MacDonald Lite is all about the Forest and the Trees, the CONTEXT of the Sermons. He wrote from the broad view of the Forest, the sequence of the Trees, and the fine details of the Leaves. He is remembered and referred to most by his leaves, the golden quotes from one of the most beautiful wordsmiths of our time.
I want to use the metaphor of puzzles to help discuss the context for MacDonald’s Sermons. I personally adopted this metaphor to talk about my own life and journey. In the first half of my life, I collected puzzle pieces, those moments, insights, and thoughts from the Spirit. And I have been handed and even created some box tops of my own based on my own views. However, in my forties, I met Baxter Kruger. Baxter painted the most beautiful picture
of the love and acceptance of the Triune God of Life. These last thirty-odd years, I gathered more pieces, the leaves, and assembled more of the image elements, trees, filling out more and more of the box top image.
Using this language is how I want to talk about the “Unspoken Sermons” as well. As in any puzzle project, you work around inside the image. We are placing pieces on the board, forming the different elements of the picture. Of course, the key to all this is seeing the Box Top! Without it, we can misinterpret the pieces and the elements we see. Without the Box Top, we can draw all kinds of conclusions that will mislead our hearts into believing things about God that are not true of Them!
MacDonald was a master painter. He has painted in the Sermons a beautiful image of a relational God, as Father, Brother, and Tutor working together to bring us into Their Life! This masterpiece has both the broad strokes of color in the large vistas of land and sky and also in the infinite details in its smaller elements of our participation.
Back away a bit for a few moments, and allow the Spirit to reveal its context, the broad strokes of this Master Piece!
The Essence of a Child is relationship, and this childlikeness is Divine. Jesus used an ordinary child with all the faults any child would have. MacDonald illustrates this by placing childlikeness in high contrast to what he calls “…adult, so-called worldly wisdom.” This adult perspective robs us of our childhood. Perceiving life from a child’s perspective awakens the Spirit of love, the love uniquely expressed to children.
Love is relentless! There is nothing eternal but that which loves and can be loved, and this love is ever climbing to its consummation when love will fill and inspire the universe, imperishable and divine! Therefore, all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that separates and is not of love’s kind, must be
This opening is an autobiographical sketch of MacDonald himself. For in his revelation, he sees the Father filling everything and has not yet closed his heart and imagination. He has not yet learned to divide, divide between God and nature, providence and grace, love and benevolence.
For the unimaginative disciple,
When a child’s heart hears it needs to be Adopted, its love is chilled! It is here MacDonald calls on the image of “Mist” from his first sermon’s title. The mist is the evil implications of separation. The shout or whisper, whichever
The Inheritance of the Saints is to be One with Them, no separation between us and the origin of our Life. To fail to receive our inheritance is to deprive others of theirs. Not only should we know God as our Life and Light, but be aware beyond
This Sidebar Menu is a guide to all things Unspoken Sermons – Lite. The first section is an overview of the book with a brief view of its Thesis. Each Series includes an overview as well with the sermons listed and link below them.
Series One Overview
It Shall not be Forgiven
The New Name
The Heart of the Treasure
The Temptation in the Wilderness
The Eloi
The Hands of the Father
Love your Neighbor
Love your Enemy
The God of the Living
Series Two Overview
Series Three Overview