The Tale of Two Cities and One Party

The Sanctuary Downtown / Relentless Love

I'm assuming that almost everyone has seen the movie: Jack lets Rose rest on top of a piece of floating debris. He then sinks into the abyss. Rose is saved but takes a new name and begins a new life. And then 85 years later, Rose has a dream, in which she meets Jack at the clock on the grand staircase of the Titanic. It is, or was, in the abyss, and yet it is filled with light and love, and everyone is there, and everyone is happy. It's the Jubilee. It's a story that lies in the heart of all people like a seed. The Bible is the story of the coming and eternal Day of Jubilee. The Bible is the story of creation in six days, or ages, and the coming and eternal seventh day. The Bible is the tale of two cities and one party, but we miss it, for we struggle to believe that the Bible is one story, creation is one story, and that One Author has already written it. In Genesis 11, we read the story of a city at the dawn of recorded history; and in Genesis 12, we begin reading of a second city, but we miss it, for it begins as a Seed. Genesis 11:1, "Now the whole earth had one language and the same words... They said, 'Come let us make bricks...’ They said, ‘Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with it's top in the heavens, and let us make a name [Hebrew: "shem"] for ourselves....' The Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they have one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Come, let us go down, and there, confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech....' Therefore, its name was called, Babel." They would make the bricks by taking the dust of the "adamah" (That's Hebrew for 'ground,' and also how Adam got his name) and then mix it with water, making clay. They would then press the adamah into rectangular molds and bake it, making millions of bricks, every one just the same —not living stones (they didn't have that power), just stones. On the top deck of the Titanic there was something of a constant dinner party for the "titans of industry" and their women. Toward the start of the film, old Rose recalls her memories of that place: "I saw my whole life as if I'd already lived it... the same narrow people, the same mindless chatter." She felt like adamah that was being pressed into a mold and turned into a stone and placed like one more brick in the tower of Babel. The breath was being pressed from her lungs; she felt like she had sold her soul. And she had. She was engaged to Cal Hockley, who had made a name for himself, and whose fortune would save her family from financial ruin. She was selling herself for money. The Bible has a name for that. When she attempts to jump into the abyss, and so take her own life, Jack saves her life. Cal invites Jack to dinner on the upper deck with the upper class but is threatened by Jack and so begins to scapegoat Jack and soon tries to kill Jack. Jack slips Rose a note: "Meet me at the clock." When she does, he asks, "Do you want to go to a real party?" There's a party on the top deck for those who are exalting themselves and are exalted among men. And there's a party below deck for those who have been humbled and know it. And it's the real party; your heart already knows the difference. It's a logic that fills the air as music and coordinates every individual from the inside out as each surrenders to the rhythm of the song and then manifests that logic as one dance. It's diversity in unity held together by a sacrifice called Love. It's adamah infused with the Breath of Life, the Spirit of God. In Genesis 11:1-9, the "sons of Adam" try to make a name [a "shem"] for themselves. In Genesis 11:10, we read the lineage of Shem — one of Noah's sons, literally named, "Name." He is the great-great-grandfather of a man from Babylon named "Abram." In Genesis 12, the Lord calls Abram, saying, "I will make of you a great nation [goy], and I will bless you and make your name [shem] great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the adamah shall be blessed." God renames Abram, Abraham, "The Father of many nations [goyim]." There are at least three goyim currently claiming to be the goy because the other goyim are not -- three goyim ready to annihilate the others over one city named Jerusalem: City of Peace. It's thoroughly ironic, for if Jews really believed the call of Abraham for themselves, they'd be all about blessing Muslims and Christians. And if Muslims believed that call, they'd be all about blessing Jews and Christians. And if Christians believed that call, they'd be all about blessing everyone. Paul wrote, "The promises were made to Abraham and to his Seed... who is Christ." And "That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all of his seed — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all... the father of many nations." If we believe that Abraham is really the father of us all, then we must also believe that, by Grace, God will create Faith in all, which means we're all going to end up at the same party. But if you curse that party, you are cursed, for how can you party unless you actually want to party, unless you have Faith in Grace? There is very little faith in grace on the top deck of the Titanic. Genesis 11 describes the construction of Babylon at the hands of men who seek to conquer Heaven. Genesis 12 begins to describe the construction of Jerusalem through a Word from Heaven — a Promise that descends like a seed dropped into the broken soil of a nondescript pagan in the land of Babylon named "Abram." But there is a confusing and fascinating catch with the construction of the City of Peace. God repeatedly describes it, has people try to build and re-build it, to then only destroy it once again, as if it were the Tower of Babel. Jesus said, "My Father's house shall be a house of prayer for all nations... destroy this house, and I will rebuild it in three days... not one stone will be left on top of another." Then, he descended into the Abyss. In Revelation 10, as the seventh Jubilee trumpet sounds, an angel that looks like Jesus swears that "Chronos (chronological time) will be no more." In Revelation 16, as the seventh bowl is poured out upon the earth, an angel shows John the judgment of the "Great Whore of Babylon." She is Babylon. And she is Jerusalem. She rides a beast that is politics and religion. Every institution of this age is the Tower of Babel, the Titanic, built by men who think it will never sink, but it's all going down. "For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God," said Jesus—the Promised Seed that was sown in the bosom of Abraham. In Revelation 21, John writes, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth... And I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband... and he who sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'" It's as if all the stones in the Tower of Babel had turned back into adamah, and God in Christ Jesus had breathed His Life into that adamah, such that all of those dead stones became living stones and danced themselves back into place as they all applauded for the Bride, forever joined to her Groom. And so, both Babylon and Jerusalem are destroyed and then remade as the Party to end all parties, on the other side of the clock. And yet, even now as the Titanic is sinking, a party is breaking out amongst those of the lower deck — a party that is more solid than all creation. You could say that these people do deeds that are eternal, or you could say that eternal deeds do these people in space and time, and both would be correct. In Acts 2, even as Jerusalem is going down, a party breaks out in the heart of old Jerusalem —divided tongues of fire resting on each as they begin to speak in other tongues, praising God in unison and sharing all things in common. It's the undoing of the Tower of Babel. It's what John saw in the Revelation. It's "the New Jerusalem coming down." It's the Spirit of Jesus, who delivered up His Spirit as He descended into the Abyss, the Spirit of Love, and God is Love. And Love binds everything together. All politics, business, and even religion is just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic... except for whatever love happens to be in it. But Love will only grow from a Word implanted like a Seed in the broken dirty soil of your heart. It's a promise, "You have been blessed to be a blessing to all the families of the earth." If you go to a party trying to make a name for yourself, you'll fit everyone into a box, suck the life out of the party, and end up hating everyone, and most of all, yourself. But if you go to a party looking for the New Jerusalem coming down, the Spirit of Christ in you will find the Spirit of God in others. You will find treasure in the adamah and together experience the New Jerusalem right here in the basement of the Tower of Babel. So don't sell out to the folks on the top deck, trying to make a name for yourself, but leave that crowd and meet Jesus at the clock. And let him take you to a real party. And He will give you your name — not Dawson but Christ. You are the Body and Bride of Christ. And, if you find yourself in the Abyss, it's never too late to meet Jesus at the clock. The person that He has made you to be is infinitely better than the person that you think you are. Confess your sin, trust His Grace, and everything old becomes new. You are not the whore of Babylon; you are the Bride of Christ.