Lent Day #13

This immediately follows the scripture we looked at yesterday.

John 14:8-14 (ESV)
8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."

THOUGHTS:
This may bring up quite a few questions, and I'm not going to pretend that I have answers for all of them -- and I certainly won't address them all in the next couple paragraphs! Sometimes living in tension with the questions is the most faithful response available to us, and I think this is probably good. Reading the Gospels, it is clear that Jesus was not out to answer questions. He was thought provoking, faith inspiring, and miraculous, but sometimes it seems like you'll get more direct answers out of a magic 8-ball! (No, that doesn't mean you should trust a magic 8-ball...)

Look again at what Jesus says in verses 9-11: Seeing Jesus is seeing God, because Jesus is in God, and God is in Jesus. OK, so Jesus and God are intertwined such that they are either (1) the same being, or (2) of one essence. This is part of our trinitarian theology. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all facets of ONE God. They are the same being, but separate and distinct personas as well. It sounds like polytheism in monotheistic clothes or like monotheism masquerading as polytheism or something. That's OK. At some point we have to trust the almighty on this one, but sometimes we also get to wrestle with the ideas. Even when we think we understand it, it can be pretty elusive to try to explain, but it's pretty exciting stuff!

OK, so God and Jesus are one. Then we see that Jesus says that he doesn't do things of his own authority. Er? Does this shoot a hole in the "God = Jesus" interpretation? Jesus then says that God dwelling in him does the works. OK, so somehow God lives in Jesus and it's really God who is acting. I think somewhere in here is where we say that Jesus is both FULLY HUMAN and FULLY DIVINE. Mathematically: JESUS = 100% HUMAN + 100% GOD.

Clear as mud? Great! Then get this: Jesus says: "whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do." Yes, that's right, Jesus said his followers will do the same that he does, and even GREATER works. How does that sit with you?

What are the "greater works"? People come up with many answers, such as building the church into a Christian empire, or a by saying that it refers to the accumulation of all accomplishments by Christians over the ages, etc. Maybe, but couldn't we also say that Christians have been responsible for many terrible things too? The Crusades come to mind...as well as backing the dehumanizing of various populations at various periods in history, such as women, slaves, gays, non-Christians, etc. I'm not sure what these greater things are. I pulled out my Bible commentary, but it is silent on this one.

Finally, verses 13-14 tell us that whatever we ask for in Jesus name, he will do. Well, maybe my paraphrasing is too presumptuous. When Jesus says "you" here, are we included, or just the disciples sitting in the room? Let's note that it's open to interpretation, then assume for the moment that we are included. My first question starts, "so if I were to pray for a billion dollars in Jesus name ..."

My Bible commentary does address this -- it says that Jesus is alluding to the type of prayers that will be answered. Namely, those that correspond to the nature of Jesus. Hmm...OK. So my next question starts, "if I pray for homes to be found for all orphans, support networks to be formed for all widows, and the end to all war ..."

It still leaves questions, doesn't it? The only follow up I have is that maybe we bear some responsibility for our prayers. If we are the body of Christ, might the action of Christians (and ourselves specifically) be an integral component of our prayer? A quote I like about this is from "The Holy Longing: The Search for Christian Spirituality" by Ronald Rolheiser, where he says that when we pray "not only God in heaven is being petitioned and asked to act. We are also charging ourselves, as part of the body of Christ, with some responsibility for answering the prayer. To pray as a Christian demands concrete involvement in trying to bring about what is pleaded for in the prayer."

Think about it. Pray about it. What do you think?

PRAYER:
Dear God of the margins, sometimes we get confused. Help us to live in the tension of our questions. Lead us into communities where we can wrestle with your Word together. Help us to be the answer to prayers that we are waiting for, both for ourselves and for others in the world. All this we pray in Jesus name, AMEN.