Juxtaposition, a Spiritual Odyssey

[HKHaugan]

Juxtaposition, a Spiritual Odyssey

 Juxtaposition. An interesting word. It’s putting contrasts side by side. The day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is Saturday. They lie in juxtaposition to one another. They’re never the same. They are always different but tied together at the same time. Actually, every day in the world is an in-between day, a day juxtaposed to the known past and the unknown next.

 There’s more to those days than just the name. If we are between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we are really looking at the difference between eternal life and eternal death, between Heaven and hell, between God and the devil. We are between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet.’ We are between a choice and a decision, the crossroads between alternatives, between action and no action.  

 A plan involves seeing that we are between every last moment and every next moment yet to come. We are always between choices of how to act, what to buy, who to see, and, what is more important, setting priorities. In the in-between is always one thing, the present. We are called to live in the present. We are I am’s making choices and decisions. I am is a personal recognition of self in the present tense. On what do we base our present action, our present behavior, our choices and decisions that we are now making?

 If I have a habit of being late do I have a choice to leave earlier?

 But that shows another juxtaposition. We are between the past and the future. What have we learned from our past that can give us a hope for a better future? That’s why Jesus came, to be in our present at choice time when decisions have to be made. We are always between a choice and a decision. We are between the fear of making one and the faith to make one. Why did Jesus, God the Son, make the choice to die for us?

 Gen.1:26 tells us who we are, images of God, images of the eternal “I AM.” In eternity there is no past or future, only God and His Kingdom. What that means is we have a mind, a heart and a spirit. We are made to be a likeness of God, to think like Him, have His attitude of love, grace and truth. We are made to live in the present with a consciousness of living out our being an image of God at any given moment which is the next moment of our life here on earth. We are meant to be creative, to be loving, to be wise, to be compassionate, to be just, to be sound minded. We are always called to think of God first, others second and me third. When we are ‘I AM’ images, how can we use the skills of the mind, the heart’s attitudes and the spirit’s energy to relate personally to God and one another in every present moment, the one between the already and the not yet?

 Because of sin, that self-centered nature we inherited from Adam, most of our decisions are to please the self, to fear not being in control, to make sure I look good, that I am accepted, and people will say I’m great. Why? We are alone and afraid, which is the real “nakedness” Adam discovered about himself (Gen.3). What we discover about ourselves as a result, if we are honest, is that others need to fit into my life or me theirs. The question is always, who’s right, me or them? Until we conclude that there are none right except the Lord Jesus, then we turn to Him and ask Him how to be right because He is the right one to ask, the Right One. One noted rabbi said, “The problem is that we are called to love people and use things, but we love things and use people.”

 Like the fan base that is always pressuring coaches, “I’m glad you won for us last Saturday, but what are you going to do for us this Saturday?” Sin is the need to be in control of the choices I make so I look good to myself and others. It’s my way to save myself, to preserve my life socially, economically and, if it helps to have a religion, I’ll choose one. It’s like trying to find the back door to a spirituality I can control, only to find there is no back door, only the front one, and His name is Jesus who says, “I am the gate (Jn.10:9).”

 Life without God is all about me and what I want and how I act to get what I want. Paul describes it like this: “The good I want to do, I can’t, and the evil I don’t want to do, I find myself doing (Rom.7:15-16)..” He says that his main problem was the sin of covetousness (Rom.7:8) and later, in a letter to Timothy, that he knew Jesus came to save sinners and that he, Paul, was the worst (1 Tim.2:15). Paul’s past as a brilliant teacher and rabbi came to a juxtaposition on the road to Damascus when the risen Jesus confronted him with a question, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard to kick against the goads (Acts 26:14).”

 Interesting word, goad, and what it really means, a pointed stick to prod cattle to move. Paul’s heart in every next moment had been consumed with ‘kicking against’ the Word of God, “The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails---given by one Shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them (Eccl.12:11-12).” This is both his heart’s hostile attitude toward the Living Word, Jesus, and His stubborn refusal to see Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Good Shepherd, in the embedded ‘nails,’ the words in the Word, Holy Scripture. Paul was a living juxtaposition. He believed in the Scripture but warred against its main character.

 We have, each of us, lived a life with a past. We are in the present. We have a future. Where do we choose to spend our every present moment? In the eternal darkness of our self-centered choices or in the promises of an eternity of life and light with God in Heaven? We are always living in a present moment. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life (Jn.14:6),” fulfilling the prophecy from Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jer.29:11).”

 The devil and his sin are always in juxtaposition to God and His love, to love self above God, to do unto others before they do unto you, to be first in the world instead of last with God in Heaven who loves us into each of us being first in Him. “The last shall be first and the first last (Mt.20:16).”

 It is into this very juxtaposition come the Seven I Am’s in John’s Gospel:

They are the sum of Him saying “…before Abraham was born , I Am (8:58).”

I am the bread of Life (6:35)

I am the Light of the world (8:12)

I am the gate (10:9)

I am the Good Shepherd (10:11)

I am the Resurrection and the Life (11:25)

I am the way, the truth and the life (14:6)

I am the true vine (15:1) 

Then the Seven Signs in the Gospel of John:

Water to Wine (2:1-11)

Healing the official’s son (4:46-54)

Healing at the Pool of Bethesda (5:1-15))

Feeding the 5000 (6:5-14)

Walking on water (6:16-21)

Healing the man born blind (9:1-17)

Raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-45)

 We cannot overlook Isaiah 11 starting with the shoot of Jesse, the Messiah, who will bear a seven-faceted Spirit, the facets being wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge, fear (respectful obedience) of the Lord and delight (joy) in the fear of the Lord. We might add that the joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh.8:10). Then, of course, the fruit of the Spirit in Gal.5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Nor can we forget the gifts of the Spirit. Romans 12:1-8, 1Cor.12:4-11, 27-31, Eph.4:11-13.

In all of the above, the Holy Spirit is the presence of the Father working His will through Jesus who matures us. Maturity in Christ is a juxtaposition between us being born sinners and becoming a child of God in our every present moment, the moments of choice and decision. This is an ongoing process of belief transforming our mind, trust transforming our heart and faith transforming our spirit to be a disciple and a witness for Jesus. Each past moment builds our present moments to strengthen us for every next moment. Jesus is the picture of juxtaposition as He suffers death on the Cross to be resurrected for us who, believing in His presence in us, take up our daily cross to be resurrected through Him.