Jason Micheli's Blog, page 23

Unbelief is Our Natural Predisposition

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In Matthew’s Gospel, Joseph is the first person to learn that Isaiah’s 800 year old promise would finally come to pass in a much less tidy and much more complicated way than Isaiah ever let on.

Joseph is the first person to hear the news that God had decided to trade in his power and might for diapers and a bottle. He’s the first person to realize that his fiance would never be able to prove how it happened exactly. He’s the first person to know that it had nothing whatsoever to do with him.

And Joseph is the first person to struggle with believing that abstinence only works 99.99999% of the time.

Matthew reports in his nativity narrative that upon hearing the news of Mary’s pregnancy “Joseph resolved to dismiss Mary quietly...” Matthew leaves it to us to imagine just how long it must’ve taken Joseph to come to that decision.

But it’s not like Joseph’s happy about it.

The word in the next verse, where Matthew writes “But just when Joseph had considered to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,” the word “consider” in the Greek comes from the root word thymos.

It can mean “to ponder” as in “to consider” or it can mean “to become angry.”

It’s the same word Matthew uses in the very next chaprter to describe King Herod’s infanticidal rage when he learns the magi have escaped and returned home by another road.

It’s the same word Luke uses right after his nativity story when he describes how the congregation in Nazareth reacts to Jesus’ first sermon by trying to kill Jesus.

Joseph’s initial response to the annunciation is anger.

Why is he angry?

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With Mary, God Finally Gets a "Yes"

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Did Mary and Joseph have a Sex Life?

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The creeds posit a dogma affirmed by the universal church: the virginal conception of Jesus. Catholics and Orthodox, meanwhile, concur on belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity beyond the incarnation. Having become the Temple of the temple by the Holy Spirit tabernacling upon her, Mary remained so. Still, the scriptures make clear that Mary’s marriage to Joseph is an element of the divine wisdom; just so, the question presents itself.

Did Joseph and Mary have a “normal” sex life?

After Christmas, at some point during the exodus into Egypt, or after their return to Galilee, did Mary and Joseph enjoy that which canon and creed are quick to affirm as a good gift of God?

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Encounters with Silence

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Summary

This conversation delves into Karl Rahner's reflections on silence, prayer, and the intricate relationship between law and grace. The speakers explore the depths of Rahner's thoughts on how prayer can reveal the rawness of one's heart and the importance of joyful obedience in the Christian life. They discuss the goodness of God's law, the complexities of human existence, and the challenges posed by legalism. Ultimately, the conversation emphasizes the significance of community, love, and the transformative power of grace in navigating the journey of faith.

Takeaways

Karl Rahner's reflections on silence are profound and insightful.

Prayer reveals the rawness of one's heart and relationship with God.

The law is not a burden but a guide to joyful obedience.

Joyful obedience is essential for a fulfilling Christian life.

Understanding the goodness of God's law is crucial for faith.

Fear can be a natural part of the journey to perfect love.

Legalism can hinder the experience of grace and love.

Community plays a vital role in expressing God's love.

Naming our sins is a grace that leads to healing.

The spirit's guidance is essential in navigating life's complexities.

Sound Bites

"What could I bring?"

"The law is good."

"We need to name our sins."

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Where will Mary be When Christ Comes Again?

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Thanks to the deserved influence of Fleming Rutledge and her Advent preaching, believers are now more aware than before that the new liturgical year begins with anticipation of the End. Advent is the season of the second coming. If the mainline church has had little room in its proclamation for the parousia, we have reflected even less upon what the return of the Son means for his mother.

When Jesus comes again in glory to judge the quick and the dead, does Mary come with him?

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Mary is the Answer to Wesley's Historic Questions

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“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

— Luke 1.47

Just prior to ordination, candidates in the United Methodist Church must answer a series of historic questions. The first question bequeathed by John Wesley is the inner basis for the second.

Have you faith in Christ?

Are you going on to perfection?

The third question follows after it, “Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?”

Rendered into English, perfection is but the term theosis which the church fathers simply took to be the sum and substance of salvation. Theosis, meaning deification or divinization, refers to the spiritual journey that begins at baptism and continues throughout life; it’s the process by which the believer— by grace— gradually becomes more like God, culminating in union with the triune life.

In that this is a promise which death cannot condition, it is the gospel.

Now in the past I have balked at the historic questions, cynically commenting that in twenty-five years of ministry I yet to bury a perfect a believer who was perfect in love. “Such a person doesn’t exist,” I’d chide what I took to be a sanctimonious church short on grace. Only recently has it occurred to me, however, that I need look no further than my Nativity display for the scriptures’ archetypal answer to John Wesley’s historic questions.

