Monday, August 20, 2012
301 - God's Gift Is Really a Present
Spirituality
Column #301
August 21, 2012
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
God’s Gift Is Really a Present
By Bob Walters
I’ve been a writer my entire career – newspapers, sports, public relations, corporate communications, magazine articles, speeches, published a book, etc. – and my wife just retired from 34 years of teaching English.
She’s an expert at English mechanics, while I “just do it” (write) without knowing the finer points of grammatical rules I should probably know. So it’s not the least bit unusual – though weird, maybe – for us to discuss grammar: verb tenses, punctuation for possessive pronouns (e.g. its vs. one’s), subject-predicate contractions (you’re), dependent clauses, compound sentences, and (yawn) on and on. Bet you wish you could have dinner at our place …
Anyway, a handful of things recently colluded in my mind regarding past, present and future verb tenses to shed light on the uniqueness and distinction of God’s eternity. To wit:
This summer I reread C.S. Lewis’ 1942 classic The Screwtape Letters, wherein senior devil administrator Screwtape coaches a junior devil trainee on how to entrap a human being into Hell. Chapter 15 discusses the importance of keeping humans focused on the past (sin, guilt, shame, pride) or the future (fear), but steering them clear of the present. That’s because God is in eternity and, Screwtape writes, “the present is the point at which time touches eternity.” Because there is neither past nor future in eternity, it’s always the present for God. That’s where mankind finds God, in the present.
Our congregation (E91) recently commissioned a new pastor (Dr. Rick Grover) whose opening sermon series “Legacy” focuses on the past, present, and future of our church and individual Christian walks. My aforementioned wife was to present an early August worship service communion meditation, but due to voice troubles traded for my October date. My “aha!” moment came while preparing the August meditation and learned that the communion intro hymn was “There Is a Redeemer.”
See? “There IS a Redeemer.” Present tense. When Moses asks God’s name (Exodus 3:14), what is God’s answer? “I AM who I AM!” Not “I was” (past), not “I will be” (future). I AM. Present tense.
When Jesus is questioned about His identity by the famous doubting disciple Thomas in John 14, how does Jesus reply? “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Present tense.
There are no wasted words in the Bible, and the specificity of complex verb tenses in Greek – far beyond those in English – assure us that the present tense as it is recorded throughout the Bible is grammatical truth, not coincidence or accident.
When we feel God’s presence, that’s a divine piece of eternity. How could any present be more of a gift than that?
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that one of life’s most exhausting endeavors is dragging along our past.
August 21, 2012
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
God’s Gift Is Really a Present
By Bob Walters
I’ve been a writer my entire career – newspapers, sports, public relations, corporate communications, magazine articles, speeches, published a book, etc. – and my wife just retired from 34 years of teaching English.
She’s an expert at English mechanics, while I “just do it” (write) without knowing the finer points of grammatical rules I should probably know. So it’s not the least bit unusual – though weird, maybe – for us to discuss grammar: verb tenses, punctuation for possessive pronouns (e.g. its vs. one’s), subject-predicate contractions (you’re), dependent clauses, compound sentences, and (yawn) on and on. Bet you wish you could have dinner at our place …
Anyway, a handful of things recently colluded in my mind regarding past, present and future verb tenses to shed light on the uniqueness and distinction of God’s eternity. To wit:
This summer I reread C.S. Lewis’ 1942 classic The Screwtape Letters, wherein senior devil administrator Screwtape coaches a junior devil trainee on how to entrap a human being into Hell. Chapter 15 discusses the importance of keeping humans focused on the past (sin, guilt, shame, pride) or the future (fear), but steering them clear of the present. That’s because God is in eternity and, Screwtape writes, “the present is the point at which time touches eternity.” Because there is neither past nor future in eternity, it’s always the present for God. That’s where mankind finds God, in the present.
Our congregation (E91) recently commissioned a new pastor (Dr. Rick Grover) whose opening sermon series “Legacy” focuses on the past, present, and future of our church and individual Christian walks. My aforementioned wife was to present an early August worship service communion meditation, but due to voice troubles traded for my October date. My “aha!” moment came while preparing the August meditation and learned that the communion intro hymn was “There Is a Redeemer.”
See? “There IS a Redeemer.” Present tense. When Moses asks God’s name (Exodus 3:14), what is God’s answer? “I AM who I AM!” Not “I was” (past), not “I will be” (future). I AM. Present tense.
When Jesus is questioned about His identity by the famous doubting disciple Thomas in John 14, how does Jesus reply? “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Present tense.
There are no wasted words in the Bible, and the specificity of complex verb tenses in Greek – far beyond those in English – assure us that the present tense as it is recorded throughout the Bible is grammatical truth, not coincidence or accident.
When we feel God’s presence, that’s a divine piece of eternity. How could any present be more of a gift than that?
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that one of life’s most exhausting endeavors is dragging along our past.
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