Is God a Real King? If so, in which sense? II

Today's Psalm says: “The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice” (Ps 97,1).

How can the Lord be King on earth? We already addressed that topic few days ago (1st of June 2012. See here). Here it comes again. Let us explore it more.

Last Sunday we had this Parable: Jesus Said "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade." (Mc 4:26-34)

I have a suggestion: the “birds” can be understood as the “angels”. I see it this way: “the birds of the sky” are the Guardian Angels of our brothers who are in need, the ones that God wants us to help. We do not go to heaven alone. God increases His Love in us, and therefore He enables us to carry our brothers and sisters, so we can pray for them, guide them, lead them to heaven. We access them, and help them through their Guardian Angels, that dwell in the shade of the Charity of God in us.

Our growth is symbolised this way: we start by being as small as a "mustard seed". But the 'new being' in us becomes 'the largest of plants and puts forth large branches'. This is the sign of the growth of love in us, the capacity to receive (spiritual hospitality) in our heart our brothers and sister that God entrust us.

This means, that when we reach a certain growth (the union with Jesus), we kind of have a direct contact (through their angels) with other persons, and all what we do has a direct impact on them, and when we pray, it is with them that we go to God. This is how saint Thérèse puts it:

“the Holy Spirit, before Jesus' birth, dictated this prophetic prayer: Draw one, we shall run [Canticle 1.3]. What is it then to ask to be ''Drawn" if not to be united in an intimate way to the object which captivates our heart? If fire and iron had the use of reason, and if the latter said to the other: "Draw me. would it not prove that it desires to he identified with the fire in such a way that the fire penetrate and drink it up with its burning substance and seem to become one with it'? Dear Mother, this is my prayer: I ask Jesus to draw me into the flames of His love, to unite me so closely to Him that He live and act in me [Ga 2.20]. I feel that the more the fire of love bums within my heart, the more I shall say: Draw me, the more also the souls who will approach me (poor little piece of iron useless if l withdraw from the divine furnace), the more these souls: will run swiftly in the odour of the ointments [Sg 1.3] of their Beloved, for a soul that is burning with love cannot remain inactive.” (Manuscript C, toward the end)

So again: God can reign through us. When the Tree of Jesus is huge in us, we can “carry” our brothers and sisters (in fact God united them to us), and God communicates to them through us His Graces. Of course He can do it all by Himself, but this is not His choice. He wants us to participate to the new life of our brothers, to their “salvation” as we say, he wants us to reach that maturity that would allow us to really help them.

He doesn't want to have only saved virgins (the virginity of the new Faith) he wants his virgins to be mothers, in Him and through Him, of new brothers and sisters. This is the will of God and this is His plan for us. The dignity of 'just a saved person' is already very high (a Son or a Daughter of God), but the real total dignity that Jesus-God wants for us is 'to participate to the salvation of our brothers and sisters', 'to take part of the Work of Salvation'. Remember saint Paul who says (see Col 1:24): "I complete in my flesh what is lacking to the Passion of Christ [not that anything lacks to it] for his Body, the Church [which means: taking part into the work of applying the Salvation already obtained by Jesus on the Cross to the world]".

When you see the big Tree in one of us, yes you can and have to say: “The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice” (Ps 97,1)

This is the Real victory and Reign of God on Earth. This is how He becomes King on earth: Through you. This is His will.

"Thy Kingdom Come...", make me, o Lord, a Big tree, with large branches, fill me with your Charity, make me the House of thousands and millions that are seeking a house. Spiritual hospitality.

Is God a real King ? if so, in which sense ? I

I was praying today with the Mass Psalm: “Say among the nations: The LORD is king. 
He has made the world firm, not to be moved; 
He governs the peoples with equity.” (Ps 96,10ss) Well these words do "hurt", and they do it in two ways:

1- There is too much injustice, abuse, violence,… in the world, and therefore one can’t say that “silly” statement that "God is King of the world". The reason of this kind of “absence of God” is our ignorance of the sense of creation and the order He put in everything and the freedom He left us.

