“What do you mean by God?” he once wrote. “Who God? What God? Where God? Define God.”
We, of course, can never “define” God, but Christians should be prepared to say how Jesus reveals God’s nature for them. “Are you the one” asks John. “Are you the one?” asks a lively person of faith. If our answer is “yes,” we should be able to say how and why Jesus is one who reveals God. If we can’t, then it is very doubtful that our “faith” will have any real impact on how we live. We simply believe in Jesus because we need a big brother.
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“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” How did John say that from prison so long ago? What was his tone, the inflection of his voice? John’s question, when we really hear it, gives us permission to ask the same thing. “Are you the one, Jesus? Are you the one?”
The choice to throw my hat in with Jesus cannot be based on proof or certainty. Jesus says, “Go and tell John . . . (Go and tell Frank) . . . Go and tell those who would follow me what you hear and see” (Matt 11:4).
What do you hear and see in these days of Advent? What is Jesus doing in and through your congregation? Recall Jesus’ answer to the disciples of John. “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Matt 11:5). I know people who are seeing with a brand new pair of eyes. I know folk who are walking in a whole new way. Others who are cleansed from a past that held them in bondage far worse than leprosy. Some, right in my home church, who have been raised from a dead end.
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“Are you the one, Jesus? Or should we shop around for another?”
What a great question for Advent, for life. Let it roll around on your tongue, in your mind, in your heart this season.
“Are you the one above all others?”
A faith that truly matters may very well begin right here, with this question.
For further reflection:
1. Is God’s existence or God’s nature more important in your faith journey these days? Why?
2. In your Scripture study this week, try reading a Bible story aloud and making decisions as a reader concerning tenor and inflection. If you’re in a group with others, how do the various oral readings shape the story’s interpretation?
9. Russell delivered this lecture on March 6, 1927, to the National Secular Society at Battersea Town Hall in London.
7. Mom of God
“But Mary was much perplexed by his words . . .” (Luke 1:29).
Somebody once asked me a question around this time of year that I’ve never forgotten. A very good question: “Why didn’t God just send an E.T.-type character from outer space to our world? Why did God have to choose somebody like Mary and pretty much ruin her life?”
The Bible says Mary was “perplexed” and ponderous after the angel’s visit and the prediction of the miraculous birth. If Mary had written Luke’s gospel, I wonder if she would have chosen different, stronger words. We rightly focus on the Savior’s birth this time of year, but I’ve always had a lot of sympathy for the Savior’s mom.
I cannot imagine that Mary was wildly happy about the news there at the beginning. Can you really see her turning cartwheels like in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical or throwing back the sash of her apartment window yelling, “Yes, Nazareth! Yes, I’m the lucky girl! I get to carry God’s baby! Won’t Mom be proud of me?!” I just can’t see any of this. Mary was perplexed. She was afraid. But I think the poor woman also felt interrupted. Her soul eventually “magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46) and all that, but at first, with an angel standing in her kitchen, she must have felt interrupted.
Among the many facts of time and place crammed into the first few words of this story (Luke 1:26–38) is this crucial tidbit: Mary was engaged to a guy. She had plans. Her wedding was on the foreseeable horizon. Don’t you think she daydreamed about her future together with Joseph? In other words, Mary already had a life when Gabriel came knocking. It wasn’t like her calendar was clear for this new, exciting venture, or she was out looking for something delightfully different to spice up her dull days. No, Mary had a life!
We also have a life. Rare is the person who can say, “Thank you so much for interrupting my vacation in your hour of need.” Or, “Sure, please sign me up for an extra stint of jury duty next time.” Interruptions come to all of us, but please be honest about that first gut reaction. Even among the most gracious, they’re usually not welcome.
But Mary says “Yes.” She says “Okay” to uncertainty. And thirty years later (or maybe thirty-three, depending on which Gospel you consult for Jesus’ age at death) you have to wonder if Mary ever had any regret about giving the go-ahead. Because you have to admit it must have been very weird to be the mom of God.
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They were all in the holy city once, a family vacation. Mary turns around at a vendor stand (maybe she’s been distracted by the beautiful weavings and baskets) and suddenly Jesus, her twelve-year old, is missing. Jesus is separated from his parents for three days. Three days. They finally find him in the temple among the teachers. Mary says, “Son, we’ve been looking for you in great anxiety” (Luke 2:48). Now there’s an understatement. Do you recall how the lad answers his mom? Basically this: “Chill out, would you Mom? Didn’t you know I’d be right here?”
They were at a wedding together, Mary and Jesus. Many think Mary was probably in charge of the reception. Tradition says she was a relative of the bride. The wine runs out and she states the obvious to her talented and precocious son. “Woman,” he says. “Woman, what is that to you and me?” (John 2:4). Now I don’t know about your family, but this seeming impertinence would not have gone over in mine.
Jesus was teaching once. A large crowd. His family shows up. Mary was among them. But they arrive not for theological edification or due to family pride. They’re worried about Jesus’ sanity (Mark 3:21). They’ve worried about his sanity for quite awhile. They show up to “restrain” Jesus; haul him off to a safe and quiet place with attendants and perhaps a nice room with a view of the water.
Another time the family shows up. Mary is again with them. They just want a little time with Jesus—they see so little of the boy these days. Can’t he spare a couple hours to go on a picnic in the forest, frolic at the sea for an afternoon for a family reunion? A message comes to Jesus: “Your mom’s outside. She and your brothers are waiting to see you.” Jesus’ reply would have stung if Mary remembered it on Mother’s Day: “Who are my mother and brothers? They’re not outside.” He points to his disciples. “Here they are. This is my real family. Whoever does the will of God is my true kin” (Matt 12:46–50).
Oddly, there is not a single scene in the Gospels where Jesus gives his mom a gift, writes her a sweet card, or spends time in her kitchen eating chocolate chip cookies. The only time that Jesus gives his mom anything is when he’s hanging there on the cross. Mary is standing at the foot of the cross and Jesus points to one of the disciples. He points to this guy and says, “Woman” (still calls his own mom that, please note). Points to a young man standing on the ground and says, “Woman, here is your son” (John 19:26). It’s like Jesus is giving Mary the son she’s never had.10
