“I Can’t Get Up”
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
March 7, 2010

Let’s see how many of these commercial slogans you can remember. Nike says, “Just…do it.”

Reebock, on the other foot, says, “Life is not…a spectator sport.”

Nissan says, “Life’s a journey…enjoy the ride.”

L’Oreal: “Because I’m…worth it.”

Toys R Us: “I don’t want..to grow up.”

UPS: “What can Brown…do for you?”

Smith Barney: “We make money the old fashioned way. …We earn it.”

MasterCard: “There are some things money can’t buy. …For everything else there’s MasterCard.”

Army: “Be all that you…can be.”

Hallmark: “When you care enough to…send the very best.”

McDs: “You deserve…a break today.”

Burger King: “Have it…your way.”

Wendys: “Where’… the beef.”

Sprite: “Obey…your thirst.”

And from Life Call: “I’ve fallen and…I can’t get up.”

Many times I have found the great problem of faith for Christians is that when they fall down they can’t get back up. I wonder why that is since I have never had a problem with this…well…problem. I am not saying that I do not fall or sin. Everyone does that, including your pastor. And if you say you have not sinned then the Apostle John says you are lying to yourself. (1 John 1:10) Everybody sins; even Christians. It’s like that bumper sticker theology says: “Christians aren’t perfect; they’re just forgiven.” But is that really true? Maybe some Christians never get back up again when they fall down because they do not truly comprehend their state before God.

I do not have a problem with this; I know who I am. I know how God looks at me. And so, I have always been able to get back on my spiritual feet and walk with God again. Ever since I was a boy I knew that God loved me for the sake of loving me—not because I was a good boy. I understood the reason he came and died for me was because I could not do it on my own. Mark is still a boy. He has not grown up as much as he would like to have at this point in life. I am pushing 60 now and you would think I would be more mature by now. I am not. As a result I still stumble when I would have wanted to be the man—God’s man. So I get back on my feet and journey on, confident that God still shows up for our garden walks even when I have been disobedient. He still showed up to walk with Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit. He knew they did it but he still showed up. This makes me wonder if their banishment from the garden was as much about not wanting to be with God as it was the result of disobedience. But our first parents were focused on themselves and whenever we do that, we are headed for a fall.

The great beauty of this Faith, if one takes a moment to consider, is that life is actually about God—not about self. If I act like life is about me then I am in big trouble. If it is about what I can do or cannot do, I am in a serious mess. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” I understand. I have the same problem Paul had. But Paul journeyed on. I walk on too—despite my ups and downs. What will you do?

So now that I have loosely established that we are all sinners, let me just come out and say it: We are saved by grace through faith and not by works of the flesh or the Law. It is not what you do. It is what Christ did for you that saves you from eternal death and damnation. All you have to do is accept that in faith and God’s grace has you covered. But does that mean you should just go on sinning so that grace may abound to you more and more? Paul says at the beginning of Romans 6, “Heaven forbid!”

In our text today, Paul says that the Hebrews were very much like us. They were baptized; they ate and drank spiritual food and liquid. Or perhaps it is that we are like them. If either is true then we are in some trouble whether we follow prescribed religious practices or not. The reason for this is that we are sinners just the same as the wilderness wanderers of old.

So God looked out for the Hebrews, as he does for us. He provided for them and encouraged them on their journey. But he became displeased with some of them. The result was their deaths. There are some things in life that will kill us if we persist in doing them. In fact, Moses and Paul do more than suggest that there are some things over which God will strike us down. We may think we are excluded from being concerned with our sins. We may indeed be taking God’s favor and grace too lightly, “sitting down to eat” and drink at his banquet table…but “rising up to sin.”

In the previous chapter, Paul had written about running the race in a manner that you will be able to finish. He does not say to run it in a way that you beat everyone else to the tape. But he does say to run so as to win the prize. In our case that would be eternal fellowship with God—not a gold medal. Unending friendship with Jesus is our reward if we run with God’s Spirit to the end of this life. Now you can still run to the end of the race if you fall down. In fact you can fall down many times and still finish the race. But you can’t finish if you don’t get back on your feet and run through the pain and the humiliation until the race is completed.

