Nassau 2012: All the sad things are coming untrue

On my much needed day off yesterday, I took some time to think and write and debrief.  I know from past years that this process often takes weeks, but I'm off to Portland with another team on Sunday--so I'm praying God will give me favor in decompressing everything quickly.

I had the opportunity to speak to the whole Mission Discovery group (our students and three other groups from around the country) on Thursday night during our evening service.  I always like to claim Thursday night because for most of the teams, the week is over at that point, and students have just said their heart-wrenching goodbyes.  {{of course, our team worked an extra day this year, so my own kids weren't quite in debriefing mode yet.}}  I love to talk to everyone at camp about the Kingdom that has already been initiated but that is not yet here in fullness.  I love to tell them that when they feel knocked backward by the need they see in Nassau, they need not lose heart!

For part one of this year's talk, I borrowed from a sermon I heard recently by Mike Erre, my friend Emme's pastor in California.  It's called "The Cross-Shaped World," and I've listened to it six times over the past couple of weeks--it is so beautiful!!  {Listen here.}  I explained that on the cross, Jesus turned a Roman torture symbol into the means by which we are saved.  Paul writes: "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Colossians 2:15).  I told the students that so often, we mistake the gospel for only the thing we teach to unbelievers--when really it's the hope we have for every part of life!  But, I shared with them that the cross isn't the end of the story.  If it were, we'd all be pretty hopeless.  But there is a Day that's coming when our great Savior will ride in on his white horse and save the day (Revelation 19)!  He will make everything new (Revelation 21).  We celebrated this reality with an Ecumenical (there was another non-denominational church, a Chinese church, and a Methodist church with us) communion service with orange juice and Cheese Nips.  It might have been the most boot-leg communion service ever, but it was beautiful, and God was there.

Here's what I'm wrestling with upon my return:

Sometimes I have a harder time believing in redemption for my students than for those broken Haitian kids.  Our lives are so cluttered, here in the States where we play it so safe.  The Haitian kids with their grubby hands and bruised, bare feet have treasures that my own kids do not.  They are rich by comparison--they see fully their own need, and they know what it is to have that need met by Grace.

I hope that as my students process what they have seen, they will not be the same.  But I know it's a bold hope because I see the reality in my own life.  Ms. Moxey and Anna's kids and Pastor and Madam Joseph keep on challenging me.  My heart is filled, I pray for them, seek ways to better their lives, wait for next year, repeat.  But in the meantime, I still shop at the same stores, still eat the same rich food, still prioritize travel and leisure, still clutter up my life.  {{What would it look like to let go of some of that?}}

And I feel hopeless for my students because if their thick-headed teacher doesn't even get it, how will they, these walking paradoxes who are all joy and selflessness one moment and all sass the next?  They are mirrors--the same stuff that's in them is in me too, only bigger and worse because I'm really old enough to know better.

"All the sad things are coming untrue," Tolkien writes.  And I have to remind myself: that goes for the Haitian kids and their empty tummies, but also for my students in the hurt they face stateside.

It's easy to look at the Haitian kids and see that they are oppressed, by a government and a people that does not want them, by the forces of poverty that keep them bound.

{{But my students and I--we are shackled up with all this stuff, with our safety and our comfort.}} 

Those Haitian kids, in the immensity of their need, are closer to that Day that we are.  In their lacking, they can taste the abundance that is to come.  It feels far off to me, here in the States.  But in that little Haitian slum where God is so near, I can almost taste it too.

There's a land where our shackles turn to diamonds;

When we trade in our rags for a royal crown.

In that place our oppressors hold no power,

And the doors of the King are thrown wide!

Caedmon's Call, "Mother India"

On swollen knees, community, and the God who heals

This week, I had a doctor's visit with a physiatrist from the Walnut Hill family.  I've had chronic pain and swelling in my knees for ten years, and to be honest, I had pretty much ignored the obvious signs that something was wrong.  In hindsight, I'm 26 and relatively healthy--so I should really be able to jump my horse, go for a run, or play some light tennis without my knees swelling up to the size of saucers.  As I was telling my doctor about my symptoms, he cracked a joke about how people who let these things persist for say, ten years without seeing a doctor, are pretty delinquent.  I then had to admit to him (rather sheepishly) that no, I hadn't been to see a doctor about my problem since it first showed up when I was 16.  Oops.

