Holy Metamorphosis

Proclaiming the Year of the LORD’s Favour by John McAlister

In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus returns to his home in Nazareth, visits the synagogue and reads aloud the following verses from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

Jesus is proclaiming a message of metamorphosis. The broken will be mended, the captives will be freed, and the prisoners will be released. In the person of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord has come to transform the oppressed into a people of opportunity.

Who are the oppressed in the world today? Where do they live? In whom/what do they place their hope? What would it take for them to experience freedom and release from their darkness?

Despair into Hope
Many of the communities in which we serve have been demoralized by prolonged suffering and exploitation. How can we respond to this crisis when the mere mention of these communities and the ills that plague them evoke such strong feelings of revulsion, hopelessness and defeatism among us?

In Hosea 2:15 God tells Israel that He will transform the Valley of Achor into a door of hope. The Valley of Achor was a dangerous place, filled with snakes, scorpions and all kinds of wild beasts. It was a place of fear that people tried to avoid. (For a historical background, read Joshua 5:13-6:27 and the account of Achan’s sin.)

During the time of the prophet Hosea, the Valley of Achor had come to signify a bad place—a valley of trouble—to the Israelites. This is similar to many of the troubled areas in which the Army is called to serve today. But God promises Hosea that He will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. He can do the same for the other troubled places in our world today.

God has the power to transform these wastelands into fertile ground

These communities—plagued and characterized by addiction, poverty and despair—can become doors of hope. God has the power to transform these wastelands into fertile ground. He has a vision of metamorphosis. The question is: Can we see it?

Mourning into Celebration
This is the year of the LORD’s favour. In the midst of our suffering and brokenness, God offers us his comfort and consolation. But many of us refuse to allow him to “turn our mourning into gladness” and offer us his “comfort and joy instead of sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:13). We don’t experience his relief because we don’t realize that he is walking right beside us. We only see what we are willing to believe.

In Luke 24:13-35 two of Jesus’ disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus. As they walk, they mourn together the death of their beloved teacher and friend. They are so transfixed in their grief that they do not recognize him when he appears beside them.

Jesus engages them in conversation and asks them why they’re troubled. Still unable to recognize him, they begin to tell him about the death of Jesus of Nazareth. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people … we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (verses 19-21).

The two disciples were unable to look beyond their own understanding. They had lived through the story of Jesus’ life on earth and had witnessed incredible and surprising things. But still they couldn’t let go of the ending they had decided on. Their messiah would redeem Israel from the hands of their oppressors. Their Christ would overthrow the powers of the pagan rulers who had polluted Israel for too long.

So they mourned not only the death of their friend and teacher, but also the loss of their dream for a restored Israel. The crucifixion of Jesus had completely and utterly devastated all their hopes for the future. They had possessed big plans for Jesus, but in essence had placed him in a box. But God had even bigger plans.

Three days after his death, Jesus broke the box and returned to life. And then, after admonishing his “foolish” disciples for their lack of faith, he breaks bread with them and truly becomes what they had sought all along. He transforms the failure of his death into the victory of his resurrection. He becomes Saviour not only to the people of Israel, but to the entire world. He turned the wailing into dancing and clothed his people with joy.

But sadly, many of us still continue to live with our own failures and broken dreams. Jesus wants to comfort us in those sorrows and show us a new way of looking at the world. He wants to transform our mourning into celebration. He wishes to bring about metamorphosis. The question is: Do we believe it’s possible?

Destruction into Renewal
When we look at our own brokenness, and that of the people we minister to, what does restoration and renewal look like? How do we reach out to people in their pain and anguish? How can we rebuild the places of ruin and devastation?

The Christian Church of the West possesses a narrow theology of suffering. We avoid all discomfort and believe—whether consciously or unconsciously—that we deserve only the best

The Christian Church of the West possesses a narrow theology of suffering. We avoid all discomfort and believe—whether consciously or unconsciously—that we deserve only the best. We seem genuinely surprised and even put out when something unforeseen interferes with the harmonious balance of our lives.

Second Corinthians 3:18 says that: “… we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” It’s easy to embrace the glory of Jesus in his resurrection and in his position at the right hand of the Father. But can we see glory in the humiliation of his death and in the simple poverty of his life on earth?

If we truly wish to be transformed into Christ’s image, we need to be willing to suffer as he did. Jesus does not promise his followers an easy life; only that he will journey with us. He calls us to minister to the brokenhearted, but we need to allow him to bind our hearts as well. As we invite him into the places of weakness inside us, we can find solace in his presence, and place our hope in spending eternal glory with him in heaven.

Usually when we of faith suffer, we are made aware of our base and raw relationship with God. When all else is stripped away, we discover that there is only us and God. That can either frighten us or give us peace and renewal. Although we don’t like to admit it, perhaps the one thing that unites humanity is our poverty. In the West, we like to think of ourselves as those who help, those who give, those who rebuild, restore and renew for others. And yet we have so much to learn from those who are experiencing suffering and beauty at the same time, because they have been devastated for generations and are therefore relying on God. Maybe what we have to offer each other is our poverty; our sharing in Christ’s sufferings as well as in his glory.

So what do we have to offer the poor of our world? As we realize how little we truly need beyond God’s love, we realize how much more we have to give to others. We can bring our love and compassion and presence to the hurting and lonely. We can choose to live among the outcasts and participate in their joy and suffering. We can testify to the God who makes all things new, the God whose “power is made perfect in weakness.” In his brokenness we become whole.

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away … I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:3-5).

The question is: Are we prepared to suffer now for the celebration later?

John McAlister is co-founder and co-editor of theRubicon. His favourite numbers are nine and four and he enjoys all shades of blue. He’s currently working on an opera about three blind mice, but is struggling to accurately portray their story due to the incredibly small size of their feet. He can say hello in nine languages and thoroughly dislikes writing biographies.

Artwork from Walking With Jesus for Peace: Iraq Stations of the Cross.

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