Earth Day, Part II

The Sunday of the Resurrection is the payoff, the greatest of all in fact. On this day Jesus rose from the dead. He did not just "spiritually" rise from the dead. He did not just in "the hearts and minds of his disciples" rise from the dead. Jesus rose physically, fully human, fully God, from the dead.

The Gospel accounts go to great lengths to show that this was no mere spiritual awakening or sudden moment of enlightenment that had come upon those who loved Jesus. In fact, those who loved Him went to the tomb early on the morning of the first day of the week to further prepare the dead body because as the Sabbath approached on Friday they were rushed to lay him in the earth. They expected to anoint a corpse. They expected to adorn a lifeless body. They expected Jesus to be dead.

You could say this was the most unexpected act in history, because when they got there they did not find anything. They did not even find a body! The body was gone, and an angel proclaimed to them that Christ is risen! That is what today is all about. The eternal Son took on flesh and lived the life we humans cannot live in perfect obedience to the Father. He suffered death and was buried. But, on the third day He rose again.

The Christian Church dating back to these very days in the first century proclaimed the joyous news the Christ is risen! This day is about the resurrection of the Son of God. This day is not really about an old pagan fertility feast that the big bad institutional church took over as an empire. This day is not about bunnies, eggs, and chocolate (as cute and/or delicious as these things may be). And this day is not about allowing the wise words of a great teacher to "live on" in our hearts and minds.

This day is about Jesus' physical resurrection from the grave. This is the day the LORD has made! This resurrection of the Son of God also points to the day when all humans will be raised on the Last Day because of this physical resurrection of the Son of God! This resurrection of the Son of God, as the first fruits of the renewed creation, points to the restoration of all things on Earth. The pain, the death, the decay that marks the world we know in everything from humans to animals to earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, all point to creations groaning waiting for Christ to return and to reveal those who will have life in Him and with Him forever. On this day LIFE wins. On this day we celebrate the feast of the Lamb and look forward to the Day of the great feast when Jesus drinks the fruit of the vine with us again.

Resurrection Sunday is about reality, it's about physicality, it's about living again. This is the day all of Earth rejoices. This is Earth Day, as the Creator restores creation, beginning with the resurrected Son of God. That's the Hope in which we live, that is what today is all about!

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. It is also Good Friday. This won't happen again until 2095. I was talking to a longtime friend this morning from my home congregation and thought I'd be clever and send him a message that said, "Happy Earth Day!" The significance of Earth Day falling on Good Friday was something I have been trying to formulate in my mind.

The idea of Earth Day on Easter Sunday (2057) seems to be the clearer connection. Earth Day celebrates all of creation and (albeit falling short of what this means) promotes "restoration" to all the earth. Easter, the Resurrection Sunday, also promotes restoration (albeit rightly). But how is it that Good Friday and Earth Day can connect?

Well, my longtime friend replied to "Happy Earth Day," with,"Happy Tree Hugging Day." It then hit me like a ton of pollen, Good Friday is Tree Hugging Day. Good Friday is Earth Day. Jesus goes to the rugged cross, that unsightly tree, and He grips it to die. Jesus grips the tree to reconcile the whole world to the Father. We know the rest of the story that comes on Sunday, but ponder for today the beautiful image of Christ gripping the cross to reconcile the world to the Father. That is the best gift the Earth has ever received, that is the best medicine for a sick Earth, that is what it means to celebrate creation. The Creator has rescued the creation from sin, decay, and death, all by gripping the tree.

As most of the Earth celebrates the apparent beauty of creation and life I will be sitting in a dark, undecorated, no apparent beauty of a church. Today, though humans lost the tree of life and all its splendor with the rushing rivers, we look to the Tree of Life which has the rushing river flowing from the Creator (John 19:33-34) in all His glory (John 7:37-39).

Happy Earth Day.

