The Big Picture (Part 3) — Learning From Joseph

We have been considering how God worked in the life of Joseph and that in his suffering and integrity Joseph was an amazing type (as a symbol and foreshadowing) of Christ. Though we are no longer types, we are called to be witnesses pointing people to Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

It has been said by many that we are always witnesses—one way or the other. Either our life attracts people to Jesus through the light of a transformed life, or it repels people because it claims something that it doesn’t deliver.
We need to ask whether our lives and churches are like a dark and oppressive forest to those who "know not the way?" It seems that so many of the people that I talk to that are antagonistic towards the church have been exposed to someone who was, in their view, an offensively negative witness. At the same time, those who are in the church may see those people who are angry and hurt as merely twisting things to justify their own sin. There is probably truth in both positions. What if we learned to look for the big picture in the lives of those we meet? What if we took the time to listen to the other person’s story and appreciate their suffering in a manifestation of the love of Christ? There would probably be fewer people angry and turned off at the church. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from a Nazi prison,

We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer. The only profitable relationship to others - and especially to our weaker brethren - is one of love, and that means the will to hold fellowship with them. God himself did not despise humanity, but became man for men’s sake.[1]

Last week’s post ended with me asking three fairly pointed questions,

• 
  
  Do we bear a family resemblance to Joseph and to Jesus? If we are going to be positive witnesses then it will be because people can see, hear, and feel Jesus in our lives.
• Where do we fit in the big picture plan of God? We know that he has called us to be a part of the plan though we may not know all the details. It may involve waiting, as well as suffering, and rejection at the hands of those we are trying to reach. It may not be a place of power and prominence, but rather a place in the margins, but why should we expect better than Jesus? He has given us an opportunity to share in the fellowship of his suffering so that we can also share in his comfort. 



Vines on a Kibutz in Israel


• He has a place for us. Will we embrace it? Jesus said that he who saves his own life will lose it and he who loses his life will save it. Yet we too often prefer to trust in our own efforts rather than trust in Christ. We self-medicate in a thousand different ways and yet can never heal ourselves from the sickness of sin. Only Jesus can do that.

What if things don’t work out the way we planned? It is all too easy to blame others for our failures. It is harder for us to accept our own responsibility to live fully for God despite hardship, suffering, and even death and leave the result to God. Trust is hard but it is the only way to embrace the big picture. Let us not become discouraged by setbacks and mistakes. God will see that his plan comes to completion. We just need to stay humble as we strive to live responsible, committed lives, yet depending daily on his grace. Again, let me quote Bonhoeffer,

“I believe that God can and will bring good out of evil, even out of the greatest evil. For that purpose, he needs men who make the best use of everything. I believe that God will give us all the strength we need to help us to resist in all time[s] of distress. But he never gives it in advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on him alone. A faith such as this should allay all our fears for the future. I believe that even our mistakes and shortcomings are turned to good account, and that it is no harder for God to deal with them than with our supposedly good deeds. I believe that God is no timeless fate, but that he waits for and answers sincere prayers and responsible actions.” [2]

We're not out of the woods yet... though Jesus knows the way!
Perhaps trusting God together is the big picture.

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[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (2011-05-10). Letters and Papers from Prison (Kindle Locations 224-227). Touchstone. Kindle Edition.

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (Kindle Locations 244-249).

Stationed on the Cross

One of the reasons I am thankful for this Doctor of Ministry program that I am a part of is that it is compelling me to continue taking up my cross and follow Christ in the mission of reconciliation. I strongly believe that reconciliation, real reconciliation, the down-to-the-bones kind not the spackle-and-paint kind will require me to die to myself daily. I presume that may be why reconciled lives are so rare.

In future posts, I will address various aspects of the reconciliation that Christ calls us into. We all need to be reconciled with God because of our own sins. This is the most common understanding of the ministry of reconciliation yet it does not come close to exhausting the subject. We must also reconcile ourselves to Christ’s plans for our lives, our churches, our communities, our families, etc. We must also live into his call to be reconciled with each other whether over the cultural divides of race, gender, class, politics, worldviews, level of education, the baseball team you follow, or the simple relational issues we encounter within our families.

One afternoon during our first week, we visited The Grotto, to walk the Stations of the Cross path, reflect on the theme of suffering, and then go up to the chapel on top of the cliff (with the great view) to pray together. In it all, I began to see a metaphor for our walk with Christ, for we are not only called to remember his suffering but to participate in it as we die to ourselves. From that experience, I wrote the following poem.

Stationed on the Cross

  “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,

                          will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32)

On a Faith-filled

Walk of remembrance,

Humbled, bowed down,

Quieted from the bustling lostness of man,

Listening together,

Christ counter-intuitively elevates us

To the high privilege, even glory

Of suffering with him,

Unto death.

It is from this vantage point

Stationed on the cross

That we can finally see,

Through his eyes,

Beholding the reconciling mission of Christ,

The very heart of God…

Participating passionately in

Creation’s celebratory song

As from each tribe we are revealed as family.

“If we have died with him, we will also live with him…”

 (2 Timothy 2:11)

© 2013 Greg K. Dueker

It is only as I die to my own selfish desires that I am free to participate in God’s mission in the world. I have to confess that I don’t like suffering and I don’t like denying myself. I find that I tend to die hard. Yet, Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, seems to celebrate even small victories, every attitude check, and each of my small obediences! For every moment I take my eyes off of myself he gives me a glimpse of his perspective and hope for the world. 

It is hard to build deep relationships of trust with others like we are having to do in our DMin cohort, yet I am finding it well worth it as we take up our stations on the cross!