A
favorite recollection from my recent trip to Norway and Germany comes from
stories told during a walking tour of areas formerly divided by the Berlin
Wall. The communist leader, Walter
Ulbricht, erected a massive television tower as a monument to the superiority
of communism – a system of living that denies the very existence of God at the
same time it denies human dignity – let alone obligation to obey Him. The tower included the largest glass disco ball
in the world and it stands in the eastern sector of Berlin to this day. The problem was that each time the sun came
out enormous crosses of light shone down from his tower in four
directions. (Of course they are still
visible and I saw them myself!) When no
amount of re-positioning of the glass panes inhibited the crosses Ulbricht and
his government became the laughing stock of Eastern Europe. Father God trumps in the love of His Son
through the light of His Cross.
The
second story concerned the far more somber “zone of death” that extended back
into East Germany from any point on the wall.
Persons entering this zone were shot on sight and some two hundred died
in the years of the wall. Buildings
standing in the zone were dynamited to leave a clear field of fire; one was a
church that butted against the wall and included several towers. When the blast charges were detonated the
church crashed to earth – excepting one of the towers – which was unscathed and
was dubbed the “extended middle finger of God” to the East German
government. True, some Christians might
object to the idea of God lifting a bird finger but let’s back the truck
up. He also invented fingers and –
although we know He loves everyone from communists to Egyptian pharaohs – it
looks from Berlin like He responds with a wry sense of humor to efforts to
dethrone Him. God trumps again.
We
can be grateful that we do not have a God whose iron fist is His default, even
against governments who think the fist an appropriate tool for social
improvement. We can more easily
appreciate a God with a sense of humor who remains relentless in loving us into
His Kingdom. This is precisely the God
we have and are invited to serve by reciprocating His love, His justice, and
even His sense of humor. So how then
might we of the community of faith – and any others who might choose to join us
– show the fruit of repentance during this season of both wonders and horrors?
We
can view someone we think wrong to the bone through the lens of Him who died
for that one. We can speak and stand for
truth of some issue in the personal, political, spiritual dimension of our
lives, disregarding the disapproval that will result. And we can lighten up on ourselves and on
others, asking God to show us how funny we look to Him as we focus our
attention on ourselves and our agendas.
None of these things is remotely possible without a major refocus on God’s
face. With it nothing is impossible,
thanks to the God who trumps us with His love.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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