The Psalms

One of the most helpful resources I have ever bought, and I did so in my "Contemplate" visit to the seminary in 2007, is the CPH book Reading the Psalms with Luther. It is the complete Book of Psalms with some notes on each Psalm by Luther himself. In addition each Psalm begins and ends with a prayer.

The Psalms as a book of prayer is definitely something we ought to be communicating to people. For me personally I find it easier to "read" the Psalms when I am immersing myself in them as prayer rather than something I am reading just to say I have read them, or studying for the purposes of a test. In the fall I took the course at the seminary pertaining to the Psalms with Dr. Reed Lessing (CPH Commentaries Amos, Jonah, and the upcoming Isaiah 40-55). He communicated, in no uncertain terms, the the Psalter (another word for the entire collection of Psalms) is the Christian book of prayer and it should be a part of our praying for our entire lives. The Psalter seems to cover the topics of human life as they weave in and out of human suffering and joys, and even many times combining the two in one Psalm!

Plus, if you're like me, maybe you struggle with prayer as in how to pray and what to say. The Psalter provides for us the how and what in prayer. This is important especially in a "postmodern" world that looks for answers and truth in a variety of places, and does not allow anyone else to speak for them, the Christian can be comforted by this book of prayer where we do allow Another to speak for us, the human authors of the Psalms, but also the Holy Spirit who leads us to pray. The Psalms are very human, yet also very much divine as God's Word speaks to us through them. Most notably God's Word speaks to us through them in the person and work of Jesus the Christ.

So often the weight of sin and brokenness in this age brings us down, the Psalter is the perfect book for those who have broken hearts because it communicates the reality of our broken world so clearly and honestly. Yet they do not leave us in our brokenness, but drive us back to Yahweh, our God, and His faithful promises. One such promise is the one received at Baptism. As the Psalms communicate it is there that we know that even if God feels far off, He is not far at all, but close to delivering us. What a great comfort! It's the comfort of being joined with Christ, which does not "save" us from the realities of this world, but plunges us head first into them to not only find comfort ourselves, but also for our neighbors around us.

Honest and Thoughtful Reviews of Rob Bell

I regret actually posting about a book I have not read. But since this has been blowing up all over the Christian interwebs for a couple of weeks now, I figured I would point people into the direction of two non-reactionary, honest, and yet thoughtful reviews of Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins (Harper Collins). Big ups to Mockingbird Blog for supplying their readers with these thoughtful analyses. One is by Mark Galli and the other by Casey Hobbs.

I hope to read this book after spring quarter. I think it is very important to engage a book like this because it does open up a worthy conversation and because Bell is such a popular person. It is much better to engage someone and speak the truth in love than lob reactionary critiques and use big words which tickle us silly. Let me know what you think!

P.S. I think its helpful to cite folks who are actually coming from a similar--or similar enough--environment to Bell to understand his thought process and context. Again, I hope to read the book and come at it from a Lutheran perspective, but that is a good couple months away yet.

P.S.S In the interest of being "fair," here is a link to Bell's reaction to the reaction(s).

The Unobtainable Deity

Very interesting quote from an article on the latest "Jesus Seminar" meeting in Santa Cruz, CA. For more information on the Jesus Seminar just google or go to their website. The long and short of it is this is an academic community searching to find the "real" Jesus, the "historical" Jesus, opposed to the Jesus of orthodox Christianity.

These quotes, one from a presenter in the seminar, and the other from a student observer were striking to me:

"We are not here to advocate religion," said Sheehan, who has participated in the Jesus Seminar since 1999. "We study religion critically. We're scientists of religion. We come here to say what we have learned about the historical Jesus Christ. It's more to inform people who may not have an opportunity to hear what university professors are saying about Jesus."

Miller, 21, who sat with fellow UCSC students to hear Scott's lecture, said "I do identify as a Christian, but I am very interested in learning about who Jesus was as an actual person."