The good news is that with physical therapy, nutritional supplements to boost my joints' ability to repair themselves, and maybe some ugly old lady shoes from the podiatrist, the problem (stemming in an alignment issue with my hips and my flat feet) should be corrected in time.

The whole thing got me thinking, though.  I mean, I'm generally a lot more disciplined about my spiritual health than I am about my physical health.  But in both arenas, there is sickness I ignore at times.  I want to believe in my own self-sufficiency.  I want to believe there's nothing wrong.  I live on the surface of things instead of in reality sometimes. 

#prettydelinquent

At the heart of it--if I'm really honest with myself, and with you, dear reader--I don't believe the gospel.  Ouch.  That is tough to write.  But here's how I know it: If I really believed that Jesus is after Restoration, if I really trusted that he came to redeem me, body and soul, then I would jump at the chance to be healed.

This idea that our bodies are of secondary importance to our souls smacks of the Gnosticism the Early Church battled.  God has created us as people with bodies, after all.  Christ came to us in a body.  And therefore, God cares very much about our bodies and what we do with them.

I confess that it is difficult for me to believe that healing in my body is oh-so-connected to the gospel.  That is why I've ignored my swollen knees for ten years.

Last night, I was at a worship gathering at my friends the Mancinis' house.  As I tried to get settled on the floor of the living room, I was suddenly hyper-aware of the pain in my knees.  It's nothing new for me to have to switch positions every two minutes because of the discomfort caused when I sit cross-legged--but for some reason, I was suddenly aware of how abnormal that is at my age.  (There is something powerful about finally, finally voicing our need.) 

After we sang six or eight songs and lots of people prayed about a variety of things, I confessed my brokenness before my community--the group of college students and 20-and-30-somethings present.  After I shared my story and prayed thanking God for his grace to me even when I ignore my own need, my friends laid hands on my knees and began to pray.  They prayed for God's Kingdom to break out in my body.  For God to do a miraculous work.  For faith that we would believe in Him as the Able Healer.
 
And an amazing thing happened: although my knees are still cracking and my hips are still misaligned, the pain is gone!  I can kneel.  I can sit cross-legged.  I was even able to ride today, short stirrups and all, with no discomfort.  He is able.

Someone prayed last night regarding Luke's account of the paralytic whose friends lowered him through the roof to get him in front of Jesus.  I feel a lot like that man, who was healed through the faith of his friends.  Community is a beautiful thing.

I gather that I will still need physical therapy, and the vitamins, and maybe even the ugly shoes to restore my body to its proper order.  {{thank you, Father, for the way your healing can come in practical, everyday ways!}}  But I'm praising God today for the reminder that when we call out to Him, He is faithful to answer us.  The physical healing I received this weekend is a signpost to me of a spiritual reality.  In the face of our delinquency, God is merciful.  He meets our brokenness with boundless grace.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Matthew 7:7

let there be light

Today I discovered my new favorite Christmas song of. all. time.  Buy the song on iTunes and/or check out these lyrics by Ross Byrd of High Street Hymns (in Charlottesville!):

One Winter's Night

If only that which is assumed could ever be redeemed

Then come to us within a womb; be born and wash out feet

And not our feet alone we pray but everything we know

That thou O Love would come and stay and all our sorrows go

Yet thou will not be welcomed here, still Love please come and be

Our refuge, wipe away our tears though we will murder thee

But darkness only turns to day if You become the night

And we on You our darkness lay that it be swallowed in light

The gods we trusted and became will find no solace here

Beside his creatures low and lame the Son of God appears

A thousand years of "progress" past, a million hearts beguiled

Now Love alone will reign and last within one little child

O Love, make a way, come find us

Search the darkness, light the way, come and guide us Home

Oh the sunrise burns the night away

Find us, find us

Blessed One, born today, come and find us

Search the darkness, light the way, come and guide us Home

One winter's night begins eternal summer morn

If only You are born

Those words have ruined me for cheesy Christmas music.  Beautiful.  I listened to this song on repeat yesterday--no less than 25 times--and then found myself in tears throughout the day

when the single woman on a TV drama underwent in vitro while a sick little boy lay in a hospital bed without parents

when a friend told me about a marriage that is failing

when I read about women who are still enslaved in brothels

And it just struck me again and again how much we need this LIGHT that has come!

to dispel our darkness...

