If you haven’t heard about Marv’s new book entitled, Hope and Healing for Kids who Cut put out by Zondervan, you can link to it here:
Congratulations on yet another one, Marv!
David Guretzki
A Counselor’s Reflections on Luke 7:18–22 by Tony Schnare
Luke 7:18-22
John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ “At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
Luke’s recounting of this narrative points to Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament messianic prophecy of the Suffering Servant; a prophecy central to Luke’s retelling of redemption history that transcends political aspiration. More contemporary, this passage is viewed as an affirmation of Jesus as the Messiah in the context of an evangelistic discourse in which those in need of wholeness are exhorted to embrace the One by whose stripes restoration is procured.
Within the contemporary church once this One has been “invited in” and spiritual restoration “received,” the discourse often and quickly mutates away from relational prose to inclusionary criteria of oppressive and legalistic prose. Sadly these exhortations, though well intentioned, lack the recognition that victory over sin does not imply imminent emotional, spiritual and developmental well being any more than the salvation of our souls implies physical well being.
To voice the question John posed would potentially be viewed as weakness of faith for any committed believer who considers him or herself to be a part of the contemporary church. But wait a minute, wasn’t this the same John who earlier with prophetic confidence proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one . . ..” Jesus’ response to John is one of invitation and re-assurance, not one of rebuke and correction as we might otherwise anticipate. John’s question, though reflective of his inability to make sense of the tension between his messianic-judgment construct and the reality of Jesus earthly ministry thus far, was met with compassion rather than censure.
Could it not be said that John’s question encapsulates the very anxiety the lurks beneath all of our uncertainties and doubtfulness, whether we have yet to cross the line of faith or have in fact been on the journey for some time? To that extent I would suggest, the message of Luke 7: 18–22 applies not only to evangelism but to the ecclesia, and I would go so far as to say, to the academy as well. The message of One who extends sight to the blind, freedom to the lame, healing to the longing soul, the capacity to hear, new life, and the good news is as relevant to the seminarian as it is to the secularist. To be sure the question may take many forms. However, at its heart, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else,’ may articulate our own struggle to resolve the tension between construct and experience.
A Christ-centered seminary reflecting this awareness will be characterized by a recognition that its faculty and students alike are on a journey of personal growth and development. It will be intentional with the message of reassurance and hope; a message that acknowledges the reality of struggle, that calls forth relational longing, that invites exploration of spiritual maturity and inspires confidence and intentional imitation. A Christ-centered seminary will report and remind its students that He is the One to come, that they need not look for another, and that they are “entitled to all the rights and honors appertaining thereto.” Having experienced this in the academy of higher learning, graduates of a Christ-centered seminary will transition to the academy of life long learning where they will entrust to others what they have heard and seen.
Who am I?
It was on this day, April 9, some 91 years ago that 3600 Canadian soldiers lost their lives at the Battle for Vimy Ridge–a battle which became a turning point for the Allied forces in the Great War. But the war to end all wars only led to the Second World War during which a now famous German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was executed for his part in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Interestingly, it was April 9, 1945 when Bonhoeffer’s life was ended–just one month before the end of the war on May 8, 1945.
As evangelicals, we do not typically honour the martyrdom of the saints who have suffered death for the cause of Christ. Yet today I am compelled to remind us of this voice through a poem that Bonhoeffer penned in prison awaiting his own death.
Who Am I?
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?
Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!
So I ask today, if someone were to ask, Who are you? what would you answer?
David Guretzki
