An Obadiah Slope column
I love the word “radiance” It used of Jesus just once in the Bible.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:3. NIV)
Light radiates. The light of the word radiates.
When I was studying architecture last century, I learned about plotting the direction of light and how it affects our perception of space. Light moves. Light flows. Light radiates.
And Jesus radiates from the Father. He is both the same – of one being with the Father but eternally generated is how the experts put it.
There is so something gentle in my mind about how light radiates (though I would not wish to get close to the sun). It is also slightly mysterious, existing both in wave and particle form.
In the same way, we don’t grasp everything about Jesus. We are not meant to. But we have more than enough knowledge. We have enough light.
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Surprised by joy: Obadiah has been at the Sydney Anglican Synod (church parliament) for the last two weeks. He has enjoyed it. He’s a bit surprised by that. That’s not because large complicated meetings of 800 plus people is his thing, but because the synod has been peaceful (with a few minor exceptions) and positive.
There’s not been much on what causes Sydney to disagree with other places, but a big focus on our own challenges. Especially the challenge of being in Sydney where the galloping growth of the population, galloping westward, means that we need to plant many churches in new suburbs.
The same for readers in Melbourne where your city spreads north and west, and you are predicted to overtake Sydney as the largest city. So your challenge will be even bigger than Sydney’s. And Perth and SE Queensland are rapidly growing too.
Whatever model of church planting you prefer, there’s a need for much more.
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“Our sister here departed” Let us take one last look at the Queen’s funeral. Obadiah put the text of the sermon online quick smart as an internet imbroglio about it escalated on the night. Obadiah liked the sermon. But others did not. But please don’t overlook the words of the service.
The “Commendation,” which came after the sermon struck Obadiah as profound.
“Let us commend to the mercy of God, our maker and redeemer, the soul of Elizabeth, our late Queen. Heavenly Father, King of kings, Lord and giver of life, who of thy grace in creation didst form mankind in thine own image, and in thy great love offerest us life eternal in Christ Jesus; claiming the promises of thy most blessed Son, we entrust the soul of Elizabeth, our sister here departed, to thy merciful keeping, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, when Christ shall be all in all; who died and rose again to save us, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, in glory forever. Amen.
“Go forth, O Christian soul, from this world, in the name of God the Father almighty, who created thee; in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who suffered for thee; in the name of the Holy Spirit, who was poured out upon thee and anointed thee. In communion with all the blessed saints, and aided by the angels and archangels and all the armies of the heavenly host, may thy portion this day be in peace, and thy dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem. Amen.”
“Our sister here departed,” words that signified the egalitarianism of death.
“In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life.” This was a proudly Christian funeral.