Let me tell you about a few of my models in this regard. One, since the big game was last night, number 42 comes to mind. Several games ago, Lance Thomas suffered a deep tissue bruise to his leg. Everyone thought it would sideline him for a few games but he played through the pain. Do you think he is happy now that he did?

The televangelist Jimmy Swaggart was busted for sexual crime many years ago. Well, he was caught anyway but he could have slunk from the cameras and never faced what he had done. Instead he kept on preaching. Now I am not a Jimmy Swaggart fan. But I applaud him standing back up when he had seriously fallen down on the job. I commend the kind of attitude that says I am a loser but I am not only forgiven, I am called and I will not stop preaching until God stops me.

Jim Bakker, another TV Christian, was busted for economic crimes and went to prison. But in prison, he did ministry and started a more low key, Bible teaching TV show after he got out of prison.

Peter is another good model. At the brazier, he repeatedly denied being a student of Jesus. He insisted that he did not even know the man. That is worse than Lance Thomas turing his back on Coach K. It is unthinkable. But Peter did it. If that were you or me would we get back on our feet and go out to tell people about the Christ we had denied? Peter did; and he became a world-changing Apostle. He did not stay down because his life was really not about Peter.

I am impressed by the tenacity and the thirst and these people who are willing to play through the pain and minister through the humiliation. We should learn from their examples and press on despite the injury of sin because it is not about our proclivity to sin. It is about God’s propensity to love us and be gracious. Should you try harder? Absolutely. Should you give up because your efforts have not yielded the kind of results you have wished? No. Absolutely not. Press on.

You should not expect that you will always stand on your own two feet though. “Take heed,” the scripture says. You just might fall. Some of us think we will never fall because we do not sin or because we are so religious. Watch out! There may be a loose rug in your future.

What is it though that the Apostle is warning us about? What is he saying could be our fall? The answer is clear. Idolatry. In verse seven he says we should not be idolaters, which in its purest sense is simply desiring evil, as it says a verse earlier. Then in verse 14, just outside the text today, he says it again: “flee from idolatry.” Sure, sexual immorality is a huge problem, especially when it becomes idolatry. Veneration of anything or anyone before God is idol worship. That is why one needs to get back on their feet when they have fallen and walk again with God. Did you put him second just now? Put him first now. But take heed: temptation will come again.

How does one escape these temptations? One cannot escape being tempted but can escape what she is tempted to do or be. Although, in order to escape, one must be on her feet because the way of escape is to “flee”! In the ensuing verses, Paul seems to suggest that fleeing does not mean white-knuckle determination to simply flee from temptation. The way of escape seems to be a fleeing to something very helpful. Paul refers us to the Lord’s Supper. I do not think he means the elements themselves (which can be another tempting trap) but instead, what the elements tell us. Why do we eat and drink to the memory of Jesus? We have sinned and therefore, the Father had to send his only begotten Son to save us from perdition and himself from an eternity separated from the ones he loves.

Yes, we we are tempted and even sin but God’s intention is that we get back up and continue walking with him. Furthermore, he has provided a way that we can get back up. How? Notice that the spiritual bread we eat is participation in the body of Christ. The spiritual cup set in front of us is a participation in the blood of Christ. In other words, our way out whether we’re up or down is always the grace of God in his Son. This is what the Supper tells us. It is not a religious act; his Supper is a reminder of our need for grace and his unremitting offer.

Do you partake? Are you drinking deeply of God’s grace? Are you getting up and journeying on after you have fallen? Or are you beat down by the sin that so easily besets us, finding in hard or even impossible to get back up again? God is faithful. Depend upon him instead of yourself. Get up. Walking with God does not mean that you never miss a walk but that when you do falter you lace up your shoes and meet God again on the sidewalk of your life. Don’t you hear him calling? “Follow me.” Get up and hit the road anew. “Follow me.”

“Extreme Makeover”
Philippians 3:17-4:1
preached February 28, 2010

(I’m always amazed at how things change by the time you preach the sermon.)

