A Fresh Perspective

Fred Craddock tells about playing hide-and-seek with his brothers and sister when he was a kid. He had the perfect hiding spot—under the steps of the porch. His sister searched everywhere—behind trees, in the barn, in the corncrib. She passed by him again and again. Fred said he was confident she would never find him. Then it hit him—she would never find him. So he stuck out a toe, she saw it and cried, “I see you. You’re it, you’re it.” Fred crawled out muttering, “Phooey, you found me.” What did Fred really want? To stay hidden? To be alone? He wanted what we all want—to be found. We all want to be in relationship. It’s the most natural thing in the world. It’s basic to our humanity. And when we are in touch with our deepest longing and need, we know that we long to be in relationship to God as the foundation for all other relationships. John’s Gospel has a lot to say about this divine-human relationship utilizing very intimate mystical language. In John 14:1-3 Jesus...

There is a growing number of Christians today who are interpreting texts like John 14:6 (“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me”) inclusively, rather than exclusively. Some interpreters apply this to the risen, cosmic Christ who they see working anonymously through many different mediums and mediators. The Gospels, they point out, were written from a post-Easter point of view. What others call by a different name they believe is actually the living Christ. Others interpret Jesus’ statement “except through me” to be a reference to the values and virtues Jesus incarnated. In other words, anyone who embraces the values and virtues of Jesus can know God regardless of their particular beliefs. Acts 10:34 supports this reading: “In every nation anyone who fears (reverences) God and does what is right is acceptable to God.” Still others, like me, emphasize that John was writing to his particular community. When John wrote “no one” he ...

The late Henry Nouwen described life in the world as both filled and unfulfilled. Our lives, said Nouwen, are filled with things to do, people to meet, projects to finish, appointments to keep; they are like overpacked suitcases bursting at the seams. We are bombarded with life’s demands and opportunities. The result of all this overstimulation is that we get caught in a web of false expectations and contrived needs that often leaves us fearful and anxious and unfulfilled.           I am reminded of the preacher who liked to read and preach from a big loose leaf Bible. One Sunday he preached from the Genesis text about Adam and Eve. As he stood up to preach, one of his pages fell out. He was reading along, “And Adam said to Eve,” and he turned the page. He paused and read again, “And Adam said to Eve.” He looked under his Bible as he said again, “And Adam said to Eve . . . very interesting, looks like a leaf is missing.” The great paradox of o...

This is a kind of reverse reversal story. Much of Luke’s Gospel is about Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem , but these two disciples, possibly a husband and wife, are leaving Jerusalem . They are on the road to Emmaus, but it’s not like they were going anywhere in particular, they are simply leaving Jerusalem , because for them the story of Jesus had ended, and it ended badly, it ended in tragedy. The one in whom they had placed their hope for the redemption of Israel was rejected and crucified. But then something happens. They meet a stranger along the way. And as a result of this encounter, hope is reborn, a new faith is ignited that reverses the reversal – that turns them around and sets them on a new direction. How many times has the direction of your life changed because of an encounter with God, because you met the living Christ? Hopefully, at least once. Possibly, many times. This appearance story, I believe, sketches out the contexts where such encounters can occur, whe...