On Revelation and Humility

by | Aug 18, 2020 | Women, Women's Ministry

By Elizabeth Sunshine

“By what right … do you say that you know God better than they do, that your God is better than theirs, that you have an access that I can’t claim to have, to knowing not just that there is a God, but that you know his mind. You put it modestly, but it is a fantastically arrogant claim that you make — an incredibly immodest claim.”

Christopher Hitchens

Today I started the theology class I’m teaching with this quote from the great theologian Christopher Hitchens (who would hate that I just called him a theologian). He said it in 2008 in a debate with a rabbi. I wanted to use it to wake up my college freshmen (the class is at 8 am) as well as to make a point: Hitchens is right, sort of. It really is incredible to claim to know the mind of the creator of the universe, and even more so to claim to actually have a relationship with him. By what right do religious people (Jewish, Christian or otherwise) make this claim?

I hope that my students felt the suspense, because Hitchens really does have a good point. If we claim that we know God’s mind because we are smarter, wiser, or more moral than others, we deserve to be called “fantastically arrogant.”

But perhaps my students didn’t feel suspense because they had the answer staring them in the face on the syllabus. The title of today’s class was “Revelation.”

You see, the reason why it’s not arrogant to claim to know about God, and even to know God, is that God is not like the laws of science.

Scientific laws are impersonal. They’re patterns that physical objects conform to that are out there waiting to be discovered. Gravity didn’t send a message to Isaac Newton explaining how it worked because gravity isn’t a person. God is. And that makes all the difference because a person can communicate. A person can make an effort to reach out and get to know someone. And if Christians are right, that’s exactly what God did.

God reached down to us, revealing himself to us. That is how we can know God, and it has nothing to do with our abilities or morality. It has everything to do with God’s choice. When a Christian claims to know God, it says more about God than it does about the Christian.

We’re going to spend most of the class talking about the content of God’s revelation. We’ll go through the Bible, starting in Genesis 1, and discuss what claims the text makes, and what those claims say about God. But I wanted my students to pause and reflect on what the mere fact of revelation says about God.

The first point is one we’ve already covered: God is a person, not a force. He can choose to speak. The fact that he did so choose says something else: God loves his creation and wants to be in relationship with it. And that relationship requires incredible humility on God’s part.

We don’t often think of God as being humble. Good, yes. Loving, yes. But not humble. Christians would (or at least should) affirm that humility is good, and we would also say that God is the source and the complete exemplar of all that is good. So it stands to reason that God would be humble. But it’s hard to think of him that way, perhaps because God is so great.

Think of it this way: consider something you know a lot about and care about deeply, whether it be your work, a hobby, or just a subject that interests you. Imagine trying to explain that thing to a three-year-old. Unless you’re a preschool teacher (or maybe unless the subject is trucks or dinosaurs), you’re going to have a hard time. The three-year-old is likely to be confused, and you’ll have to oversimplify a lot. The child may even going away thinking the subject is boring. You’re likely to end up frustrated and disappointed.

Explaining something you care about in terms the child can understand is an act of humility as you make your interest seem less than it really is in order to connect with someone. That’s what God does every time he reveals himself. God’s actual being is far beyond us, even more so than quantum physics is beyond a three-year-old. Our conceptions of him, grand as they may be, inevitably fall short of reality because we are finite and cannot grasp infinity. So God simplifies himself, presents himself to us in ways we can kind of understand, makes himself seem less than he is, just so he can be in relationship with us.

For Christians, the ultimate revelation is the person of Jesus, who is also the ultimate example of divine humility, of God appearing less than he is for the sake of humanity.

But this humility is also shown in God’s revealing himself to us in the text of the Bible. This humility comes to us when we do not at all deserve it. It is an act of grace.

The name of the class I’m teaching is Foundations of Theology. The phrase comes from Dei Verbum, one of the documents that came out of Vatican II, which calls Scripture and tradition the foundations of theology. But you could also say (and I think the writers of the document would agree) that the foundation of theology is God’s humble revelation of himself to finite humans. The foundation of theology is grace.

Elizabeth Sunshine is a Ph.D. student at the University of Notre Dame, where she is studying Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity. She grew up in Connecticut but now lives right on the border between Michigan and Indiana. After college, she worked in Taipei, Taiwan as an editor for Studio Classroom, an English-teaching magazine, where she also wrote scripts for TV shows, led summer camps, and taught an English Bible study. In her free time, she enjoys walking outside, reading fantasy novels, and knitting. She also blogs at Logos and Love.

