At our Wednesday evening Soup and Study, we have been following the video series "Saving Jesus" and have begun with the most fundamental question: Who was Jesus? After all, in our culture there does not seem to be a consensus. Is Jesus a deity who appears to be human or has just enough traits to be relatable? Maybe Jesus is really a rather traditional go-along-to-get-along kind of rabbi, maybe a member of the Jerusalem Chamber, something of a cheerleader for his world's values like greed, gross maldistribution of wealth, unbridled capitalism and imperialism. Or maybe he's a philosopher making a little money on the side posing with lambs for calendar pictures.
Or maybe he was the man who he clearly was: a social activist who sided with the poor and oppressed, outsiders, marginalized and forgotten people. A loving, non-judgemental, suffering servant of others. In short, a troublemaker. Indeed, the trouble he stirred up led to execution by Rome. In a real sense, we can say Jesus was killed by human sin, in which we all participate.
A few years ago, the Nikos Kazantzakis film, The Last Temptation of Christ, created a big stir among conservative Christians because they said it made Jesus look too human. If Jesus is actually a human person like you and me, that can be a devastating discovery, for it means that we have no excuse for not being who he was and doing what he did. And to deny Jesus the man is heresy. The Council of Chalcedon decided the matter in the year 451, declaring Jesus fully human. They did not deny the presence and work of the Divine in his life but saw it in living tension with his human nature. The Lord we know felt hunger, pain, fear, sadness, grief -- everything we experience. Therefore, we can relate.
A few weeks back our Gospel reading was of the Transfiguration, a collective vision in which Peter, James, and John came to understand the full expression of the Divine in their Lord. In Holy Week they will see another side -- his full humanity -- as he begs God not to have to go to the cross, but defers to its holy purpose. They will prove weak, fall asleep in his hour of need, and they will all run away when staying counts. But we know how the story ends. We know that God will not let the Dark Side have the final word, that Love will triumph eternal. And out of that victory a new covenant will be born, sacramentally mediated in his Catholic Church. In the last book of the Jewish Bible, Malachi, we read that God's Name will be great among the gentiles because from the rising of the sun to its setting, everywhere a perfect offering will be made. That is the Mass in which we offer Christ's forever-sacrifice to the Father and find our new life, our full humanity, in him.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Laetare Sunday: John 3:16 Revisited
If you ask people on the street to name a bible verse, I am confident of what answer would be predominant John 3.16, displayed at American football games and everywhere else, has been a mantra of evangelicals for a long time. It is perhaps the most romanticized and misunderstood of all scriptural verses. Let's take a fresh look through the lens of the Johannine evangelist. I shall pose and answer three questions that are key to interpreting this lovely passage effectively.
First, let's ask: what does "believe in him" mean? If I say that I believe in my wife, I do not mean that she is Irish-American or likes genealogy and crafts, or that she is retired. The statement has nothing to do with facts about her and everything to do with relationship with her. When I say I believe in her I mean that I place absolute my trust absolutely trust in her, even to the point of dying for her if necessary. To say I believe in Jesus doesn't mean I know facts about Jesus, or that I have certain opinions about him, or that I have become emotional and signed some "faith statement." It means unconditional, radical trust in him, if necessary even to the point of death. That is what it means to be one who believes in the Son. And in John's view it is not just confidence in the key relationship, but also unswerving loyalty to Jesus' teachings and way of life. All bundled together.
Second: just why did Logos have to come anyway? Did an anthropomorphic God send Jesus to save individual people from his terrible anger? Did God engineer the sacrifice of his Son's body, just to appease himself? Did he resolve to provide an afterlife of pleasure rather than torture for those who believe certain things about his Son? Did God's plan never contemplate ridding the world of evil? No, all these notions reflect a primitive, simplistic viewpont. Jesus came to save the world. That means what Jews mean by tikkun olam -- repairing the world --that is, restoring creation to God's original intent. That means a world full of justice, mercy, compassion, love and genuine equality.
