“To be human is to be plunged into
initiation, and it’s hard to know how
to draw close to a Savior if ‘saved’ is
the last thing we feel.”
December 2020 — pg. 27
Our tendency with Advent is to look into the past
for a way forward into the future, but Advent is first a
death of our old ways. We wait, expectantly for Christ,
for Immanuel, for God to be with us (Matthew 1:23). We
bring our longings, our wounds and our traumas, and
whether we know it or not, we bring our expectations for
One who will save us.
We love the metaphor and image of the hero. From
Rocky Balboa to Luke Skywalker, from Cinderella to
Moana, from Odysseus to Frodo, we are drawn toward
the ones who lift great burdens onto their shoulders,
overcome insurmountable odds, or move from humble
beginnings to a place of honor. Is this not how we think of
Jesus? The prophet Isaiah described the Messiah to come
as a Wonderful Counselor, a Prince of Peace, a Mighty
Father, and one on whose shoulders the government will
rest (Isaiah 9:6–7).
It is safe to say that first-century Jews were expecting
a king, a righteous warrior and a hero of sorts. But “only
birth can conquer death — the birth, not of the old thing
again, but of something new.”
Metaphors and the Word
In Advent, we wait for a Savior whose name “is above
every name” (Philippians 2:9), but we can only speak in
metaphorical ways of a God whose “greatness no one can
fathom” (Psalm 145:3). The metaphors we use impact
how we relate to God. Do you call God a Counselor, King,
Mother, Father or Savior?
Is even the name “God” a metaphor? The original
pronunciation for the Hebrew word YHWH was lost
after Jews viewed this word for God as too holy to be said
aloud. In the words of Catholic priest and author Richard
Rohr, “Some would say that the name of God literally
cannot be ‘spoken,’ only breathed.”
Literature professor Joseph Campbell wrote that “the
metaphors of one historically conditioned period … may
not speak to the persons who are living long after that
historical moment” with different generations “formed
through altogether different experiences.”
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John
1:14 NKJV), and the Word must be enfleshed in our time,
our historical moment, and incarnated in our metaphors.
Jesus Our Initiator
Jesus said many things to us. Things like, “No one can
see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John
3:3). Or “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
These verses offer us images and the language of
initiation. I define initiation as any process, ritual or life
event whereby a person is transformed or begins a journey
of transformation. Jesus’ entire life is one of initiation,
and it is this life He is inviting us into. “Whoever wants
to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
Campbell also wrote that initiation is “distinguished by
formal, and usually very severe, exercises of severance,
whereby the mind is radically cut away from the attitudes,
attachments, and life patterns of the stage being left
behind.” Paul pens it this way, “Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the
new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Truly, Jesus is both our Savior and our Initiator, but
whereas salvation pulls us out of something, initiation
draws us into something. We require both, but we are
profoundly transformed into the image of Christ by
experiences of loss, separation and disorientation. To be
human is to be plunged into initiation, and it’s hard to
know how to draw close to a Savior if “saved” is the last
thing we feel. We need an Initiator who knows the path,
who is The Path, a Good Shepherd (John 10:11) who
walks with us in the shadows (Psalm 23:4).
Our initiation in Advent separates us from the good
old days of the past and the glory days of the future, and
Christ our Initiator stands ready to guide us toward new
life, “not of the old thing again, but of something new.”
Reflection
What metaphor for God feels dead and lifeless to you?
Is there a new metaphor bubbling up?
Where is life initiating you? What does the metaphor of
Jesus as Initiator offer you?+
/?search=Matthew+1:23&version=NIV
/?search=Isaiah 9:6-7&version=NIV
/?search=Philippians+2:9&version=NIV
/?search=Psalm+145:3&version=NIV
/
/.premium.MAGAZINE-we-shouldn-t-take-god-s-name-in-vain-but-what-is-it-1.6546806
/.premium.MAGAZINE-we-shouldn-t-take-god-s-name-in-vain-but-what-is-it-1.6546806
/The_Naked_Now.html?id=TdpSPgAACAAJ
/
/JHN.1.14.NKJV
/JHN.1.14.NKJV
/?search=John+3:3&version=NIV
/?search=John+3:3&version=NIV
/?search=John+14:6&version=NIV
/?search=Matthew+16:24&version=NIV
/?search=2+Corinthians+5:17&version=NIV
/?search=John+14:6&version=VOICE
/?search=John+10:11&version=NIV
/?search=psalm+23:4&version=KJV