 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

to come and find us..

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

   and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you. 

Psalm 139:11-12

to put His light in us...

“I will keep you and will make you
   to be a covenant for the people
   and a light for the Gentiles,
⁷ to open eyes that are blind,
   to free captives from prison
   and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."

Isaiah 42:6-7

You are the light of the world.

Matthew 5:18

The power of the Incarnation is that in Jesus, the Kingdom of Light breaks in and dispels the darkness of broken humanity. 

As Simon Tugwell has put it, "He has followed us into our own darkness."

In Jesus, we have hope that things will not always be as they are, that as C.S. Lewis so masterfully wrote, it will not be "always winter and never Christmas."  That all things will be set right when this Heavenly King returns, once and for all.  That all of our longing is stirring up anticipation for Him.  That the light of the Son continues to shine in us, His Church, even as we wait.

"One winter's night begins eternal summer morn, if only You are born"--what a thought!

 
You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Psalm 18:28

Bible Studies About Justice

Hey, friends!

My March Bible two-part Bible Study for myMISSIONfulfilled posted a while ago--I just noticed today! The studies are on forced labor and God's heart for justice. Here are links to them individually: Out of Bondage and The Kingdom is Near.

Can I ask a favor of you? Would you read them, and then comment on this post or send me a message with some constructive criticism and feedback? Especially if you're a woman in her 20s or 30s (but even if you're not)...

1.) On a scale of 1-10, how helpful were the articles to you in understanding the Scriptures?
2.) Did the questions provided provoke deep thought, or were they more geared toward "Sunday school answers?"
3.) When you think about getting in the Word, what kinds of resources from a online zine like myMISSIONfulfilled would be helpful to you?
4.) Is there anything that would motivate you to read MMF's Bible studies every month?
5.) Is there anything else you'd like me to know about these particular articles or online Bible studies in general?

Thanks for reading and responding!

The Awesome News

It's shocking what you hear on the news these days.

Today I learned that the end of the world is coming on my 26th birthday--May 21, 2011.

I say this tongue-in-cheek, of course. The idea that anyone can predict the day or the hour when Christ will return is preposterous according to Jesus himself, quoted in the pages of Scripture:

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come."
Mark 13:31-33 (also Matthew 24:35-36).

The folks who presume to have the authority on when Jesus will return clearly contradict Scripture in their predictions. But that doesn't stop them from claiming to hold to biblical teaching. Members of a movement called Project Caravan patrol the southern part of the country in a long line of RVs, canvasing the nation with their message: "Have you heard the awesome news? The end of the world is almost here! It begins May 21, 2011--the Bible guarantees it!"

You can read the full news story at CNN.com. Here's CNN's video coverage:



Project Caravan's umbrella organization, Family Radio, isn't the first movement to make such outrageous claims about the end of the age, and it certainly won't be the last. Just like all of those who presume to have the inside scoop on the matter, they will be wrong. God knows, and according to His Word, He'll be keeping it hush-hush until that Day.

I feel so sad knowing these folks are giving their lives for a misguided gospel full of half truths. The Message the apostles gave their lives for, the Good News (or "gospel") they proclaimed, was that Jesus' Kingdom is already being ushered in. In Acts 5:42 we read that "Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah." We can know Him in the here-and-now, even as we wait for Him to "make all things new" (Revelation 21:5) because He gave himself up to make things right. That's Great News! Wonderful News! That is News Worth Giving Your Life For.

The Awesome News is not merely that Jesus is coming again, but also that He's already come. And we don't have to wait until May 21 for life in Him to start.

Advent Communion

Tonight is a little sad because it is my last night in my apartment before I head to Illinois for Christmas. I know, I know...it seems odd to bemoan going home to my parents' house for a week. And actually, I'm really excited about the time in Bloomington. It's just that I love Advent here on Greenwood Avenue so much! And once I head home, it'll be over for another year.

