Conversations on Christ: Inaugural Address

Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us perfectly to know Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the way, the truth, and the life, that following His steps we may steadfastly walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. AMEN.

Greetings, to each and every one of you. I am excited to such a response for what we hope will be the first of many meetings. As Mike already mentioned, we are very conscious of the time-constraints of a noon meeting and so I am going to get right to the point.

During this half-hour, I feel it necessary to do two things: First, I want to talk about the over-all intent of these conversations--what observations began us down this path, what benefits we hope to gain, and what trajectory we might pursue in order to make the most of them. Second, in the few minutes that remain, I will offer some brief reflections on Christ as a kind of down payment on what we hope to unfold in time. Perhaps after others have had opportunity to weigh in, I might be given the chance to flesh-out these seminal thoughts.

Part One:

"When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?  And they said, Some [say that thou art] John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Mt 16:13-18

By this exchange, Jesus teaches plainly that the cornerstone and foundation of the Church, for all time, is the confession of Peter concerning the true identity of the man, Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. So strong, in fact, is this Rock that, as long as the Church rests upon it, even the very gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

Stop and think about that for a minute. What an audacious claim! Of all the things that the church does and says, nothing is more foundational than her confession and teaching. And of that, no doctrine, dogma or exhortation is called foundational other the confession of who, exactly, is this man, Jesus. This has enormous implications for us today. ...and it is the starting-out-point for our Conversations on Christ.

Observations that began us down this path

It is at this point that some of us observed a sad reality. With an ear to the ground of Christianity in America generally and an even more informed eye on the goings on in our own traditions, we observed precious little confession of the most foundational doctrine in Christianity--namely Christ! It is as though we believe that enough has already been said about Christ. We seem to have moved on to more pressing issues.

I will only speak for myself here, (but I suspect my confession will resonate). I came to the dawning realization that, caught up in the struggles of my own synod, I had become increasingly conversant in the hot-button issues of the day... But was unable to carry on any more than the most basic conversation on the person of Jesus Christ.

Of course, I subscribed to the Christology of orthodox Christianity as hammered out in the seven eucumenical councils and stated plainly in the Nicene Creed. But I was at a loss to relate that doctrine to the issues that so concerned me. What is more, as I studied the church fathers, I could not understand why they were so interested in the fine and subtle distinctions of Chalcedonian Christology but had so very little to say about the controversies of our time.

My working explanation for this was that, for them the doctrine of Christ had not yet settled., but for us, it is now a settled matter and we have moved on to other discussions. This working hypothesis was demolished as I came to realize that their vigorous discussions of Christ were generally driven by very practical concerns.

I now realize that the reason for centuries of struggle over the answer to Jesus' question, ("Who do you say that I am")  was not because the ivory tower had not yet spoken definitively. Rather, the discussion of Christ continued simply because discussion of Church practice continued! They understood what we seem to have lost: that whenever you are addressing something in the Church, the foundation must be the first consideration.

Benefits that we hope to gain

To move back toward this truth and to put it into practice among ourselves individually and corporately is the highest purpose of this endeavor.

It is the stuff of legend that Vince Lombardi kicked off each year's training camp with a team meeting and a speech that began, "Gentlemen, this is a football..." By these words, some of the greatest NFL teams ever were re-centered on what made them great: namely a renewed focus on the very foundation. This is not unlike what we hope to accomplish here.

But lest there be any misunderstanding, I should probably say a few words about the concept "foundation." Even though the word, "foundation" is derived from the Latin fundamentum, we should be careful to avoid some common mis-perceptions about fundamentals.

Too often these days, fundamentals are confused with least common denominators. Instead of treating the foundation as the most important part of an actual building, fundamentals are presented as isolated stones that must be preserved because of their great value but they have no working relationship to a buiding of any sort. Thus arises the idea that salvation involves the formal adherance to one or more "fundamentals" while anything beyond these is ultimately unimportant..