Miller, who plans to graduate early with a degree in American studies, said, "I want to know more about the humanity of Jesus rather than the Divinity.

"It makes it more believable for me when I think of Jesus as a person rather than an unobtainable Deity."

My thoughts:

Has the church made Jesus an "unobtainable deity?" There are numerous issues with the Jesus Seminar. Their academic integrity is highly questionable and they throw out any sniffs of deification in regards to Jesus, because well hey that just isn't "historical." What Christians know is that the Jesus of the New Testament, the Jesus the early church attests to, the Jesus the church throughout the ages into today attests to is the very "historical" Jesus.

I do wonder however, if Christians have propped up Jesus as some "unobtainable deity." When we defend Jesus' deity and neglect his humanity we don't have Jesus. The church needs to affirm his humanity, as attested to in scripture, and affirm his deity together as a whole. There is no such thing as a historical Jesus a part from the God-Man. Jesus is fully God and fully man. When either is backed off of problems ensue.

The student observers quote from above shows how askew folks' view of Jesus and Christianity are. Jesus is the most attainable deity there is, given He came down out of heaven incarnate and born of the Virgin Mary. Why is it that society views Jesus as an unobtainable deity? Perhaps we would do well to teach the whole Jesus to our people?

Bonhoeffer, pt. 2

Too good not to share...this snippet comes from a section where Metaxas deconstructs the story that Bonhoeffer radically changed in prison and his Christianity was suddenly co-opted by bad theology and theologically liberal techniques. Sadly theological liberals aren't the only ones who have bought this story, theological conservatives have too.

Here is a paragraph of Metaxas' thoughts on the whole thing:

Bonhoeffer's theology had always leaned toward the incarnational view that did not eschew "the world," but that saw it as God's good creation to be enjoyed and celebrated, not merely transcended. According to this view, God had redeemed mankind through Jesus Christ, had re-created us "good." So we weren't to dismiss our humanity as something "un-spiritual." As Bonhoeffer had said before, God wanted our "yes" to him to be a "yes" to the world he had created. This was not the thin pseudohumanism of the liberal "God is dead" theologians who would claim Bonhoeffer's mantle as their own in the decades to come, nor was it the antihumanism of the pious and "religious" theologians who would abdicate Bonhoeffer's theology to the liberals. It was something else entirely: it was God's humanism, redeemed in Jesus Christ. (p.468)

In addition, Metaxas provides information that Bonhoeffer's closest confidant in those prison days, Eberhard Bethge, lamented how many misconstrued his letters/thoughts in prison. It should be further noted that these thoughts and letters were written privately to Bethge, and were only released by Bethge after the war to give certain theologians a glimpse of what prison life was like for Bonhoeffer the person and theologian. Bethge's own thoughts were,

The isolated use and handing down of the famous term 'religionless Christianity' has made Bonhoeffer the champion of an undialectical shallow modernism which obscures all that he wanted to tell us about the living God.

Nearly finished with the book, already highly recommend it for all to read!

Bonhoeffer

Winter Quarter is over, been spending a few days in the warm Florida sun (West Palm Beach/Port St. Lucie) reading Eric Metaxas' great biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Go out and get this book, I'm halfway through (300+ pages of an almost 600 page book, but don't let that scare you!) and this book has rocked my world. There have been so many quotes Metaxas has provided of Bonhoeffer's that have touched me, but I felt compelled to post this one in particular. The context is Bonhoeffer's second trip to America, he writes in his diary:

The voice of Lutheranism is there in America, but it is one among others: it has never been able to confront the other denominations. There hardly ever seem to be "encounters" in this great country, in which the one can always avoid the other. But where there is no encounter, where liberty is the only unifying factor, one naturally knows nothing of the community which is created through encounter. The whole life together is completely different as a result. Community in our sense, whether cultural or ecclesiastical, cannot develop there. Is that true?

