What if salvation really is about theosis—union with God in a relationship of love? What if salvation is an organic process with love at its core?
I had one of those middle of the night wake ups Thursday so I decided to read Zephaniah. As I reflected on the prophets, it is clear that these are people who have experienced purification
of their "nous" (minds) and are in a substantial union with God—theosis. Hence, they speak "the Word of the Lord." Prophetic words are frequently speak harsh words of
judgment. Prophets seem especially
focused on attacking the idea of “blessed assurance.” (or at least a twisted understanding of it)
Taking God for granted is a deadly sin. Israel is condemned for
assuming that salvation was a guaranteed status, that being the people of God, which was a gift, is a status which one retains regardless of what one does.. The prophetic books contain a
message from God that faithfulness is the required response to grace.
Jesus’ story of the buried money is a judgment parable.
The Master graciously gives each of the three men a large sum of money. It is
the Master’s wealth—an undeserved gift—which He distributes based on each man’s
skill set. The day of reckoning comes and the first two men are commended for investing the monies, but the parable focuses on the third man. He says he played it safe out
of fear. However, the Master’s assessment is he is evil, lazy and useless.
This is not a parable about working your way into heaven. It
is a parable about discipleship. There is a difference. It is a warning about acedia, one of the eight deadly sin identified by the early church father
John Cassian*. The word “acedia” has
been translated as sloth/laziness, but
is best understood as anxiety and weariness of heart. It is disinterest
in conversion. It shares similarities to depression and is best expressed as “what’s
the point?” In the parable the man says he is afraid, symbolizing the anxiety
and weariness of heart based on a bad theology—the belief that God is an unfair
tyrant. Convinced that there was no hope to please God, the man simply buried
everything and went about his life. “What’s the point of trying?” It is noteworthy that many Christians say the same thing about grace. "We are saved by faith (understood non-biblically) so what we do does not matter," they say, "Jesus did it all for you on the cross." Please note this ignores Jesus' own teaching on the cross, namely "pick yours up and follow me."
Theosis, is the unitive
process of repentance and conversion. It is organic. Theosis
is the full fruit of divine-human love. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns
false theology out of our minds and burns the lazy indifference out of our
hearts. Our natural desires draw us from God. Our passions entangle us in satan’s
lies producing doubt, fear, anger, and acedia.
“What’s the point?” we mutter, digging away to bury the treasure.
What is the treasure? In ancient language, wealth and life are
synonymous. To share one’s wealth is to share one’s life. To bury God’s gift
because of acedia/laziness is to
reject the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the treasure and holy lives as disciples and apostles is the "investment" of the large sums He entrusts to us.
What if salvation really is theosis? What if union with God is the real point of Jesus’ life,
death and resurrection? What if the popular concept of “going to heaven” is a
perversion of something much more holy, precious and personal? What if heaven is
coming to us already through our relationship with Jesus? Here and now?
What if we are choosing to be the third guy—what if we are burying the gifts
of the Holy Spirit given through salvation because we are afraid, or worse, immobilized by the vice of
indifference and despair? What if the Abba Father is waiting for us, right now,
to trust Him, dig up the gift and get on with life as His beloved? What if
Zephaniah was sent to us today to warn us that we are arrogant fools who are
blowing it--not warning us about hell when we die, but warning us about the living hell in this world which sinful nations and sinful peoples reap? What if Jesus wants to shine His light and life in and through you
to save the world? What if there is life BEFORE death and Jesus wants us to be alive now!
*http://www.pigizois.net/agglika/on_the_eight_deadly_sins.htm
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