The reason that such thinking is inadequate is aptly illustrated by the construction that you can see on Cheyenne Drive. There we have several perfectly good foundations poured--worth quite a lot of money But because these remain only foundations and have no building on them, they are worthless to the investors, worthless to the city and to potential renters.

A foundation without its building -- or a building off the foundation -- is equally worthless. Teachings, practices and morals which do not flow integrally from the person of Jesus Christ--these are a church off the foundation. All teaching. All morals. All mission work. All worship activity. All in the Church must be built upon the foundation which is Christ. If it is not resting squarely upon this foundation, it is a building of straw which will not even withstand the breezes of Western Wyoing--much less the gates of hell.

So, the benefit that I hope we realize from this conversation is two-fold. FIRST: To rediscover, reclaim and rejoice in the foundation who is Christ Jesus. To return to the Christology embraced by the whole Christian world before our present divisions disrupted the unity. Let us savor that common foundation and not be too quick to move on. And then, SECOND, re-asserting that common understanding of Christ Jesus, let us begin slowly, painstakingly and humbly to build stick-by-stick upon Christ.

In this way, we can re-examine our buildings as individuals and as congregations to make certain that each portion of the edifice is a direct extension of the foundation Christ and is not built off of the foundation on the shifting sands.

Trajectory that we might pursue.

Now, while we can learn from each other in this regard, I believe that the best correction will come from within--from each one of us taking careful assessment of his or her own building.  That is why I do not envision this gathering as a forum to criticize one another. Rather, I envision that as each of us are drawn into the conversation and become eager to address contemporary problems from the foundation which is Christ That we will find the honesty and courage to examine and criticize ourselves. That is where growth into Christ and unity under Christ's word will be fostered.

I believe that each of you love Jesus and have the personal integrity to benefit from this opportunity without need of harangues or diatribes. In fact, these would be counter-productive to our high purpose. In order for this to work, there will be some parameter's that will be helpful.

1) Talking down to one another will not accomplish much more than making the atmosphere more acrid. Let's not kid ourselves (I speak especially to the clergy here) we each believe that we have the fullest measure of truth than anyone else in the room. If we didn't, we couldn't have the courage to stand up and preach on Sunday. If you think that I am exhibiting too much hubris in saying this and that you would not be quite so dogmatic, you simply are proving my point.

But please hear me! I do not say this as a criticism but, rather, as mutual respect. I am recognizing here that what you say and do, you say and do become you believe it is the right thing to say and do. I simply ask you to recognize that your attitude is felt by the people you are addressing and if you want to help them, you will speak as you, yourself would wish to be addressed.

2) It is my hope that these presentations do not simply regurgitate the ossified thinking of others. If that is the case, we will not have accomplished our goal. Rather, if the goal is to encourage a more intentional thinking on Christ, then, it will be necessary to actually think on Christ.

I suspect, if my own experience is any guide, that this may be unfamiliar territory / uncharted water for you. It may even, to a certain extent, take you out of your element and challenge you in ways that you have not yet considered. I do not consider that a bad thing. For to start again at square one is a more promising beginning than to assume our unity on the foundation and vault hastily to other parts of the building without taking the time to examine each building block that got us here.

So, My prayer and confidence is that we are all taken out of our element. That you will resist the temptation to use this forum as an opportunity to advance your agenda and address your own hot-button issues. Rather, consider this as an opportunity to think about Jesus Christ in a bottom-up kind of way. Notice His beauty in a way that you have never seen it before. Use your own traditions' reflections on Christ to notice in Him what you have never noticed before.

3) It will be difficult enough for you to ignore your hot-button issues and step out of your element.
 I would not recommend that you reject your own tradition's perspective. Rather, use the writings and reflections on Christ that are the most familiar to you.

Become reacquainted with them in ways that you never have before. Present them to the rest of us in the most winsome way that you know how. Leave it to the presentations of others to offer new and different possibilities that you are not familiar with. But use your own presentation to mine the riches of what you have to offer Christendom concerning the person of Jesus Christ.

