The Christian year begins with a birth of a baby. The angels sing, the kings of the east come, and the shepherds shout for joy, but we are left with a baby that is tired and hungry and fully God and fully man. The fabric of the universe is torn. The calculations of the wise are altered. God has come.
Four months later in that same calendar we come to the apex of the year. That baby is now a man who is crucified, died, and buried. Dead in the ground, death had won. For three days Satan had his victory. God undone. Hell victorious. On that Sunday morning Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome head to the tomb in pain and grief. The teacher is dead. The Messiah they thought they had known was no more. Their leader dead and so was their hopes and dreams for the future. He had brought so much to their lives and it was now over.
They reach the tomb and a man in white tells them, "He is risen! He is not here." They do not know what to do or what to think. What does it mean that he is risen? The implications were unclear. Jesus is alive, that is enough for now. So they ran back and told the remaining disciples. Peter and John go to see for themselves. It is true Jesus is no longer dead.
Jesus who is God was dead and now he lives.
Over the next few months Jesus appears to many of his followers. He says that the Kingdom has come. But Rome still rules. He says, see with new eyes, but their sight is still darken. Then Jesus ascends into heaven. He is seated at the right now of His Father. The disciples are bewildered. What now? What does this all mean? The Messiah lives! The Kingdom has come! But it is not what we expected. And so they follow his command and head to Jerusalem to wait.
Jesus is the Messiah. This they know. He was dead and now he lives. God has changed the world. Still, they do not fully see it. The world is different, but how, remains to be seen. They must wait in Jerusalem, for God isn't finished yet.
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
The Darkness
Jesus is dead today. His body lays in the tomb. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. He made the blind see, the cripple walk. What was broken was made whole. We went to Jerusalem expecting a coronation. Instead, all we have is this darkness. I gave my life to this prophet. For three years I wandered and learned. I was mocked by my family. My brother talked to me about responsibility, about loving your mother and father. I told him, listen to the teacher, he is going to make the world right. He fed thousands out of a boy's lunch. I couldn't believe, I still can't believe. We don't know what to do. Many have already left, slinking away to the darkness. He is dead. And I am wrong. The messiah is not here.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Romans 13: Love your Neighbor
“Love your neighbor as yourself,” says Paul in Romans 13, echoing the words of Jesus Christ. Why? Because, “love is the fulfilling of the law.” You will not murder, you will not steal, nor shall you covet or commit adultery if you love one another. Paul is laying down a marker for the Christian life. It is a life based on love, from which flows all the blessings of the law.
Now this is commonly received wisdom in the church. Really no matter your denomination or whether you’d classify yourself as a liberal or conservative, mainstream or evangelical, you’ve heard a sermon about loving your neighbor. It is a common trope in any church. And because it is so common we forget how astounding it is to hear the statement, “love your neighbor.”
Paul writes this after spending chapters talking about division between Jews and Gentiles. He has seen firsthand the pain that comes from divisions in the church. He understands how living hard it can be to break old habits of division and attitudes of disdain. He wants the Jews and Gentiles to be a church, living in relationship with God and with each other.
But loving your neighbor is even more radical than that. The Roman world was intensely socially stratified. First you had Roman citizens and then everybody else. You had freemen and slaves with no rights but what their master gave them. You had the super-rich with hundreds of slaves. Women where the under the firm hand of their father or husband. Loving your neighbor wasn’t socially responsible in the Roman world, because you neighbor could be some lowly scum. And as Jesus makes clear in the story of the Good Samaritan, your neighbor is your enemy—he is the lowly scum. So “love your neighbor as yourself,” says Paul. Show her respect. Treat her as a friend. Understand that she is part of God’s story. Be a follower of Christ.
Now this is commonly received wisdom in the church. Really no matter your denomination or whether you’d classify yourself as a liberal or conservative, mainstream or evangelical, you’ve heard a sermon about loving your neighbor. It is a common trope in any church. And because it is so common we forget how astounding it is to hear the statement, “love your neighbor.”
Paul writes this after spending chapters talking about division between Jews and Gentiles. He has seen firsthand the pain that comes from divisions in the church. He understands how living hard it can be to break old habits of division and attitudes of disdain. He wants the Jews and Gentiles to be a church, living in relationship with God and with each other.
But loving your neighbor is even more radical than that. The Roman world was intensely socially stratified. First you had Roman citizens and then everybody else. You had freemen and slaves with no rights but what their master gave them. You had the super-rich with hundreds of slaves. Women where the under the firm hand of their father or husband. Loving your neighbor wasn’t socially responsible in the Roman world, because you neighbor could be some lowly scum. And as Jesus makes clear in the story of the Good Samaritan, your neighbor is your enemy—he is the lowly scum. So “love your neighbor as yourself,” says Paul. Show her respect. Treat her as a friend. Understand that she is part of God’s story. Be a follower of Christ.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Trees and a Forest or "Follow Me"
The forest and the trees. Let me tell you something about them. Sometime you see one, but not the other. And other times you see the other, but not the one. Well, you know how that goes, just pick one or the other.
I thought of the forest and the trees as I was reading Matthew, chapters 18 and 19. Like much of the Bible these chapters are full of "wait a minutes" and "uh-ohs" and "yeps" and "ehhs." In a couple of verses (particular when Jesus is about) the Bible has a tendency to have you nodding, "Jesus goes after the one lost sheep, awesome" and awkwardly swallowing "wait a minute, I'm suppose to point out a sin in my fellow church member?".
If you hang around church long enough you'll hear sermons on these different trees. Often the awkward ones will be avoided, but they will be mentioned. Slowly, as you understand more and more trees you think that you understand the forest. Christianity becomes about the sum of the smaller parts.
That, however, is a distorted view. Christianity is much more than the sum of the parts (though the trees matter). We, or should I say, I focus on the trees. I argue with others over the different trees, disagreeing on the shade of brown or the bent of the limb. I stay at the level of the trees because I want to avoid the forest. The trees are interesting, but are small enough to fit into my point of view. I can survey a tree and handle it.
The forest is wild. It is unwieldy. We don't like talking about the forest, because we can't grasp the forest. We can't fit the forest into our horizon. It goes beyond.
Jesus says, "follow me." Pick up your cross, sell your possessions, and follow me. Worry not about the world or the thoughts of your neighbor, but follow me. Do not be afraid, he says, follow me.
I thought of the forest and the trees as I was reading Matthew, chapters 18 and 19. Like much of the Bible these chapters are full of "wait a minutes" and "uh-ohs" and "yeps" and "ehhs." In a couple of verses (particular when Jesus is about) the Bible has a tendency to have you nodding, "Jesus goes after the one lost sheep, awesome" and awkwardly swallowing "wait a minute, I'm suppose to point out a sin in my fellow church member?".
If you hang around church long enough you'll hear sermons on these different trees. Often the awkward ones will be avoided, but they will be mentioned. Slowly, as you understand more and more trees you think that you understand the forest. Christianity becomes about the sum of the smaller parts.
That, however, is a distorted view. Christianity is much more than the sum of the parts (though the trees matter). We, or should I say, I focus on the trees. I argue with others over the different trees, disagreeing on the shade of brown or the bent of the limb. I stay at the level of the trees because I want to avoid the forest. The trees are interesting, but are small enough to fit into my point of view. I can survey a tree and handle it.
The forest is wild. It is unwieldy. We don't like talking about the forest, because we can't grasp the forest. We can't fit the forest into our horizon. It goes beyond.
Jesus says, "follow me." Pick up your cross, sell your possessions, and follow me. Worry not about the world or the thoughts of your neighbor, but follow me. Do not be afraid, he says, follow me.
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