I've been thinking about Advent and how we cannot divorce it from Easter, mostly because we had been preparing for a Communion service for the last Sunday of Advent. As usual, Lauren Winner's words (from Girl Meets God) are gold:

“The waiting is meant to be a little anxious. I picture Jane Austen heroines. They are never quite sure if their intended will come. We Christians can be sure; we can rest easy in the promises of Scripture. But we are meant to feel a touch of that anxious, handkerchief-waving expectation all the same.

“The calendar tells us that all this culminates on December 25, but really the whole season slouches toward Easter…Even His birthplace takes us to the Last Supper: Jesus, the Bread of Life, is born in Bethlehem, bet lechem, “house of bread,” and at the Last Supper, He will break bread for us, and then on the Cross He will break His body. Nothing in Scripture, even the names of birthplace towns, is coincidence.”

Oh gosh, I just love that so much! Bethlehem, "house of bread." Rabbinical reading like that reminds us that God is the inventor of narrative and literary style.

Even His birthplace takes us to the Last Supper. And so it seems fitting that we would take Communion at Christmastime, which is what we did at the 6:30 service this past Sunday. At the Lord's Table, we remember that Jesus was flesh and blood for us and that He shall come again. We remember that we are family, united by that blood, which pulsed through His tiny body in the manger and poured out of Him on the Cross. We remember that Christmas is not about presents and feasting and jollity, but about a King who came to die in order that His Kingdom might be ushered in.

As I've thought on these things, the Christmas hymns that mention the Cross have become so precious to me. Not many of them do, when you really stop to listen. But I've been loving "What Child is This" the past couple of days (particularly Sarah Story's rendition--you can get it for free from Noisetrade.com), as well as one that's new to me from Red Mountain Church--it's called "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent." It's particularly poignant in thinking about the Lord's Supper.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

This Christmas, may you rejoice in the One who came and died a real, fleshly death for you.

Dancers Who Dance Upon Injustice

because
in spite of all this
brokenness
it's good
He's weaving it together
for good

These are words from my dear friend, Sarah. You would just love her if you knew her. She is wise and poetic and full of grace, even on gchat, which is where she typed out these words to me sometime last year when I was living in Nashville. Her words, which are scribbled on the page of my quote book (a little book where I stash sweet nuggets of truth from good books and movies and such), came to mind last night. This world in which we find ourselves is so very broken, indeed.

I've only been back in the office for two days after my Cayman getaway, but our church is currently standing with some friends who are facing grave injustices. Yesterday some of the staff gathered to pray over a heartbreaking situation and today my team sprung into action to minister in another set of circumstances. I'm feeling drained tonight, but also strangely encouraged by the role God permits us to play in advocating for justice.

Sharon Cohn, the Vice President of International Justice Mission, wisely said (in a speech at InterVarsity's Urbana conference), "God is not knocked backward by the massiveness of the need. It does not blur the contours of each person He so passionately loves and He so doggedly pursues." I cling to those words on days like this, when I feel worn out in ministry and overwhelmed by the need. The speech is worth watching. View it here.

Oh, Jesus, how we long that you might bring your Kingdom in its fullness! May we be used of you as agents of justice to usher it in.

The "Already" and the "Not Yet""

I have written before of the theological notion of the "already-not-yet" aspect of the Kingdom of God, and today I read something in one of my texts for Systematic Theology II that clarifies it beautifully. John Frame, a noted theologian who teaches at the Reformed Theological Seminary's Orlando campus, writes:

"We live in tension between this age and the age to come. In Christ, the age to come has already arrived, but the present age, dominated by sin, will not expire until he returns. Christ has delivered us from 'the present evil age' (Gal. 1:4), so in him we already have the blessings of the age to come. But sin remains in us until the present age comes to an end (1 John 1:8-10). So while we are risen with Christ, we must still seek the things that are above (Col. 3:1-4). We have died to sin (v. 3), but we must 'put to death' the sins of this life (v. 5). So the Christian life is an atempt, motivated by God's grace, to live according to the principles of the age to come. We are motivated by the goal toward which God steers the ship of history."

With all that in mind, it is no wonder that Frame writes (as I have often said with far less eloquence): "It is a pity that the church's teaching on eschatology, the last days, has been concerned mostly with arguments about the order of events."

Rather, we should be fixing our eyes on what it means to live as Kingdom people who await the glory to come!

