A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on December 18th, 2007 in Progressive Faith

The Gospel today is one of those passages that is used to justify a belief in the rapture. But the phrase that sticks with me on a first reading is “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

“Heaven and earth” could, of course, refer to just this ball of mud and atmosphere upon which we stand. But that reading requires a separation of Heaven, the abode of God, and earth, the abode of man, that is generally lacking in the Bible. Given that, it would appear that we are being told that even Heaven is temporary. Only the promises of God remain constant.

The overall message is clear - be ready, it’s coming. Of course, being humans, we’ll probably not understand what “it” is when “it” gets here. Even those hand-picked by Jesus didn’t understand what he was trying to do when he was with them. Some thought he would rebuild the temple, some thought he would drive out Rome. No one thought he would just die.

So what are we supposed to be ready for? It’s difficult to be constantly ready for unbelievable awe and lifechanging humility. I’d say it’s impossible. I don’t know how you can get ready for that even if you know when it’s going to happen. Kind of like getting married - you think you’re ready and then the day happens and you’re totally lost. Then you wake up one day and realize that the day of the ceremony was probably the least important day of your relationship because no one was actually focused on your relationship.

Get ready. A new day is coming. You can be miserable and make others miserable, or you can wipe away the cynicism and create yourself anew.

Yeah. It’s that easy. Like dead-lifting an elephant with one hand.