From William C. Placher’s “Narratives of a Vulnerable God”
Force and power are, in (Hannah) Arendt’s terms, the alternatives to real power, they are where one turns when one is too weak to dare risking vulnerability. In that sense, it is the “powers and principalities” that seem to dominate our world that lack the real power and the vulnerable God encountered in the biblical narratives who most manifests it. In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus wins his argument with Pilate about power; Pilate is so important that all he can do is turn to the violence of crucifixion.
Striking our, physically or verbally, keeps the distance between one and the other. To bridge that distance, we must be vulnerable, that is, be willing to take the step out over what appears to be an abyss. And yet, the promise is that the abyss cannot consume us. In fact, it is the way to wholeness. It is just as we use the image of the wilderness. Why would one venture out across the wilderness…what good can come from there? Well…life. Often the risk of taking off and going out beyond what has been our safe ground brings life unlike anything we have experienced before our adventure started. We all know what we are like now…what our relationships are like now…but what about after we take the risk to walk more deeply into our relationships…what will it be like then? Not knowing what will be is not an excuse to stay put.
Connection: Take the next step…it may be the first step…but it is only the next step in a journey of divine vulnerability.
By the power of your Holy Spirit, lead us more deeply into our experience of life within your blessed Reign. We can be afraid and anxious to move beyond what is and yet beyond what is…is the promise of life in you. Let it come to blossom among us. Amen.
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