Easter Day- The world as it looks from God’s perspective- the four quarters
Have you ever tried to think about what the world looks like from God's perspective?
It’s not an easy thing to imagine, but a little while ago I had an opportunity to glimpse such a perspective on life. I was walking in the forest next to Stone Street, a place I frequently go to get some sermon ideas. I had stopped by a clearing in the sunshine and I sat at the base of one of the trees at its edge. The tree was not old, but because of the type of tree it was its bark was gnarled and partially peeled. I got up close and could see that the bark of this tree was an ideal place for insects. Spiders were crawling between the edges of bark along highways made of spider web, aphids and small beetles and ants – all going about their daily lives, appearing suddenly as if from little homes in the bark like a busy miniature city that I hadn’t been aware of moments before. I was able to get up close and really look at that tree in a totally different light.
The insects didn't notice me, and I wouldn't have noticed them except for the curiosity to look that I had that day. My scale of awareness was totally different from theirs. I looked upon them as an entirety that they would not be able to do for themselves: I saw the vulnerability of their environment, whereas they saw their world very differently I'm sure. I had concerns for them from my different and wider perspective. And I expect that that is how God might look upon us too: with a view with a completeness we could never know
That’s one part of the experience, but it isn’t the whole. C.S. Lewis, a well-known English Christian author, described another part, where that same care and concern wasn’t so much about the scale of God’s view, but about the depth of God’s concern and view.
C. S Lewis loved dogs, and as he reflected on Christ’s action upon the cross he saw in his pet dog a chance to describe God’s feelings and thoughts.
He wrote:
“Lying at your feet is your dog. Imagine, for the moment, that your dog and every dog is in deep distress. Some of us love dogs very much. If it would help all the dogs in the world to become like mankind, would you be willing to become a dog? Would you put down your human nature, leave your loved ones, your job, hobbies, your art and literature and music, and choose instead of the intimate communion with your beloved, the poor substitute of looking into the beloved’s face and wagging your tail, unable to smile or speak? Christ by becoming human [man] limited the thing which to him was the most precious thing in the world; his unhampered, unhindered communion with the Father.”
In that, we can see some of the depth to which Jesus reached out to know us, love us, and retrieve us. He had given his whole self on the cross- yes, but he had also given his whole self before in his very appearing, limiting himself, wearing the straightjacket of humanity that each of us is forced to wear by the very nature of being mortal.
Christ gave his whole self, and in his rising from the grave we celebrate that fact. Christ gave of his whole self. What could we do to add to the celebration of this day? What could we do to add to the beauty of the flower displays, the joy of our shared breakfast, the preciousness of starting here with our easter liturgy? What could we add to ensure that what it is that we are celebrating is carried forward into the weeks and months to come, because it is a whole life being given that we are celebrating. That’s gonna need something more than just a day set aside. And the church tried its best by making Easter a 7 week long celebration. Yes 7 weeks, all the way to Pentecost- and still that shouldn’t be enough. This needs marking for the whole year.
What could we do? Well, Christ gave of his whole self, perhaps we could do something along the same lines, although different. Take the whole of your existence as if it could be contained in a circle, or the silhouette of a person, imagine it for a moment. Then lay across it the symbol of the cross dividing the circle of your whole experience into 4 roughly equal pieces. How could we mark our lives in 4 ways that would truly celebrate the way Christ gave himself to us?
Maybe we could let a quarter of that imagined image represent a thing you can do. A skill, a presence, a feeling that matters to the wellbeing of someone other than yourself. A practical thing, that when used blesses someone as Christ blessed you with his actions.
Maybe we could let a quarter of that imagined image of our lives represent money and belongings. Things chosen with our volition to be put to use in a goodly way. Or the choices we make about where the tokens of currency that we are made privileged to hold are placed and used in our lives. Turning physical things into blessings as Christ has blessed you with the little that he carried.
Of that imagined image, let another quarter be your ability to name things. Naming things is powerful, and an important concept in the bible. Just before the first Easter Peter exclaimed ‘You are the Christ,’ and the centurion at the foot of the cross responded ‘Truly this was a son of god.’ We have the ability to name in order to honour and bless, it is a task of healing. Too often names are used to curse and break hearts and resolve, but we are given a new name before God because of Christ says the bible, so let us learn how to name well, so as to heal and affirm. In our baptism and wedding services, that naming blessing is fully present, and yet there are so many other areas of life that need that power of being named, in other words to be recognised. Take some of it and name Christ for who is, bless him and you will be healed, take some and name another for who they are and bring wholeness into their life, as Christ has named you as his friend forever.
Lastly, what could we do with the last quarter of our imagined image? Maybe this last quarter is the quarter to just be; not do things, but to be something. Be human, be you. This is the place of knowing oneself. None of us know ourselves quite as much as we think we do. We live at a surface level and there is so much more of us to explore. But knowing ourselves, what greater gift could there be in celebration of all that Christ has done to rescue you, than to know who you are, and give that you to God.
Sometimes, it helps to know what the world might look lie from God’s perspective, as it might very well drive us in our response to God and to others.