The Scandal of Christianity
One of the interesting debates across cultures and different religions is whether the divine can be involved, directly, in the ordinary mess of daily life. It’s something we have been exploring in the year 12 University Studies – Theology class. One argument, which admittedly has its merits, is that God is too holy, too transcendent, too awesome (in the true sense of that word) to be directly involved in the mess of human existence.
To put it in popular, post-modern terms parlance, “Why would some eternal spirit of the universe be interested in me?” It’s a legitimate question. If God – or the spirit of the universe, to use that language – is majestically beautiful, transcendent, all-powerful, extraordinary, then the grind of daily existence is of no interest, certainly not if it involves being a direct part of it.
And yet… that is, precisely, the scandal of Christianity. God is interested in our lives and, more than that, Christians believe, joined us in our very ordinary lives in the person of Jesus.
You can’t get much more ordinary and messy than being born to a simple family in a distant province on the fringes of a vast Empire. Nazareth was just about as far from the centre of the Empire as you could get. Admittedly Britain hadn’t yet been conquered by the Romans and the weather was nicer in Nazareth. But… still… when thinking about Nazareth, the words of Luke come to mind… Skywalker, not Saint Luke… talking to C3PO, “Well, if there’s a bright centre of the universe, you’re on the planet that it’s farthest from!” That was Nazareth in the 1st century.
Sometimes life can feel ordinary, so just know that God is here with you, in Spirit. The transcendent Spirit of the universe finds you interesting and special; you are loved.
The Reverend Dr Theo McCall
School Chaplain
