C. A Pastoral Conclusion
Throughout my studies and ministry I have come to
the conclusion that we hope in a redemption freely given by Christ that is
already ours and not yet. It is elected for us prior to the creation of the
world, it is ours presently, and it will be fully realized apocalyptically. And
it is our evangelical mission to spread this good news and proclaim Jesus
Christ as the only true object of hope.
The
title of this essay seems a bit conspicuous and has eluded any and all
discussion up until now. It is an ambiguous title: Between Two Tides, it is, however, entirely fitting for the topic
of this essay. The title here alludes to my growing up as a surfer in southern
California. As a teenager and into my twenties I spent a significant amount of
time in the ocean. It was my goal on a daily basis to catch the best wave
possible because I never knew when it would be my last. I once thought to
myself that I better catch as many waves as possible because I wasn’t sure if
there would be surfing in heaven. The quality of waves that I was able to surf
often depended on the time of day I got into the water—morning and evening were
the best. They were the best because it was either high tide, which meant the
waves usually had good form and were closer to shore, or it was low tide, which
meant the waves were farther out, but probably bigger. Every once in a while
you would get caught in a lull; the waves would have just been head high and
all of a sudden there’s nothing. The reason that the waves stopped was because
the ocean was in-between tides—it was either moving from high to low or from
low to high. Although for a period of time the waves would be non-existent, you
always knew that either low or high tide was coming, and the waves would once
again be good. We currently live between two tides: between the goodness of
God’s decision to be God “for us” in the death and resurrection of Christ, and
the eschaton in which, in Christ, we too will be redeemed and have conquered
death. We live in a world of “nothingness” of evil and despair; there is war
everywhere, money is the god of gods, and we have lost any and all notion of
loving our neighbors as we would love ourselves. But, as we know, there is a
tide coming, a tide where all things will be made right, and all things evil
and unjust will be resurrected and used for the glory of God. However, while we
are between tides we have a hope that maintains its relation to the scandalous
character of the cross, and thereby, gives a guarantee that all things will
actually be made well. Nothing sums up this essay better than the words of
Julian of Norwich in which she said, “all shall be well, and all manner of
things shall be well.”[1]
[1]
Julian of Norwich, Revelations-Motherhood
of God, edited and translated by Frances Beer (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer,
1999), 6