Three Ways We Can Blossom Together

by | May 31, 2020 | Women, Women's Ministry

By Hayley Mullins

“Bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”
Colossians 1:10

That’s our goal as Christians, yes? We want the truth of the gospel that God has put into our hearts to grow up into something beautiful. We want to know Him more so we can look more and more like Jesus. We want His Word and His Spirit to change our hearts, so we can be more and more beautiful.

We want the beauty of our lives to point each other to the beauty of Jesus! But how?

Here are three ways we can point each other to Jesus:

 

1. In our suffering, we can comfort.

I’ve lost track of how many funerals I’ve been to. Between the ages of nine and eighteen, I went to the funerals of five of my grandparents and a great aunt. It was a difficult season for my family, to say the least.

In each situation, the pain was acute. I watched my parents weeping. I helped as I could by sorting through possessions and watching younger siblings during hospital visits. I grieved at holidays when we remembered that the person who held up a tradition was no longer with us. Each person who died, even the ones with whom we had rocky relationships, left an unfillable hole.

You have grief, too. We all do. But God can use that grief.

In high school, after many of the funerals, two of my best friends lost grandparents very suddenly. I happened to be reading 2 Corinthians at the time and ran across these verses:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3–4

I learned that all the losses had a purpose—so I could be there to comfort my friends. God has helped me as a young adult to continue doing that. He has given me comfort to give others. That’s His goodness! Suffering you experience is an opportunity to run to the Father and be comforted. And others’ suffering is an opportunity to share God’s comfort. Your suffering is a commission. Because you’ve suffered, you’re a messenger of hope and comfort to a world without hope and full of false comforts.

God comforts you; you comfort others.

Look around—there may be someone in our church or your neighborhood that would benefit from the comfort you experienced in your own suffering. Your suffering is not the end of the story. God is in the business of exchanging our sorrows for joy and making our suffering into a beautiful garden of His grace.

2. When we sin, we can confess.

One of my best purchases ever was a weighted blanket.

I bought it to help with my anxiety, and I keep it on my bed, where it does what it’s designed to do: provide a sense of safety and security in the evening hours.

Now imagine if I got so attached to that blanket that I carried it around everywhere. I’d probably lose a few pounds with the effort (it’s heavy!), but it would keep me from moving freely. Every step would be a burden. I’d stop doing some of my favorite things. Playing the piano is pretty impossible if you can’t raise your arms. Hugging my loved ones, cooking, and even getting a book off the shelf would become a burden.

Likely, I’d stop being as social, out of love for the blanket. People in my life would get pushed away because I’d be embarrassed by being continually wrapped up like a child and because I wouldn’t want to get worn out by the weight on me. And there are the consequences of having people close to me. Maybe someone would call me out about it. Maybe I’d have to give it up. Maybe I’d be made fun of. Nope. I’ll just stay in bed with this cozy blanket. It’s much safer.
Ridiculous, yes, but sometimes we are like this with our sin.

Here’s a hard truth: sin often makes us feel cozy.

We can believe that we’re safer holding onto it or hiding out with it than confessing to someone and admitting we need help!

Sin isn’t a weight that we’re meant to carry. We’re supposed to leave it at the cross. But sometimes, we need help to get to Him.

That’s why James told us to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).

My blanket, as great as it is, isn’t a substitute for flesh and blood people. Sometimes a hug or a shoulder to cry on is better—especially if they point me to Jesus! A blanket can’t do that! In the same way, the false refuge of hiding in our sin keeps us from the joy of being really known and cared for and prayed for.

We wrap ourselves in shame and fear; the weight of our sin keeps us from others; we keep ourselves from the healing that comes from confession. We need each other when we’re struggling with sin, which is all the time.

Sometimes that means we have to be vulnerable and put down our blankets. We have to let God wrap us in His forgiveness and the prayers of others instead. That’s the way to help each other grow.

 

3. Through our service, we can teach.

We all have different roles in the Body. Some of us are greeters; some serve by cleaning the church or making meals. Some of us play the piano, and some of us simply talk and listen to people. But no matter your gifting, you’re a teacher. Pastor Peter and the elders and the Sunday school teachers aren’t the only ones who teach!

Rubbing shoulders with and doing life with other believers is a great way to teach. Think about it. Who have you learned the most from? Our pastor? Your grandma who taught you recipes and simply trusting Jesus? A mentor at work? A friend who simply showed you a new way to do something?

Teaching can be knowing Hebrew and Greek, but it’s also helping a young person navigate dating. It’s putting a hand on someone’s shoulder when they’re suffering. It’s showing up with a meal and a smile to a new mom. It’s whatever we do to help others know the word of Christ—and do it!

