Discipleship not limited to understanding
Martin Luther presents a high view of discipleship, through the eyes of Jesus, as if Jesus is talking to all of us. Jesus speaks to us:
Child, discipleship is not limited to what you can understand – it must transcend all comprehension. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own understanding, and I will help you to comprehend...
Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge. In this way Abraham went forth from his father, not knowing where he was going. That is the way of the cross. You cannot find it in yourself, so you must let Me lead you as though you were a blind man.
Not the work which you choose, not the suffering you devise, but the road which is contrary to all that you choose or contrive or desire – that is the road you must take. It is to this path that I call you, and in this sense that you must be my disciple. [1]
Not uti, but frui
When religious professionals tried to put God in a box, Jesus replied, “God is not the God of the dead, but the living.” He is the ever living God, transcending our categories of thought and even our rote religious observance. He will not be put in a coffin of human control. We try to contain God, to manage God, but God ever and always breaks our categories: God will not be managed. As Augustine said, ‘God can never be uti [utilized] but must always be frui [enjoyed and related].’ Uti brings despair and self power, eventual emptiness. Frui brings abiding fruition.
Why? The ever living God shatters our little preconceptions and worlds: He is infinitely more than we would contain ‘in freezing coats of mail’ [Theilicke].
God can only be experienced and related to, not grasped.
He calls us, like Abraham and Sarah, to a land which we know not of: It is here that following God gets uncomfortable. But when we embrace it, as a child, we enter such beauty and such meaning as the world cannot comprehend...
Ever Living God
Perhaps it is best expressed in art form, this dance with the Living God! Tonight I praise Him, with Darlene Zschech and Hillsong:
Ever Living God
Maker of all the earth…
Everlasting King
Our eternal praise belongs to You!
All of the honor
All of the glory to You!
You are wonderful, marvelous, forever
Beautiful, Prince of Peace, Faithful One, forever…
Ever Living God
Maker of all the earth…
Everlasting King
Our eternal praise belongs to You!
All of the honor
All of the glory to You!
You are wonderful, marvelous, forever
Beautiful, Prince of Peace, Faithful One, forever…
Take the place of all honor,
Take the place above all thrones,
Take the place of all power:
You are the One
Glorious!
You are wonderful, marvelous, forever
Beautiful, Prince of Peace, Faithful One, forever…
Take the place of all honor,
Take the place above all thrones,
Take the place of all power:
You are the One
Glorious!
Jesus!
In worship and obedience
There is a place, by the seashore of life, to dance in grace, to release constriction, to release the need to manage God, the need to control Him in safety, to release the false categories of comprehension and social wisdom that we put on Him...and just embrace His greatness, worshiping Him in utter freedom.
In Perelandra, C.S. Lewis presents human temptation as a choice between a fixed land or a life-land that moves with the waves, at the will of Creator. The Tempter tempts the lady to choose the fixed land, where she can manage her next day, her person and wished and wants. But in her spirit she knows that she is called to the wave, to cast herself on the waves and let her Maker bring her to the king, her chosen. And after great battle, she wins out…to the wave and calling…to her intended, great glory!
We can only know God [and destiny] in worship and obedience: two sides of the coin of divine relation.
Thus, the Living God calls each of us to the dance, the wave, with Him. And yes, Jesus still speaks in 21st century calling!
Child, discipleship is not limited to what you can understand – it must transcend all comprehension. Plunge into the deep waters beyond your own understanding, and I will help you to comprehend.
May we join Him there…on the waves, to destiny! Further in and higher up...
Alleluia!
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