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Good Easter news for the Region

By
Luke
– April 22, 2011Posted in: Theology

I love the Region. Like many others, I’ve grown up here. I love the easy access to Chicago and quick drive to the Dunes. Regionites are hard-working, practical and family-centered people. Of course like everyone else, we have problems. The Region is one of the most racially segregated parts of the country per capita and if we’re honest, many of our families are filled with difficulties and strained relationships. And of course, the cold Chicago winters and lake effect snow do make folks think about moving South :).

When I think of what Easter means for Regionites, I think about how God is all about family too. He loves families (he made them), he loves all people, and he longs for all of his kids to come home.

One of Jesus’ most striking beliefs about God was that God is our Father. (Actually, “Daddy” or “Papa” are closer to the word Jesus used for God.)  Jesus taught his apprentices to pray to the “Daddy in Heaven” and showed them that relationship to the Papa and forgiveness of other brothers and sisters was central to spiritual health and life in God’s family.

Jesus also taught that people are naturally far from home and can’t or won’t find their way back. We are estranged from our Daddy in heaven and don’t know the way home. On our own, we don’t talk with him, take his advice, or live according to his family principles. We harm other children and the world around us. We have dishonored him by making our own life and family apart from him. This estrangement is one part of what the Christian scriptures call sin. A close relationship with our Papa has been severed and this results in broken relationship with other people and the whole creation.

But Easter is the opening of the front door and the call for everyone to come home. Our Daddy stands on the steps of his house and calls out “Welcome Home!” to all those that return. This is because Jesus the Messiah, through his life, death and resurrection, made a way for our relationship with God to be reconciled. Jesus himself is the way home. Those that go home with him and stop following their own way receive forgiveness of sin and a fresh start through Jesus’ death. They are made new and given new life through Jesus’ resurrection. They are put back in the living room of God’s house, brought back into God’s family with brothers and sisters and given a mission to restore the world.

So to all my fellow Regionites, (and everyone else too,) this Easter, will you go home? Not to your family’s Easter party, but to your Heavenly Papa’s house? It’s the family you were made for. The front door is open wide. Jesus is waiting to bring you into God’s family.

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Jesus wants his land back

By
Luke
– March 28, 2011Posted in: Church, Theology

So this post is a bit more abstract that usual. (That’s a warning if you’re not into abstract stuff!)

But the more I read the scriptures, the more I’m convinced that Jesus wants our land…and the neighborhoods, towns, cities, counties, states, and countries that are on the land.

He wants people too for sure. He’s after restoring broken relationships –with himself and others–, adopting people into God’s family, making people right through his cross and resurrection. Humans are definitely the pinnacle of God’s creation and please don’t hear me say otherwise. But we can’t stop with people….Jesus wants his land back too.

Here are a couple glimpses into this in the scriptures….

The Garden in Genesis –  Adam and Eve were given a job…make the rest of the earth, all the land, look just like the garden. They were we supposed to be master gardeners, excavators, builders, architects, and environmental stewards. They were the societal planning committee. But that all went south with their rejection of God as king.

The Lord’s Prayer – “Father…let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus could have said “let your kingdom come in people…” But he didn’t. Jesus wants the kingdom of heaven to be intimately intertwined with the physical space of the earth.

The New Earth and New Jerusalem – The closing chapters of the scriptures show a renewed planet…not a bunch of disembodied spirits. I remember sitting  a The Purple Steer, a family restaurant near me, with my wife and a friend who isn’t a follow of Jesus. We were talking about this picture of the end of history. (Or the beginning, depending on how you look at it). He was shocked. He was used to the Christian image of people floating around with harps in heaven. He thought what we were saying sounded more like a sci-fi movie. Indeed it does.

I think this has huge implications. Here are just a few:

If you are not a follower of Jesus yet, much of how you understand Jesus’ message from churches and TV “preachers” is probably twisted. Jesus is about restoring all thing–our inner selves, our relationships and the actual world around us. His message is just simply not about going to heaven when you die.

If you are a follower of Jesus, how much of your time and effort goes into seeing God’s kingdom come in the physical world? In an age of entertainment media, online connectedness and social media, I fear that we have lost sight of what God is up to…redeeming and restoring all things. If Jesus’ followers are spending much of their time connecting with people they rarely see in person (some online social media) and amusing themselves in worlds that don’t exist (TV and movies), how can we say that we are joining God in mission?

Lastly, I believe the church, the ecclesia, is intimately connected to physical space…to neighborhoods, towns, counties, regions and countries. Perhaps one reason the “gates of hell” ARE “overcoming the church” is because the “local church” is simply not the ecclesia anymore. Groups of followers of Jesus need to re-orientate themselves around physical geopolitical boundaries for the sake of seeing the kingdom of God “come on earth.”