Imago Dei

It's one of the most striking and profound passages in all the Bible:

Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Theologians call it the "Imago Dei," the image or likeness of God. It's the idea that something in our inner nature reflects something vital about God. I get a kick out of the fact that what exactly this bold and beautiful claim means is never spelled out in scripture! I guess we're supposed to figure it out ourselves . . . .

Question: What is it within us that most reflects the character of God?

The most common answers to this question through the years are things like: our intelligence, personality, rationality and morality, our sense of justice, as well as the fact that we are spiritual and relational beings.

Here's a thought: The next person you see is a walking reflection of the character of God. Look for it.

Prayer: Thank You, God, that something in my essence is a reflection of who You are. Help me to let it shine! Amen.

Extra Credit

Theologians have written volumes about the Imago Dei, human beings made in God's image. One question that has been debated for centuries is this: Did the "Fall" of humanity and the introduction of sin into the world remove the Imago Dei? Most theologians today answer, no. The image of God within us is not wiped out by our sin. It is however sullied by sin. Therefore, salvation and sanctification are designed to restore the image of God within us.

Our true nature is a reflection of who God is. Our calling is to restore that image, to make that likeness within us visible and real.

The "I Am" Statements

Each of the 4 Gospels has its unique features. Matthew uses the phrase, "this happened to fulfill what was written by the prophet . . ." because Matthew's aim is to demonstrate that Jesus is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, foretold by the prophets. Mark uses the word "immediately" a lot, as he tells us story after story of a fast-moving Messiah. Luke pays special attention to the poor, to women and to prayer.

The key feature of the Gospel of John are the "I Am" statements of Jesus.

Here they are:

"I am the bread of life" (John 6:35, 48, 51)

"I am the light of the world" (John 8:12)

"I am the door of the sheep"(John 10:7, 9)

"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11, 14)

"I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25)

"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6)

"I am the true vine" (John 15:1, 5)

They're very similar to statements attributed to God in the Old Testament - "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt." They're also an intentional echo of the name of God given to Moses at the burning bush - '"I am who I am," said the Lord. Tell them 'I Am' has sent you" (Ex. 3:14). Jesus clearly has this in mind when he says, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). Poor grammar (in all due respect), amazing theology.

Question: Which of these statements is most meaningful to you? Which one best describes your experience of Christ?

Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for giving us a variety of ways to understand who you are for us. Amen.

Extra Credit:  Praying the "I Am's"

The goal of the Bible is to lead us to God. Therefore I always try to read scripture asking myself the question - how can I pray this into my life. Meditating on each of these statements would be one powerful way. Here's another way.

"I am the bread of life" (John 6:35,48,51).
           Feed me, dead Lord, with this Bread.

"I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).
          Shine your Light upon me and in front of me always.

"I am the door of the sheep"(John 10:7,9).
          Bless my going out and my coming in, O God. Lead me through your Door.

"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11,14).
          I need You, Good Shepherd. Keep me close to your side.

"I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25).
          Help me to live in the New Life of your Resurrection, now and forever.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
          Help me to follow in your Way, to know your Truth, to be filled with your Life.

"I am the true vine" (John 15:1,5).
          Keep me connected to the True Vine that I might produce the fruit You desire.

Incarnation

In·car·na·tion

It's from the Latin words in and carn (meaning flesh).

Incarnation is the act of taking on a human body.  It's what God did for us at Christmas. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us," as St. John put it. (John 1:14)

When you want the job done right you have to do it yourself. God wanted us to know "the wonders of his love." God wanted to clear up any confusion about the heart of Divinity. And so God sent Jesus to embody God's essence, to make God's love visible.

What does God look like? God looks like Jesus.

How does God act?  God acts like Jesus.

How does God love, forgive & inspire? Just like Jesus.

"Christ is the image of the invisible God," wrote St. Paul (Col. 1:15). So when you've seen Jesus you've seen God. And if God loves like Jesus, we're in good shape.

Prayer: Thank You, dear Jesus, for becoming a child of this world so that we might learn how to live as citizens of the world to come. Amen.

Extra Credit:

Tony Campolo's "The Ant-Man"

Imagine for a moment that you are a scientist and you study ants. This may be a little hard to imagine, but give it a try. You are the world's foremost authority on ants. And you have come to love ants very, very much. In fact, you've created a beautiful ant farm for many of them to live. It's a wonderful world with everything they need - crumbs, sandwiches, picnic baskets, etc. But one day you look down at the world you've created and you notice that your ants are not living up to their potential. They're fighting. They're not working together. They need help! So you send them little messages with suggestions & guidelines for them. You even inspire certain ants to be prophets, teachers, & role models for the others. But they're still not getting it.

Now consider this, if you had supernatural powers what would be the best way for you to get your message across to the ants? That's right! You could become an ant! You could take on the body of ant, and yet you would still have all your human knowledge and intelligence to help them. You would be the Ant- Man! Fully Human-Fully Ant. Then you could really teach them and show them personally, face-to-face how to really live.

God did this for us in Jesus. He became one of us. The God-Man! Fully Human-Fully God! Two distinct natures united in one person. He did this to show us how to live. And to tell us how much we are loved - "As the Father loves me, so I love you" (John 15:9). Divinity has been revealed - "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father," says Jesus (John 14:9). Thank God.

Christmas Ponderings

Some of the best things ever said about Christmas . . .

The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.     - Luke 2:10-11

Unto us a child has been born, unto us a son is given; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.      - Isaiah 9:6

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.     -  John 1:14


"Why I go to Church at Christmas"    by Harry Reasoner

So far as I know, all Christian denominations expect their members to go to church at Christmas. It may be the only time, or practically the only time, that some do go to church. You can say that in all societies there has always been a midwinter festival, and that many of the trappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan. But in the quietness of Christmas morning, you come back to the central fact of the day, ...the birth of God on earth.

