Jesus and His Gifts: UNWRAPPED Conference Reflections

There aren't a whole lot of reasons this Southern Californian can think of to head off to St. Louis, MO for a few days in early January. But there is at least one good reason: UNWRAPPED. And apparently I wasn't the only one who thought it was a good reason. There were over 80 colleges and universities represented, roughly 400 attendees (students, campus pastors, laity and pastors), gathered together because they share a common interest in the welfare and spread of campus ministry across the synod.

We've all heard the statistics. We know students fall away from the faith in staggering numbers during their college years. We know college campuses are a mission field. We know there’s great opportunity and great need for robust confessional Lutheranism on our campuses. We know we need to defend the faith with clear, evidential apologetics. Or do we? If you didn't know it before Unwrapped, you do now.

It’s no secret that a number of campus ministries have come under threat the last several years. And I pray that this conference would further strengthen the resolve of districts and congregations throughout the synod in pledging their financial and prayerful support to the continuance and expansion of campus ministry in order to prevent further disasters.

With all the doom and gloom statistics you hear about, this conference couldn't have been timelier. There is also a great deal of rejoicing to be had. The LCMS Office of National Mission did an outstanding job in planning this conference. A few of the people involved in planning that I talked to said they never expected this to go off as well as it did. 

President Harrison and Bart Day both reiterated their unwavering support for campus ministry; Harrison even got a standing ovation from college kids of all people. The conference planning committee showed what a synod can do when we work together and dare to be Lutheran. The speakers – especially Craig Parton – were fantastic, great topics and well informed presenters. And the LCMS campus ministry staff, as well as all who participated in the conference (far too many names to thank) ensured that in a few days' time, campus ministry in the synod would not become another fatal statistic.

This synod wide conference, the first of its kind in far too long, also lived up to its name: Unwrapped. But what exactly was unwrapped? The question isn't what, but whom? Who was unwrapped? Christ Crucified and his gifts. From the sectional to the plenary presentations, inside the chapel and around the coffee pots, this singular message was unwrapped with joy, like a kid on Christmas morning: “Jesus died for sinners…and you qualify.”

Now, when it comes to defending the Christian faith, I’m an evidentialist. Show me the evidence, the reason for the hope that is within you. Tell me what you believe and why…and it better be more than subjective feelings. So, here’s some hard, tangible evidence in support of a great conference.

The plenary speaker, Craig Parton was outstanding. Having studied apologetics under the same teacher, Rod Rosenbladt it was refreshing to sit and listen to a thoroughly reasonable defense of the faith from a Lutheran who knows his Scripture, his catechism and isn’t afraid of confessing the historic Lutheran faith. You can get a lot of the same content in his presentations from his books, The Defense Never Rests and Religion On Trial. But if you ever have the chance to listen to him speak publicly, travel whatever distance you have to, even in January, to go and listen. It’s well worth the time.

The sectional presentations also allowed for a variety of topics. It was a joy and an honor to speak on the intersection of two of my favorite topics: literature and apologetics. The only downside, of course, was that there were too many good choices and not enough time for the topics. I guess that means we'll have to have another conference. And that's a good problem to have. In many ways, it was like being back at seminary again, soaking up as much knowledge and information as I could in a short amount of time. Lastly, a side note, perhaps this conference will encourage both seminaries to include a genuine approach to Lutheran apologetics into their curriculum, something that is desperately needed.

And while the substance was marvelously rich, intellectually demanding and insightful, there is also something to be said for the aesthetics of an event. At times it felt like a Lutheran family reunion and a glimpse of worshiping with angels and archangels. And the daily prayer offices showcased the best of Lutheran liturgy and hymnody for a segment of the population that is all too often pigeon-holed into the contemporary Christian music scene. Well, that myth was busted. I heard over 400 people – most of whom were students – chanting psalms, singing hymns and liturgy and doing it with gusto, both in and outside the walls of Francis Xavier College Church. So much for youthful stereotypes. They devoured the historic orthodox Lutheran faith in word and song and it was a sight to see and hear. And of all places, we sat in a Roman Catholic parish as the Gospel, along with our voices, was unwrapped adding substance to the beautiful architectural form we sat beneath (and it was an outstanding display of architectural apologetics). It certainly got the attention and admiration of Sister Ruth.

