Entangled, For God's Sake!

Dr. Harrel Beck, professor of Old Test. at Boston U. School of Theology was asked the question, "If God were to apply for one of the teaching positions open at Boston U., which would it be?...Religion, History?" "No," he replied, "I think it would be Political Science. Because politics is what it takes to keep life human. God would be involved in politics, because He is concerned about keeping life human!"

Unlike cogs in a gear, people often clash. There is conflict. Even Christians sometimes disagree as to what is Christian. We are forever entangled in each other's lives.

It is our privilege to be tangled together, and yet, at times it becomes profoundly tragic, and we can be badly hurt by one another. Because we are involved together, we can be dragged down, or sucked in, or lifted up, or wrapped around. It is tragic and yet it is triumphant. There is joy, and there is sorrow. This is the arena of our world, and what we do with it is both political and religious.

A cartoon showed a great mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion shaped like a vast crucifix, and a voice coming out of the cloud saying, "Father, forgive them not, for they know what they are doing!"

It's frightening, isn't it? Because, we do know what we are doing! We know that we live in a world of relationships and we know that if we hate our brothers and sisters, it's going to bring about war...but we do it anyway!

Someone once said about Erasmus, the great philosopher, that he looked like he had descended from a long line of maiden aunts. And sometimes the Church looks that way too. We are sometimes anemic and devoid of the red blood of compassion, because we have not really been involved in mankind. We have tried to separate ourselves from the mess, and our job is not to leave the world, but to love the world. Our job is to turn the loving Word into the living Deed.

Jesus was not crucified in Jerusalem because he was organizing a Wed. evening prayer meeting. Nobody gets crucified for that! But rather because he entangled himself redemptively, for God's sake.

Dr. Beck added, that Christ bids us to accept the gift of in-completion. God made the world, and he said,"That's good." He made man and woman and he said, "That's good." Then God could have done the finishing act, and made the perfect world, but He didn't do that. He handed it to the man and the woman and he said, "Here it is, now you finish it!"

Are you and I willing to get entangled, for God's sake?