As the Romans Do

This may sound a little cliche--and I just hate to sound cliche--but Rome is my favorite city in Europe (Paris is a close second...oh I am cliche aren't I?!). But truly, there is something so breathtaking about walking through a modern city--with cars whizzing by and people rushing off to work--and then suddenly seeing the Colosseum or Palentine Hill. I just love the juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern.

When I lived in Italy, Rome was my hub for travel every
weekend, since it was just two hours south of my quaint little Perugia by train. Of course I adored Papa Mio, the darling Italian man whose ristorante I frequented when passing through town, and the sights: the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps (where great writers like Keats and Shelley sat and wrote when they came to escape the cold of London), the Vatican, and the Colosseo. But it was a trip with my history of early Christianity class--and my professor, Alessandro, who looked like a Greek god and lived in a studio on the river with his gorgeous wife--that caused me to fall in love with the tension between old and new.

We traipsed around the city with Alessandro for hours as he pointed out all of the landmarks, showed us the sites of current archaeological excavation (it is amazing how much is still being uncovered all over the city!), and told us about the architectural significance of several centuries-old basilicas. Finally, we approached the Colosseum and saw where archaeologists are digging up the gladiators' barracks. And then, from a tiny side street tucked behind the Colosseum, we entered a little twelfth century basilica called San Clemente (St. Clement's in English). The preservation of the basilica is exquisite, but what's even more amazing are the treasures that lie beneath it.

First, you make your way down a long stone staircase that leads to a house church where early believers worshiped. The Collegio San Clemente has deemed it a fourth century place of worship, but because it is connected to a large house that is still under excavation, Alessandro told us that it could date back to before the time of Constantine, when Christians worshiped in the houses of wealthier church members. I get chills thinking of early believers fearlessly worshiping the one God just steps away from the Colosseum, where they would be executed if they were discovered!

Below the middle level lies a first century house and the hall of a mysteric cult devoted to the worship of Mithra, the Roman sun god. Worship of Mithra was widespread in ancient Rome, but the mysteric cults associated with Mithra were just that--mysterious. There are few writings about practice, as the religious rites were passed to only a few initiated members. As we walked down the tiny staircase, Alessandro pointed out the cave-like room where cultists would have been baptized into the following by the blood of a bull, which was sacrificed in the room above.

All of that sounds pretty gross, but once we were back out in the crisp October air and lounging by the Tiber, Alessandro explained the significance of San Clemente's three tiers. Apparently, the ancient city is subject to reverse erosion. Instead of the earth being washed away little by little, as is the case in some cities, the sediment from the Tiber has built up over time so that the city gets a little higher each year. To preserve the city, its patrons must rebuild their homes, businesses, and places of worship every few centuries. (You can watch a brief tour of the basilica's three levels here. It takes a few minutes to load, so be patient.)

But what's truly compelling about this story is that early Christians were intent on replacing the old, pagan places with new, Christian places. They understood that at the center of the Gospel is God's constant working to make all things new. They understood that the Kingdom being ushered in was meant to replace the old earthly kingdom (2 Peter 3:13). The Roman believers represented this principle very visibly as they transformed the old into new in their city, even as they themselves were being made new by the covenant blood of Jesus.

As we prepare to celebrate our Lord's birth, some are disturbed by the many pagan roots of the holiday we call Christmas. Indeed, December 25 was chosen for the observance not because of its historical accuracy, but because that date coincides with the Roman festival to Mithra, the very same god whose worship site lies buried beneath San Clemente.

The connection is disturbing, as it shows how easily we Christians fall prey to the trappings of this world. I would argue, however, that this connection can also be a source of joy for us as we dwell on the lesson of the Roman Christians, who were eager to portray God's work in the world by physically exchanging the old for the new. To be sure, there are still many secular manifestations of the Christmas holiday. But just as it is our Jesus (and not Mithra) who is worshiped in a little basilica down the street from the Colloseum, so is He the One whose coming we celebrate at Christmas.

Let us rejoice that He is gloriously at work in the world, securing for us a "city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:13-15)!

