Day 46: More to the Story

While the Eastertide recognition of the freed-from-tomb Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah is the pivotal recognition event in the story of the gospel, it is a strange one, because this moment comes to different groups and individuals at different points of time in history. The good news of Jesus is a love story between God and innumerable creatures in his beloved creation, but it is also a mystery, because it seems so abnormal and unfair that not everyone gets to recognize him on that Resurrection day for the most loveable, amazing, trustworthy, awesome, and exciting Person that he is.

The Jewish Pharisee-Christian Preacher called Saul/Paul is a perfect person to wrestle with the mystery of God's choice to stretch out and stagger the timing of recognition. His emotional and intellectual burden is the tragic situation that seems apparent throughout Jesus's ministry and so soon after Jesus's resurrection--his own Jewish family and religious community, God's special chosen nation, is not, in general, recognizing Jesus as their Messiah, while all those Gentile heathens who had never even spent more than five minutes thinking about God or Messiah, much less studied the Law and the Prophets for generations and lifetimes, they see him perfectly clearly as their Savior! What the heck has gone wrong? Is God up to something tricky, or has the God-Israel bond in the whole Old Testament become a failed love affair to forget?

It seems like a cruel trick to ditch Israel now after so many generations of promising and persisting in his faithful love to a nation that was often wrestling with, murmuring against, protesting to, forgetting about, and cheating on her Lover. Has his reputable forbearance finally ended for good, has he moved on to befriend and be enjoyed by everyone else but his first love, Israel?

No! rejoices Paul as he works through the various clues of the mystery and stumbles upon its amazing answer in Romans 9-11. God has not given up on his first love, nor has he failed to achieve what he promised he would do. He is just choosing the long and winding road of a love story with this nation, so that Israel, who was strong on separateness and exclusion, and could get too cocky and self-reliant with her Chosen Nation status, would experience the vulnerable condition being the Not-Beloved-Child for a time. The oh so long time of alienation and silent-treatment with his most special Israel opens up a generous season of gracious inclusion to those outsiders who never before were called any people at all, much less a Chosen People. The cosmic fullness and ripeness of time will bring that ultimate earthshaking moment of recognition and reconciliation that the whole of creation is waiting and longing and groaning for: That future day when all Israel receives the gracious gift of recognizing her re-revealed Messiah and shouts with one voice, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"

As Saul/Paul experienced in his own blinding day-of-recognition conversion, there seems to be something going on with God's use of timing and recognition. The time is ripe for love at different points for different peoples, and the most Wise and Forbearing Lover of all knows, as the Song of Songs refrain reminds us, that it is foolish to awaken, stir up, arouse love before the time is ripe.

Just as Aslan chose to be seen by Lucy early on and the others later on their long hike through Narnia, God uses delay techniques like scales upon eyes, or a deafening of ears, or a spirit of stupor, or a hardening of heart, to create a staggered timing of recognition that allows every individual and people to experience that moment of recognition on a day when the time is perfectly ripe in their lives for the best kind of Love to be awakened.

So for those of us who recognize and celebrate the world's Messiah on Easter Day, we get the thrill of getting in on the secret of what is coming next, and anticipating the rest of the story proceed to that locking-of-eyes and passionate embrace and swelling music moment for those who haven't yet recognized him. We can rest today with joy and relief, knowing that the ones who don't celebrate The Easter Messiah with us today are being kept from recognition today for a very good reason, and that their Lover will unmask himself for them at the perfectly right time just as he did for us. Everyone will get their own taste of terror and shame and crisis and confusion, their Emma moment of apocalypse, or their Mrs. Doubtfire moment, or their Susan/Peter/Edmund moment, or their Agent Kujan moment. And because this is a cosmic comedy and fairy tale, for many people that critical moment of recognition will come almost too late. But "almost" is that important, oh so important word. Breathe your sigh of relief, catch any new story followers up on what has happened so far, and other than that, all that is left to do is to sit back and enjoy watching the wisest Author and craftiest Lover use his best tricks of the trade to bring about the conclusion of this satisfying mystery and most celebrated romantic comedy of all time.

