a quick thought on that:

Jesus says that he is seeking that which was lost. It strikes me that Jesus is very interested in re-connecting people to himself and also to community with each other. This to me seems to be the over-arching story of what he is doing in the gospels. Paul reflecting on Jesus says that Jesus is reconciling us to God, that is, Jesus is restoring our relationship with God.

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