Third: what kind of sin did Jesus come to take on? Just personal sin? No, personal sin we cling to is important precisely because it leads to corporate sin. Personal moral failures leads to immoral systems. People enslaved to sin produce evil in both public and private life. In John's reflective biblical viewpoint, salvation is not magic, instantaneous forgiveness of personal sins over which God holds a grudge. Salvation is rather a process of ending systemic, structural sin in human society -- the sins of slavery, abuse, oppression, greed and injustice, hatred and bigotry. In that process we become instruments of God's salvation of the world. We must be the hands, feet, and voice of the radical rabbi we claim to follow. Let us ask ourselves this Lent: how are we responding to his call?
First, let's ask: what does "believe in him" mean? If I say that I believe in my wife, I do not mean that she is Irish-American or likes genealogy and crafts, or that she is retired. The statement has nothing to do with facts about her and everything to do with relationship with her. When I say I believe in her I mean that I place absolute my trust absolutely trust in her, even to the point of dying for her if necessary. To say I believe in Jesus doesn't mean I know facts about Jesus, or that I have certain opinions about him, or that I have become emotional and signed some "faith statement." It means unconditional, radical trust in him, if necessary even to the point of death. That is what it means to be one who believes in the Son. And in John's view it is not just confidence in the key relationship, but also unswerving loyalty to Jesus' teachings and way of life. All bundled together.
Second: just why did Logos have to come anyway? Did an anthropomorphic God send Jesus to save individual people from his terrible anger? Did God engineer the sacrifice of his Son's body, just to appease himself? Did he resolve to provide an afterlife of pleasure rather than torture for those who believe certain things about his Son? Did God's plan never contemplate ridding the world of evil? No, all these notions reflect a primitive, simplistic viewpont. Jesus came to save the world. That means what Jews mean by tikkun olam -- repairing the world --that is, restoring creation to God's original intent. That means a world full of justice, mercy, compassion, love and genuine equality.
Third: what kind of sin did Jesus come to take on? Just personal sin? No, personal sin we cling to is important precisely because it leads to corporate sin. Personal moral failures leads to immoral systems. People enslaved to sin produce evil in both public and private life. In John's reflective biblical viewpoint, salvation is not magic, instantaneous forgiveness of personal sins over which God holds a grudge. Salvation is rather a process of ending systemic, structural sin in human society -- the sins of slavery, abuse, oppression, greed and injustice, hatred and bigotry. In that process we become instruments of God's salvation of the world. We must be the hands, feet, and voice of the radical rabbi we claim to follow. Let us ask ourselves this Lent: how are we responding to his call?
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Tuesday in Lent III: Rolling Sevens
Our passage of Jewish Scripture is from the book of Daniel. It is one of the sections of the Bible deleted by the protestant reformers. That is too bad because it articulates the song of the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the "fiery furnace" story. It is third in a series of short stories, a dramatic contest about the nature of the true God. The three companions show willingness to suffer death rather than worship a deity other than the God of Israel. Babylonians had reported the three to Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king. He hauls them in and demands that they sacrifice to an idol. When the refuse, the king becomes livid and orders them executed by fire. He even orders that the heat level of the furnace be increased seven times (the number seven is symbolic of 'perfection' in the Middle East.)
The men who bind and commit the three to the flames are themselves incinerated by the great heat. However, these three friends (and a fourth man who is an angel who stopped to lend moral support) are singing and dancing to their Lord in the fire, while they are miraculously untouched by flames! The king hears the commotion, goes to the furnace, and sees the miracle. He frees them, promotes them to high office in the kingdom, and issues a decree that anyone who blasphemes Israel's God shall be executed by dismemberment and have that person's property destroyed. The bottom-line is clear: faithfulness and loyalty to YHVH pay off!
In our reading from Christian Scripture [Mt. 18: 21-35] we find Saint Peter asking Jesus if he may limit forgiveness of another to seven times. Jesus says no, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (or, in some manuscripts, seventy times seven times, which is four hundred ninety.) Jesus is playing on a reference from Genesis which says Cain shall be avenged seven times, Lemuel seventy-seven. Obviously the message is that God places no limit on his forgiveness of humans and humans cannot limit forgiveness of others. An ancient provision in Jewish theology, still in effect today, holds that we may only ask for God's forgiveness if we have first forgiven others. That is an important lesson worth remembering in Lent.