Happy Easter! Jesus Christ is risen, and become the firstfruits of the Dead!

P.S
Below is a shockingly graphic but relevant Bible chapter that serves as a metaphorical summary of God's long and winding love story with the Jewish people. The final verses are quite the surprise happy ending after such a long middle portion describing extremely serious love-hate relational issues, issues that would lead most marriage therapists to conclude that reconciliation is impossible. Would Jerry Springer even put a couple like this on his show? It helps us get the picture of Jehovah's mysterious and impetuous relationship with Israel as his difficult-to-love but forever Beloved nation. We Gentile Christians and heathens are eventually introduced into the story, as minor characters called Samaria and Sodom, and with mixed feelings of empathy and gratitude toward Israel, we recognize that the almost-divorce of the lovers gave us our chance to be included in the story too: (pasted in from biblegateway.com)

Ezekiel 16 (The Message)

Ezekiel 16
Your Beauty Went to Your Head
1-3 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her outrageous violations. Say this: 'The Message of God, the Master, to Jerusalem: You were born and bred among Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
4-5 "'On the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, you weren't bathed and cleaned up, you weren't rubbed with salt, you weren't wrapped in a baby blanket. No one cared a fig for you. No one did one thing to care for you tenderly in these ways. You were thrown out into a vacant lot and left there, dirty and unwashed—a newborn nobody wanted.

6-7 "'And then I came by. I saw you all miserable and bloody. Yes, I said to you, lying there helpless and filthy, "Live! Grow up like a plant in the field!" And you did. You grew up. You grew tall and matured as a woman, full-breasted, with flowing hair. But you were naked and vulnerable, fragile and exposed.

8-14 "'I came by again and saw you, saw that you were ready for love and a lover. I took care of you, dressed you and protected you. I promised you my love and entered the covenant of marriage with you. I, God, the Master, gave my word. You became mine. I gave you a good bath, washing off all that old blood, and anointed you with aromatic oils. I dressed you in a colorful gown and put leather sandals on your feet. I gave you linen blouses and a fashionable wardrobe of expensive clothing. I adorned you with jewelry: I placed bracelets on your wrists, fitted you out with a necklace, emerald rings, sapphire earrings, and a diamond tiara. You were provided with everything precious and beautiful: with exquisite clothes and elegant food, garnished with honey and oil. You were absolutely stunning. You were a queen! You became world-famous, a legendary beauty brought to perfection by my adornments. Decree of God, the Master.

15-16 "'But your beauty went to your head and you became a common whore, grabbing anyone coming down the street and taking him into your bed. You took your fine dresses and made "tents" of them, using them as brothels in which you practiced your trade. This kind of thing should never happen, never.

What a Sick Soul!
17-19 "'And then you took all that fine jewelry I gave you, my gold and my silver, and made pornographic images of them for your brothels. You decorated your beds with fashionable silks and cottons, and perfumed them with my aromatic oils and incense. And then you set out the wonderful foods I provided—the fresh breads and fruits, with fine herbs and spices, which were my gifts to you—and you served them as delicacies in your whorehouses. That's what happened, says God, the Master.
20-21 "'And then you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had given birth to as my children, and you killed them, sacrificing them to idols. Wasn't it bad enough that you had become a whore? And now you're a murderer, killing my children and sacrificing them to idols.

22 "'Not once during these years of outrageous obscenities and whorings did you remember your infancy, when you were naked and exposed, a blood-smeared newborn.

23-24 "'And then to top off all your evil acts, you built your bold brothels in every town square. Doom! Doom to you, says God, the Master! At every major intersection you built your bold brothels and exposed your sluttish sex, spreading your legs for everyone who passed by.

25-27 "'And then you went international with your whoring. You fornicated with the Egyptians, seeking them out in their sex orgies. The more promiscuous you became, the angrier I got. Finally, I intervened, reduced your borders and turned you over to the rapacity of your enemies. Even the Philistine women—can you believe it?—were shocked at your sluttish life.

28-29 "'You went on to fornicate with the Assyrians. Your appetite was insatiable. But still you weren't satisfied. You took on the Babylonians, a country of businessmen, and still you weren't satisfied.

