Verbs and Other Spirit Things
David C. Myers
February 8, 2009
Epiphany - 5
Exodus 3:1 - 15
Mark 1:29 - 39
Texts: "God said to Moses, "I am who I am." . . . Exodus 3:14
"Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there
also; for this is what I came to do." . . . Mark 1:38
First it was my wife. Then it was Bob Gray. "You have to read The Shack." It's a book rewritten by Wm. Paul Young that is sweeping the country. They both gave me the customary warnings. Deb, who is an avid reader and always in one or two book clubs, said that as good books go she has read many that are much better developed and better written. Bob suggested that it is a bit of a stretch removed from reality. Both of them said, "It is riveting and you won't be able to put it down." Then they more or less added, "You have to tell me what you think of the theology." Ah, the test for any minister reading a book.
Furthermore, compounding the mystery of this book; Deb reminds me that it "appeared" on our kitchen table. It could be coincidence, it could be our declining years and approaching senility; but we do not remember who gave it to us.
Anyway, last weekend I was going to be in Jacksonville for 4 days of meetings with the Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. Somehow, I suspected that I might have some time for reading. Bob and Deb were correct, The Shack is riveting, I read it all and could barely put it down - and for those of you compulsive about such things - I didn't miss a meeting or workshop.
I don't want to give the whole story away, but to set the scene, Mack is a wonderful man, married happily to Nan with their four children, ranging in ages from about 17 to 6. Mack had taken his three younger children on a camping trip in the Wallowa Lake region of northeastern Oregon. They are with some other friends and their families. On the last day of this trip, Mack's two older children, Josh and Kate, decide they want one last canoe ride on the lake. After all the proper cautions are taken they are off, complete with lifejackets. When goes by the shore, Kate she lifts her paddle to wave to her father and the canoe tips over. Kate immediately comes to the surface, but Josh does not. Mack dives in to rescue his drowning and panicking son. He discovers that the straps of the life jacket have become caught in the webbing of the canoe, and Josh cannot be pulled free. So with all his might, Mack tips the canoe over and Josh begins to float - but not breathing. He gets Josh to shore, and after performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation he brings him back to life.
But then a new problem is discovered. His youngest daughter, Missy, who last seen at a picnic table playing with her coloring books has vanished. They search the campground to no avail. They call the police. An all points bulletin is issued. And as the next few days go by they discover she has been kidnapped by a serial killer of small, young girls. They do manage to get on his trail, and follow the leads into a remote wooded area several miles away to a shack - an old abandoned two to three room woodsy cabin, where they find only the bloodied dress of Missy. It is a pattern that fits the five other deaths. No body, but throughout the disappearance there are certain marks deliberately left by the killer.
Three years pass when we enter the story. Mack has entered a 3-year depression - called "the great sadness". One day during an ice storm he is home alone, and goes down his driveway covered with ice to get the mail. There is but one envelope. He opens it and it reads.
Mackenzie,
It's been a while. I've missed you.
I'll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together.
Papa
Well, "Papa" is the affectionate name Mack's wife has for God. And the shack - well, that's the abandoned, run-down shack where Missy's bloodied dress was found.
Mack wrestles with what has happened. Turns out the mailman never came that day - the ice was so bad. Could the note possibly have written by God? Of course not, but who and what kind of wrapped mind could have sent him this note - and who would know enough of what happened to sign it Papa his wife Nan's affectionate name for God? Should he tell his wife Nan about the note?
Well, he decides not to tell his wife, but when Nan goes away the next weekend, Mack does decide to go to the shack, and borrows his neighbor's jeep to get there.
When he arrives the shack is even a bit more run down then it was three years ago. He cautiously goes inside. Blood stains from Missy are still on the floor. He erupts in a violent rage and throws a chair through the window. He exhausts himself in this rage and then falls asleep. When he awakes he feels like a jerk - a victim of his own idiocy. Imagine a grown man, with seminary training no less; believing that God could have sent him this note and furthermore that he would be able to talk to God here.
He resolutely decides to go back home. He is barely 100 feet away from the shack when strange things happen. Winter turns to spring, birds are chirping. Vegetation is growing; he smells wonderful foods being cooked behind him. And he turns and looks; the shack is now a beautiful cottage. And again he questions his sanity. He can't resist the urge to go inside; hearing voices inside the cottage - and is greeted by "a large beaming African-American woman" - who calls him by his complete name. She introduces herself as "Papa" and her companions as Jesus and Sarayu - the Holy Spirit.
If you can still bear with me through this fantastic tale - Well, the rest of the story is the dialogue between Mack and the Holy Trinity as it attempts to deal with God's nature and how tragedy exists in our world and how we can be healed of our hurts and brokenness. I will say that God appears this way, because this is the form that Mack needed - later in the story Papa has become a man - but that is fodder for another discussion, another time.
I was particularly struck by the dialogues on forgiveness; and especially struck by an exchange between Mack and Sarayu - the Holy Spirit.
I want to share some of the exchanges. Whenever tragedy strikes in our lives, we often question sometimes openly, sometimes the questions are buried deep inside, "why God allowed this to happen." Mack certainly did - why did God allow his innocent daughter be kidnapped by a serial killer? We ask this in similar ways. Why do the good die young? Why did I get this disease? A lot of times we never verbalize these questions and doubts, keeping them buried and then they overtake us - like happened to Mack with his depression.
