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Aug. 31, 2008
Would Jesus Wear Braces?
Posted in Church God Faith
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This past Spring, our family was involved in the play The Magician's Nephew, which is one of the Chronicles of Narnia books. I remember noticing that Aslan, played by a 15-year-old-boy, had braces. I toyed with that seeming incongruence. Would Jesus wear braces? First, would He have crooked teeth? If He did, would He correct them? I don't mean WWJD -- should I get braces or should my kid get braces. I mean, would the God of the universe inhabit an earthly body that was imperfect. Isaiah 53:2 says, He had no form or splendor that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him. So He wasn't spectacular to look at; maybe He had an overbite. We don't know for sure. Is God a baritone? We are in the process of casting a play based on the book of Jonah called God and the Runaway Preacher. We need God. Oh how we need Him, but in this case, I mean we need someone to be His voice. In the play. And I have very high standards about what kind of voice God should have. Not too high, not too nasal, not too Southern. (I know, I shouldn't admit it, but I don't think God has a Southern drawl. Shoot me.) I live in Georgia, so it won't be easy LOL. It is silly, I know, but I have certain expectations when I hear someone portraying the voice of God. Clearly I won't be called on to cast "God," as that role has already been filled, but it does make me ponder my expectations. On a deeper level, I find myself confronting other "expectations." When my first son was born and in the NICU, I fully expected God to heal him. In all honesty, I could not conceive of a God who would let my baby die. And yet, 13 years later, I know that unspeakable tragedy happens. Moms lose their children.. Good, Christian, faithful, loving moms. Being a Christian does not inoculate us from heartbreak. At some point in our Christian faith, God is going to not live up to our expectations. (I know I split my infinitive, but it makes the emphasis in the right place in the sentence .) I just finished reading a book about John the Baptist, and his death. Here he is, the cousin of Jesus, the one who sacrificed his whole life for his calling, the one who lived in the desert and ate locusts, and he is in jail, about to be executed. He sends a message: "Yo, Jesus. You're the one right? You're the Messiah, the one we've been waiting for, the Deliverer?" The subtext here: Help, come deliver ME!!!!!!!!!!" Jesus response? Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me The subtext: Yes I am the Messiah. Yes I am the One you have been waiting for. But no, I'm not coming. I'm not delivering you. I am the Deliverer, but not this time. Blessed is he who can worship a God who doesn't live up to his expectations. |
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