2- We know that God can interfere in the world and act, but it is so unknown that His “power” (the power of real change) remains hidden, undisclosed, not outpoured. The reason is our ignorance of the exact relationship between the Holy Spirit and the human being (our exact role to disclose it).

In order to clarify these points, I will remain in Spiritual Theology, because our simplistic knowledge of the “Theology of Grace” (see the “De Gratiae”) is not enough to help us cope with such absurd thing as saying: "say the Lord is King".

1- The order of creation:

The "order of creation" means that God set up for instance the human being free, to think, to act, to choose. God will not interfere in that order of nature, the order of creation. This order is not a supernatural order, in the sense that the Holy Spirit given by Jesus doesn’t interfere with these things. In this sense, while creating the World and each human being (his spirit, his soul and his body), while maintaining the World in the being, God doesn’t interfere in the mechanisms He established. In that sense, He doesn’t intend to interfere and won’t interfere in an extra-ordinary way.

We might consider these aspects and complain and say: why God doesn’t interfere? Well He wanted us free, He respects our freedom, and even the long-lasting consequences of certain acts (sometimes from generations to generations).

He then chose to leave a great deal of space out of His control (it remains in the boundaries of creation). I don’t think this is difficult to accept. So it is a contradiction, if, while remaining at this level, we complain about the fact that he is not king in this sense. He created a free being (each one of us) and chose not to interfere. He wants us free. Whether we use this freedom for good or for bad. We can’t come and say: but the freedom was used badly. Then this is our fault, not His.

So all the sad things we see are work of our own hands. He is not king of these bad things.

But this is not the end, and all the bad things don’t have the last word. In which sense? Let us see.

2- The order of the direct relationship with God

Still, God doesn’t interfere in the order He put in creation.

But an "ordinary help of the grace of God" is given to each human being in order to allow him to seek God, to find God, to enter in a personal direct relationship.

God didn’t want all the bad things to have the last word.

He entered in our world by taking our condition: Jesus, His Words, His Transformative Work on the Cross.

This work on the Cross is fundamentally: transforming evil into a higher good.

But this unique power of transformation that lies in Jesus Crucified, and offered for each human being doesn’t either interfere in the World (see 1) without us asking for it (using "the ordinary help of the Grace of God"). If we do so, then yes, we may speak about “Power”, and “Kingdom” and consider them capable of entering in our life on earth, then change can happen, then history can be transformed, then we may say that God is King. But, as you see, He is King only through us, his Kingdom is never imposed, and this is His Choice to have it like that.

If we want to take our responsibility in allowing God to enter in this World and be an influential King then yes, He might be considered as King. Otherwise... this verse of the Psalm is laughable...

Spiritual Theology

The grace of God acts and interferes in the world in two ways:

1- by the general help of the Grace of God, and

2- by the Specific, particular help of the Grace of God. The Action of the Holy Spirit as such.

We use the first one to beg and ask for the second one.

The first one is always given to us. The second one not because we need to use our freedom (using the first one) in order to express our choice clearly. The second one is the pure Gift of His Salvation (the Cross).

The GREAT difficulty (that stops God from really entering our World with Hi Transformative Power) is that we don't know that God is waiting for us to express our choice, to say it, with all our heart, with full commitment. And not knowing we don't do it, or if we do it, it comes "by luck", not on a regular daily basis.

God, with His particular help can't walk on moving sands: unstable, undefined, unexpressed will.

We don't know that God is waiting for our commitment, so, we "play with Him", by asking for crumbs and then complain that He doesn't move, He doesn't listen.

We do not know the extent of His respect to our freedom and choices, clearly expressed and commitment. So he seems to remain silent, but in fact He doesn't interfere, because he respects the order He put in creation: our freedom, our brain, our effort to discern and choose.

Theresa of Avila says in the book of her Life (see this link) that if we do not know the difference between the two modalities of action of the Grace of God (1- general help 2- specific help) then we loose a lot in Spiritual Life.

It is in our hands and only in our hands to allow God to be an influential King, capable of not only governing Nature/Creation, but of transforming the world.

Now the Psalm has another taste: “Say among the nations: The LORD is King.” (Ps 96,10)

Cheers

Jean