hidden beauty and true human ..

there are 110 draft posts sitting there
one i've been struggling with for a week
   which is a derivative of another failed draft ..
they will all have to wait ..
..

i've been sicky recently
but decided to brave the this-year unusual 35 degrees
and head-out to one of my favourite places for sunday meet ..
and i'm ever so glad
'cause what came down the pipe was refreshingly genuine theology
   for someone (me) tired of the same 'ol
   and longing for real spirited inspired truth a la hip
      no playing games

`|`

i'm certain i'm not going to be able to render the talk in any justifiable way
but i'll post a couple thoughts i managed to scribble down ..
   i couldn't keep-up with the many poignant quotables

the sermon was about beauty and the fact that beauty is usually hidden
and what we see as beauty is undeserving of the truly beautiful
   which often needs to be discovered for its beneath-the-surfaceness ..


the subject was Jesus the man
the texts were Isaiah 53:2 ff. and the end of Luke 23
..

the Isaiah passage ..

He grew up under the Lord’s gaze
    a tender green shoot from a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic in his appearance,
    nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised,
    and we did not care.
And yet it was our weaknesses he carried,
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down ..
and we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins !
Truth is he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.

`|`

a nearquote ..
" God sent Jesus and he appeared in humility
      and it unnerved us ..
we expected pomp and splendour so we could justify our own desires for a king
   instead we got a servant
      who washes feet "

a nearquote ..
" the churches have made themselves look kingly, empire-like
      rather than like Jesus in his humility " ..
because we want empire ..
   which begs the question .. when people enter our churchspace
      do they get the savour of Jesus the humble servant ? ..

nearquote ..
" we want a king
      and Jesus shows up and calls us back to our humanity " ..
   and this is loaded with the righteous truth
   that we so unlike what we are in our own humanity
      that we look for a Saul rather than a David
         like we did back then
      we want regal and impressive to replace the ' despicable me ' i see in myself ..

nearquote ..
" when you learn to love the hideous, you'll learn to hate the ' beautiful ' " ..
i'll leave that one hanging ..

nearquote ..
" we despised Love ..
we condemned ourselves
   when we looked in the mirror of His face and saw us there ..
      and we despised Him for it "

nearquote ..
" Jesus lowered himself to love us
      and as a result we lowered our opinion of him "

nearquotes ..
" we would have considered him a god worthy of worship
      if he had looked like one "

" he could have amazed us with display of cosmic marvels
      but he came and washed our feet "

" the theologians say he lay aside the beautiful things of God to come here ..
      Jesus didn't see it that way
         he saw it as stepping into beauty
         and revealed the beauty of us "

" the scars made Jesus even more beautiful "

" Jesus lowered himself for us
      but he didn't consider it a sacrifice
         he sees the beauty in us "

" i see you "

`|`

i rest

what a beautiful message .. .