Yancey on Easter

I've been reading (somewhat haphazardly) with a mate from church Philip Yancey's The Jesus I Never Knew. I really think that, in terms of accessibility, clarity and comprehensiveness [is that a word?], it is the best book about Jesus I have read. Here are some of Yancey's thoughts on this most magnificent 3 days we are about celebrate.

On the crucifixion:

The balance of power shifted more than slightly that day on calvary because of who it was that absorbed the evil. If Jesus of Nazareth had been one more innocent victim, like King, Mandela, Havel, and Solzhenitsyn, he would have made his mark in history and faded from the scene. No religion would have sprung up around him. What changed history was the disciples dawning awareness (it took the Resurrection to convince them) that God himself had chosen the way of weakness. The cross redefines God as One who was willing to relinquish power for the sake of love. Jesus became, in Dorothy Solle's phrase, "God's unilateral disarmament."
Power, no matter how well intentioned, tends to cause suffering. Love, being vulnerable, absorbs it. In a point of convergence on a hill called Calvary, God renounced the one for the sake of the other.*

On the resurrection:

There are two ways to look at human history, I have concluded. One way is to focus on the wars and violence, the squalor, the pain and tragedy and death. From such a point of view, Easter seems a fairy-tale exception, a stunning contradiction in the name of God. That gives some solace, although I confess that when my friends died, grief was so overpowering that any hope in an afterlife seemed somehow thin and insubstantial.
There is another way to look at the world. If I take Easter as the starting point, the one incontrovertible fact about how God treats those he loves, then human history becomes the contradiction and Easter a preview of ultimate reality. Hope then flows like lava beneath the crust of daily life.
This, perhaps, describes the change in the disciples' perspective as they sat in locked rooms discussing the incomprehensible events of Easter Sunday. In one sense nothing had changed: Rome still occupied Palestine, religious authorities still had a bounty on their heads, death and evil still reigned outside. Gradually, however, the shock of recognition gave way to a long slow undertow of joy. If God could do that...**

*Philip Yancey. The Jesus I Never Knew. pp. 205-205. Zondervan, Michigan, USA (1995).
**Philip Yancey. The Jesus I Never Knew. pp. 219-220. Zondervan, Michigan, USA (1995).

Precious

Isaiah 43:4

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.

This verse comes in a sequence of prophecies regarding God's overwhelming faithfulness to his people, and His promise of restoration. Clearly God is speaking of His people Israel, but those who have inherited the promise in Christ, who was given 'in exchange' for us, are equally the object of this verse.
The reality that we are (I am) precious, honoured and loved by God is of extraordinary importance in providing context to all I have been and will be in the future.
In a world in which people are abused, rejected and made little of, the Gospel of this God carries massive healing power.

Top Five - Opening songlines...

I love listening to song lyrics. The first lines of a song can be poignant, witty or funny. They can instantly create a scene or tone. Here are some of my favourites.


1. Dave Matthews Band, Dreamgirl:

I would dig a hole all the way to China
unless of course I was there
Then I'd dig my way home
If by diggin I could steal... the wind from the sails
Of the greedy men who rule the world

2. Counting Crows, Round Here:

Step out the front door like a ghost into a fog
Where no one notices the contrast of white on white
And in between the moon and you the angels get a better view
Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right

3. Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA:

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

4. Eagles, Take it easy:

Well, I'm running down the road
Tryin to loosen my load
Ive got seven women on
My mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says shes a friend of mine

5. Bryan Adams, Summer of '69:

I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played 'til my fingers bled
It was summer of '69

Other worthy contenders:
U2, Where the streets have no name.
Pearl Jam, Daughter.
Jon Bon Jovi, Blaze of Glory.
Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road.
Cold Chisel, Khe Sanh.