If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the universe in the form of a helpless babe -- it is a very important day. It's so revolutionary an idea that it probably could only have come from a God who is beyond logic, and beyond theology.  It has a magnificent appeal.

Almost nobody has seen God, and almost nobody has any real idea of what God is like, and the truth is that among men the idea of seeing God suddenly, and standing in a very bright light, is not necessarily a completely comforting and appealing idea! But everyone has seen babies, and most people like them.

If God wanted to be loved as well as feared, He moved correctly here. If God wanted to know his people, he moved correctly here; for a baby growing up learns all about people. If God wanted to be intimately a part of human life he moved correctly, for the experience of birth and family-hood is our most intimate and precious experience.

So it comes beyond logic. If it is false, we are doomed. If it is true, as it must be, it makes everything else in the world all right.


Prayer: Thank You, Loving God, for the miracle of Christmas and for your beautiful love which came to us in Jesus Christ. In His Name. Amen.

Evil



I never thought I'd be writing on evil at Christmas time. But I also never dreamed that a nightmare like the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy could ever take place.

Ironically, such evil is also found in the Christmas story.

"When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

- Matthew 2:16-18

This is the world Christ was born into.

It was a dangerous world, a fragile world, a world where Herod was king. Herod was known for his brutality and for letting nothing stand in the way of his desire for power; so much so that he killed one of his wives and two of his sons when he felt they were plotting against him. Jesus was born into a world where Herod was king.

This is the world in which we live.

It's a world where sometimes unspeakable evil happens. Rabbi Harold Kushner once wrote that what makes something truly evil is,  "it prevents people from believing in God's goodness"  (When Bad Things Happen to Good People, p. 53).

This is the world Christ came to redeem.

This is world he came to save. This is the world he came to love. This is the world that needs his light. And this is the world he will return to to transform.

Evil will not have the last word. God will. Love will. Christ will.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never put it out. This is at the heart of Christmas.

Prayer: Help us to cling to faith and hope, O God, even in the face of evil. In the name of our crucified and risen Savior. Amen.



The Wise Men warm Joseph & Mary to flee Herod.



(The thoughts above are taken largely from a message by the late Dr. James I. McCord, former president of Princeton Theological Seminary.)

Extra Credit:

A Prayer for the Sandy Hook Tragedy
By the Rev. James Martin, SJ - Jesuit priest

Where were you, God?

We are crushed with grief, God.
We cannot bear to think of so many people killed.
We cannot bear to think of children being killed.
It is unthinkable to us, the worst tragedy.    Children.

Where were you, God? How could you let this happen?
Why is your world like this? We are sad and angry and confused.

But God, we know that you know what it means to have a child die.
For your Son died a violent death.

And we know that your Son understands grief.
For he wept bitterly when his friend Lazarus died.
And he was moved with compassion when he saw suffering.
His heart broke like our hearts do. He cried like we do today.

We know too that your Son raised Lazarus from the dead.
And that you raised your own murdered Son from the grave,
As a sign of the eternal life you have planned for us.
The life into which you now place the victims, whom you loved. And love.

We know that you understand our terrible anguish.
You accept our bitterness and our confusion too.
And we know that your Son is beside us, weeping with us.

We know that you are still with us God, in the darkness.
In our compassion for the families and friends of the victims.
In the love that moves us to care for one another.
In the anger that drives us to strive to put an end to violence,
As your Son tried to do in his time with us.

Most of all, eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them.

You said, "Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Comfort them, Loving God.
Comfort every grieving parent, every scared and confused child, every first responder.
Teach us your ways, and lead us toward your everlasting light, that light that always shines and that the darkness can never put out.  Amen.



"I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
 I believe in love, even when I don't feel it.
 I believe in God, even when there is silence."
 -Words scratched on the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany by a Jew hiding from Nazi persecution.

Advent

I have a friend who does all his Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. He says he finds the challenge exhilarating. While I can appreciate the adrenaline rush, I prefer to plan ahead. I'm not fanatical about it but I start thinking about gifts before Thanksgiving. I spread out my Christmas preparations over 4 - 6 weeks. I like it that way.

I think it's best to prepare spiritually for Christmas in the same way. It's too big of an event to just get started on Christmas Eve. That's why we have Advent. Advent means "coming" or "arrival." It's the season that helps us prepare for the advent of our Lord, both his first and second comings. Advent is the first season in the church year. It begins on the 4th Sunday prior to Christmas.

Advent is a season of prayer and reflection, of time of pondering like Mary. We focus more on our relationship with God. Often a devotional guide is a part. We light candles on the Advent wreath at church and maybe even at home. We reflect on the gifts that Christ brings to us - hope, peace, joy and love. We wait and prepare for the Light of Christ is be born in us anew.

Prayer: Help me to spiritually prepare for Christmas. Amen.

Extra Credit

The Advent Wreath is a German/Lutheran tradition that goes back to the 16 Century. It may have even been used in pre-Christian times as a pre-winter symbol of hope - as the days grew shorter another candle would be lit. The wreath, of course, is in the shape of a circle, a symbol of eternity. It's made or covered with evergreens, a symbol of God's faithfulness to us (ever-green). Candles are lighted on the four Sundays prior to Christmas, with the Christ candle lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to celebrate the gift of Christ, the Light of the World.

Thanksgiving

 

"If the only prayer you ever pray is 'Thank You,' that would suffice."

- Meister Eckharrt, 1260-1328

 

Prayer:

Gracious and Loving God,

Thank You.

Amen.