May Ramblings
Easter is behind us once more, and we wait again for the exuberance of Pentecost not forgetting Ascension Day when Jesus left us to get on with the calling he brought us to. The lectionary readings for this year have not focused on the meetings Jesus had with his disciples between resurrection and ascension but on John’s account of Jesus’ statements about himself and on the momentum of the new church. One of Jesus’ most radical claims, and perhaps the fuel that fired up those early communities, was that he revealed God to us. We cannot be followers of Jesus without wholeheartedly accepting that this claim was, and is, true. In this season of resurrection, the fact that death could not quench the life of Jesus is evidence that what he said about himself was trustworthy and to be believed. This means that, if we want to discover what God is like, we only have to look at Jesus, and we will learn all we need to know.
But there is another side to this important truth. If Jesus reveals God to us, any beliefs we hold about God that are not consistent with the values, character, and purposes of Jesus, are incorrect. If we see Jesus forgiving and including, but we believe that God is exclusive and judgmental, we have a contradictory view of God. If we see Jesus refusing to use violence to manifest God’s Reign, but we believe that God punishes people through natural disasters, accidents, or disease, we have a contradictory view of God. Not only does Jesus claim that he reveals God to us, he is also saying that God is like Jesus. This is the heart of our faith.