30-31 "'What a sick soul! Doing all this stuff—the champion whore! You built your bold brothels at every major intersection, opened up your whorehouses in every neighborhood, but you were different from regular whores in that you wouldn't accept a fee.

32-34 "'Wives who are unfaithful to their husbands accept gifts from their lovers. And men commonly pay their whores. But you pay your lovers! You bribe men from all over to come to bed with you! You're just the opposite of the regular whores who get paid for sex. Instead, you pay men for their favors! You even pervert whoredom!

35-38 "'Therefore, whore, listen to God's Message: I, God, the Master, say, Because you've been unrestrained in your promiscuity, stripped down for every lover, flaunting your sex, and because of your pornographic idols and all the slaughtered children you offered to them, therefore, because of all this, I'm going to get all your lovers together, all those you've used for your own pleasure, the ones you loved and the ones you loathed. I'll assemble them as a courtroom of spectators around you. In broad daylight I'll strip you naked before them—they'll see what you really look like. Then I'll sentence you to the punishment for an adulterous woman and a murderous woman. I'll give you a taste of my wrath!

39-41 "'I'll gather all your lovers around you and turn you over to them. They'll tear down your bold brothels and sex shrines. They'll rip off your clothes, take your jewels, and leave you naked and exposed. Then they'll call for a mass meeting. The mob will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. They'll burn down your houses. A massive judgment—with all the women watching!

41-42 "'I'll have put a full stop to your whoring life—no more paying lovers to come to your bed! By then my anger will be played out. My jealousy will subside.

43 "'Because you didn't remember what happened when you were young but made me angry with all this behavior, I'll make you pay for your waywardness. Didn't you just exponentially compound your outrageous obscenities with all your sluttish ways?

44-45 "'Everyone who likes to use proverbs will use this one: "Like mother, like daughter." You're the daughter of your mother, who couldn't stand her husband and children. And you're a true sister of your sisters, who couldn't stand their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46-48 "'Your older sister is Samaria. She lived to the north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister is Sodom, who lived to the south of you with her daughters. Haven't you lived just like they did? Haven't you engaged in outrageous obscenities just like they did? In fact, it didn't take you long to catch up and pass them! As sure as I am the living God!—Decree of God, the Master—your sister Sodom and her daughters never even came close to what you and your daughters have done.

49-50 "'The sin of your sister Sodom was this: She lived with her daughters in the lap of luxury—proud, gluttonous, and lazy. They ignored the oppressed and the poor. They put on airs and lived obscene lives. And you know what happened: I did away with them.

51-52 "'And Samaria. Samaria didn't sin half as much as you. You've committed far more obscenities than she ever did. Why, you make your two sisters look good in comparison with what you've done! Face it, your sisters look mighty good compared with you. Because you've outsinned them so completely, you've actually made them look righteous. Aren't you ashamed? But you're going to have to live with it. What a reputation to carry into history: outsinning your two sisters!

53-58 "'But I'm going to reverse their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters. And—get this—your fortunes right along with them! Still, you're going to have to live with your shame. And by facing and accepting your shame, you're going to provide some comfort to your two sisters. Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will become what they were before, and you will become what you were before. Remember the days when you were putting on airs, acting so high and mighty, looking down on sister Sodom? That was before your evil ways were exposed. And now you're the butt of contempt, despised by the Edomite women, the Philistine women, and everybody else around. But you have to face it, to accept the shame of your obscene and vile life. Decree of God, the Master.

59-63 "'God, the Master, says, I'll do to you just as you have already done, you who have treated my oath with contempt and broken the covenant. All the same, I'll remember the covenant I made with you when you were young and I'll make a new covenant with you that will last forever. You'll remember your sorry past and be properly contrite when you receive back your sisters, both the older and the younger. I'll give them to you as daughters, but not as participants in your covenant. I'll firmly establish my covenant with you and you'll know that I am God. You'll remember your past life and face the shame of it, but when I make atonement for you, make everything right after all you've done, it will leave you speechless.'" Decree of God, the Master.