So, despite what you may have read in mission development magazines and journal articles, our youth and college students love the historic liturgy and hymns of the church. It challenges them, communicates the depths of Scripture’s truth to them both objectively and subjectively in a way that the CCM fads never can and they ate it up. After all, that’s what college kids are good at, knowing and devouring good food when they see it, or in this case, hear it. Our college campuses and students are hungry for the solid food of the Scriptures, the Book of Concord and the song of the Church. Some don’t even know how starving they really are. Our churches should be dining halls where the best Lutheran stuff is always on the menu and Jesus is the host, waiter and meal.

That’s why every Christian should care about campus ministry, no matter what your congregation’s demographics. Quite simply, the future of our church body is walking around college campuses all over this country. Your future congregation president is facing tough questions about the historicity of the Gospels from his college professor. Your daughter’s or granddaughter’s future school teacher is getting fed a steady diet of secular, humanist drivel every day she goes to class. The examples could go on.

Because sooner or later, these college students will graduate. Some of these young Lutheran men will go to seminary and some of these young women will become deaconesses. And many more will not; but they’ll go to work in law enforcement, or as engineers, business men and women, doctors, scientists, professors, coaches and the like. And one day, if they haven't already, they’ll become members at our churches, elders, vice presidents, trustees, and treasurers. This is why campus ministry matters. As good as it was to have Jesus and his saving gifts unwrapped for us in St. Louis, it’s even better to unwrap those same gifts on college campuses across the country, in the pews of our town and gown churches and on the sidewalks and public areas of our communities.

I don’t think it’s too much of an overstatement to say that the fate of Lutheranism in America is largely dependent upon the state of Lutheranism in and around our college campuses across the country. As campus ministry goes, so goes the synod.

And in St. Louis at the Unwrapped Conference, the synod – it’s leadership, its laity and pastors – showed that there is an overwhelming amount of support, concern, and love for campus ministry. And this is good evidence that the LCMS isn’t simply talking about witness, mercy and life together – those aren’t just nouns and slogans, they’re verbs. And they’re ready to be unwrapped throughout our church body for our college students and for all who care about them. The conference concluded with Office of National Mission unveiling it’s LCMS campus ministry initiative - LCMS U. And that means we’re headed in the right direction. Back to campus and our congregation having unwrapped the gifts Christ has given us.

After all, the Reformation began on a college campus. Martin Luther was a campus pastor. And today, the reformation continues on college campuses. Even if your congregation is far removed from a college campus, chances are there are college students in your pews or in the lives of our members. Today we continue to work together to ensure that the Reformation lives on, for this generation and the next.

Next time this conference comes around, chances are, I’ll make my way there even if it’s cold outside. And I hope you do too. Case closed…or, perhaps I should simply say, unwrapped.

Jesus: The Biggest Loser

 11^th Sunday after Pentecost – August 28^th, 2011

Matthew 16:21-28

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ + Amen.

             
No one likes losing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a job, a ballgame, a barroom brawl or even Human Foosball. The runner up doesn’t pat himself on the back: “job well done!” He may be a good sport in front of the camera, smile and congratulate the victor, but inside he hates losing and secretly hungers for victory. You see, we follow the Ricky Bobby playbook: if you’re not first, you’re last. Those are the ways of man.

            But not the ways of God. When it comes to fighting, with and for His people, God is the biggest, and the happiest, loser. For when God loses, we win; and when we win, God wins. He who is first for our sakes, became last – Jesus was made man.

            Jesus turns the world upside down. No cross, no glory. No death, no resurrection. Good Friday must come before Easter. And if you try to save your life on your own terms you’ll lose it forever. If you lose your life for Jesus’ sake you’ll find it. That’s the paradox of the Gospel. The cross is Christ’s glory and yours. Losing is living. Dying is life. No wonder Jesus’ words are so shocking.

            Last week Peter got it right: “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God.” Up until now, everything had been easy. Schooling the Pharisees. Miracles. Healing. Kicking demon butt, walking on water and stilling storms. Who wouldn’t follow Jesus? The crowds flocked to him. And so would we.

            We love this kind of stuff. Power, prestige, ecstasy and crowds. That’s the kind of stuff that draws a crowd on Sunday – power and majesty and glory. That’s the stuff of religion.  It’s attractive, seductive – like a drug - we always want more until it kills us. No suffering, sin or death – not a cross in sight. No pain, only pleasure. No losing your life to save it. That kind of talk will only get you killed. That’s for losers.

