‘Tearing the heavens’
11th January, 2009
Mark 1; 4-11
‘…he saw the heavens torn apart….’
Whenever I come to these words in Mark’s gospel I am intrigued by the imagery that they present. I try to imagine what ‘the torn heavens’ look like but my imagination fails me!….But what is more important here is not the actual sight but what it means and how it might relate to us all in our Christian experience. At its heart it is about the meeting of God and humanity….The meeting of two spheres of existence with the barrier between the two being ‘torn’ away.
Recently I received some very meaningful presents. Two of these presents were wrapped very effectively with an abundance of sticky tape. As I was struggling to tear open the packages two young folk began to laugh! Eventually I succeeded but not without some effort. Tearing is about breaking barriers but sometimes the tearing is not without some effort.
In recent times the differences that exist between the different religious and political groups in Northern Ireland have been torn away…..We thank God that many brave gestures and concessions have made the ‘tearing’ away of the barriers possible….Will the huge barriers that separate Israeli and Palestinian ever be torn away? We continue to pray earnestly that both sides will cease their hostility.
Throughout the Bible there are references to people tearing their garments when they were sorrowfully repenting of their sins or like the High Priest at Jesus’ trial who tore his robes in anger….The tearing of garment was a sign of intense emotion….Was this a breaking down of the barriers that prevent self expression?
There are also the words from the book of the prophet Joel: ‘Rend your hearts and not your garments’….A strong message to people who go through the motions of religious life without any inward effect on their lives….An inward tearing down of the barriers that keep us from spiritual growth is far better than outward signs that can mean very little….Do we need to do some tearing?
Also in the Bible is the tearing of the veil in the temple from top to bottom….A sign that the barrier of sin that has separated God and humanity has been torn away….A sign that it is OK to come into God’s presence as we are!….In this case, God has done the tearing through Christ’s death on the cross.
And so we come back to Jesus’ baptism and the how Jesus saw ‘the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.’….It is interesting that in Isaiah 64; 1 are the words: ‘O that you would rend the heavens and come down.’ In Jesus’ baptism we see the openness of God to humankind….who rends the heavens to make a new relationship with his people….In Isaiah we see the cry of humanity for God…..In Jesus we see God’s response!
In the Christian life we understand that God does some ‘tearing’….But we have to do some ‘tearing’ too….For any relationship to work there has to be some tearing down of the things that keep people apart….The same is true with our relationship with God who has taken the initiative in Jesus Christ….
What sort of ‘tearing’ do we have to do?
In the Hymn: ‘O for a closer walk with God’ there are these words:
The dearest idol I have known,
whate'er that idol be,
help me to tear it from thy throne,
and worship only thee.
These are powerful words from the 17th century. This was a time when the church was affirming its life and worship following the reformation!…..In our day and age we must continue the task….it is up to us to identify the ‘idol’ that we put on God’s throne….Or identify that thing that we worship instead of God!….And in our day and age there are plenty of things to distract us from a true life of faith.
We are surrounded by the temptation to pursue things that look attractive and fulfilling, but do little for spiritual growth….And there are those things into which we pour hearts and souls failing to realise that the future of these things are in God’s hands….And instead of trusting God for these things we forget God and go it alone!….Or there are those things which we become deeply anxious about….Again, preoccupation with these things can draw a veil across the activity of God in our lives….and we continue life with a very distorted idea about what is important and what is not!
Last Tuesday, Atheists launched a campaign displaying advertising on 800 buses around the country. The slogan says: ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ Several folk have said to me how worried they are about this campaign. Personally, I am glad! The atheists might as well be running a mission on our behalf. The barriers to the debate are being torn down. The atheists’ slogan should provoke thought about God, especially as so many people are very worried and not enjoying their life without even a thought of God! Why should we worry when ‘the debate about God’ has been brought more into the public domain? How great is our God that he can even work through people who don’t believe!
The ‘tearing’ away of things from our lives may seem very drastic….But so was God in ‘tearing’ the heavens through His Son, Jesus Christ….Christianity is more than just something to believe because it fills a need or a gap in our understanding of the universe….It is a dynamic faith that requires dynamic response to the God who opens himself to us through the tearing of the heavens….To become a Christian is to exchange an old life for a life that is New, Dynamic and Everlasting.
It is about ‘tearing up’ the spiritual barriers of the old life so that the renewing power of the Holy Spirit can renew our souls….May that be so for us all.