The men who bind and commit the three to the flames are themselves incinerated by the great heat. However, these three friends (and a fourth man who is an angel who stopped to lend moral support) are singing and dancing to their Lord in the fire, while they are miraculously untouched by flames! The king hears the commotion, goes to the furnace, and sees the miracle. He frees them, promotes them to high office in the kingdom, and issues a decree that anyone who blasphemes Israel's God shall be executed by dismemberment and have that person's property destroyed. The bottom-line is clear: faithfulness and loyalty to YHVH pay off!
In our reading from Christian Scripture [Mt. 18: 21-35] we find Saint Peter asking Jesus if he may limit forgiveness of another to seven times. Jesus says no, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (or, in some manuscripts, seventy times seven times, which is four hundred ninety.) Jesus is playing on a reference from Genesis which says Cain shall be avenged seven times, Lemuel seventy-seven. Obviously the message is that God places no limit on his forgiveness of humans and humans cannot limit forgiveness of others. An ancient provision in Jewish theology, still in effect today, holds that we may only ask for God's forgiveness if we have first forgiven others. That is an important lesson worth remembering in Lent.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Lent III: Jesus Loses It
I will long remember the opening ceremony of this year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang Stadium in Korea. The beautiful opener, broadcast simultaneously to 200 countries and themed "Peace in Motion," contained a number of entertainments. We were treated to 2000 fireworks, performances by a cast of 2000 including musicians. The augmented reality and 5G technology was nothing short of stunning. Yet all of that massive project was dependent on electric power, without which the entire show would have shut down.
In today's gospel [John 2:13-22], Jesus goes to the Temple in Jerusalem, uses a whip to drive out the bankers as well as all the sacrificial animals, and dumps their money on the floor by turning over the tables. Jesus has just made it impossible to buy the animals necessary for the required sacrifices and impossible to change money into the temple currency required to pay tithes. Jesus has stopped the game.
Clearly the issue is corruption. This was nothing new. The ancient Talmud (body of Jewish law) warns against overcharging for animals and against rip-off currency exchange rates. Obviously the capitalists and bankers of Jesus' day didn't get the memo. So Jesus acts out God's divine anger over greed, hypocrisy, abuse of others, and disrespect for God. The late Presiding Bishop of our Church, John Hines, nailed it when he once observed that Jesus was not crucified for saying 'behold the lilies of the field' but rather for attacking the businessmen in the Temple. Jesus could have been just another player, a run-of-the mill rabbi, careful not to rock the boat, perhaps a member of the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce. Instead he acted out how God feels about unbridled capitalism and, in so doing, signed his own death warrant.
By comparing today's text with the original story [Mark 11: 11, 15-17] we soon discover how the Johannine community has rewoven it to reflect their ideas. For here Jesus is made to speak about a new holy place: his body, the Word made Flesh. And now Jesus tells the crowd that if the Temple were completely destroyed he would rebuild it in three days. Naturally they will be depicted not understanding such words about his own resurrection nor could they anticipate how he will be the focus for Christian engagement of God, soon to be manifested sacramentally. John's community is supersessionist, portraying Christianity as supplanting Judaism rather than being, as Saint Paul said, grafted onto the Jewish vine. They fail to realize that God does not lie or go back on his promises. We see a hint of their anti-semitism in the exchange here between "the Jews" and Jesus (as if he weren't Jewish). In fact, the Jews themselves will also soon movee away from the Temple model in which God is appeased by the killing of animals and burning of cereal. They will offer a "sacrifice of the heart," manifested in the community life of the synagogue and in loving service of others. This is essentially the same selfless outreach to which we are called, fed by word and sacrament. Both traditions emphasize the same bottom line: love of God and love of our neighbour. The two great Covenants continue side-by-side in God's service.
In today's gospel [John 2:13-22], Jesus goes to the Temple in Jerusalem, uses a whip to drive out the bankers as well as all the sacrificial animals, and dumps their money on the floor by turning over the tables. Jesus has just made it impossible to buy the animals necessary for the required sacrifices and impossible to change money into the temple currency required to pay tithes. Jesus has stopped the game.