In this way, you will grow in your own understanding of Christ and also have opportunity to be challenged from the Holy Scriptures to incorporate more into that understanding or to modify based on the Scriptures that are presented. Either way, this forum could be a blessing to you and to those who hear you.

This is my vision for these Conversations on Christ. And it is with this in mind that I would now make a beginning of my own remarks...

Part two

"And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth.  2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.  4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.  5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.  6  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,  7  And said unto him, Go,  wash  in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."

This event, recorded in John chapter 7, is a good place to begin our discussion precisely because it is so typical of Jesus' workings.  Notice the glorious combination of marvelously divine working accomplished through thoroughly earthy and even distasteful means. By healing a man who was blind from birth, Jesus does what was unheard of.

It is a work that only God can do. And it touched off a flurry of activity from the religious establishment precisely because they had to either discredit the miracle or acknowledge Jesus to be God. I realize that we may be jaded enough in our experience to not understand the problem that this posed for the Jewish leaders.

Between the antics of televangelists and the wonders of modern medicine, we may not think it all that uncommon to give sight to one born blind. But set all that aside for the moment and enter into the world of the Gospel. The blind man himself speaks for everyone when he says (vv. 32-33) "Since the  world  began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.   If this man were not of God, he could do nothing."

And beyond these words of the blind man, Jesus Himself, in the very miracle points us to see that in healing the man born blind, He is simply doing what He has done from the beginning of the world. Just as He formed humankind from clay and breathed in the breath of life, so now, He uses clay to restore the eyes that had become deformed.

By all of this we know that God is at work and not mere man. But there is another side to this action as well. The use of dirt. The spit from Jesus' mouth. The distasteful picture of muddy spit being smeared into the eyes of this poor blind man.

All these things conspire make us ask, "Did Jesus HAVE to do that?" "Couldn't He have healed Him in another way? -- Less disgusting but just as effective?" If we were to take the bait of that question and engage a discussion of what God could or couldn't do, who knows how long we would be here.
The stories in the Gospel are not given to touch off idle speculations about what God can or cannot do. The Words of God are given us that we might shut our mouths with wonder and rejoice in what God DOES in Christ. When we do that, we notice that the full power of the God-head is at work in the spit and the mud and the water of Siloam.

God, the creator of heaven and earth, has so thoroughly entered into His creation that He can use very humble and simple elements to convey all that He is and has. More than that. Not only do we notice that Jesus makes use of created things to do His work. But even the things that He chooses are quite humble--even disgusting--in the eyes of the world.

This points us to learn something about Jesus that will put us in good stead as the narrative moves on to the crucifixion and death of God. That is this: Not only does Christ come to redeem the higher parts of creation--like people and minds and lofty words and thoughts.  But He comes to redeem all of it. Dirt, spit and water.

St. Paul reflects on this aspect of Christ partiularly in 1 Corinthians where we read: "1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;  28  And  base  things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:  29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.  30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:"
Now, if you consider yourself to be some of that higher stuff of creation, this news might not be very exciting for you -- in fact, it might be a bit demeaning. But as you come to know more and more your own commonality with all of fallen creation...

The wonder of Jesus' working becomes greater and greater and greater news for you. This is the basic story of Christ: God come down to you. God come down, not just part-way so that we might meet Him on the way up...

 - God come down not just to those who are worthy of it...
 - God come down not just in those things that are valued by the world...
 - But God become a man whose visage we turn away from because it upsets us.

This is the picture of Christ that Isaiah paints for us in the 53rd chapter. And yet in that coming down, God loses none of His identity, power or grace as the only creator of all things in heaven and on earth. Do not spend time and energy on whether He needs to do this or not. Do not construct elaborate theologies either to defend His actions or to explain them away as to be more logical or reasonable. In short, do not ask what God could or should do.

Only sit in wonder and rejoice in what God DID and DOES For in this, and in this alone, you come to know God Himself, your Savior.