            This week Peter gets it all wrong. Suffering and dying didn’t fit into his plans for Jesus. “Far be it from you Lord, this will surely not be you.” “Jesus, reasonable, respectable Messiah’s don’t go off to die. That’s no way to boost membership or pack the hillsides. You won’t be very successful or famous with all this killing and suffering language. No one likes a loser, Jesus.”

            And isn’t that the way of sinful man? We always think we know best what God should do and how He should do it. But honestly, Peter’s way is easy. Pretty up the confession with a precious moments Jesus: group hugs and everyone gets along. Lighten up the liturgy with feel-good music and culturally sensitive language. You know, something more popular or palatable and pretty. Proclaim a bloodless Christianity, a Christ without suffering, a cross without a crucifixion – or better yet, no cross at all. Power, riches and your best life now all you need is more faith or a better attitude.

            This is the broad and easy way: Easy to preach. Easy to tell your neighbors. And even easier to live. But this is no Gospel. There is no life there. That’s the way of destruction, Satan’s deceptive brand of “good news,” where everything which appeared to be good is a trap and a lie, like Edmund and the White Witch’s Turkish delight.

            So, Jesus says the only thing you can say to the devil. He rebukes him: “Get behind me, Satan.”  That was the problem. Peter’s words were Satan’s words. The devil tried this trick before in the wilderness. “Turn stones into bread, jump off the temple. No one will ever know, Jesus. Power and prestige, majesty and glory – you can have it all. Just avoid the cross; give in; bow down and worship me.”

            Subversion. Lies. Temptation. Satan doesn’t want Jesus anywhere near the cross.  Because as soon as Jesus utters the words: “It is finished.” So is Satan’s kingdom. Jesus’ death is death’s undoing. The Law is silenced. Sin is atoned for. Hell is vanquished. The devil is conquered. Satan’s tricks didn’t work in the wilderness and it didn’t work here either.

            Despite himself Peter’s best laid plans failed. Jesus had a better plan in mind: the cross. For himself and his disciples and you.

             “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

            Life would’ve been much easier if Jesus was talking about a figurative cross and not the real thing. Wouldn’t that be convenient? Monday through Saturday we could carry on with our lives and come Sunday morning set aside an hour or so of spiritual self-denial and then we’re off again to our regular lives.

            Thankfully Jesus didn’t bear a figurative cross but a real one because you don’t have figurative sins but real ones. And thank God we – like Peter – don’t get our way. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his body and soul? What can a man give in return? Nothing. That’s exactly the way God would have it. You give him nothing. You give Him your sin, your death, your condemnation and he gives you His righteousness, His life, His salvation.

           
That’s what this is all about. “Jesus began to show his disciples that it is necessary for him to suffer many things, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priest and the scribes, and to be killed and on the third day raised from the dead.” So in a way, you can understand why Peter tried to get in Jesus’ way. No one wants to see the one you love suffer. But that’s precisely why it was necessary for Jesus to go to Jerusalem. To suffer and die for you, the ones he loves. You do not suffer alone. You don’t bear the cross alone. Even Jesus needed Simon of Cyrene. In the cross of Christ, you are never alone.

            Here, O Sinner, is your life. God would have it no other way. It is necessary. That is love. The kind of love that will not leave Jeremiah abandoned in despair; that will not leave the children of Israel enslaved in Egypt; that will not leave sons of Adam and daughters of Eve unclothed, unforgiven and outside of Paradise. His love knows no other way than rescue. Christ will not put himself first, but you. He lives for you the same way He dies for you: perfectly, lovingly, mercifully.  Nothing but the cross will do for Jesus, or for you.

            And to do this He must lose. He must suffer many things and suffer them all for you. Bring on the sweat like blood, the sting of vinegar on parched lips. Bring on the hands that bind, hands that slap, hands that nail, hands that bury. Bring on the lies of the priest, the mocking crowds, the silence of heaven. When God loses you win. For the joy set before him he endures it all for you. Let him be rejected, for in his rejection is your acceptance before the Father. Let Him pour out His blood in anguish so you can drink it here in joyful pardon and peace. Let him be killed, for his death is your life. Let him be buried for in that tomb death’s grip on you is broken. Let him lose his life so that you are found in Him. That’s the power of Jesus’ love. Losing to win. Dying to live. Suffering for your glory. That’s Jesus way of things in your Baptism, in Absolution in the Supper and in your daily life.