Clearly the issue is corruption. This was nothing new. The ancient Talmud (body of Jewish law) warns against overcharging for animals and against rip-off currency exchange rates. Obviously the capitalists and bankers of Jesus' day didn't get the memo. So Jesus acts out God's divine anger over greed, hypocrisy, abuse of others, and disrespect for God. The late Presiding Bishop of our Church, John Hines, nailed it when he once observed that Jesus was not crucified for saying 'behold the lilies of the field' but rather for attacking the businessmen in the Temple. Jesus could have been just another player, a run-of-the mill rabbi, careful not to rock the boat, perhaps a member of the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce. Instead he acted out how God feels about unbridled capitalism and, in so doing, signed his own death warrant.
By comparing today's text with the original story [Mark 11: 11, 15-17] we soon discover how the Johannine community has rewoven it to reflect their ideas. For here Jesus is made to speak about a new holy place: his body, the Word made Flesh. And now Jesus tells the crowd that if the Temple were completely destroyed he would rebuild it in three days. Naturally they will be depicted not understanding such words about his own resurrection nor could they anticipate how he will be the focus for Christian engagement of God, soon to be manifested sacramentally. John's community is supersessionist, portraying Christianity as supplanting Judaism rather than being, as Saint Paul said, grafted onto the Jewish vine. They fail to realize that God does not lie or go back on his promises. We see a hint of their anti-semitism in the exchange here between "the Jews" and Jesus (as if he weren't Jewish). In fact, the Jews themselves will also soon movee away from the Temple model in which God is appeased by the killing of animals and burning of cereal. They will offer a "sacrifice of the heart," manifested in the community life of the synagogue and in loving service of others. This is essentially the same selfless outreach to which we are called, fed by word and sacrament. Both traditions emphasize the same bottom line: love of God and love of our neighbour. The two great Covenants continue side-by-side in God's service.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Lent II: Messiah 201
Mark Twain once wrote, "It's not the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me; it's the parts that I do understand." Today [Mk 8: 31-38], Jesus speaks plainly, and his words are hard and inescapable. Jesus has asked the apostles who he is. Reasonable question. Spokesman Peter, quick when replying, answers, "You are Messiah." Among Jews there were uneven expectations of the Messiah, so even the Twelve may not have agreed exactly on what that meant. Jesus uses this occasion to tell them by sharing his radically rewritten job description for Messiah, namely one who will soon experience rejection, suffering, and death. In reaction, Peter rebukes Jesus, and the Lord tells him to shut up (Gk., epitiman), for he is playing the role of Satan -- stumbling block -- he is thinking humanly.
What is going on here? Well, Peter is seeing from inside the Jewish "box," and Jesus, as usual, is seeing outside the box. In the traditional Jewish view, Messiah will come to rescue the Chosen People; but in the proleptic Christian view, Messiah will do far more than that. Despite various opinions, all Jews in the first century agreed on four things that would be true for the Messiah. What did they imagine redemption would look like?
First, the Messiah would lead a violent military insurrection resulting in defeat of Roman power and in the restoration of Jewish Nationhood. Messiah Jesus, by contrast is a pacifist, bringing a spiritual revolution centred on non-violent resistance. If you need examples, look at Gandhi and Martin Luther King. And Jesus' revolution is aimed to liberate all humankind, not just one race or religious group.
Second, Messiah's glorious military victory in Israel would cause all the other nations of the world to worship YHVH and forsake their various deities. Jesus' victory will see the nations converted one human heart at a time.
Third, Messiah's bloody victory would trigger a magical, sudden realization of the Kingdom of God, fully manifest. In other words, a world in which there is no pain, suffering, death, or any more war. A perfect world in which all evil has been banished. God would heal and restore the whole world by working around us, not through us. The coming of Jesus means the in-breaking of God's Kingdom. Its seed is within us. The Kingdom is at hand, already taking hold but its growth, its realization lie with us. We are partners with Jesus in changing a world that is dominated by hate, bigotry, greed, imperialism, militarism -- all that Jesus hated. So while we Christians should continue to pray, it is far more important that we kick up the action. We need to be on the front lines of peace and justice, where Jesus lived. Christians cannot be genuine or truly effective while co-opted by our rotten culture and those who dare to defend it in the name of religion. That is the ultimate blasphemy.
Last, Messiah's instant perfect world would trigger resurrection of all the departed faithful, so they could join the party. Well, that will have to wait for the End. In the meantime, Jesus is much more concerned about our bringing the spiritually dead back to life, to abundant life to those whom he calls. When we bring people to love as Jesus loved, to live as Jesus lived, to serve as Jesus served, we are about the business of Kingdom-building. We are part of the solution, not the problem.
