That week I wrote a paper for a philosophy class on St. Augustine's City of God. In the paper I focused on the eschatological tension a Christian experiences when accepting God's promises in our life now, but also living in anticipation of their fulfillment in the future.
It's no surprise to me that I focused on the element of time and tension in the paper as I reflected on my relationship with Derek and the time he had here on this side of eternity.
In the City of God Augustine writes about two coexisting cities; The City of God and the City of Man. The two cities are separated by there ultimate eschatological destinations, which are fulfilled in the ultimate inheritance, or rejection of, the ultimate good (which is God himself). It is the Christians unique ability to be able to have properly ordered desire, which in turn allows them to have the highest degree of love for others and creation itself. But this love is still incomplete, because union with Christ is still yet to reach its fulfillment, and the curse of sin is still present and active in the world.
It is in this eschatological tension the Christian must sojourn through this life on earth. The ability to live in true freedom and through love, by participating in God's redemptive plan for creation, makes this life beautiful and meaningful alike. But the temporary sting of death, broken relationships, greed, hate, disease, war, famine, rape, murder, natural disaster, poverty, etc. are all marks of creation and humanity groaning in birth pains eagerly awaiting for its redemption and adoption by the great I AM.
I lost a great friend. He ran his race. He taught me how to sojourn well. He showed me the beauty of being a faithful loving husband and a father whose face would almost explode off his head at the very sight of his girls or his wife. And it is his wife, daughters, friends and family that experience this tension as we watched him go, awaiting our turn for redemption. These are the people who are living testimonies of defiance to one of Christianities most destructively deceptive heresy's, the health and wealth prosperity gospel.
In The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich speaks of the costly grace that Christ invites us to take part in. The same invitation that the apostle Paul echoes so often in his letters inviting us to take part in the sufferings of Christ. It is the the daily picking up of our crosses and following Jesus that shouts in defiance to facebook status and sinners prayer Christianity. Grace that costs us our convenience, grace that is more than just a mental assent to dogmatic praxis to secure the remission of sins. Grace that is the actual living of a life of love, grace, peace and faithfulness. This is the challenge for a Christian living in eschatological tension of waiting for our end goal, that is eternal rest in Christ. This was Derek's mission in life.
It is in Derek's death that I saw my call to a life of eager anticipation. Eager anticipation for God's deliverance and his fulfillment of covenant promises. A call to live a life, however the length, that is spent dwelling on the faithfulness of God, dwelling on his beauty and work in and through creation, dwelling on his desire for humanity to live and love him in the same way he loves them.
This is our challenge, to live consistent steady lives, in fruitful labor for the gospel of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. It is my prayer that the Church would rise in sober-minded discipline, desperately seeking after this call. The call to live in healthy eschatological tension. Anticipation. Equal parts soaking in beauty of what we have now, and looking forward to our inheritance as sons and daughters of the King of Kings. This was the life of my good friend Derek Taatjes.
This should be all our lives. Is it yours?
