Trinity and Humanity

President Obama evoked some powerful imagery in his announcement last night: images of the empty chair at the dinner table and the children who are growing up with a parent missing. He reminded us that Bin Laden was a mass murderer, who indiscriminately killed men, women, children, Christian and Muslim alike. Only those who have known the pain of losing loved ones to these terrible events can really know what loss they have struggled with and what satisfaction they feel in knowing that the man who caused their loss is now gone. It is safe to say, though, that in the light of these powerful memories the whole world feels a sense of satisfaction this morning that a monster has been slain.

For those of us who are Christian there are additional, powerful images that join our memories of the pain that Bin Laden caused. The image of Jesus saying “love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you” (Matt. 5:43-44.) The image of Jesus dying on the cross and saying “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34.) The image of the Saints and martyrs of the Christian faith refusing to take up arms against their persecutors but speaking together with the Lord, in his Spirit, to say “Father, forgive them” (Acts 7:60.)

What a contrast there is between Osama and Jesus! Osama Bin Laden’s actions show him to have been a man who never believed in forgiving one’s enemies. He believed in crushing his enemies, inflicting as much – or more – pain on his enemies than they had inflicted on him. He believed in revenge, not grace, in everlasting reward for those who kill the enemies of God and in everlasting punishment for those who are God’s enemies. Osama and his followers don’t pray for their enemies they dance joyfully in the street when their enemies die.

I’m glad we Americans aren’t like that. Oh – wait, we are. I remember watching T.V. on 9/11 and thinking to myself “nuke those s.o.b.’s.” A scene flashed onto the screen of crowds of people streaming out of Manhattan and I saw a man in a turban walking in that crowd and blurted out to my wife “there’s one, kill him!” It was about that time that Jesus got a hold of me in the Spirit and started talking to me. If I want to kill the enemy who wants to kill me then how different am I from my enemy?

The contrast between all of us and Jesus is quite striking when you think about it in this way. How could Jesus, even as he was being tortured to death, ask forgiveness for his enemies while our reaction – whether we’re Al-Qaeda on 9/11 or American on 5/1 – is to cheer joyfully in the streets at the death of our enemies? What does Jesus know about God that our darkened, depraved human nature does not know and cannot see?

For one thing, Jesus knows the Father’s heart and the purpose that he and the Father and the Holy Spirit are working toward. The purpose of humanity’s existence is our adoption through Jesus Christ as the Father’s children (Eph. 1:5) and our education in the Holy Spirit about this truth of our adoption (Eph. 1:17.) This means that tools such as justice, reward, punishment, and discipline are not an end to themselves but are a means to an end. God’s primary purpose is not to administer justice and punish the wicked. The Father administers justice and punishes the wicked as a means toward accomplishing his purpose of helping his children grow up in Christ to be the children he created them to be.

The tragedy of Osama Bin Laden is that he did not know his identity in Christ as an adopted, reconciled, and forgiven son of the Father. That tragedy spilled over out of Bin Laden’s life into all of our lives and created tragedy for us. Jesus invites us to join him in his cross to break this cycle of sin, violence, and revenge. He invites us to see that our enemy is also included in the Father’s life just as we are and is therefore our brother. And because he is our brother we can pray for him and seek his redemption.

And this is the hard stuff. This is where the rubber hits the road in the Christian life. We can blather on and on all day long and twice on Sundays about how God is love and God loves everyone but our true colors come out (as they did for me on 9/11) when we see how we think about our enemies. Everything in our flesh cries out for revenge, to hurt those who have hurt us, and to rip out an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The problem with that philosophy is that everyone eventually ends up blind and toothless. And the Father did not create humanity to live forever blind and toothless (Matt. 5:38-39.)

Here are three thoughts that have helped me in this regard. Perhaps they will help you.

1. We are all sinners, forgiven and adopted in Jesus (Rom. 5:18.) The gospel is the good news that everyone has been reconciled to the Father and included in Christ in spite of our hatred for him and for one another. (In case you don’t know what the Bible says on this subject, here are a list of scriptures that you can read: John 1:29; Rom. 5:8-10; 2 Cor. 5:19; Col. 1:19-20; 1 Tim. 4:10.) That means that Osama and I are both sinners and we are both included in Jesus’ work to make us the forgiven children of the Father. Honestly, there is something deep inside me that doesn’t like that. I want Osama to burn while I watch. That’s how different I am from Jesus.

2. Since we are reconciled we need to be reconciled (2 Cor. 5:19-20.) In Jesus we are all reconciled to the Father but we are not always being, living, and thinking as the reconciled people that we are. We all still hurt others and sin in ways that perpetuate the cycle of violence and revenge. So, through the Spirit, in the Son, the Father pleads with us to be who we truly are in Christ: the Father’s reconciled and forgiven children.

3. The gates of the New Jerusalem are never closed (Rev. 21:25.) At any time any person can stop rejecting Jesus and believe the truth that he is the adopted, forgiven child of the Father in Christ. American Christianity is deeply infected with the non-Biblical, human tradition that says that if you don’t get right with God before you die that you will never be able to get right with him. This idea fits more with Bin Laden’s view of God than it does with Jesus’ view. If your view of God is that he is a cosmic sheriff dispensing justice then it makes sense to think that there is a statute of limitations on repentance and if you are even one minute late in conforming to this law then you are out of luck. But if you see the Father of Jesus who has poured out his Spirit on all humanity (Acts 2:17) then you know that Fathers never give up on their children. The door is always open for the children to realize who they really are, come in out of the darkness, and join the joyful celebration of the Father’s house (Luke 15:28.) This is the difference between seeing God as a law-keeping super-sheriff and seeing God as the good Father who loves the Son and loves humanity in and through the Son.

In my mind, these three points come together in an interesting way when I read Revelation 3:9. There Jesus speaks to people who have suffered pain and persecution and death. Jesus tells them that he will make those who have persecuted them come and fall down at their feet and acknowledge that he has loved them. I think what Jesus is describing is how we get from the pain of this sinful life to the place of being the reconciled children of the Father that Jesus has made us to be.

I think it might go like this: When Osama has finally worn himself out with weeping and gnashing his teeth in the darkness outside the New Jerusalem he will look up to see the Lamb of God who has taken away his sin and the sin of the world. (What?! Jesus is present in the place of torment? Yes. Rev. 14:10.) He will then, at last, be ready to be the reconciled person that Christ has made him to be. The Lamb will then lead him into the city through the gates that never close. And the first thing Jesus will have Osama do is to go fall down at the feet of those he persecuted and acknowledge that Jesus has loved them. And then those who hurt Osama and played a part in making him into a monster will be led by Jesus before Osama. Those who hurt him when he was just a little toddler, longing to be loved and accepted, and those who hurt him when he was a young man trying to find his place in the world, will come and fall at Osama’s feet and acknowledge that Jesus has loved him too.

I don’t know how long all this takes. And I admit that I’m speculating based on who Jesus is – maybe it will never happen. Maybe there are some people who will gnash their teeth in the darkness forever. But if they stand outside the party forever it won’t be because Jesus isn’t with them in their torment or because he hasn’t loved them and prayed for them. He is with them, he loves them, and he is praying for them.

What I do know is that we are all reconciled in Christ and that it is possible for us to be the reconciled people that we are because all things are possible through Christ and all things have been made new in him. And the knowledge that humanity’s future could be far, far better than humanity’s present is all the motivation I need to join Jesus in loving my enemies and praying for them.

~ Jonathan Stepp