The scriptures’ narrative image of salvation is Mary of Nazareth.

According to Roman Catholic dogma, the decisive moment in Mary’s timeline transpires prior to her birth— the immaculate conception. For Protestants, to the extent they pause to ponder her at all, the key event in Mary’s life is the annunciation of her son. The church fathers, however, do not specify a single threshold in Mary’s life. As Sergius Bulgakov notes, “Mary’s whole life is a series of steps in an uninterrupted ascent from earth into heaven.” Questions about original sin and Mary’s freedom from it lead Catholic belief to focus upon her own conception. By contrast the fathers view Mary’s entire life as the instantiation of the journey to holiness, a continuous growth in sanctification.

Mary is the image of the human creature as intended by God. Mary is the one about whom Wesley inquired. Just so, says Bulgakov, she is the ontological basis for our holiness.

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"The World is Created for the Sake of Mary"

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“Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.””

— Luke

“Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud overshadowed it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

— Exodus

“If when He formed each of Adam’s body out of clay, God was thinking of Christ who someday would become human, then in creating Eve, the Lord built a tabernacle of the body of the coming Mother of God.

— Tertullian

While the Orthodox tradition does not concur with the Roman Catholic belief in the immaculate conception, it does read the scriptures as presenting Mary as far more than simply the first disciple, which is very often the best Protestants can muster. Based not only upon the pregnant wording of Gabriel’s promise to Mary but also upon the singular occupant of her womb, the eastern communion of the church understands Mary as the destination for all of scripture’s doxophanies. That is, the appearances of the LORD’s glory in the Old Testament prefigure the annunciation; in so doing, Mary sums up the entirety of the scriptures.

Mary is the destination for all of scripture’s doxophanies .

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Why was it necessary for Mary to be married?

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Believers often speculate about the nature of Mary’s relationship with Joseph after she gives birth to Jesus. If the Lord Jesus is “born of the Virgin Mary,” as the creeds attest, then does the God-bearer remain a virgin thereafter? Does the Son condescend into a normal family; that is, do his parents subsequently enjoy a normal sex life?

Though the scriptures are inconclusively quiet on the question, the tradition has nevertheless ventured answers. The church asserted the perpetual virginity of Mary, for instance, at Fifth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 553 A.D., a doctrine that unites the church, east and west. Indeed in the early third century, Origen considered Mary’s perpetual virginity a settled item of dogma. The modern Catholic belief that Mary was conceived apart from sin— and so born free from it— makes the question even more of a muddle. As St. Augustine notes in City of God, it’s quite impossible for sinners such ourselves even to conceive what sexual intimacy, freed from the effects of the fall, will be like for us in the Fulfillment. Even if the scriptures provided an answer on the question, we nonetheless could not comprehend it in the affirmative.

As much as the nature of the Holy Family’s marriage elicits curiosity, Origen instead pondered a detail of the Lord’s nativity which we tend to ignore altogether.

Why was it necessary for Mary to be married?

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Encounters with Silence

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Hi Friends,

Here is the second installment of our conversations with Chris Green. If you have questions or thoughts, shoot me an email or drop them in the comments and we will get to them on Monday.

Remember, you can join us live on Monday at 7 EST here.

Show Notes

Summary

This conversation delves into the profound themes of prayer, theology, and the nature of God as explored through the lens of various theologians, particularly focusing on the works of Ronner. The discussion emphasizes the complexity of prayer, the importance of intimacy with God, and the interplay between knowledge and experience in understanding the divine. The speakers reflect on the significance of silence in prayer, the role of community, and the transformative power of love and connection in the spiritual journey.

Takeaways

Prayer is not just a duty but a deep encounter with God.

Understanding God requires both knowledge and experiential contact.

Silence in prayer can be a form of listening to God.

Intimacy with God transforms our understanding of language and prayer.

The heart of God is revealed through the heart of Jesus.

The nature of atonement is rooted in love and relationship, not just theory.

Good religion invites us into deeper connection rather than mere knowledge.

The complexity of theology reflects the depth of human experience.

Laughter and joy are essential in understanding our relationship with God.

Community plays a crucial role in our spiritual growth and understanding.

Titles

The Heart of Prayer: An Exploration

Intimacy with the Divine: Understanding God

Sound Bites

"God's silence is just God listening."

"God is the ultimate lover."

"The word of the Lord abides forever."

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"If there is ever a “Yes, but…” with which we may answer a promise of God, it is over with faith and faith’s God.”

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Two notes, friends:

Session Two with Chris E.W. Green will be posted here later this week. I’ve been distracted (see: #2).

