Focus:
Unconditional
love
Function:
To
give an invitation to join the family.
Intro:
I suppose a different kind of theological journey opened up for me
when I read the book “The Shack.”
It
isn't particularly well written, but it is an intriguing story about
human suffering and God and where God is in the middle of our pain.
The
book was quite controversial simply because the character of the
Godhead in the Trinity was that of a wise, old black woman.
The
role of the Holy Spirit was played by what appeared to be a wispy,
sort of ghostlike female form and the only male in the Trinity was
that of the son, Jesus.
People
were offended by the idea of God in the feminine. But the Bible says
that God created male and female in God's own image. The image of God
is both, but the language of the OT is male.
Throughout
the scripture, the female, nurturing, caring qualities of God are
brought out.
Nurture
and caring are not supposed to be solely female characteristics, but
the book piqued my imagination as to how much I have limited my
understanding of God by forcing the Godhead into a traditional male
role.
The
Spirit and the Bride say Come.
Both
of those invitations to humanity are given to us in the feminine
gender.
We
have come to God at her request. We come to God at the request of her
body, the bride, the Church, us.
I
stopped to visit with my mom on Thursday morning, early. She is
beginning to thrive again in the nursing home and that really
comforts me.
It
didn't feel like nurturing when I placed those events into an
irrevocable motion about a year before we had all planned on doing
it.
And,
the initial reaction, born out of confusion was anger and that caused
a lot, a lot of pain.
But
her pain was overcome by her mother's love.
Her
desire to have her children back, folded into her brood, safe in her
nest and comforted in her love was greater than the pain she felt at
my decision.
At
her request, I was able to come back and the last several visits have
all been about the love and nurture between a mother and son. And now
that love and nurture goes both ways.
I
learned something about nurture in that process.
A
mother's nurture always offers grace and it always
compels a person to be their best. A mother's love always believes
and always welcomes us.
Isn't
that like God's love toward us?
God,
El Shaddai, The Many Breasted One, God, the nurturer.
And
our passage, verse 17: 17The
Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”
Everyone who hears this must also say, “Come!”
Come,
whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants
it.”
(gesture
the embrace of breast-feeding, to the hug of a baby and then point to
God in worship)
God,
the nurturer. God who is both woman and man, the nurturer. It is a
call for us to be the same to an hurting world.
The
Spirit and the Bride say Come. Funny, but the Spirit is female and
the bride, as we have seen is female. The Bride is the Church,
female, but the church is also Christ's body, male.
These
gender distinctions can be a cop out from our true calling to be the
healing agent.
So
again, verse 17: 17The
Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”
Everyone who hears this must also say, “Come!”
Come,
whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants
it.”
There
is a neat metaphor here to one of the parables. Matthew
13:33. Jesus said that the kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, you
can't see it change others, but each cell affects the cell next to it
and transforms the cells around it.
The
middle of verse 17: Everyone
who hears this must also say, “Come!”
God
the nurturer, and the bride, the deliberately feminine image of God's
transforming power continue the revolution, the change, one person
toward another by offering the same love, grace and mercy toward
everyone else.
It
all starts with a response to the call, again from the end of verse
17: accept
the water of life as a gift, whoever wants it.”
This
is that cellular transformation. One individual calling to another to
take the water of life freely.
I
wonder why everyone does not respond?
I
wonder if it is because instead of offering the water of life freely,
without cost, if instead of offering the water of life to every
single person, at times Christians have been much more comfortable
offering the free gift to those who will not make them uncomfortable
because they are so different.
That
is why taking care of the Muhamud family is so important to our
Christian witness. And we know that it is also a metaphor for
extending ourselves beyond our comfort zone to everyone who is
different from us. From those who are different religions and faiths,
to those whose lifestyles make us uncomfortable.
This
invitation comes by the Holy Spirit, through the Church, through us,
to the world entire.
Take
the drink, take the gift.
And
that brings me to my grandmother.
She
was always vibrant. Jeannie reminds me of her. I remember one
Saturday afternoon with her playing the piano and all the grandkids
standing around her singing the classic hymn “When we all get to
heaven” and feeling the joy of the Lord.
It
was a way to offer the gift of the water of life freely and she did
something amazing as soon as the song was over. I will never forget
it.
She
looked at all of us, about 10 and with tears of joy, without
preaching, but with a mothers longing, a mother's aching heart to
have all her children with her, she invited us to drink the water of
life without cost, freely.
It
starts at that invitation, a gift from God to us.
A
gift of love to us from God. The water of life, hope and peace in a
world gone wrong with greed and all we have to do is drink.
Have
we drunk freely today?
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