            Jesus redefines our life with his own cross. Jesus makes his cruciform love the very pattern of our lives.

            "Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me." Sounds like marching orders, doesn't it? Stuff to do to be saved. Or is it? What sort of things to do are we talking about? Deny yourself - become nothing. Take up your cross - drop dead. That's what crosses do, they kill. Follow me. Where? Where Jesus leads - through death and resurrection to eternal life. It's not about your self-improvement, your self-help or even yourself at all, this is no rehab for sinners. It's about dying and rising.

            That’s your life before God. That’s your life before the neighbor. Christians are professional losers. Daily. It’s rarely glorifying, hardly prestigious – we’re not even guaranteed success – at least the way the world counts it. Jesus works under the cross. His church is no different. Our whole life –meetings, work in the community, Bible studies, congregational life together – it all works the same way: the cross. Cruciform mercy, love, prayer, study, cruciform lives.           

            You see, you don’t suffer, bear a cross and then earn your disciple merit badge. It’s the other way around. You suffer, you bear the cross, you serve the neighbor because you are a Baptized child of God, a disciple. Christian love loses itself in the neighbor. That’s living. Losing your life one day at a time as you raise children, care for the elderly, feed the hungry, serve your church and live in the vocations God has called you. For the cross you bear is not your own it is Jesus’. And he bore it for you.

It’s good to be a loser after all. In Christ, losing is winning. Dying is living and Jesus Crucified is our greatest glory.

In the Name of Jesus + Amen.

Jesus Spares No Expense

+ 6^th Sunday after Pentecost +

              

In the Name of Jesus + Amen.

            When you think about it, parables are a lot like dreams. After reading them you frequently ask yourself: now, what just happened? I remember something about treasure, pearls and fish, wheat and weeds, sowers and seeds. But what it’s all about?

            Jesus’ parables seem just familiar enough to give us Biblical a sense of déjà vu throughout the day and bizarre enough to keep us searching for meaning. We’re frustrated at their hiddenness and overjoyed when Jesus’ point comes crashing in upon us. That’s the trick: either we don’t take Jesus’ parables seriously enough or we read too much into them.

            And when it comes to dreams, there are two basic dreams we have in life. The first is quite common. This is the dream of “making it”, working hard, earning that degree, or even becoming well known, respected and successful. Dreams like these drive us, drum up our ambitions and stir our creativity. Everything becomes ordered, scheduled, expected – or at least we try to make it so. And that’s not altogether bad, it’s often very good.

            But dreams like this have a wild tendency about them. We begin to think it leads to God – that we can “make it” with Him; that we can work enough, believe enough, give our lives and hearts to Him. This turns out to be nothing more than the nightmare that was whispered to our first parents: “You shall not die, you shall be as gods. You can make it.” And then we are had. All is lost and dead. The kingdom of heaven is not like that kind of dream.

           

But there is a second kind of dream. A peculiar one and if we’re honest, a little embarrassing. You know the kind of dream that seem too good to be true. “Nevermind that I don’t play the lottery but maybe I’ll wake up in the morning to a bazillion dollars. Or maybe there’s a rich uncle who’ll die and leave me all he owns or maybe I’ll stumble upon hidden treasure buried in my backyard or in my attic.” It’s similar to the dream at the ending of all good fairy tales: the happily ever after, the ending of the story that is only the beginning of a better one. Something that you just stumbled upon…or better yet that finds you even though you weren’t looking.

            Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like these, silly, rather embarrassing little dreams of ours, only better. For kingdom of heaven is not a dream world or a fantasy.  The Kingdom of heaven is not an it, but a who. That that merchant, that sower, that fisherman is none other than Christ, the Kingdom of heaven in human flesh. You don’t have to wish upon a star, hoping to stumble upon the Kingdom of heaven; Jesus comes to you.

