downside-up

"In the end all authority will be given to Jesus (Mt 28:18), but the path to his victory led through death and resurrection. The way of God in Jesus will not be achieved through overwhelming power or invulnerability. Jesus acknowledges his place as a creature of God dependent on divine provision, which entails the possibility that he shall go hungry and be susceptible to injury. Jesus accepts the finite conditions of existence as a blessing from God. Consequently, he does not accept the Old Testament 'prediction' that the Messiah would be immune from bodily harm (Ps 91:11-12) as applicable to himself. Jesus trusts in the same providence that covers all humans. This involves acknowledging the risk and vulnerability we experience in life. Providence does not mean protection from the vicissitudes of life. Jesus chooses the path of faithful trust in God the Father in the midst of life's uncertainties. 'What does it mean to worship and serve the Abba God?' asks Tupper. 'It includes the renunciation of dominating power and overwhelming force as the way to accomplish the will of God.' The way of God in the world is not a display of raw omnipotence - a love of power - but the power of love. It is in this that Jesus trusts." *

Perhaps this is why Jesus was so effective in his ministry. He genuinely cared for the lost, the lowly, the downtrodden, the hurting. He had no agenda of his own and he did not seek out any earthy positions of power or fame.

Perhaps this is why we can be so ineffective in our ministries. Many pay lip-service to God but do not genuinely care for those around us. We often have our own hidden motives that we keep secret from everybody - maybe even ourselves. Even the seemingly harmless activity of saving face usually means that someone else is hurt for our own gain.

Even when we recognize God's kingdom as operating "backwards" we have difficulty living it.



John Sanders, The God Who Risks (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 94-95.