The mystery of God’s relationship

1. “The three looked at one another and laughed. Mack couldn’t help but smile. ‘No Mackenzie,’ chuckled the black woman. ‘We is all that you get, and believe me, and we’re more than enough.” (pg. 85) “’Then,’ Mack struggled to ask, ‘which one of you is God?’ ‘I am,’ said all three in unison.” (pg. 87)
“’To begin with, that you can’t grasp the wonder of my nature is rather a good thing. Who wants to worship a God who can be fully comprehended, eh? Not much mystery in that.’
‘But what difference does it make that there are three of you, and you are all one God. Did I say that right?’
‘Right enough.’ She grinned. ‘Mackenzie, it makes all the difference in the world! …We are not three gods, and we are not talking about one god with three attitudes, like a man who is a husband, father, and worker. I am one God and I am three persons, and each of the three is fully and entirely the one. …If I were simply One God and only One Person, then you would find yourself in this Creation without something wonderful, without something essential even. And I would be utterly other than I am.’
‘And we would be without…?’ Mack didn’t even know how to finish the question.
‘Love and relationship. All love and relationship is possible for you only because it already exists within Me, within God myself. Love is not the limitation; love is the flying. I am love.’” (pg.101)

Q. The biblical doctrine of the trinity has been one of the most puzzling for Christians of all generations. (1) There is one and only one God, eternal, immutable. (2) There are three eternal Persons described in Scripture - the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. These Persons are never identified with one another - that is, they are carefully differentiated as Persons. (3) The Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are identified as being fully God. Some have used the example of water – one element that can reveal itself as a liquid, solid, or vapor. Have you wrestled with the concept of the trinity? How have you resolved it in your mind?
Q. This doctrine is important especially as it relates to the nature of Jesus. Many people have tried to claim that he is just a human in spite of passages like Colossians 2:9, “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.” In your opinion, why is the Deity of Christ so important?

Q. How does the doctrine of the trinity make ‘all love and relationship possible’ for us?
2. “Keep in mind, Mackenzie, that I am not a human being, not in my very nature, despite how we have chosen to be with you this weekend. I am truly human, in Jesus, but I am totally separate other in my nature.’
‘You do know – of course you do,’ Mack said apologetically – ‘that I can only follow that line of thought so far, and then I get lost and my brain turns to mush?’
‘I understand,’ acknowledged Papa. ‘You cannot see in your mind’s eye something that you cannot experience.’”

Q. When you think about the eternal nature of God – no beginning and no end – or the trinity, or the fact that he is present everywhere at the same time, does your ‘brain turn to mush?’ How comfortable are you with the mysteries of God’s nature?

Q. God spoke to the prophet Isaiah, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) Even our most brilliant discoveries or insights are infinitely less than God’s thoughts. Does this increase your confidence in God? Why or why not?

Q. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.’” (Genesis 1:26-27) The Bible teaches that humans were made in God’s image. How have we humans tried to recreate God in our image?
3. “’Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power is to choose to limit oneself – to serve. Humans often do this – in touching the infirm and sick, in serving the ones whose minds have left to wander, in relating to the poor, in loving the very old and the very young, or even in caring for the other who has assumed a position of power over them.’” (pg. 107)

Q. Paul wrote, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11) How did Jesus demonstrate that ‘relationships are never about power?’
Q. Think about your own relationships with family, coworkers, and people at your church. How have you ‘limited yourself to serve?’ Have you ever used your position of power for your own advantage rather than serving the needs of others?
4. “He (Mack) had never seen three people share with such simplicity and beauty. Each seemed more aware of the others than of themself.
‘I love the way you treat each other. It’s certainly not how I expected God to be.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, I know that you are one and all, and that there are three of you. But you respond with such graciousness to each other. Isn’t one of you more the boss than the other two? I mean,’ Mack hurried on, ‘I have always thought of God the Father as sort of being the boss and Jesus as the one following orders, you know, being obedient. I’m not sure how the Holy Spirit fits in exactly. …a free Spirit, but still under the direction of the Father. Does that make sense?’
Jesus looked over at Papa…’Does that make sense to you, Abba? Frankly, I haven’t a clue what this man is talking about.’
Papa scrunched her face up as if exerting great concentration. ‘Nope, I have been trying to make head or tail out of it, but sorry, he’s got me lost.’
‘You know what I’m talking about.’ Mack was a little frustrated. ‘I’m talking about who’s in charge. Don’t you have a chain of command?’
‘Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being’ as your ancestors termed it. What you’re seeing here is relationship without any overlay of power. We don’t need power over the other because we are always looking out for the best. Hierarchy would make no sense to us. Actually, this is your problem, not ours.’
‘Really? How so?’
‘Humans are so lost and damaged that to you it is almost incomprehensible that people could work or live together without someone being in charge.’
‘…It’s one reason why experiencing true relationship is so difficult for you,’ Jesus added. ‘Once you have a hierarchy you need rules to protect and administer it, and then you need law and the enforcement of rules, and you end up with some kind of chain of command or a system of order that destroys relationship rather than promotes it. You rarely see or experience relationship apart from power. Hierarchy imposes laws and rules and you end up missing the wonder of relationship that we intended for you.’
Sarayu continued, ‘When you chose independence over relationship, you became a danger to each other. Others became objects to be manipulated or managed for your own happiness. Authority, as you usually think of it, is merely the excuse the strong use to make others conform to what the want.’” (pg. 121-123)

Q. The Bible clearly states that there is a hierarchy of authority. For example, in 1 Corinthians 11:3, the Apostle Paul writes, “I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” How do your reconcile this passage with the claim or Papa that ‘there is no final authority among us?’