I have only watched the television program one time. But I understand it is pretty much the same episode each time you view. A homeowner is chosen for a complete makeover of their house. And they need the renovation. Many of the houses have gone neglected so long that they are rather disgusting—particularly bathrooms. These houses need lots of work. So the family is whisked away at the program’s expense for a vacation while the house is reborn—sometimes like a phoenix. The house is demolished and then restarted from foundation up.

A week or two later, the family is brought back while the house is obscured by the Extreme Makeover bus. The family and crews are on one side of the bus and the rebirthed house on the other. Everyone shouts, “Move that bus” and it does, revealing the gorgeous new house to the astonished family.

Now I cannot help the feeling I have as the family is taken through the house. Perhaps it is why I do not watch the program. (Besides not wanting to cry at how much better off the family now is; it really is emotional at this point in the show.) The feeling I have—even amidst a kind of grateful emotion—is, “How long will this last?” Will they allow it to fall again into disrepair? That which was once reborn, would it once more become disgusting and even, to borrow an idea from Paul in our text today, shameful?

Paul seems to have similar concerns for the household of God. Would that which was once in a horrible state but had been rebuilt and reborn fall back into humiliation? It is all too easy, isn’t it, for the Christian to espouse proper doctrine but be shameful in her actions? We all know of cases—indeed, we have cases among us now—in which those who would tell us of the greatness of Christ in their lives are living proof that they actually believe otherwise. Oh, yes; rebuild this house and watch me tear it down again! Paul has an answer for these people.

Keep your eyes on me even as I keep mine on Jesus. He says, “Imitate me.” I remember the first time I read that, I thought, How arrogant. Strange, isn’t it? We don’t think it proud if someone says, Look here at how much weight I’ve lost in so short a time. I did it by following these steps and if you do the same thing, if you imitate me, you will lose too. We don’t think it arrogant when someone says, I love what you’ve done with your house. Who did your painting or Who came up with that idea? And then when you’re told how and that you could use that idea too to improve your own home, you don’t think it prideful. You think it is helpful.

Paul intends to help, not make you feel foolish. He says imitate me, not because his life is anything great of itself. This is the same guy who was a prideful murderer a few years before. But now he is forgiven, made by Christ’s grace an Apostle of the Church, and by the power of God able to say to others, If you want the same thing, imitate me. That’s not arrogance; that’s prudence.

There are two prime problems in the Church today. One, people think it exists to help them through some shabby patch in their lives. Two, the Church thinks it’s her job to make of us good people. Children are born and suddenly we think we need to go to church. That’s great. But what if that child dies? Will you want to go to church then or will you stop this God business because it doesn’t make you feel any better. Economic times get tough and people go to church. But if God asks of you an offering—a real sacrifice—making the finances even tighter, how long will you continue in the church game? If you follow the Way of Light and Salvation there is nothing to fear in this life. Leave the fellowship and thought you may feel good sometimes, there is much to fear. Imagine the people who had to camp outside the ancient cities instead of being safe inside its walls.

Worse, what if you came to church because you simply felt the need to be a better person—a good person? The Bible says there is no such thing. Psalm 53:3 says, “there is none who does good, not even one.” Paul wants us to make it into the kingdom of God in heaven. He says that our citizenship is there—not here where we so often want comfort and good feelings over the cross or even simple fellowship. William Law, the 18th century English cleric, said, “If we are traveling heavenward, we are already in heaven.” That’s the idea that Paul has when he says “citizenship.” The word he uses is politeuma and means a colony or outpost. Paul was familiar with this idea of being a citizen of the Roman Empire. He even seemed proud to be a Roman citizen. Though he lived in a far-flung outpost of the empire, he lived as a citizen of the capital city. That is what Paul desires for us, that we act like we’re in heaven already, while we live in this distant earthly colony. But how does one live as a citizen of heaven? Have you ever been there?

When Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk went on pilgrimage to Rome, he was overwhelmed with the differences between it and his homeland of Germany. He found that he didn’t live at all like the citizens there and determined to learn how and enjoy what should have been that most important time in his life. So he watched the lives of the people there to see what they did and how they acted.