It’s like taking a bath. You can wash yourself with a sponge and get sort of clean, or you can jump in the tub and get completely wet. Ephesians 5:26 tells us that Christ cleans and sanctifies us “by the washing of water with the word.”

There are lots of ways to get wet with the Word, but we need more than just a “sponge bath” on Sunday—though preaching is important! We need to get soaked. This means taking personal time in the Word, but it also means spending time with other believers, watching how they love their neighbors, live with wisdom, and teach their families This is a crucial way to get drenched in the Word.

As Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Whether older or younger, you have a role in teaching and learning. By simply living by faith, you are helping others become more and more like Jesus.

So how do we help each other become more beautiful in Jesus? We comfort in suffering, we confess our sins, and we teach as we serve.

A closing promise for you from Philippians 4:9: “Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

This devotional was given at our 2020 ladies’ spring gathering. The content was adapted from Hayley Mullins and Erin Davis, Living Out the One Anothers of Scripture: A 30-Day Devotional (Niles, MI: Revive Our Hearts, 2020).

Learning From Stories: 2016 Ladies’ Tea Devotional

by | Feb 11, 2016 | Women, Women's Ministry

By Elizabeth Sunshine

I was honored to be asked to lead a devotional at the 2016 MCPC women’s tea on the topic of “books.” I asked my dad for suggestions, and he pointed me to Ecclesiastes 12:12. “My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” As a grad student, I can confirm that the verse is very true. In fact, I’d consider putting it on t-shirts for my classmates. But I didn’t think that’s what the event’s organizers had in mind, so instead I focused on the ways books in general and fiction in particular have influenced my life. I chose this because the value of reading non-fiction for spiritual growth can be relatively obvious. The influence of stories is more subtle but no less real.

We get a hint of the importance of stories in the structure of the Bible. Though we think of it as one book, the Bible is actually many books in many different genres. It contains theological treatises (such as Romans), law codes, also poetry, prophecy (in both prose and poetry) and lots of narratives. Stories take up a large percentage the Bible, and while many of them are history, Jesus’ parables are a kind of fiction. God uses this huge variety of forms to communicate to us because different types of writing speak to our experiences in different ways and affect us differently. And if God considers stories a helpful way of communicating truth, so should we.

One of the first things the Bible tells us about human beings is that we’re made in the image of God. We find this out in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. At that point, all we’ve been told about God is that He created everything and did it by speaking. Authors, like their Creator create using words. So every time we pick up a book we should recognize that God’s image is being expressed. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything in every book is good. Authors are also fallen, so we need to read any book with discernment. But we should give thanks to God for the amazing privilege of being made in His image and for the joy we gain from seeing the ways authors intentionally or unintentionally reveal His image in them.

Stories can aid our spiritual growth by helping us develop empathy. They let us get inside the head of someone different from us and understand the world as they experience it. This in turn can help us understand the real people who have had similar experiences. When you meet someone on the street, you don’t know what they’re thinking or their backstory. But when you read a book, the author often tells you that, which makes it easier to understand and relate to the characters.

Fiction is also a huge source of encouragement for me, something my parents taught me at a young age. When I was 10, my parents took my family to Europe for several months, and we traveled to Hungary. We took a night train into Budapest and transferred to another train that would eventually take us to the town where we would be staying. The schedule said the train would have a snack car, so my parents planned on eating breakfast on the train. As the train left the station, a blizzard hit our area. It was then that we discovered the train had little to no heat. My brother and my father walked along the train looking for the snack car. Snow blew upward between holes in the floor of the passages connecting different cars. One bicycle car was covered with ice because the door was opened. My dad tried to close it, but it was jammed. To quote my father, “the bathrooms looked like they hadn’t been cleaned since the fall of Communism” (this was 1999). My father and brother reached the end of the train, but there was no snack car. So my brother and I sat in the compartment bundled up in our coats while my mom fed us gummy bears that she had found in her purse. We had been reading The Hobbit as a family, so my dad said, “Bilbo Baggins describes adventures as ‘nasty, unpleasant things that make you late for breakfast.’ That means we’re having an adventure.” Suddenly, I was excited because I was on an adventure. I was still cold and hungry, but I wasn’t miserable because I saw my predicament differently.

I still draw on Tolkien for encouragement and inspiration, especially when life seems overwhelming. Tolkien does a great job depicting both genuine good and genuine evil and helping us recognize the difference. He also shows us ordinary people, like the Hobbits, standing up against this evil and making a difference. Good stories aren’t just a way to escape from the evil in the world. They’re a picture of what we can do, and they can provide motivation to take risks and do things that may be frightening. G.K. Chesterton once said, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” The problems that face the heroes in fairy tales are symbols of the evil in the world. And when we see characters in stories slaying their dragons, it can encourage us to stand up and face our dragons.