He who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making everything new!"
Revelation 21:5

Glorious Grace: Thoughts from Ephesians 1

I've been making my way through the book of Ephesians this summer, and it is rich with truth about God's grace. In the first chapter of his letter to the dearly beloved church at Ephesus, Paul lays out some weighty spiritual principals, namely, the idea of predestination. The modern Church has struggled with the implications of the idea that God himself chose before time those to whom He would impart grace--this is one of those places the gospel is especially offensive--but it seems to me that there is no other plausible explanation for our faith. If we are not able in and of ourselves to come to God; if, as Christianity suggests, we have fallen from relationship with Him because of the nature of sin, then it seems only logical that nothing but His grace, His choosing, could save us. Since I don't have the time or space here to go into the Scriptural arguments for reformed theology, and since I'm certainly no expert on the matter, let's suffice to say that Ephesians points clearly to predestination, and Paul's claim to that end negates several expressed and unexpressed ideologies of the current age.

Paul writes, "for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves" (Ephesians 1:4-6).

Of course this is one brief passage, but there are many others throughout scripture that support predestination. (For scripture specifically using the word "predestined," see Romans 8:29 and 8:30 and Ephesians 1:11; for scripture alluding to the concept, read almost any part of the Biblical text with critical eye.) Looking at this passage alone, I find it hard to understand how some can proclaim open theism, or, the belief that God is in some way limited in knowing the outcome of His creation. Verse eleven negates this idea, as well: "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." (I am reminded of a favorite Caedmon's Call song, in which the lyrics go, Cause You knew how you'd save me before I fell dead in the Garden, and You knew this day long before You made me out of dirt. And You know the plans You have for me. And You can't plan the ends and not plan the means.)

Equally difficult to fathom is the current vernacular regarding salvation in most mainline churches; the emphasis has become about us and our choice as opposed to God's choosing us in Christ. For more on this subject, listen to my friend Rob's sermon "To the Praise of His Glory!" which was perfectly timed with my own study of Ephesians. [Clicking here will redirect you to the church website, where you can download a podcast.] I love the phraseology Rob uses to explain predestination: "God's before-time decision versus our real-time decision." Another consequence of the dismissal of reformed theology is that many of us act as though the salvation of those around us were dependent on us and our competencies. We rely far too little on God to do the work and see ourselves not as vessels of God's grace, but as those burdened with the impossible task of convincing people of their need for God. In reality, we cannot convince them. We are utterly incapable of doing the work except that God works through us. It is His work.

Of course, the criticism of reformed theology is that it breeds lazy Christians who don't understand the value of working for the Harvest. But a correct understanding of predestination, I would argue, includes that we are indeed called to be diligent ambassadors of Christ's grace, doing so with humility and reliance on Him to soften the hearts of those whom He has called.

Moving on from that lengthy tangent, another thing that struck me in studying Ephesians 1 was the implications for the Kingdom, specifically what some theologians have referred to as the "already/not yet" nature of the Kingdom. Having studied the Sermon on the Mount with Greek InterVarsity at the University of Richmond this past semester, I'm kind of on a "Kingdom" kick. In verses 9 and 10, Paul writes, "And he made know to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." In other words, because Christ came and brought a new vision of what holy living looked like (see Matthew 5-7 for a description), we are already enacting the Kingdom by following Christ, thereby allowing His lordship to reign on earth as He reigns in our lives. But at the same time, we are awaiting the glory of the Kingdom that has not yet reached its fulfillment.

Another theme that stands out to me from this first chapter is that of the Trinitarian essence of God. The other day, I was expressing to my friend Goodie my desire to write youth curriculum on the nature of God. She shared that in a seminary course she took recently, her professor emphasized the importance of dwelling on the Trinity as the primary aspect of God's nature and then seeking to discover His attributes (i.e. loving, faithful, etc.), which are secondary. (I believe the early Christians talked about this idea in terms of the essence of God, or His ineffable person, and the energies of God, those qualities we can define.) It was interesting to look back at my notes from Ephesians after our conversation and see that the Lord had revealed something similar to me through Paul's words. He mentions each Person of the Trinity, and then describes their functions in grace. Here is a brief laundry list: the Father blesses us, chose us in Christ, predestined us in love, lavished grace upon us, and made His will known. Christ is the One God loves, our redemption, our forgiveness, the riches of grace, the mystery of God's will, the one head who chose us with the Father. The Holy Spirit is a seal that marks us and a deposit guaranteeing our salvation. More on Ephesians later...

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better" (Ephesians 1:17).