Paul offers the same thing to us. He knew how to live as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and offers to show us the ropes. Paul doesn’t want us to imitate him so that we’ll be good people or so that life will be easier for us. He wants us to imitate him for one reason: so we’ll remember to whose kingdom we belong. God intended from before the time of Abram to make us heirs of a great landscape. We need to remember that we were bought with a great price, not that Jesus died so we might feel better about our wretched condition. If you were to feel better…in fact, if you were going to be better, who would you try to be like? If you were going to makeover your life, tear it down (at least the bathroom and kitchen and maybe that ratty backyard that needs landscaped so badly), and renovate it, what would you want it to look like? Who would you want to be like?

Paul offers himself as a model because he had modeled his life after Christ’s life. Seems like a good example to follow to me. Or if not me, perhaps Timothy or Epaphroditus, He says to to “keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example” of the apostles, whom Jesus himself taught to follow his own way of living.

Paul is in tears as he dictates this part of the letter because many had not followed his example but followed their bellies instead. Good feelings and high times were what they really desired even though they said they were followers of Jesus. It brought real tears of regret and sorrow to the apostle’s eyes. He had wanted those people to enjoy their citizenship and fellowship here and to arrive with him at the gates of heaven.

Susan and I have worked pretty hard (in fact some of you have helped us and we are grateful to and for you) to renovate a 90-year old house. In fact, I think we’ll be renovating until the day we die; there is so much more to do. We are glad to live in Graham and want our house to reflect how we feel about where we live. But there are many houses in this and every community where people have no pride in citizenship. This reflects on the whole city and state and country. It would be an extremely extreme makeover to bring everybody’s house up to par.

That is just what Paul is weeping over; he wants everybody’s life to be of apostolic stature. He doesn’t want any nominal Christians in the kingdom. He wants everyone to be gradually, a project and a room at a time, conformed to a higher standard. That begins here in this earthly outpost and must continue until the Lord transforms us totally into a glorious body like his own.

Now that is an extreme makeover. But how is it done? Just as the Roman armies used to stand before their enemies, we in this frontier outpost are to stand our ground against the very personal enemies of our Faith. In doing so, the land is ours. The landscape looks less and less godly today because we do not stand for the Faith. We think that if we vote for someone who looks most like our idea of a Christian—or for that person who promises to give us the most feel good stuff—that we have stood our ground or done the right thing. That has little or nothing to do with it and will result in an extreme destruction (v19) instead of a makeover.

If you would stand your ground in this world… Let’s make it more personal: If you would stand your ground in this country, you must keep your eyes on those who walk according to the examples of Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus. How do you do that? I only know of one sure way to see what their example is and that is in the words of this book.

What example do you see there? Fix your eyes therein. Imitate. Follow. And Christ will make you over to the extreme.

JRR Tolkien said that “the Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history.”

Eucatastrophe is a word Tolkien invented. He adds the Greek “eu,” meaning “good,” to “catastrophe,” and so, we end up with a word meaning “good catastrophy.” This is an excellent thought on Christmas day.

The English “catastrophe”  comes from the Greek katastrephein, which itself comes from two other Greek words, kata, “down,” and strephein, “to turn.” (Apostrophe is also built from this word. It means “to turn away.” Strap is another word made from strephein, as a strap is going one way and is then turn back the other direction.) A eucatastrophe then, is when things are turning down or for the worst and it is a good thing.

The world is going to hell in a handcart. Everyone has jumped into the wheelbarrow and they are headed down the steep slope to hell. The trip is so jarring that most are unconscious of their impending doom. In the midst of that ignorance, the Great Father in his wisdom and love, sends his Son into this same doomed world. He sent his Good Child to die. And this is a blessed thing: a baby was born to die. Eucatastrophe!

There would be no salvation were it not for this good catastrophe. The Christ Child was born to die so that we might die to self and be born again. On this Christmas day, may you and I deny ourselves and take up our crosses and follow Jesus. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for [Jesus'] sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25) May we die to self and Christ be born in us anew today. Eucatastrophe.

