In talking about adaptation for my neurologically impaired friends whose bodies weren’t very cooperative with direct communication, they were still able to communicate. The big idea of this piece is that God also “adapts” so that we can hear His communication. And there are specific ways God has made it possible for us to hear.
So, how is God’s communication identified?
Let’s start with the most direct route: Jesus Christ. Yeah, yeah, yeah – old news, huh? Jesus walked this earth in bodily form long ago. That’s easily identified and proven. What takes a little more digging is ‘why and what.’ Why choose this modality for communication? What was the communication? And what does that have to do with communication, or modality of communication, with God today?
Jesus demonstrated – in his actions - how to communicate with, and hear, God, the Father. There are four small books that chronicle what Jesus said and did. In them, we are pointed to see and hear God. Let me explain.
He said this: “The kingdom of God is at hand.” (the book of Mark, Chapter ) In our language today: ‘God is here – look and hear.’ That’s a bold claim – don’t miss it. Jesus said God is here and that YOU can look and hear God!
Let’s go further. Signs and symbols: healings, being among people in their real life, talking on the road with friends. “Jesus didn’t see his healings as a kind of premodern traveling hospital. He wasn’t healing the sick just for the sake of it, important though the healing itself was. God, the world’s creator, was at work through him, to do what he had promised to, to open blind eyes and deaf ears, to rescue people, to turn everything right side up. The people who had been at the bottom of the heap would find themselves, to their own great surprise, on top. “Blessed are the meek,” he said, “for they shall inherit the earth.” And he went about making it happen.” (from Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N. T. Wright, pp. 101-102.)
Let’s unpack for a minute.
o Healings are one way Jesus communicated God to us.
o It is God’s action by very real touch
o But it isn’t communicating to focus upon healing – but to focus upon what God is doing in the world – for you, but for all as well
o God made physical promises
o God is making good on that message of promises
o To see God’s voice in speaking those promises, we would have to read the whole Old Testament – so go for it sometime! But for today, God has spoken loudly enough that we actually know his promises.
o God is communicating through Jesus that he cares about everyone – even those who don’t think they’re worth anything – God values people highly
o Did you catch that message? That’s God’s message – heard, voiced and passed on to you. From Jesus to you.
God (Father) speaks through Jesus (Son) like one person talking to another through a telephone line (direct communication, modality, physical). Let me illustrate with Jesus speaking again – a story to communicate God’s message/direct communication with us - from God to our present world.
“These parables [stories Jesus told] weren’t, as has often been supposed, ‘earthly stories with heavenly meanings.’ The whole point of Jesus’ work was to bring heaven to earth and join them together forever, to bring God’s future into the present and make it stick there. But when heaven comes to earth and finds earth unready, when God’s future arrives in the present while people are still asleep, there will be explosions. And there were . . .
The younger of two sons leaves home, disgraces himself and his family, and then returns penitent to an astonishing [lavish] welcome. The older son, who stays at home, bitterly resents the father’s lavish welcome for the returning prodigal. . . . As with most of Jesus’ parables, the story compels the hearers to put themselves in the picture and thereby discover the truth about Jesus—and about themselves. The parable is told to make a specific point: This is why there’s a party going on with all the wrong people attending it; and this is what you look like if you’re refusing to join in. God’s kingdom is happening under your noses, and you can’t see it [speaking to those who didn’t want to hear Jesus’ words, particularly to the ‘rules of the church’ crowd].” (Simply Christian, pp. 102-103)
Jesus communicated God’s words for us to hear in a very physical way. Some wanted to hear. Others didn’t. Just like in our human interactions and conversations, we can choose to pay attention to the person talking and listen. We can tell when someone’s serious about what they’re saying – or we can let our mind drift to the party we’re going to tonight or the list we have to get done today.
In communication terms, this is called ‘direct revelation.’ Not only is it communicating, it is communicating on the deepest level – in person, direct and with a message that breathes the very soul of something that outlasts ‘how the weather is going to be tonight.” It is communicating the person himself – in this case, God himself.
One way to hear God speak today is to listen to Jesus. Other ways, modalities, next.
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