Lent is a time for all of us to work on our sacred vocation to be revolutionary agents of Messiah Jesus/ We need to get right with God and to rededicate ourselves, so we can be the People we are called to be and about the work God has for us. Lent gives us tools for the job.
What is going on here? Well, Peter is seeing from inside the Jewish "box," and Jesus, as usual, is seeing outside the box. In the traditional Jewish view, Messiah will come to rescue the Chosen People; but in the proleptic Christian view, Messiah will do far more than that. Despite various opinions, all Jews in the first century agreed on four things that would be true for the Messiah. What did they imagine redemption would look like?
First, the Messiah would lead a violent military insurrection resulting in defeat of Roman power and in the restoration of Jewish Nationhood. Messiah Jesus, by contrast is a pacifist, bringing a spiritual revolution centred on non-violent resistance. If you need examples, look at Gandhi and Martin Luther King. And Jesus' revolution is aimed to liberate all humankind, not just one race or religious group.
Second, Messiah's glorious military victory in Israel would cause all the other nations of the world to worship YHVH and forsake their various deities. Jesus' victory will see the nations converted one human heart at a time.
Third, Messiah's bloody victory would trigger a magical, sudden realization of the Kingdom of God, fully manifest. In other words, a world in which there is no pain, suffering, death, or any more war. A perfect world in which all evil has been banished. God would heal and restore the whole world by working around us, not through us. The coming of Jesus means the in-breaking of God's Kingdom. Its seed is within us. The Kingdom is at hand, already taking hold but its growth, its realization lie with us. We are partners with Jesus in changing a world that is dominated by hate, bigotry, greed, imperialism, militarism -- all that Jesus hated. So while we Christians should continue to pray, it is far more important that we kick up the action. We need to be on the front lines of peace and justice, where Jesus lived. Christians cannot be genuine or truly effective while co-opted by our rotten culture and those who dare to defend it in the name of religion. That is the ultimate blasphemy.
Last, Messiah's instant perfect world would trigger resurrection of all the departed faithful, so they could join the party. Well, that will have to wait for the End. In the meantime, Jesus is much more concerned about our bringing the spiritually dead back to life, to abundant life to those whom he calls. When we bring people to love as Jesus loved, to live as Jesus lived, to serve as Jesus served, we are about the business of Kingdom-building. We are part of the solution, not the problem.
Lent is a time for all of us to work on our sacred vocation to be revolutionary agents of Messiah Jesus/ We need to get right with God and to rededicate ourselves, so we can be the People we are called to be and about the work God has for us. Lent gives us tools for the job.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Lent I: What Time is It?
One of our youngest granddaughter's most beloved tv programs is Bubble Guppies. In each episode, Mister Grouper asks "What time is it?" and the response is "It's time for lunch." The show plays at different times of day and I never have a problem with his conclusion! Within the text of the Bible, there are two words for time, kairos and chronos. The latter is what we mean when we say it is eleven a.m., Central Time. On the other hand, kairotic time is what time it is on "God's watch." In fullness of God's time, things happen. At the right times, Jesus is commissioned by the Baptiser, enters wilderness to wrestle with his demons (ways of capitalizing on his charisma to become the first-century equivalent of a rich tv evangelist), and then picks up the torch to carry forward John's message that the Kingdom of God is near.
Jesus counsels us to "repent and believe in the Good News." That is good advice at any time, though left to our own devices, to our moral clocks, we'd likely never get around to the hard work of coming right with God and others. Fortunately, we are blessed because Holy Mother Church in her wisdom provides in the course of the Christian Year, the season of Lent, with disciplines intended to help us in this spiritual walk. You get out of Lent pretty much what you are willing to invest in it. Fasting and abstinence and sacrifice have no intrinsic value apart from instilling self-discipline and helping to frame our minds and hearts as we make the journey towards Good Friday and Easter.
Having said that, I ask: What does it means to "repent and believe in the Good News?" Let us note that repentance is not feeling bad, focussing on regret, or living in the past. In the sacred languages, repentance is teshuvah (Hebrew) turning round to go in the right direction, metanoia (Greek), a new mindset focussed forwards, and poenitentiam agere (Latin), to do penance, to take action in the right direction in response to the new mindset! All of these are about making the change we need, being the change we want to see in the world.
