WE ARE BEGGARS ALL

I’ve spent a great deal of time “fixin’ to” and “hopin’ for” things in the future. When I was playing in bands my energy was always towards the next show, tour, or album. In ministry everything revolved around upcoming sermons, retreats, and missions’ trips. With school my eyes were set upon a master’s degree and doctorate. My hands worked for the future and I never spent much time on the past… or the current.

I am so prone to work on “dreams” and “goals” that I missed out on a lot of the good parts of daily life. There have been countless friends that I have not been with as much as I wanted. There have been delights that I did not savor, because I would not allow myself the time. There have been individual stories missed, ignored, and shoved away, because I only wanted to look only at the meta-narrative.

I think there is a lot to be said about the greatness of “carrying on” everyday. Yes, goals are important, but so are the moments when I play music for my daughter, have a beer with the boys, or take a walk with my wife. Cliché or not, I am trying to aim toward today.

hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

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“Embracing Nihilism
This article seeks to explore a theology of the cross for ministry, which sees the theologia crucis as an invitation for theological engagement in a nihilistic world of radical doubt and radical freedom. Nihilism is often a word we use to disparage another’s position or perspective (“you have a very nihilistic [meaning ‘bleak’] outlook on things”). Nihilism has become a bad word. But here I use it not as a bad word, but as a word of description of ourcontext. The Ethics Toolkit states, “. . . nihilism [is] commonly taken to imply . . . (a) that there is no truth; (b) that there is no right and wrong . . .; (c) that life has no meaning; and even (d) that it’s not possible to communicate meaningfully with one another.”1 In the shadow of globalization, pluralism, mass media, and hyper-consumerism, social theorists like David Lyon have argued that most would agree with at least a few of those descriptions.

Therefore, Lyon argues that our present cultural ethos exhibits nihilistic tendencies: “This means,”he states, “that reality is blurred and that establishing truth is not as straightforward as it once seemed. It does not . . . mean that people believe in nothing . . . ”2 I will assert that a theology of the cross is
the invitation not to hipper models of ministry or more intense assertions about the truth of the faith. Rather it is an invitation to face the nihilism of our time, and to find God in the nothingness of our existence. I will argue that the ‘thing’ to which Luther is referring in thesis 21 of the Heidelberg Disputation is the despair of nihilism, which links Luther’s time with our own, making a theology of the cross a lens into ministerial action in our context. The way of ministry in our time, following Luther, is not to fortify a battered tradition through rigid confessionalism or to seek a missional style born from a postmodern aesthetic, both of which never address the ‘thing.’ Rather, ministry that calls a thing what it is embraces the nihilism (suffering) of late modernity, seeking God’s presence in the emptiness and confusion of human existence.”

“The Nature of pure and genuine religion… consists in faith, united with a serious fear of God, comprehending a voluntary reverence, and producing legitimate worship agreeable to the injunctions of the law. And this requires to be the more carefully remarked, because men in general render to God a formal worship’ but very few truly reverence him; while great ostentation in ceremonies is universally displayed, but sincerity of heart is rarely to be found.” John Calvin from the Institutes

No matter how you may feel about those touting his name, John Calvin does have an amazing way of summing things up. In the Institutes of Christian Religion he steps forward and asserts that the followers of Jesus must do much in way of bundling their hearts in faith, fear of God, voluntary reverence, and worship that is in tune with the whole of scripture.

Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world. (James 1:27 – The Message)

While witnessing the news report of the 2005 Tsunami, Australia’s Micah Challenge coordinator, John Beckett struggled:

“Strangely my mind did not turn to questions about God and suffering as one might expect. Rather, the question at the front of my mind was whether I personally had any responsibility to respond in this situation. I was certain that it was the responsibility of the people of God to respond in this situation. I also had a clear understanding of myself as one of the people of God, but was it my responsibility? If so, in what way?”

His questions brought about the article “Evangelical Catholicity-A Possible Foundation for Exploring Relational Responsibility in a Global Community (Evangelical Review of Theology, April 1, 2010)?” It is a wonderfully concise piece that relays a new definition of Catholicity and its decree for our involvement in the world. Beckett challenges the old maxim of catholicity (Universal Expansion, Complete Faith) and redefines it much more thoroughly as:

“it is the mission of individual believers to live in the local church as an anticipation of the catholic people of God, to invite others into that community, and ultimately to become that community.”

I have had some amazing conversations this week.
From family and friends,
from customers and acquaintances,
I have heard the same message:
“We do not want to waste our lives.”

Statements like this ring so true in my heart, that I get embarrassed, because I do not have the words to respond. Christians like to say that things really resonate with them, well, the aforementioned statement doesn’t just resonate with me… it is me.

I want my life to count.

I am trying to follow Jesus.

I’m not too concerned about the Christian religion (though much of it is interesting). I’m not Catholic, Baptist, or Pentecostal. I’m not looking to get caught up in where people meet, what songs they sing, or how they have communion. I’m not too worried about how it makes me look, nor am I bothered that it will be my life’s entire journey.

I just want to know who Jesus is. Why he would give so much to save some? Why he would give up all the heavens to dwell as a man? Why does he speak on my behalf to God? Why does he provide so much? I want to know what it means to have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). I want to draw near to my savior… to my God.

BLESSED is he who appreciates what it is to love Jesus and who despises himself for the sake of Jesus. Give up all other love for His, since He wishes to be loved alone above all things.

Affection for creatures is deceitful and inconstant, but the love of Jesus is true and enduring. He who clings to a creature will fall with its frailty, but he who gives himself to Jesus will ever be strengthened.