The year is 1939, and he's about ready to return to Germany to have an encounter with the anti-Christian German Christian Church and Hitler himself. What kind of encounters are we having in America? Lutherans especially...

Heavy

What the Incarnation means

So has death been conquered and branded for what it is by the Savior on the cross. It is bound hand and foot, all who are in Christ trample it as they pass and as witnesses to Him deride it, scoffing and saying, "O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?"

Athanasius, On the Incarnation

The cute baby Jesus grows up and is the Savior of all mankind. Athanasius so beautifully writes that what else was the Word of God to do? Human beings, whom the Word created, were destroying themselves, the only way to save them/restore them was that the very thing that gave them life in the first place would become one of it, by enjoining Himself to the flesh, to the creation. The Word which gives life in the creation of the universe gives life anew in the restoration of creation.

THAT is what Christmas Season is all about! Blessed Day 3 of Christmas!

Pope Benedict's Christmas Message to the UK

A most appropriate Christmas Message from the Pope to the people of the United Kingdom. The best part may be the (unintended) evangelical proclamation from Richard Dawkins:

Writing for the Guardian Newspaper in protest of the Pope's message being broadcast to the UK he stated,

"Ratzinger has much to confess in his own conduct, as cardinal and pope. But he is also guilty of promoting one of the most repugnant ideas ever to occur to a human mind: "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22)."

Richard Dawkins is obviously looking to point out how foolish and stupid the idea of sacrifice and bloodshed is for a concept of forgiveness. But Dawkins' real problem is his refusal to acknowledge the sin in his own life which needs atoning. He's far from the only one to believe this though, as many people do. But his highlighting of this as "repugnant" ought to bring us to the public square for a profitable conversation.

Read the article yourself and enjoy the Pope's evangelical proclamation this day.

"Let us give thanks to God for his goodness to us, and let us joyfully proclaim to those around us the good news that God offers us freedom from whatever weighs us down; he gives us hope, he brings us life."

The "Christian" Hitler

One of the greatest lies of our time is that Adolf Hitler was a Christian. It is usually perpetuated by those who have such a disdain for religion, and Christianity in particular, that what better way to undermine it further than to align Christianity with the most vilified character in recent history (maybe even of all time).

A book released this past April by Eric Metaxas called, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy takes this, as well as many other things, to task. FoxNews (ahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) has online in PDF format two chapters for free download/reading. One of these chapters, Chapter 11, is called "Nazi Theology." In it he utterly deconstructs the renowned "fact" that Hitler was a Christian.

In fact he leaves you with convincing evidence that Hitler, rather than being a product of some outdated method of weak minded religious foolishness, was a product of Nietzsche and modernity. Oh what an unsettling claim this is. But I posit the evidence is convincing.

See for yourself

Advent/Christmas Music Part 3

O come O come Emmanuel

If there ever was a hymn that connects Israel with the Church, this is the one. Although any chorale worth its salt can sing this beautifully, I liked the stripped down approach version of recording artist Sufjan Stevens.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

The language of "ransom" and "captive" and "exile" cut to the heart of the problem for humanity. We are held ransom by sin, death, and the devil. We are held captive by all the things which sin, death, and the devil employ. There is seemingly no escape. As Israel mourned in exile from the land, so too the Church as Israel mourns in exile from the land until the Son of God appears.

Yet even in the darkness and cold of the season, there is reason to rejoice. Emmanuel, God with us, is coming. Certainly the hymn brings to mind the image of the Christmas Story of when God became man in the form of the baby Jesus. Yet the true message and beauty of the hymn is in its anticipation for the Emmanuel, God with us, to return once and forevermore. And the Church stands as Israel eagerly awaiting not just the celebration of the Christ's first Advent, but ultimately his second Advent, when all things will be made new.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel

We are not left in the dark alone. Look! Jesus is coming!