Cogito ergo sum. Latin, written by Rene Descartes, meaning, “I think; therefore I am.”

Look at the derivation of the first word: cogito. It is made from two words: [1] c0, meaning “together” and [2] agitare, meaning “to shake.” So the word “think” is, metaphorically speaking, “to shake together.”

Philosophically, if you are not shaking up things, you aren’t living. I shake things up; therefore I am.

Amazing Grace Techno – Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Here is an explanation of how he does it:

Behind the Scenes – Holdman Christmas Display from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

What a sad comment; imagine spending an entire day and not considering anyone to be important.

A hymn I lettered way back in 1984 – 25 years ago – that still hangs in our dining room

Some days I just don’t feel like showing up for this job. I want to; I just don’t feel like it. Satisfying moments are few and far between and so briefly enjoyed. When I was a printer, though there were those grudging days when nothing seemed to get accomplished, I got to see the results of my work—stacks of paper and ink…and satisfied customers.

When I was a calligrapher, though the inked paper didn’t exactly pile up, the craft itself—not unlike printing—was satisfying. I saw the results of my work. There was a tactile nature to lettering and a delight in seeing a well-crafted serif or flourish appear. Then there was the privilege of hanging it on the wall (my own or another) and just having it there to appreciate over the years.

As a pastor, most days begrudge me of satisfaction. Where is the accomplishment? Where even the gauge of movement? Where is the stack of paper?

I desire do two things this morning. One is get my fingers in ink again. The other is find a way to make pastoring a craft that is tangible and satisfying. The first I may rediscover insofar as lettering and painting but probably not printing. Still, I keep having printing dreams; the last two nights especially. But it’s hard to imagine where I’d find the time and money to print again.

The second, discovering a pastoral craft, seems theologically implausible. This vocation is based on faith. The tangibles are distantly spaced over one’s life and so fleeting that the rewards of a pastorate are left to believing or hoping you’ve made an impression.

I can study and write and preach and teach and marry and bury and visit and counsel…and call it a craft or even approach it as a craft. (There is an idea worth exploring.) But where are the results? Where are the stacks of imprinted lives? I suspect I will never see the results in any lastingly gratifying way until my days are no more.

Until then, this grudging craft must be done in faith, days stacking up as leaves, no page quite the same as the previous, letting the Holy Spirit be the printer and I more the press.

(Perhaps there is yet a way I can find the time and space to bring these crafts together in my calling.)

I just stumbled across a quotation by Katharine Hepburn: “I’m an atheist, and that’s it. I believe there’s nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for people.” —Katharine Hepburn, Ladies’ Home Journal, October 1991

How did she “know” that she could “believe” that principle was true? Who said so? It sounds nice but how is it that her “truth” is any more true than another person’s “truth”? Perhaps punching someone in the face is what one is really supposed to do in life. Doesn’t seem as nice, I suppose. But isn’t life rather sad if all it is about is being nice to folks?

Perhaps she simply had a great deal of faith in herself and came up with one commandment. Then again, maybe these subjective stabs at what is true are just justifications for doing whatever one wants to do with her life. Or attempts to not wrestle with God. No thanks. I’d rather not know the truth so I’ll make believe you don’t exist.

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” —John 8:31-32

I would read the entirety of his Commentary on Galatians (486pp), as well as the epistle itself in various versions, and then write a commentary on the commentary. Conversations with Dr. Selleck on each chapter, as I write, would give opportunity for faculty direction.

My goal would be to focus on Luther’s primary tenet of faith in Christ alone and see if [1] his writings are justified by the epistle, [2] if he holds true to them in his commentary, and [3] emphasize what Luther still has to say, if anything, to the Church today. I would be asking the texts if there are still Judaizers afoot in the Church—as well as those who would be swayed by their neo-legalisms? If so, what do Paul and Luther have to say to these parties and what encouragement, if any, do they offer to those who would remain true to Luther’s central article of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

CEDS does not offer a class with this narrowed look at Galatians—nor one with Dr. Selleck’s understanding of Luther’s biblical study. I hope it’s approved because it will give me a good way to jump back into this MA and get it finished so I may move on to the next leg of my academic journey, the Lord willing.

