Doing Theology From BelowSample

Plan A or Plan B (Part II)

Yesterday, we talked about the most familiar story of why the Word became Flesh. We called it “Plan B” and discussed how it puts sin at the center of the story and carries with it the seeds of violence.

Today, let’s consider a less familiar, but simpler story which makes it so hard to understand why we resist and it goes something like this:

Plan A is still Plan A.

In other words, there is no Plan B.

God becomes human not to introduce some new reality, but to reveal what has always been true, but hard for us to see. Jesus reveals to us a God in whom there is no violence. Jesus proves this on the cross and confirms it in the resurrection. While being crucified, he says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He really means that. We don’t know what we are doing. We can’t see how we are trapped in a cycle of violence. We can’t see the violent story we are acting out. He comes back in the resurrection to confirm the forgiveness that he offers on the cross. In the resurrection he invites us to participate in the ongoing act of creation made possible by God’s mercy.

Can we see?

In the Plan A is Still Plan A story, Jesus prunes the human imagination of the violence we impute towards God. The Plan A story reveals that the only violent deity there is, is us. As Pogo said in the famous comic strip, “We have met the enemy and He is us.” It’s we who want sacrifice, not God, which is why Jesus confirms what the prophets tried to say, “God desires mercy, not sacrifice.”

In the Plan A is still Plan A story, We come to see Creation – Fall – Redemption in a whole new light – one that is much bigger and far more inviting than we imagined them to be. In other words, Creation isn’t merely an event that happened a long time ago. Creation is here, and now, unfolding before us.The Fall isn’t an event that happened once in a garden in a land far far away. It is a constant and present reality, happening now. Redemption isn’t only what happened in the Incarnation and on the cross 2,000 years ago. It is a constant and present reality, happening now. God is continually coming among us, blessing us, occupying the space of shame and violence and from that place forgiving us, and showing us another way.

What could this possibly mean?

It means that the Incarnation has always been part of the plan. Word is always becoming flesh and dwelling among. Yes, Jesus came to the world in a definitive way, but he came to reveal what has always been true and what will always be true is that we are loved and forgiven.

So, take a few minutes and consider the story you are undergoing – the stories you’ve been told, the story you are telling and how they impact the way you live.