Monday morning munch #3

Good morning everyone! As we start the week, have you ever experienced this: you dial a number for Bob, it’s his mobile and instead you get a girl called Angie. Fail. Wrong number. Or have you been the recipient of that call, usually at an inconvenient time: you’re in the middle of a meeting, you’re cooking or engulfed in a book and the phone rings… its an odd number, you pick it up just in case and they ask for Paulini – errr…. no, that is not my name.

Misplace a number or leave one off – whatever it is – proves fatal in making contact. The same can be said of emails. If ever there was a time, today is the day when communication has to be precise. To make contact, you need to be precise.

Each Munch has been building on its predecessor. #1: God creates and he speaks so he can be known. The unknown is no longer unknown. #2: God doesn’t just stop there. The gap between creator and creation is not too far for him to cross. God makes contact with us. The God of the gaps doesn’t exist because God bridges that gap. God comes, is seen, heard and touched. The enquirer’s journey is short-circuited. God says start at Jesus. Jesus says start here.

A common cry against Christianity is “why does it have to be so exclusive?” It’s not unfounded as Jesus makes claims like this (John 14:6):

I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

Jesus positive statement (I am the way) could be skewed to be ambiguous by some, but his negative statement (no one comes except through me) removes any ambiguity. At first hearing, this sounds grossly unfair and narrow to our modern ears. It sounds like an election promise – an exaggeration which will be spun, nuanced and later denied. Surely, there is more than one way?

However, our response ought to surprise us, given what we are used to. For contact to be made, communication needs to be precise. Here, God is being precise and clear. There is no ambiguity. The number is fully disclosed. It’s on the public record and in the public directory so to speak. On any given day, there may be many charges levelled at the God of Christianity, but leaving the world groping in the dark is not one of them.

Indeed, we know God is so precise that he even deals with the communication barrier on our side as well. So far in our previous Munches, we’ve assumed we all want to know God. In fact, Jesus says the exact opposite. We don’t. We can’t. We’re quite happy to ignore – who needs, wants, has time for God? This is rude, offensive and for God to be fair, our actions can’t be swept under the carpet. Jesus dies to forgive the rude gestures, the offensive posturing, the behaviours which scar all that God has made, both human and non-human. It’s as if God not only gives us the number but pulls out the ear plugs so we can hear, gives us eyes so we can see the telephone and new prescription glasses so we have a new outlook on life. God is so precise he even deals with the communication problem within me.

We are precise when we communicate. Do we expect anything less from God?

Here are two quick questions to munch on during this week. Your answers or comments are welcome. Feel free to post them below:

• Jesus claims to be the only way to God. How does that make you feel?
• Jesus’ claim is big. What would you like from him to back up his claim?