A personal relationship with Jesus

So, A great post from David Wayne (who really is a jolly blogger, by the way) starts up a bunch of stuff on the web. (Before I go further I should mention I really liked the Dane’s comment, though I have a lot of sympathy/agreement with David’s concern.) Common Grounds picks up on it, prompting some good thoughts from Joel Garver and Rick Phillips, and some reflections from Mark (the greater).

And I realize 99% of you (assuming I can fractionalize that far without dismembering anyone) already know this.

I have a couple of things to post for further reflection. My basic problem is not with the actual ideal of a personal relationship. i think it is a good and accurate description. The problem is that relationships between persons always involve symbolic interaction. So, unless this personal relationship is through word and sacrament, it is vapor. Also, while we are Jesus’ friends (like Abraham and the disciples), in our society such language is usually considered antithetical to rank and office. In the Bible it means we are royal advisors.

So, the first thought from myself, here:

Misunderstanding God

In both the West and the East, people commonly think of the being they call “God” as some sort of vague ghostly force which cannot be approached except through some sort of vague, internal–often called “spiritual”–contemplation. At best, this “God” is considered personal, and the “spiritual” exercise involves verbal communication–prayer. Nevertheless, as important as prayer is, it is hardly an adequate way, by itself, to relate to a real person. Believing in such a God too often resembles a child’s imaginary friend.

In contrast to this popular view, the God presented in the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures is a real person who has real relationships with human beings. More than that, He is a great king over the whole universe (which He made in the first place). People who are rightly related to Him are said to be members of His kingdom, citizens of His commonwealth. In the words of Saint Peter, writing to such persons: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9 & 10). Saint Peter is quoting the words of Moses which God gave him to say to the nation of Israel: If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5 & 6). Whether a national society as at the time of Moses or an international society as at the time of Saint Peter and even today, God has always been someone who had real relationships with human beings. Because he is a king, the society formed by these relationships can only be a kingdom.

But there is more. God is not only a real person, but has also revealed himself as three persons. This is extremely mysterious, and completely alien to the conceptions of God posited by all other religions, but it is inescapable from the way God has worked in history. God sent Jesus to us and in so doing sent himself-God with a human face. Jesus claimed and proved himself to be God. Furthermore, he revealed God as “Father” and spoke with him as another person. Finally, he promised “the Spirit,” and made it clear that the Spirit was a person and was just as much God as himself and the Father. Thus, the Christian tradition has developed the term Trinity to emphasize the “threeness” of God as Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit.

Now the Trinity is, as I said, very mysterious, but its implications are breathtaking, because it means that God is a society. From before time began, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit have enjoyed a relationship of love. By initiating a relationship with human beings, God draws them into the eternal relationship of love which exists among the persons of the Trinity. Jesus put it this way when he was praying to God for his disciples: The glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as we are one; I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you have loved me (John 17:22 & 23).

Notice here that Jesus speaks of the glorious unity which his disciples should have is not some internal state of affairs, but a visible unity which no one around can possibly deny. Jesus wants his followers to form an objective society in order to demonstrate that God is a society–a community of love between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit into which we have been brought as members.

So, because God is a real person with kingly authority, his followers cannot help but be formed into a real kingdom, just like Canada or any other nation. And because God is a community, his followers cannot help but be formed into a real community. That God is a real person and persons means that we can have a real relationship with him. This network of relationships, this society, kingdom, or community is known as the Church.

And a much more incisive and pithy comment here from Rich Lusk:

Again, an illustration may help: When a husband hugs his wife, he doesn’t pour any substance into her, but he does communicate love and build their relationship. So it is with the sacraments. Through these personal symbols, God graciously interacts with us, forming and nurturing his relationship with us. He expresses his love for us. He communicates Christ — his very person, in the form of the God-man — to us.

Thus, the Word and sacraments work in largely the same way inter-personal human relationships work. We relate to one another through various signs — words, gestures, hugs, handshakes, etc. Word and sacrament are simply the inter-personal means through which the divine — human relationship is initiated and maintained. God deals with us through these symbols. The symbols do not “get in the way” of a closer, more immediate relationship with God; in fact, apart from them, there is no relationship with God at all, any more than two humans can get to know each other apart from exchanging signs and symbols. A God without means of grace is a figment of one’s imagination, just as a “girlfriend” one has never spoken to or taken out on a date is a product of overactive daydreaming.

I think this quotation from Rich counts as my favorite from him out of everything he has said or written. However, don’t neglect to go through his excellent sermons and decide on your own favorite.

One thought on “A personal relationship with Jesus

  1. the Foolish Sage

    Thank you so much, Mark. What an excellent exposition of why “personal relationship” should not be cast aside, but also why it makes no sense outside the church and its Word & Sacraments.

    Reply

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