“No Mumblin’ Word”
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
October 4, 2009

Since I was a young man, I have had difficulty hearing out of  my right ear. When I get hearing tests, they tell me nothing is wrong but still, if my right ear is toward you and you don’t speak loudly enough, chances are, I am not going to hear you. And it is irritating. Not just to me but I’m sure it is annoying to those who are trying to speak to me.

Very often this is the way it goes in the Ryman home: Honey, would you like me to pack you a lunch? Then a moment later: Well, would you like me to pack you a lunch? To which I get the reply: I told you I wanted a Lean Cuisine and a yogurt. And my continuing reply is, “If you want me to hear you, you have to speak up.” To make matters worse, sometimes her response is further concealed by a hair blower. All the more reason to speak up!

Recently, suspecting a lack of attention on my part, I have asked the question and then looked in to see and hear a response. The times I have looked, it is barely audible. In fact, it is sometimes mumbled. So let me go on record to say, “Honey, I am still going to fix you a lunch even if you mumble. But if you really want to be heard, you cannot mumble.”

Now sometimes, if you really want to be heard, you must not say a thing, as in the old spiritual:

They led Him to Pilate’s bar
Not a word, not a word, not a word, not a word
They led Him to Pilate’s bar
Not a word, not a word, not a word, not a word
They led Him to Pilate’s bar
But He never said a mumblin’ word
Not a word, not a word, not a word, not a word

Jesus allowed himself for our sake to be led as a sheep to the slaughter. But he also spoke the truth before Pilate. When asked who he was, he directly answered.

In the history of salvation, God’s people have very often him speak under the cover of a less anachronistic noise than a hair dryer. God spoke in ages past through prophets. Those prophets often seem to mumble. Ezekiel is especially “mumbly.”

As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. (Ezekiel 1:4-8b)

I’ll stop there because I’m sure you get the point. You have to really concentrate—even study—to understand what Ezekiel is saying. Ezekiel is not alone amongst the prophets or for that matter, the Apostles. John was particularly challenging, at least if you are reading Revelation. Sadly, Luther found it such a puzzle that he advocated tossing it out of the canon of scripture. He said, “Christ is neither taught nor known in it.” Calvin thought it should be canonized but in my complete set of Calvin’s Commentaries, the last book upon which he comments is Jude. God has spoken to us through prophets and Apostles and through pastors and teachers but nowhere does he speak so clearly as when Jesus spoke.

The words of Jesus are not mumbled. Even when his disciples had difficulty  comprehending him, he stopped to make matters clear. When Jesus spoke in parables, those men and women who hung on his every word were often confused. So he would lovingly chastise them, When are you going to understand? Then he would spell it all out. The parable of the sower and the seed is a good example.

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. (Luke 8:4-15)

So why speak in the parable at all? Why not just jump to the explanation? Have you noticed that in this parable, if you were asked to tell the story, you would tell about how the seed fell on the different types of ground and may not even tell about the explanation? And if you give the explanation, you have to think about the parable first. This is similar to attending college. Every professor is going to give you books to read. Then the next class, they will tell you what you read. Why not just skip to the lecture? Because it is the combination of reading and listening that makes the subject clearer.

Nevertheless, professors find it still isn’t clear to some of their students. I am just such a case because professors often mumble. I read the assignments and go to the lectures and end up saying, “If you want me to hear you, you have to speak up.” Of course, what I mean is, Tell me in way that makes sense in my world. I had one professor, who after explaining some theological conundrum, just to be sure his slower students understood, would recall a scene from The Simpsons cartoon the night before, and say, “I guess it’s sort of like that.” It is troubling how many times I was then found to go, “Ohhhhh!”

In ages past God spoke through the prophets and people were puzzled. When Jesus, who is the very image of God, came and taught the multitudes that he was the “radiance of the glory of God,” some people were disturbed; they just could not or would not hear it. But many people were finally saying, “Ohhhhh.” When God spoke through his Son, the mumbling of former times ceased.