Advent/Christmas Music Part 2

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

This song nearly makes me cry every time I hear it. It somehow doesn't matter what rendition of it I am hearing, but that refrain gets me every single time. I especially enjoy Casting Crowns version from a recent Christmas Album they put out. But keep in mind this is an old time hymn singing an old time message of Christmas.

As to the lyrics, as I said before that refrain gets me every single time. Here it is:

And the bells they're ringing,

Like a choir they're singing,

In my heart I hear them,

Peace on earth, Goodwill to men

And then the words of the verses seamlessly transition:

And in despair I bowed my head,

There is no peace on earth I said,

For hate is strong and mocks the song,

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men

Yet despite this, the bells are ringing...

I think this song really captures the essence of a theology of the cross. There is something awful about what we see around us, even in this message of Christianity, yet therein lies the beauty. Despite the sin of humanity, despite the brokenness, despite the carnage, despite death itself the bells are ringing...

Then ring the bells more loud and deep,

God is not dead nor does he sleep...

That aspect of the verse is the reversal Gospel message telling the hearer that despite what this world looks like, especially in the cold of the season where poverty and sickness and emptiness highlight the predicament of so many, God is not dead nor does he sleep. That is Israel's refrain about Yahweh, and the Church as Israel claims that as its own.

In Psalm 121 the Psalmist writes, Look! He who keeps Israel does not slumber nor does he sleep (Psalm 121:4) Seems easy enough, seems like a nice line, but the context helps us a great deal. The surrounding pagan religions saw their gods as ones that hibernated, especially in the winter. They do slumber, they do sleep. So Israel boldly proclaims, "Yahweh does not slumber, he does not sleep!" And in the face of society today, "God is not dead!"

Yahweh is your Keeper, even in the chill--the cold of the winter. God is not a god who hibernates, but stays actively involved in this world. Even amidst what seems like a complete mockery of "Peace on earth, goodwill to men," Yahweh is there. He is your Keeper. And God proves that by emptying of himself and becoming man.

God as human. Another ridiculous concept and notion to Israel's neighbors. Another ridiculous concept and notion to our neighbors today.

If/when you hear this song or sing this hymn this season, keep that refrain dear to your longing heart. There is peace on earth and goodwill to humans, the Savior has come, and he is here to restore our lives.

Advent/Christmas Music Part 1

I figure to make a break from the mundane, the ordinary, the cold, the schoolwork, I would investigate wonderful theological messages in our Advent and Christmas Hymns and Songs.

The first hymn/song I am looking at in this amateur series is What Hope! An Eden Prophesied! This cool hymn found its way into the Lutheran Service Book of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. Written in 1998 by Stephen P. Starke, it is a hymn that talks about the wonderful life to come prophesied by the great prophet Isaiah, specifically in chapter 11, which was also the Old Testament Lesson for this 2nd Sunday in Advent.

The beautiful first verse reads,

What hope! An Eden prophesied Where tame live with the wild;

The lamb and lion side by side, Led by a little child!

See how this corresponds to the beautiful words of the Prophet Isaiah in today's Old Testament text, Isaiah 11:1-10

This is the hope of what we look forward to this season of Advent. We not only look toward Christmas, Jesus' first advent, but with our eyes fixed on his redemptive work we look toward his second Advent, his final coming, when all things will be restored.

Broken Beyond Repair

Over at the NY Times today another provocative Bob Herbert editorial appears. The title, Broken Beyond Repair, deals with the USA's capital punishment system. Herbert uses colorful language to describe it:

The death penalty in the United States has never been anything but an abomination — a grotesque, uncivilized, overwhelmingly racist affront to the very idea of justice.

One of the reasons I read Mr. Herbert is because he is so provocative. Some of the things he says makes you say, "Amen!" and some other things makes you say, "Ah...damn!" I think in this editorial there is both of that. I am one such American who struggles mightily with the death penalty. In a Romans 13 sense I am for it. But it is well known that the way the death penalty is carried out here has its plethora of problems, and we do not need Bob Herbert to point them out for it to be so. With the way it is used, it probably should be abolished. It is an overwhelmingly racist affront to the very idea of justice, to quote Mr. Herbert.