Belief is not assent to creedal propositions, faith statements, or doctrinal pronouncements. All of those have their place, but New Testament belief is pistis, which means radical and unconditional reliance and trust in God through Jesus Christ. It calls us to surrender to Holy Spirit, to turn over everything we are and have to God's service --time, talent, and treasure. It means to become a new person, walking a new kind of life. For us Christians that means growing in faithfulness to the life and actual teachings of Jesus -- being seriously dedicated to building the Divine Kingdom.
In todays' Tulsa World there is an article about my dear friend Eva Unterman. Eva is a Holocaust survivor, being one of a few who made it out alive from the death camps to find a new life after World War II. I have a fond memory of one day when she shared with me the contents of a small metal box, in which she keeps souvenirs of those evil days, including a yellow Judenstern, the Star of David emblem she had to wear on her dress in public . Eva could have become an embittered, selfish person. That would be understandable. Instead she has spent her life teaching and serving children who never had to live the ordeal of her childhood. Now, well into retirement, she knits beautiful scarves to raise money for Hispanic youth in Tulsa. That to me is a snapshot of what it means to "repent and believe" as demonstrated by a life in the right direction, constantly strengthened by a deep trust in God.
Jesus counsels us to "repent and believe in the Good News." That is good advice at any time, though left to our own devices, to our moral clocks, we'd likely never get around to the hard work of coming right with God and others. Fortunately, we are blessed because Holy Mother Church in her wisdom provides in the course of the Christian Year, the season of Lent, with disciplines intended to help us in this spiritual walk. You get out of Lent pretty much what you are willing to invest in it. Fasting and abstinence and sacrifice have no intrinsic value apart from instilling self-discipline and helping to frame our minds and hearts as we make the journey towards Good Friday and Easter.
Having said that, I ask: What does it means to "repent and believe in the Good News?" Let us note that repentance is not feeling bad, focussing on regret, or living in the past. In the sacred languages, repentance is teshuvah (Hebrew) turning round to go in the right direction, metanoia (Greek), a new mindset focussed forwards, and poenitentiam agere (Latin), to do penance, to take action in the right direction in response to the new mindset! All of these are about making the change we need, being the change we want to see in the world.
Belief is not assent to creedal propositions, faith statements, or doctrinal pronouncements. All of those have their place, but New Testament belief is pistis, which means radical and unconditional reliance and trust in God through Jesus Christ. It calls us to surrender to Holy Spirit, to turn over everything we are and have to God's service --time, talent, and treasure. It means to become a new person, walking a new kind of life. For us Christians that means growing in faithfulness to the life and actual teachings of Jesus -- being seriously dedicated to building the Divine Kingdom.
In todays' Tulsa World there is an article about my dear friend Eva Unterman. Eva is a Holocaust survivor, being one of a few who made it out alive from the death camps to find a new life after World War II. I have a fond memory of one day when she shared with me the contents of a small metal box, in which she keeps souvenirs of those evil days, including a yellow Judenstern, the Star of David emblem she had to wear on her dress in public . Eva could have become an embittered, selfish person. That would be understandable. Instead she has spent her life teaching and serving children who never had to live the ordeal of her childhood. Now, well into retirement, she knits beautiful scarves to raise money for Hispanic youth in Tulsa. That to me is a snapshot of what it means to "repent and believe" as demonstrated by a life in the right direction, constantly strengthened by a deep trust in God.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Quinquagesima: Satan?
Today is Transfiguration Sunday in our tradition when we reflect on what Matthew clearly tells us is a vision experienced collectively by Jesus' executive committee, Peter, James, and John. Here the future leaders of Rome, Jerusalem, and Ephesus experience what Saint Paul in today's epistle reading calls "the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ." [!! Cor. 4: 3-6]
Paul goes on to say that people have been blinded by "the god of the present age." What that meant was Satan blocking the minds of mainstream Jews who were not converting to the Jesus Movement. The name "Satan" has a variety of meanings: accuser, resister, impediment, adversary. But the one we call Satan has evolved amazingly over time. In earliest references, he is one of the lesser gods in the court of the supreme God YHVH. In fact he is staff attorney, charged with prosecuting Judah in failing to be faithful to their covenant partner, the supreme God. Later, Jewish religion was under influence from the Zoroastrian tradition where Satan [Angra Mainyu] has become a malevolent and destructive opponent of YHVH. God gives him a cadre of spirit accomplices and allows him to be charged with tempting humans to sin and then punishing them. (When I was in law school, that was called entrapment!)