For those who are disturbed because you think the Old Testament makes perfect sense and never was a mumblin’ word spoken there, let me say two things. One, you better understand the Old Testament because of Jesus. How can you fully understand some of the Psalms (just to mention one book) without Jesus? How incompletely the ancients understand Psalm 22—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1) “They have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” (Psalm 22:16b-18) or perhaps the question is better stated, how else can one more fully understand these verses than with Jesus’ explanation of the prophetic parable?

The other thing, if you think the Old Testament doesn’t sometimes mumble, is that when you decide Ezekiel’s visions make perfect sense, get back to me about whether he was “mumbling” or not. In Jesus, however, we have no mumblin’ word. He is clear. So why not just begin with him and be done with it? The prophets are the homework that make the lecture called Jesus clear. For example, the Old Testament slowly develops the idea of a need for a gracious Messiah. Even by Jesus’ time, the Jews were simply looking for someone anointed of God to deliver them from their Roman oppressors. But in Jesus, people began to understand that it was not the Roman Empire that oppressed them, it was their sin. It takes awhile for the truth to become clear—especially when you have been wandering in your darkness. The truth was always there but it was not spoken clearly enough or with an illustration sufficient to make one exclaim, “Ohhhhh!”

This illustration may be a bit off for moderns because of digital photography but the photographic darkroom is a good example of what the writer of Hebrews is saying. I used to sometimes find rolls of film I had forgotten to develop. Sometimes a month or so after shooting a roll, I would develop it and make prints. Very often, the reverse image of the negative only made what I had shot even less clear. When I enlarged the image in the red safe-light of the darkroom, I still might not perceive what image I had shot. Then I put the white photo-paper into the developing tray and slowly sloshed the liquid over and under the paper. Gradually a black and white image would begin to appear and awareness would steal over me.

What I had been seeing very small and backwards in the dark was now large and clear in the light. If I had set up the shot correctly and exposed the film just right, I could remember the day, who I was with, and even the emotions behind why I shot the photograph. If I shot, developed, and printed well, others also could see my impression of that moment in time.

The four-color process of printing is another good example—but one that computer printers have already made obsolete. Yet I hope I never forget the wonder of printing a photograph with four colors of ink for my first time. It was a photograph of the head of a lion with his great mane. I had to print it with cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. To do it right, you have to first imprint the yellow ink before the blue and red and finally black inks. Thin yellow squiggles on white paper are difficult to make out; sometimes they are almost invisible to the naked eye. Then the blue and red inks are added one color at a time and the plain white paper miraculously transforms into something that looks almost real. Black is then printed and the contrasting tone makes it pop! I was giddy. I could not get over the marvel of a process that made four different negatives and printing plates—that by themselves just looked like black-and-white illustrations—come to life. The process is important if one is to marvel at the result.

From the beginning, God made us for himself and to enjoy his company. He also created us to share his glory. He simply gave it to us in the garden but we did not comprehend and asked by eating forbidden fruit, Is this all there is? Then he spoke to us in burning bushes and whirlwinds and pillars of fire. These colorful expressions but not always easy to understand.

Eventually he communicated through prophets—sometimes condemning and other times a bit perplexing. But in these last days, God has articulated himself to us through a Son. God has made perfectly clear what millennia of religious teachings have obscured. The writer of Hebrews uses an excellent word to express this with clarity. Verse three of our lesson says that Jesus is the “exact imprint” of God’s nature. The Greek word used in Hebrews 1:3 is charakter, and is used to explain things like stamping out a copy of a coin or could be used, I suppose, in the darkroom as well. Printing presses can also reproduce perfect copies. But in Jesus, the die is broken. Indeed, this metaphor fails to do him justice even if it helps us understand who he is.

My prints were not the people I photographed. The sheets of paper were not litters of lions. But Jesus is a striking impression of God. In that man from Nazareth of Galilee was the very nature of both God and man. The essence of the Father was struck into Jesus. If that were not the case, then his life and death were in vain.

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