Giving and receiving - an attempt to make sense of the greatest story ever told. [Pt. 1] God gives first.

‘In the beginning…”

We’re made aware of this God who creates, who acts, who makes things and says they’re good. In the beginning …if we take seriously the nature of God, the understanding that we have gained through the resultant search of many before us, that God has no beginning, he just…is.

Then the creation story is somehow also about a God who wants to be involved, who doesn’t just want to sit back and wonder what it would be like to create. He actually does it.

So God, starts, he begins, he makes, he decides to act, and from the beginning we see that this God takes the initiative.

Could this be one of the building blocks to understanding what God is like? If God decides to create, to begin something, he has to give. God gives first.

GOD

GIVES

FIRST.

What would compel God to give?

What compels you to give? More often than not when we give something away, we somehow expect something in return.

Is this God’s motivation? Is God expecting something back?

When God creates he simply tells what he has created to keep on creating to multiply and expand and grow. It’s almost as though this God, receives pleasure when his creation keeps on giving. Somehow when this divine principle of giving is practiced by the Creator’s creation the Creator receives. When creation gives, the Creator receives. When you give, God receives.

AndyC...

P.s. I wouldn't blame you if you thought my writing and phrasing in this article has a Rob Bell feel to it, I read and listen way too much to his stuff :D

Oh yes and this is just a random experiment on my part to make sense of the bible it's not a hermeneutical expose, it's just random thoughts that make sense to me, I hope they make sense to you.

Torn bits of paper (Abstract Confessions of a Cynic)

This is an attempt, by me, to be poetic. And not just for the sake of it either. There are limitations to endlessly trying to prove a point about anything, especially God! This is an attempt at removing those limitations. Writing a poem instead of an argument frees me up from being defensive, how do you defend a poem? You don't, you share it and allow people to come to their own conclusions. So, how do we get passed relating to God and Jesus in a systematic and rigid manner? I don't know the answer, but this poem is an attempt to be expressive not rigid, honest not defensive, hopefully it comes across this way...

The Poem:

Like torn bits of paper
At the mercy of the morning breeze
My thoughts are littered(I confess)
Disgusted and diseased

Like torn bits of paper
On a canvas of chaos
My heart is broken (I confess)
A mess and lifeless

Like torn bits of paper
In the hands of an artist
I am reconciled (I believe)
A mosaic in his likeness

Like torn bits of paper
Rough edges, tossed and tumbled
I am repentant (I believe)
Moved, aware, and humbled

Like torn bits of paper...

AndyC

So what 2... (pictures of faith)

I've been really humbled in recent weeks by the lack of love I've been able to show to fellow followers of Jesus! It is really frustrating...

I've found that cynicism has robbed me of genuine intimacy in the body of Christ. I've found that I do not have it all together. I've found that at times I've been blind to love of God in the very people of God. I've found that my deepest struggles are not with people and what they believe, but with my own insecurities, my own feelings and thoughts of wanting to be right.

At the moment I'm compelled to go on my knees, but often find that I lack the words and will to be honest with God, Jesus and myself. What do I say when I'm so convinced and convicted of the shortcomings in my life? How do I pray to Jesus in this moment of tremendous awareness of my unwillingness to love, when I know I should? So what do I say, what do we say to Jesus at that moment?

There is a story in Mark 10 that sheds some light on this, its in a totally different context to the one I find myself in, but still fills me with hope, expectation and a longing to more faithful.

The story in Mark 10:46-52 goes like this:
Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

What an encounter, right?! I think it's when Bartimaeus hears that Jesus of Nazareth is walking by, is in his midst, that he is filled with hope. But it's really interesting that he doesn't ask Jesus straight away to restore his sight. In his moment of hope and expectation Bartimaeus shouts! "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Everyone else in the area then immediately tries to get him to shut up, 'but he shouted all the more, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

And Jesus responds.

It seems that no matter our situation whether we be blind to the love of God, calloused by our cynicism or overcome by our hurt and pain and disillusionment, when we call on the mercy of Jesus he responds. For Bartimaeus Jesus ultimately repsonds by restoring his sight. Bartimaeus' faith healed him. So what does faith look like for Bartimaeus? It looks like calling on the mercy of Jesus with expectation and hope.

Maybe faith isn't as complicated as I make it out to be? Maybe faith is as simple as calling on the mercy of Jesus to meet me in this moment. If there ever was an aspect of faith that we could be totally sure about, it would be that Jesus will respond to us with his mercy! Jesus will respond! Perhaps his mercy might be shown by restoring your sight or it might be totally different from what you expect. But be assured, he will respond and you will know his mercy. Call on his mercy!

AndyC