The Wonder of Mystery

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

“The lack of mystery in our modern life is our downfall and our poverty. A human life is worth as much as the respect it holds for the mystery…We destroy the mystery because we sense that here we reach the boundary of our being, because we want to be lord over everything and have it at our disposal, and that’s just what we cannot do with the mystery…Living without mystery means knowing nothing of the mystery of our own life, nothing of the mystery of another person, nothing of the mystery of the world; it means passing over our own hidden qualities and those of others and the world. It means remaining on the surface, taking the world seriously only to the extent that it can be calculated and exploited, and not going beyond the world of calculation and exploitation. Living without mystery means not seeing the crucial processes of life at all and even denying them.”

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, and Jana Riess. God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.

Abba,

YES….this…this insight by Bonhoeffer. We do not like mystery, the hidden, the unknown because that removes the control from us. As children, we love this mystery, this learning, this exploration, this thought that there are things we do not know and do not understand. It captures our hearts, our imaginations, our intrigue. As adults, with god complexes, with control issues….we decide that mystery has no place in our life.

Problem is, YOU are shrouded in mystery. You FOREVER will be. I am convinced that eternity will be an exploration of the mystery that You are. It is an exploration that will endure for eternity, for no matter how much we discover about You, there will always be more. And, in our limited nature, we will never fully be able to grasp the extent of your mystery.

BUT, BUT, Abba, in this mystery comes a large portion of our enjoyment of and delight in You. We keep coming back because the mystery draws us. The desire to learn and know more draws us. The discovery of yet another piece of You, draws us.

As much as we know, as much as we understand, as much as You reveal to us, there is still so much that is shrouded in the mystery, the incomprehensibility of Your nature. There is this tension. For You ARE knowable. You make Yourself known. And yet, because of the vast depths of who You are, You are still cloaked in mystery, to a degree at least. It is this tension, this beautiful tension that has such allure to draw us to You. For that which is known is so gloriously beautiful that we crave to know more, to know the mystery that is the rest of You. For the rest of eternity, we will have the joy of pursuing this mystery with such childlike joy that we will never tire of the pursuit or of You. And as we race after it, all that You are for us and all that You have revealed, will continue to satiate our souls with such euphoria that we do not mind the remaining mystery. No, indeed, it will be to the great delight of our hearts.

Restore to us the joy of the mystery. Grant us the heart of a child who delights in and races after the mystery. And as you reveal ever more to us, allowing us to know Yourself, grant a joy and contentment in the wonder of the known AND of the mystery.

We love you, Abba.

Amen.

The Mystery of Love

Philippians 1:3–14.

Philippians 1:3–14 ESV

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. 12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Abba,

Mystery is not JUST not knowing something.

Mystery is found in those things closest to us. In fact, as Bonhoeffer observes, the closer a thing, or person, is to us, the more mystery we find.

This is especially true in love.

Love, defined as “Unselfishly choosing for another’s highest good” is saturated with mystery.

The closer we are to one, the more we are known, the more mystery we see when that person “unselfishly chooses” for my highest good. Truth is, I am terrible person the flesh. Sin and the curse, my fallenness and brokenness make it so. Therefore, for another to unselfishly choose for my highest good, AFTER seeing the full depths of my selfishness and pride, yes, indeed this mystery is profound.

Why grace and love persist in the face of such selfish, prideful extravagance is simply a mystery.

Grace IS a mystery. Why can grace exist when evil is so proliferate? Why would any choose to unselfishly put another before themselves, especially when it will involve hurt, betrayal, grief, and pain? Why would any choose to love and serve me when the depth of my own tendency towards self is exposed?

Indeed, the more we uncover, the more mystery there is and the more profound it becomes.

This mystery is made all the greater when the chasm between me and that other person is greater. For instance, the greatness of Your holiness, Abba, and Your perfection makes Your love for me so much more of a mystery. You are FAR more grand than me. You are FAR more righteous and good. And yet, Your love for me is ever more evident and abundant. The mystery is MORE profound because of how wide the distance is between You and me.

Truth is, the more intimately known we are by others, the more profound the mystery when love is extended and given. The more one unselfishly chooses in the face of the other’s sinfulness, the more mysterious it becomes.

The fact that anyone, after knowing me, decides to remain near to me…well, that is the mystery indeed. A mystery profound and rich.

THIS is the wonder then of what we celebrate at Christmas. The embodiment of love coming down and being extended to undeserving creatures, created by You and for You but rejecting You. The mystery is not that we fail to see and know grace. The mystery is our failure to understand it to its fullest extent. The more we know You, the more we stand in awe of the mystery that is You and the more we drawn to delight in it, immersing ourselves in it.

This advent season, reawaken our love for mystery and satisfy us with the profound mystery that You are for us.

The Wonder of All Wonders

1 Co 2:8–10.

1 Corinthians 2:8–10 ESV

8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

Abba,

The mystery of heaven is this: That You would send Your own Son, Jesus, to die the death He did for the likes of us. That You would come near to make Your home with us.