I recently sent this letter to my congregation regarding the recurrence of my cancer. When I first was diagnosed, I attempted to write about the experience as we went through it. I believe that was the right decision for that time. I wish to do this next leg of the (hopefully shorter and easier) journey as privately as possible. If needed, and as appropriate, I will offer the church and this community updates, but will keep it off social media and keep it out of the pulpit.

“The gospel, to be sure, does not mitigate God’s hiddenness; it redoubles it.”

While the scriptures begin with law, a declaration of moral intent followed by obedience (“Let there be…”), the New Testament’s nativity accounts begin with promise. In the case of Matthew’s Gospel, “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” The New Testament begins with promise exactly because doubt in the LORD’s promise is what occasions the Fall, “Did God really say…?”

Doubt about the God who makes promises is at the very heart of faith.

In the 19th and 20th theses he prepared for Heidelberg in 1518, Martin Luther asserted:

“The true theologian does not come to see the invisible things of God by reflecting on the creation. The true theologian reflects on the visible and hinder parts of God, having seen them in sufferings and the cross.”

Luther’s point is that proclamation is not speculation.

True theology, according to Luther, begins with seeing God, in that God intrudes himself as one of our objects— as a word in our earballs, bread in our hands, wine on our tongues, a baby in Mary’s womb. In other words, despite the frequency and ubiquity with which “believers” speak of their spiritual journey, God is not at the end of our reflective enterprise. The true God is necessarily the starting point. Just as Luke and Matthew so begin, God— Jesus— is the starting point.

God is the starting point of our religious journey not its End.

And because God is the starting point we never do journey beyond the starting point to Elsewhere.

God always will remain the boy in Mary’s belly and the man on Pilate’s tree.

Speaking of the way the scriptures upend the religion of Plato, Robert Jenson writes that with the incarnation, “the reversal is precise.” That is, the incarnation does not satisfy our need for a path to God; it obviates it. The quest endemic to religion is empty for no other reason than that God is not missing. What Jacob realized on his way from Beersheba is true for everywhere, “Truly, the LORD is in this place and I did not know it.”

God is in the manger.

God is on the cross.

God is with the loaf and cup.

Thus—

The true God is not the God of speculation.

The true God, first of all, is the God of promises.

The incarnation does not satisfy our need for a path to God; it obviates it.

For Luther and the first Protestants, that God makes promises is the fundamental proposition of the scriptures. The starting point of all understanding is that God makes absolutely reliable promises, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” As Jens writes, “The gospel, to be sure, does not mitigate God’s hiddenness; it redoubles it.” For instance, the promise present in Mary’s womb, the answer to Israel’s longing for a deliverer, raises yet more questions.

Most notably:The God who is a Promisor and whose promises are absolutely reliable must be an utterly free will for whom no contingencies can frustrate his intentions.

As Luther writes in the Bondage of the Will:

“If you doubt that God foreknows and wills all things…immutably…how can you believe his promises?”

A promise frees its recipient from a future that would be otherwise, “I will make you well.” To make a promise is to claim to be able to be free to do this. To say that there is a promise-making God and that he is God precisely by making promises is to say that there is a Promise-Maker whose freedom encompasses all contingencies. Just so, the God who is able to promise to Mary that her womb will the ark is a God whose freedom guarantees no other reply but Mary’s, “Let it be with me, according to thy Word.”

To make a promise is to claim to be able to be free to do this.

As Jens writes:

“If any created contingency can intrude between God’s knowledge and his will, if there is ever a “Yes, but…” with which we may answer a promise of God, it is over with faith and faith’s God.”

Seldom during Christmas do we pause to consider the implications of there being no possibility of the promises posed to the Holy Family failing to come to fruition. Though, Matthew’s nativity does just that by juxtaposing the birth of Jesus with Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.

The God who is a Promise-Maker and is God in that he makes promises is therefore “a will who moves and acts in all things.” Thus the promise to Mary and Joseph yields not only joyful carols but the anguished question to which Luther returned again and again. As Jens paraphrases it, If all things are impelled by the will of this Promise-Maker, then— given what actually happens in history— it looks bad for God’s character.

Luther put the challenge of faith with brave bluntness:

“For God so governs this corporal world in external matters, that if you follow the judgment of human reason…you must conclude that either God is wicked or God is not.”

The promise of a birth so that no more may die, as the carol sings, is a promise that belies any pagan notion of God’s powerlessness in the present. Precisely in this way, Mary’s child is our ultimate hope; that is, we can only hope and trust that in the End the vexing questions of history raised by this Promise-Maker will resolve in a manner continuous with the God hidden in Jesus Christ.

In the kingdom that is him, we will finally see how the Promise-Maker’s majesty and love are one.

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