           

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden the wilderness. That’s where Yahweh found his people of treasured possession – lost, puny, wandering, like sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh declared Israel to be a holy people – not because they were great in number or status – but because he was great in holiness and love; faithful in his oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He loved Israel when they loved him not; He sought Israel when they sought him not. Holy people through whom Yahweh would make an oath to all people equally as puny, lost, wandering and in need of rescue as Israel.  We’re no different. Our appraisal is dreadful: Treasure? Hardly. Pearls? Not even close to fake. Good fish? More like dead and rotten.

           

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

             

“The man sold all he had.” It’s so important, Jesus repeats it: the man sold all that had and bought it. Selling, buying, purchasing. That’s marketplace language; redemption language.

            And there’s the key to the parables: The kingdom of heaven is all about Jesus, the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28).

            Sure, these parables could be all about you earning, searching and purchasing the kingdom of heaven like a pearl - many have read them that way. But that is fool’s gold and rotten fish. Try as we might to set up some kind of plan for the kingdom of heaven; it cannot be domesticated. You can’t do business with the Kingdom of heaven that way. It is sheer unexpected, undeserved, free gift.

            Jesus comes for you as a sower with seed, as a man who buys the field, as a merchant who purchases a pearl of great price with an even greater price: purchased and won not with gold or silver but with his innocent suffering and death. And the blood that pours from His head, side, hands, and feet – creates, enlivens & speaks - a better word than the blood of Able, a living Word into our rotten sinful lives. Fool’s gold becomes precious treasure, fake pearls become rare and precious; bad fish become good fish.

            That’s who you are in Christ: a treasured people of his own possession, a pearl of great price, a good fish. For His treasure, for His pearl, for His fish, Jesus endures all – beating, bruising, mocking, stripped naked, rejection, abandonment by God Himself, even death itself.

            And if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who is to condemn? No one. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Christ was condemned in your place. He exchanges, sells, sacrifices all he has to purchase, buy back, redeem you.

            That is love: death defying; hell destroying, Satan crushing, sin forgiving, new creation making, conquering in the blood of the Lamb, love. You didn’t earn it, expect it or plan it, but there it is: the kingdom of heaven is yours; He has found you; you are Christ’s. Wondrous love, oh wondrous thought; sought me when I sought Him not.

            Jesus finds you when you least expect Him, when you are lost in all your sins and clammed up by distractions. “What a pearl! I want this all for Myself!” He says. And He goes and gives up His whole life for you. Jesus treasures you above all else – even when life around us appears to be anything but riches and splendor – family difficulties, overwhelmed with life and work, health problems, sick loved ones, bad economy, hopeless need – Christ’s love finds you no matter what kind of field you are buried in. Christ takes everything He has – his very own life – and he gives it up so that you may have his.

            That’s how the kingdom of heaven continues to find people; how Jesus continues to send his church as merchants in search of pearls hidden and buried in the fields around Redeemer. Christ finds his pearls and treasure and fish in the most unlikely, unexpected places: college campuses and conversations with our co-workers, friends or neighbors; preschoolers or musicians young and old, our neighbors in need of mercy.

            I can’t give you a plan, set you up with a schedule or send you on a treasure hunt for the kingdom of heaven. That’s not how it works. The treasure, finally, can only be given. Here it is! Today. Now. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. Isn’t that a story worth repeating?

            The Kingdom of heaven is found in Jesus, who for the joy set before Him sold all he had, humbled Himself in obedient death for you. His tribulation, distress and persecution to secure your freedom, peace and eternal mercy. His famine for your daily bread; His nakedness to cover your shame; His wounds for your sin; His death for your death; His life for your life.

            It’s like a dream, seemingly too good to be true; a happily ever after ending that we think only happens in stories; but this is the turn of real events – Jesus spares no expense for your ransom: your ship has come in, it’s a truly endless summer, the joyous catastrophe that you, are his treasure, his pearl, his good fish. Holy people of Christ’s own possession. Holy in Christ’s holiness. You didn’t plan it, expect it, earn it or search for it. But here Jesus comes to you all the same.

            His kingdom comes to holy you in Baptism, feed you in His body and blood, to shout into your ears time and time again His promise: “You are My treasure. My pearl. My good fish; how I love this little fish; I’ll never throw you back. I’m not interested in catch and release; I fish for keeps and you will never be snatched out of my nets.”             

In the Name of Jesus + Amen.