We know You did. We even know Your love compelled You. But WHY You love us so, WHY You would do this, HOW You can be so good and so glorious, THIS is the mystery to us.

The facts we know. To a degree, we even understand as You reveal Yourself to us. And yet, the mystery lingers. Our minds and hearts cannot reconcile WHY, truly WHY You do as You do.

No eyes has seen…

No ear has heard…

No heart has imagined…

The mystery, depth, and wonder of Your plan.

In fact, your plan appears as foolishness to our flesh. Only Your Spirit makes sense of it. Only Your Spirit awakens the majestic glory of it and causes our hearts to stand in awe and wonder at the mystery of Your wisdom and will.

So…failing to grasp it all, we simply, humbly acknowledge with thankfulness the reality of You, standing like a child in awe of the mystery that You are for us. We delight in it!

The mystery of heaven then is this: That You would equip and use such dishonorable vessels such as us to make Your pure and priceless name known.

That You would work Your perfect will through such imperfect means.

That You would use the profane to work holiness.

The mystery of heaven is this: That Your wisdom and will confounds the wise, shames the sage, and elevates that which sin made low.

The mystery of heaven is The King of All coming as a helpless babe.

The mystery of heaven is The Innocent of Eternity bearing the guilt of all created man.

The mystery of heaven is the Exalted One condescending to us.

The mystery of heaven is the Almighty declaring His victory in weakness.

The mystery, the wonder, the majesty is not only revealed by but is also defined by Eternal God wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

The coming near of the King of Kings, the revealing of Your person to us, the unveiling of Yourself to us IS the grand mystery. By it, we come to know you more deeply. By it, the mystery You are wrapped in, becomes deeper, more intriguing, more alluring.

The mystery of heaven floods from Your being known. The more known You are, the more mystery is revealed. The more mystery that is revealed, the more we are drawn to You in intimacy.

The mystery of heaven, the wonder of wonders is that You even desired to be near, so near to Your created things; that You came near and desire to remain near.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has comprehended…

The deep mystery of You.

Yet, with every revealed aspect of Yourself, we know You better and long for You more.

Wonder of wonders, mystery of mystery…we stand in awe of You!

The Power and Glory of the Manger

“Who among us will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism beside the manger; whoever remains lowly and lets God alone be high; whoever looks at the child in the manger and sees the glory of God precisely in his lowliness.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, and Jana Riess. God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.

Lk 1:46–55.

Luke 1:46–55 ESV

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Abba,

My father once observed that no offspring of any living creature remains as dependent upon their parents for as long as a human child does. Animals in the wild birth their babies and see those babies reach independence MUCH faster than a child of man. Children are utterly dependent upon their parents or another adult well into teen years and often beyond.

This is a powerful observation, one that ought to be applied to Your coming as a babe, Jesus. You came in the most helpless and lowliest manner possible. You did not come as a full grown adult, mighty and powerful. You came as a helpless and needy babe. One who remained dependent upon his earthly parents for a long time. For you, God in time, it must have felt like an eternity. Course, in Your perfection, You certainly would not have railed against it, but I imagine it must have been…odd for You. Almighty, omnipotent God…lowly and needy. Dependent and helpless.

This manner of coming…

…how are we truly to embrace the significance of it? ALMIGHTY GOD, being made low.

No.

Willingly making Himself, Yourself low.

For me.

For us.

To do what had to be done SO THAT You could offer us a way back to Yourself. So that You could show us Yourself.

Indeed…this is why Bonhoeffer’s words ring so powerful and true. The ONLY true stance in light of this truth is one of humble bowing, bending the knee, and checking all pretense of our self worth at the door. There is no worth, no wealth, no honor, no power, no position, no success, no approval that can surmount the glory of God in a manger.

But…

Until we, until I check those things at the door, I will never fully appreciate the weight of an infant in a manger, come for me.

The true depth of my ability to delight in You and enjoy intimacy with You is found in a humble stature.

Hmm, is this not also true of all relationships? The more self righteous and self focused I am, the less I am able to enjoy deep and intimate relationships. The more humble my heart, the more I are free to know and delight in others as You intend.

This is profoundly true in my relationship with You. My ability to know and enjoy intimacy with You is in direct proportion to the stature of my heart.

Grant then, that my heart be humble in order that I might delight more in You and revel in the mystery of Your being. Grant that I would come humbly and lowly matching the stature of Your own heart and being. Make me like You.

I love You, Abba.

Amen.

Conclusion

The gospel is both revealed and still yet a mystery.

God is revealed and still yet a mystery.

As with all things God, these things are both true at the same time.

As we reflect upon and meditate upon Christmas this year, I pray that we are moved to marvel at, wonder about, and delight in the mystery of God, that we never lose our wonder for the mystery that He is and that it keeps us coming back to Him over and over again.