Reflection after reading: Acts 10
As Christians, when we
start to describe God - the indescribable - we are at risk of
– nothing, actually!
For as we need air and are often totally unconscious of it entering and leaving our lungs, we grapple to try and describe the amazing and the mundane of breathing.
When we turn and think of GOD --- GOD just is, and who God is will not be
changed by our frail attempts at understanding (theologising) or describing.
From the Bible, from creeds and confessions, though ultimately in the Incarnation – when God came down to be with us
in the Person of Jesus Christ – we can see and understand some things, and therefore take heart about a few
things that God is not:
- God is not a
‘bulldozer’ set on destruction but One who wants human flourishing and
wholeness;
- God is not
malicious or vicious, just waiting to watch us trip up, but One who lifts us
out of the
darkness of sin and trouble;
- God is not without
a plan or purpose, and is working towards a good end, desiring that no-one
should perish but all come to eternal life through Jesus Christ --- The Way, The Truth, The Life.
An apophatic approach regarding what God is “not”, may lead down many interesting paths of meandering. But we are not without
direction. God's word clearly shows us so
much about who God is, and how God’s work in the world with humans is so
amazing and transforming and challenging.
So, let us for a minute look at one
major aspect of God:
God is a missionary God – a God of calling, moving, disruption, danger
and daring…. God enters ‘human space’ [for all space is God’s, really!] and
this has effects.
The missionary God is
DISRUPTIVE
§ Abraham, get up and go! Genesis 12:1…
§ Peter, get up and go! Acts 10; and --- many others throughout the Bible.
The missionary God is
DANGEROUS
§ Old Testament prophets, “you [Israel] stoned, put to
death” many – Jesus; Hebrews 11...
§ Jesus, they wanted to put him to death…and we too must take up our cross and die daily.
The missionary God is
DARING
§ God ‘took a chance’ on humanity - his creation – to
send Jesus and to call followers who would
give their all. The disciples in Acts 2, when the Holy
Spirit was poured out, were transformed.
§ Stephen dared to speak and act, by the power of God the
Holy Spirit
§ Paul's speeches and actions were enabled by the power of God the
Holy Spirit
When we put our trust in Jesus Christ and commit to live for God alone, we are setting out on an adventure with the One who wants to disrupt our lives in good ways, for us to have life to the full.
When we look at the New
Testament, we see that following Jesus is not without cost or danger --- it is just as
Jesus said it would be. The last thing Jesus commanded was, in our going, to tell and teach everyone all that he had said, and to baptise these who would also become his disciples (followers).
There are so many
waiting to hear this message: do we dare
to live it like it’s true, and to share in whenever and wherever possible?
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