One of the dialogues Mack has with Jesus is over the beauty of the earth, and how humanity seems bent on destroying it by not paying attention to our waste and then the dialogue spills over to the nature of our relationships.
"So why don't you fix it?" Mack asked.
"Because we gave it to you."
"Can't you take it back?"
"Of course we could, but then the story would end before it was consummated."
Mack gave Jesus a blank look.
Jesus says, "Have you noticed that even though you call Me Lord and King, I have never really acted in that capacity with you? I've never taken control of your choices or forced you to do anything, even when what you were about to do was destructive or hurtful to yourself and others."
Mack looked back at the lake before responding. "I would have preferred that You did take control at times. It would have saved me and people I care about a lot of pain."
"To force My will on you," Jesus replied, "Is exactly what love does not do. Genuine relationships are marked by submission even when your choices are not helpful or healthy." . . . it is all about relationships of love and respect. In fact we are submitted to you in the same way.
Mack was surprised. "How can that be? Why would the God of the universe want to be submitted to me?"
"Because we want you to join us in our circle of relationship. I don't want slaves to My will; I want brothers and sisters who will share life with Me."
[Mack responds,] "And that's how You want us to love each other, I suppose? I mean between husband and wives, parents and children. I guess in any relationship?" . . .
[Mack pauses to let the words sink in, and then says,] "And all I wanted was a God Who will just fix everything so no one gets hurt." Mack shook his head at the realization. (pp. 145f)
Later in the story, Mack is enjoying dinner with the Holy Trinity, talking about the nature of God. Papa turns the dialogue over to Sarayu, the Holy Spirit, to help Mack understand God's grace and why our faith has moved away from Law.
"Mackenzie, I will take a verb over a noun anytime."
She stopped and waited. Mack wasn't at all sure about what he was supposed to understand by her cryptic remark and said the only thing that came to mind. "Huh?"
"I," she opened her hands to include Jesus and Papa, "I am a verb. I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I am a being verb."
Mack still felt like he had a blank stare on his face. He understood the words she was saying, but it just wasn't connecting yet.
"And as my very essence is a verb," she continued, "I am more attuned to verbs than nouns. Verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, reaping, changing, sowing, running, dancing, singing, and on and on. Humans, on the other hand, have a knack for taking a verb that is alive and full of grace and turning it into a dead noun or principle that reeks of rules: something growing and alive dies. Nouns exist because there is a created universe and physical reality, but if the universe is only a mass of nouns, it is dead. Unless, "I am,' there are no verbs, and verbs are what makes the universe alive. . . .
May I give you a couple of examples?"
"Please do," assented Mack, "I am all ears."
"Then let's use your two words: responsibility and expectation. Before your words became nouns, they were first My words, . . . the ability to respond and expectancy. My words are alive and dynamic - full of possibility; yours are dead, full of fear and judgment. That is why you won't find the word responsibility in the Scriptures.". . .
[Sarayu continues], "Because I am your ability to respond, I have to be present in you. If I simply gave you a responsibility, I would not have to be with you at all. It would now be a task to perform, on obligation to be met, something to fail." . . .
"Let's use the example of friendship and how removing the element of life from a noun can drastically alter a relationship. Mack, if you and I are friends, there is an expectancy that exists with our relationship. . . . there is expectancy of being together, of laughter, of talking. That expectancy has no concrete definition; it is alive and dynamic and everything that emerges from our being together is a unique gift shared by no one else. But what happens if I change that 'expectancy' to an 'expectation' - spoken or unspoken? Suddenly law has entered into our relationship. You are now expected to perform in a way that meets my expectations." (pp 203ff)
Well, I am reminded that the early church fathers, in the first 3 or 4 centuries after Jesus' death and resurrection used the word "God" as a verb. They would say things like, "You godded me," meaning that through your interaction in my life you treated me as God would treat me - you comforted me when I needed comfort, you forgave me when I offended you, you fed me when I was hungry. It is remarkably similar, if you will, to what Jesus said in describing that story of the final judgment (Mt. 25) when God separates the sheep and the goats by how well they fed the hungry, clothed the naked, quenched the thirsty of their thirst, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, visit the sick and the imprisoned. The sheep, the favored of God, when they did it to the "least of these" we are told, did it to God. In other words, they godded those who needed God's saving presence.
When I was in Jacksonville last weekend, one of the moving speeches we heard was given by Ed Paup, who was Bishop, then resigned to become General Secretary of the UMC Board of Global ministries. He told of the time when Desmond Tutu addressed the Council on Bishops. Tutu explained that in all our efforts of reformation through the centuries, we Protestants have abandoned the practice of genuflecting. He went on to say that one of the beauties of that practice is when you meet someone, you bow and genuflect making the sign of the cross, and it is saying to the one you meet, "I honor the God within you."
Can you imagine what a revolution we would start if before we began our deliberations, our discussions, and our debates with one another we would deliberately take a moment to say to them, "I honor the God within you?"
I think it is a way that we can begin recovering the ancient practice of allowing God to be a verb in our lives once again. The expectancy of meeting the divine - even as we face those relationships such as marriage where the romance has worn off, and expectancy has been replaced by expectation; or as moving as when we face our adversaries, those with whom we disagree, honoring the divine in them and expecting God to work something new can transform not only ourselves, but the whole world!