A phrase that's been swirling in me over the past few weeks is "the mystery of the faith". It started in conversation with a dear friend about the Eucharist, or communion, and then got pulled to the forfeont of my heart when I spotted it in scripture.
Some background context:
I'm a teacher at heart and a lover of story, so I believe God doesn't waste one morsel of meaning in something His hands are on. It's actually quite a mark of His signature; purpose.
In conversations, I actually really enjoy bringing up tiny details that seem like "pointless points" and watch those trivial things turn into something of great conclusion. It's one reason I love the Old Testament so much, as it is peppered with types and shadows of tiny scenes we see come to life as Jesus the Mesiah seen in the New Testament. So I am not the one to be satisfied with "ignorance is bliss", "that's just the way things are" philosophy. I want to know why. What's the story behind the story.
So with this knowledge, let me bring you up to speed about my conversation on communion. In our dialogue as we went back and forth of the history and beliefs around the "bread and drink" I found myself saying, "In all in all I don't know, but I find great security and satisfaction in the mystery of it all."
She smiled and agreed. And thus started an obsession with the mystery of the faith.
The Trinity.
Communion.
Healing.
Salvation.
Righteousness.
Dispensation.
Deliverance.
Resurrection.
And on and on.
In an age of information and technology, where everything can be proved, checked, recorded, and confirmed, I'm here to tell us, as Paul said we "must hold the mystery of faith with clear conscience." (Referring to church leadership here in 1 Tim 3:9).
We must marvel in the realities that we are not citizens of this world, and there are Kingdom ways and Kingdom laws.
Have you ever done a study on the apologetics of "Mystery". Quite the oxymoron isn't it? And yet, here we can see there is a stabilitizing strength that comes in when our answer is "it's a mystery". It's a surrendering, not in the sense of hopeless "I give up. I can't find it or figure it out." But a surrendering in the sense of humility, "it's past my comprehension and I find comfort in that."
In my opinion, it's a massive faith flex to be able to know all the facts and scriptures and history and still be able to say in humility:
"I don't know how it all happens, all I know is I once was blind but now I see."
So here is what holding onto mystery looks to me; It's acknowledging :
Jesus is the mysterious One.
Jesus is the question and the answer.
Jesus is a Lover and a Warrior.
He is the creator and creation.
He is the riddle and the rhyme.
He is the consuming fire and healing balm.
This faith is firm in doctrine and fluid in methods.
This faith is ancient and relevant.
This faith is convicting and comforting.
And that my friends, lies the Mystery of Faith.
I want to challenge us all, especially learners and leaders, to keep a posture of humility in the coming days.
"Hold the mystery of faith with a clear conscience." (1 Tim 3:9).
May we keep discovering.
May we keep believing.
May we keep leaning into to the reality that there is more in Christ.
In His Joy,
Abby