Q. Later in the same book, Paul wrote, “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:24-28) We humans are so concerned about who is boss. How does this passage describe God’s approach to authority? How could it inform your relationship to power?
5. “’For now I just want you to be with me and discover that our relationship is not about performance or you having to please me. I’m not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on my own way. I am good, and I desire only what is best for you. You cannot find that through guilt or condemnation or coercion, only through a relationship of love. And I do love you.’” (pg. 126)

Q. Have you ever felt that your relationships with God and others (especially parents) is ‘about performance or having to please’ them?

Q. Paul wrote, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:1-10) How would you explain God’s grace to a child?

Q. Do people ever feel the pressure to perform in their relationship with you? How could your relationships become more ‘grace-filled?’
6. “’…I’m not very good at relationship stuff, not like Nan.’
Jesus…continued. ‘That’s because like most men you find what you think of as fulfillment in your achievements, and Nan, like most women, find it in relationships. It’s more naturally her language.’
‘Does that mean I’m hopeless” I really want what the three of you share, but I have no idea how to get there.’
‘There’s a lot in your way right now, Mack, but you don’t have to keep living with it.’
‘I know that’s truer now that Missy’s gone, but it has never been easy for me.’
‘You’re not just dealing with Missy’s murder. There’s a larger twisting that makes sharing life with us difficult. The world is broken because in Eden you abandoned relationship with us to assert your own independence. Most men have expressed it by turning to the work of their hands and the sweat of their brow to find their identity, value, and security. By choosing to declare what’s good and evil you seek to determine your own destiny. It was this turning that has caused so much pain. But that isn’t all. The woman’s desire – and the word is actually her ‘turning.’ So the woman’s turning was not to the works of her hands but to the man, and his response was to rule ‘over’ her, to take power over her, to become the ruler. Before the choosing, she found her identity, her security, and her understanding of good and evil only in me, as did man.’
‘No wonder I feel like a failure with Nan. I can’t seem to be that for her.’
‘You weren’t made to be. And in trying you’ll only be playing God.’
‘Is there any way out of this?’
‘It is so simple, but never easy for you. By re-turning. By turning back to me. By giving up your ways of power and manipulation and just coming back to me.’ Jesus sounded like he was pleading. ‘Women in general, will find it difficult to turn from a man and stop demanding that he meets their needs, provides security, and protects their identity, and return to me. Men, in general, find it very hard to turn from the works of their hands, their own quests for power and security and significance, and return to me.’ (pg. 146-147)

Q. In Genesis 3:16, God said to the woman, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." How does this make relationships with the opposite sex more difficult?
Q. How does Jesus promise to deliver us from this curse? (See Ephesians 5:21-33)
7. “’You’re talking about the church as this woman you’re in love with; I’m pretty sure I haven’t met her.’ He turned slightly away. ‘She’s not the place I go on Sundays.’
‘Mack, that’s because you’re only seeing the institution, a man-made system. That’s not what I came to build. What I see are people and their lives, a living breathing community of all those who love me, not buildings and program.’
Mack was a bit taken back to hear Jesus talking about ‘church’ this way, but then again, it didn’t really surprise him. It was a relief. ‘So how do I become part of that church?’ he asked. ‘This woman you seem to be so gaga over.’
‘It’s simple, Mack. It’s all about relationships and simply sharing life. What we are doing right now – just doing this – and being open and available to others around us. My church is all about people and life is all about relationships. You can’t build it. It’s my job and I’m actually pretty good at it,’ Jesus said with a chuckle.” (pg. 177-178)

Q. How is your relationship with ‘the bride of Christ’ – the church?

Q. Has the church ‘institution’ been a barrier in your relationship with God? If so, how can you connect with ‘the living, breathing community of all those who love Jesus’ in spite of past negative experiences?

Q. How can we make the local churches we attend less of a man-made system and more like the organism that Jesus has in mind?
8. “’Who said anything about being a Christian? I’m (Jesus) not a Christian.’
The idea struck Mack as odd and unexpected and he couldn’t keep himself from grinning. ‘No, I suppose you aren’t.’
‘Those who love me (Jesus) come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don’t vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some were bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved.’
‘Does that mean,’ asked Mack, ‘that all roads will lead to you?’
‘Not at all,’ smiled Jesus…’Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.’” (pg. 182)

Q. “It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26) The term means “Christ ones.” It was probably used as a derogatory term – like the phrase “Jesus Freak” today. A recent study (American Religious Identification Survey 2008) showed that the percentage of people who call themselves ‘Christian’ has dropped more than 11% in a generation. The term no longer refers to someone who believes in Jesus. It now has negative political and social ‘baggage’ in some circles. How do you feel about the label ‘Christian?’

Q. It has been said that the two most frequently asked questions in heaven will be “Where is (name)?” and “How did (name) get here?” In Revelation 5:9, the heavenly choir sings, “your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” What is the one thing that all residents of heaven have in common? (See John 5:24)

Q. Some people claim that all sincere people of faith will end up in heaven. Do you agree? Why or why not? (See Acts 4:12)