Oh, Me Triune Clover

I am not Irish, not even a wee bit.  But I do appreciate a good Irish Guiness and good Irish music (Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, etc.) good Irish food, and of course good Irish theology.  And of course by Irish theology I mean the confession of St. Patrick.  There's a beautiful hymn in Lutheran Service Book inspired by the prayerful confession attributed to the breastplate of the name's sake for March 17th.  So, as I was eating my corned beef and cabbage at lunch today I couldn't help but think how closely good food and drink, good music and good theology go together.  Heaven will be, after all, a marriage feast of the Lamb with the richest meats and choicest fats and the finest wines.  Festival days should be just that.  The catch is, what do we celebrate on the festival of St. Patrick ?  So, as you enjoy your corned beef and cabbage - and maybe a splash of Guiness or two to wash it down - mix a little good ole' Irish theology in with your meal time conversations.  Sing the hymn.  Pray the prayer.  Thank God for missionaries who go back to the same place they once held you as a slave and for the sake of the Gospel risked more than a party foul to declare and defend the Christian faith in a time and place where it was anything but popular.  Speaking of unpopular, the creedal, confessional, orthodox Christian faith - something St. Patrick is lesser known for (quite sadly I might add).  He was against the Arians (no not the goose-stepping hand-waving types) and he stood firmly against the assaults of the old evil foe in the controversies over the doctrine of the Trinity.  So raise your glass and give a big 'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!' as we enjoy a few words from one particular Irish born defender of the faith, who might not have come along were it not for the gracious work of Christ through His servant, Patrick those many years ago.

Speaking on the Christ and the Trinity in the Creed, Lewis writes:

"One of the creeds says that Christ is the Son of God 'begotten, not created,' and it adds 'begotten of his Father before all worlds'...Christ is begotten, not created.  What does it mean?  We don't use words like begetting or begotten much in modern English, but everyone still knows what they mean.  To beget is to become the father of: to create is to make.  And the difference is this.  When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself.  A man begets human babies, a beaver begets little beavers and a bird begets eggs which turn into little birds.  But when you make, you make something of a different kind than yourself.  A bird makes a nest, a beaver makes a dam, a man makes a wireless set: say a statue.  If he is a clever enough carver he may even make a statue which is very like a man indeed.  But, of course, it is not a real man; it only looks like one.  It cannot breath or think.  It is not alive. 

What God begets is God; just as what man begets is man.  What God creates is not God; just as what man makes is not man.  This is why men are not sons of God in the sense that Christ is.  They may be like God in certain ways, but they are not things of the same kind.  They are more like statues or pictures of God."

And later on he writes:

"You know that in space you can move in three ways - to left or right, backwards or forwards, up or down.  They are called three dimensions...if you have three dimensions, you can then build what we call a solid body: say a cube - such as a lump of sugar or a dice.  And a cube is made of six squares.  Do you see the point?  A world of one dimension would be a straight line.  In a two-dimensional world, you still get straight lines, but many lines make one figure.  In a three-dimensional world, you still get figures but many figures make one solid body.  On other words, as you advance to more real and more complicated levels, you do not leave behind you the things you found on the simpler levels: you still have them, but combined in new ways - in ways you could not imagine if you only knew the simpler levels.  Now the Christian account of God involves just the same principle.  The human level is a simple and rather empty level.  On the human level one person is one being, and two persons are two separate beings - just as, in two dimensions one square is one figure, and any two squares are separate figures.  On the Divine level you still find personalities; but up there you find them combined in new ways which we, who do not live on that level, cannot imagine.  In God's dimension, so to speak, you find a being who is three Persons while remaining one Being, just as a cube is six squares while remaining one cube.  Of course we cannot fully conceive a Being like that: just as, if we were so made that we perceived only two dimensions in space we could never imagine a cube..." - Mere Christianity, pages 157-158 and 161-162.

Thankfully, as Lewis says, "When it comes to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side.  If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him."  So, thank God for St. Patrick and all who have spoken that we might hear (Romans 10:17) and most of all, thanks be to God that He sent His only begotten Son to become incarnate - not as a six squared box or a beaver or a duck - but as a human being to redeem His fallen humanity from sin, death and the devil.  For what Christ has assumed He has redeemed.  And if that's not reason enough for a feast (even in Lent), then I don't know what is.

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
CI bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
hrist in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

A blessed St. Patrick's Day to you all...here's a little jig to get you in the Irish mood.  Slainte!