Anyway Jews adapted to the newer view of the Evil One. And Islam, when it developed, served to continue that imaging, adding that Satan was made of fire. When the imagination of the Church came into play, we soon had the red-coloured figure with horns, hairy laws, pointed tall, and red pitchfork. The transition was complete. I want to talk, not about this mythical personage, but about the impediments, the stumbling blocks, the "Satans," that actually interfere with our seeing the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. Let me briefly mention three.
First, there is science without a heart. We know that science is wonderful and beneficial to us and ought not be compromised. On the other hand, science cannot tell us why the Big Bang happened, or what existed before it, or why the millions of turns of development occurred over time resulting in our amazing existence. Those are beyond science and we must not fall into the trap of believing that every human issue has a scientific resolution. We know better in our hearts.
Second, there is Original Sin. We want to be the centre of the universe; we want to be in charge instead of letting God be in charge. We want to set our lives on a course dominated only by self- interest.
Third, there is Western cultural appropriation. With zillions of different denominations at hand, we can simply choose the latest "church" that supports our personal interests, that doesn't challenge or change us, and justifies our pride and prejudices. Instead of transformational religious experience, we receive shallow entertainment. Instead of connecting to the apostolic church throughout history we connect to the latest fad-church. We remake Jesus into a cheerleader for our greed, imperialism, consumerism, solipsism. We build a god in our own image instead of loving the service the Living God. This Lent let us work at moving aside these obstacles that bar our way to real abundant life in Christ, faithful to his life and teachings, in communion with his Church.
Paul goes on to say that people have been blinded by "the god of the present age." What that meant was Satan blocking the minds of mainstream Jews who were not converting to the Jesus Movement. The name "Satan" has a variety of meanings: accuser, resister, impediment, adversary. But the one we call Satan has evolved amazingly over time. In earliest references, he is one of the lesser gods in the court of the supreme God YHVH. In fact he is staff attorney, charged with prosecuting Judah in failing to be faithful to their covenant partner, the supreme God. Later, Jewish religion was under influence from the Zoroastrian tradition where Satan [Angra Mainyu] has become a malevolent and destructive opponent of YHVH. God gives him a cadre of spirit accomplices and allows him to be charged with tempting humans to sin and then punishing them. (When I was in law school, that was called entrapment!)
Anyway Jews adapted to the newer view of the Evil One. And Islam, when it developed, served to continue that imaging, adding that Satan was made of fire. When the imagination of the Church came into play, we soon had the red-coloured figure with horns, hairy laws, pointed tall, and red pitchfork. The transition was complete. I want to talk, not about this mythical personage, but about the impediments, the stumbling blocks, the "Satans," that actually interfere with our seeing the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. Let me briefly mention three.
First, there is science without a heart. We know that science is wonderful and beneficial to us and ought not be compromised. On the other hand, science cannot tell us why the Big Bang happened, or what existed before it, or why the millions of turns of development occurred over time resulting in our amazing existence. Those are beyond science and we must not fall into the trap of believing that every human issue has a scientific resolution. We know better in our hearts.
Second, there is Original Sin. We want to be the centre of the universe; we want to be in charge instead of letting God be in charge. We want to set our lives on a course dominated only by self- interest.
Third, there is Western cultural appropriation. With zillions of different denominations at hand, we can simply choose the latest "church" that supports our personal interests, that doesn't challenge or change us, and justifies our pride and prejudices. Instead of transformational religious experience, we receive shallow entertainment. Instead of connecting to the apostolic church throughout history we connect to the latest fad-church. We remake Jesus into a cheerleader for our greed, imperialism, consumerism, solipsism. We build a god in our own image instead of loving the service the Living God. This Lent let us work at moving aside these obstacles that bar our way to real abundant life in Christ, faithful to his life and teachings, in communion with his Church.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)