We’re all busy, so I’m sure many of you don’t have much time for reading. But when you do encounter stories, either in books or in movies, I think it’s helpful to think about them and draw lessons or encouragement from them. I’d also like to encourage you to give thanks to God for the gift of books and the way He can use books of all kinds to make us more like Christ.

We Are Created to Be More Than This

by | Oct 8, 2012 | Ginger Wallace, Marriage, Parenting, Pastoral Notes, Women, Women's Ministry

by Virginia Wallace

I said yes. Because it seemed like the right thing to do. I am not the leader-type – but I am also not the type that likes to be told how to raise my kids – or how I am not raising my kids – or respecting my husband, or whatever the thing is that everyone else thinks that I should do.

This is why I said ‘yes.’ Because I thought it was what I was supposed to do – even though my first thought was – NO – this is not what I do. In fact, going to China with my husband is not what I do, not when it means leaving my children behind. God made me a woman. This much is obvious. God also made me a wife – this too is quite clear. He also made me a mother. And here I want to stop. This seems like it should be enough for me to handle. And if I think about it and be realistic  – this is all I can handle – though I can’t even handle this on my own.

So, why am I HERE? Because God created us to be more than this. He created us to need each other – to bear one another’s burdens, to build up one another towards faith and good works – to show forth his glory to all men. To show hospitality to the stranger, to care for those afflicted – to wash the feet of the saints.

1 Timothy 5:9-10 gives us good insight in this way, to show us what we should have been. It’s kind of a look backward:

“Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, having a reputation for good works, if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, has devoted herself to every good work.”

This is what we are called to be now:

a wife, known for good works

a mother, opening her home to strangers

a servant, caring for those in need.

What does this look like right now? Will it look different next year? When my youngest is five?

Yes. It will look differently at each stage or season of your life. If you have young children and are trying to just figure out how to get enough sleep much less show hospitality or do good works, or care for the less fortunate – this can look overwhelming!

But think about it in less grand terms:

Hospitality (which means ‘love of strangers’): you take your little ones to the playground – then meet someone and invite them to come in your home for a meal or snack – or tea!

Good works: I offer to babysit (which is actually like a playdate for my kids) while a friend runs to get groceries/run an errand. I make double the amount of supper to give a friend a meal on a rough day.

Washed the feet of the saints? This could mean a nice pedicure – or if you think about the principle behind this practice, it could mean something as simple as folding her clean laundry while you chat, or it could mean working to love her as she likes to be loved (speaking in a way that shows you care about her – not yourself [and giving a pedicure is not out of the question!!]).

Caring for the Afflicted: visiting those in the hospital, cleaning the bathroom for someone who has just had a baby. Sometimes this may mean letting your neighbor’s kids into your home and ministering to them – showing them what a family of God looks like.

Think of Proverbs 31. This woman was not just taking care of her own husband and kids. She had servants and they had kids (husbands), there were people that she looked after because it was her responsibility. She didn’t do everything herself – she managed everything! What did her children learn from this? Did they learn how to serve and love others? Did they practice this?

This woman is a glory to her husband – she is his GLORY!

She was his glory because of her heart attitude while she was his wife, while she mothered his children, while she gave hospitality, while she washed the feet of the saints, while she cared for the afflicted.

What is your heart attitude? Whose glory are you seeking?

We are Christ’s bride – and so must seek to be HIS Glory – He has washed and cleansed us – He has clothed us with His own beautiful Glory – and we shine!

Ezekiel 16 talks about God’s amazing mercy to His unfaithful bride – how she was an unwanted babe, left on the hillside to die – her cord was not even cut, she was not cleaned, nor loved.

But God said to her, Live! And he made her flourish and grow into a young woman – she became his bride. He clothed her in fine linen and jewels. She ate only the best food, she grew beautiful. Verse 14 says, “And your renown went among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the LORD.”

God’s glory – she was His Glory.

But she wanted her own glory, her own pleasure, her own renown. The rest of the chapter tells in great detail of her faithlessness – how she sought after any and all other men (idols) – how she was a princess – and now was a porn star.

We cannot read this chapter and not be utterly disgusted with how awful our sin is to God, and yet how merciful He is when we repent and seek His Glory – and not our own.

We are glory seekers. But we are flawed by the effects of sin and we seek our own glory instead of God’s.

We need to ask the question: Whose glory am I seeking?

One way I find helpful is: How am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength right now? How am I loving my neighbor as myself right now?

[This talk was given to a women’s gathering in East Asia in the fall of 2012]