Today was an interesting day. I spent the afternoon going on a hike and the evening mourning the death of victims of some recent homicides.
Cut to this evening. I meet with a group on Tuesday nights called Access which is dedicated to spiritual formation and engaging in poverty. There have recently been some people on the periphery of our group who have been the victims of homicide. Tonight we gathered to mourn these deaths and to reclaim the places of tragedy as places of peace. It was a very powerful evening for me.
We gathered outside the Denver Rescue Mission and stated that we recognized that somebody was killed here and that this was a moment of injustice and a failure of peace. We stated as a group that we were reclaiming this spot as a place for peace and justice and would do our best to bring Jesus to this city, and to this place, so that these things do not happen as much.
As I stood in this location in the middle of the city of Denver so much made sense to me. I felt like if Jesus were here today (and please don't say "Jesus is everywhere") I mean if He was walking around in Denver today, I feel like He would have been there. Right by all of the drug addicts, where people were being killed, where women are prostituting themselves, etc...
It was interesting to contrast this with how I spent my morning hiking. I love seeing God in nature and wondering what He was thinking when He created that mountain, how he came up with the color blue for the sky, are there other spots in nature that God created that no person will ever touch?
But when I was in the city is where I felt Jesus. That's where Jesus is. At the end of the day I came up with the thought that God shows us beauty and we can worship Him in all of His creation, but Jesus came here to show us how to live. It's great to go see God in nature, but Jesus would probably be hanging out in the city most of the time.
Colter - I was talking yesterday about the idea that out in nature or Colorado or Montana is really "God's Country" and what people are saying is somewhere away from people and civilization in undisturbed nature is better. In some environmental ways this may be true but not of God. God is where the people are. Jesus lived and showed us how to live - by radically loving people. God's country is the city - where the highest concentration of the people he loves are. It may be messy and broken and dirty but there is also hope and grace and life. It's always people Colter - you are right on.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ryan!
ReplyDeleteThis is something I've been wrestling with myself for some time. I love the outdoors and have felt so connected to God through nature. There are so many amazing things in creation to be explored and seen and unearthed. Coming to Denver was a momentous occassion for me. Here I would find other people who were as into the outdoors as I was and we would become fast friends and God would be worship in His creation. I guess I'm seeing more and more that while time away in God's creation can be useful for reflection and contemplation and rejeuvenation and just plain old fun...there is alot to be said or that hasn't been said about following Jesus into the city. So I can resonate with your last statement..."It's great to see God in nature but Jesus would probably be hanging out in the city most of the time." Good words Colter, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely something to be said for both sides. However, Jesus definitely had to withdraw to the wilderness regularly to recenter, reconnect, and refresh. He seemed most at home in nature but knew that his mission was in the city, with the people.
ReplyDeleteBut I have to say I've never really thought about God in the city before. Cities are man's idols to themselves, to their own self-sufficiency, and as such, God really isn't all that welcome there with all his wildness. So it's interesting to think of Jesus in the city, as somewhat of an exile, the out-of-place divine on a dangerous, subversive mission that ultimately sucked the life right out of him.
Brandon stole my thunder. I was going to say something similar in the fact that Jesus would leave the area and retreat to the desert or garden to pray, meditate, and probably rejuvenate. (hmm... it'd be interesting to know what Jesus' "Meyer-Briggs" scoring is...
ReplyDeleteAnyways, there is definitely both. And i'd argue that both are needed... to prevent burn-out, and to take care of one's own soul, but also to love people and show mercy.
good thoughts.
Thanks guys, I totally agree with you. Sorry if I didn't convey that very well in my post. I think that nature is a great escape and both the city and nature are definitely needed. I think that the fact that we are called to the city further shows that we are displaced in this world.
ReplyDeleteI think I might even up the ante after thinking about it more and talking to Tristen about it. I'd argue that Jesus spent a majority of his time in the countryside, teaching by lakes and on hillsides, traveling from rural town to rural town until his ultimate death march into the City. Right?
ReplyDeleteDamn you, Brandon. Always upping the ante...
ReplyDeleteI think that you have a point here. It appears that the last comment I made didn't get posted on here...I agree with both of you guys. I think that both are needed as well, perhaps I didn't convey my thoughts well enough. However, I think that we are definitely called to be in the city, but I also think that we are displaced. Jesus says that the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
Whether we are in the city with skyscrapers or in on hillsides, I think the point is that we are supposed to be around people. Solitude is something that should be sought out, not lived in.
i like that God is so diverse and extreme that we can find him in amazing nature and in the ugliest parts of our city. you really cant sum God up, he is beyond our imaginations.
ReplyDelete