Although I am someone who affirms that no one is "innocent" based upon sin and death in general, certainly in civil society it is for the purposes of good order to establish a system of punishment that is layered and has different levels of severity to it. But the real problem with the death penalty, especially in its racist element(s) is that it de-humanizes people. This is not so much a question of innocence and guilt, as much as that may be the case, as it is about the value of life in a culture of death. To devalue humans is a most egregious offense. And if there is even just a few humans being devalued, let alone the probable millions Herbert talks about, then it should not be tolerated. Not because humans are innocent and sinless and everything is fine and dandy, but because God is the One who rules over life and he creates human life with a purpose, even if a dignity.

Well then, seems like this is an "Amen!" post from Herbert, where is the "Ah...Damn!" part? It comes with what Herbert does not address. There is another overwhelmingly racist affront to the very idea of justice operating in our country as well. The thing about that one though is its masked in "rights" and not as death or killing or even murder, as capital punishment can safely be labeled. No, this overwhelmingly racist affront to the very idea of justice is seen as choice, as empowerment, and the only sensible option in the face of so many who devalue women.

Indeed, I am talking about abortion. Yet this story doesn't get editorials in the NY Times or much play from Bob Herbert. This is seen as an entirely different thing, and it's for the supposed "rights" of women. If the death penalty is racist, and there is sufficient reason to believe it is, then abortion is akin to slavery and genocide. But before you get too bent out of shape, go research the issue for yourself. I speak not as a "white man" making an ignorant or inconsiderate comparison between abortion and slavery and/or genocide, but African Americans and other minorities talk this way. There is plenty of evidence to suggest Planned Parenthood targets African Americans and other minorities in our country. The statistics are horrifying. And this is an educational problem as well. When we neglect our inner cities, and the folks who live there, government OK'd organizations like Planned Parenthood move in for the literal kill. Instead of comprehensive educational and community programs from the government, or anywhere for that matter, we get a killing machine masquerading as a "pro-women's choice" group.

Strong language? Provocative? You bet. So I agree with Herbert, but want it to go further, let's stop both of these racist affronts to the very idea of justice.

you KNOW it's a myth

Reading over at the Belief Blog on CNN.com this morning prompted this post. The usual arguments are lobbed, but this is an interesting billboard that was put up by atheists.org:

CNN-Atheist Billboard

I then went to atheists.org and read up about their cause and watched a video about this billboard and others. You can find the video here: you KNOW it's a myth

You will immediately notice the arrogance displayed by the two men speaking in the video. What's funny is this modern atheist movement, championed by guys like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, really only reacts against American Evangelical Fundamentalism. To be honest, I agree with a couple of the things they have to say about these folks, especially in the above linked video. Christians should not be vandalizing billboards. Instead, we should be engaging the public debate and dismantling the juvenile arguments atheists put forth. Such arguments, like the ones which attack the historicity of Jesus, the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the rest of the New Testament are where we can actively and faithfully engage. What we have to be careful of however is that we never get too far from the Gospel Message, namely proclaiming Christ's life, death, and resurrection for you, including the arrogant atheist.

Also important to do is to pray the psalter. This is nothing new that folks will mock, scoff, and attack God and his people. But leave vengeance to Yahweh. Defacing billboards is childish and gets nowhere. This also is usually headed by those who want to make the Christian God the American god as well. The same folks who claim America is a Christian nation. I really want no part of that debate. It is useless, and historically inaccurate. What I do want is to protect the flock, and defend Christians who are left defenseless because we aren't preparing them the proper way. The fight is not rationalism vs. rationalism. But the hope we have over and against rationalism.

We ought to teach our people the beauty and usefulness of praying the Psalms in times like these, while also giving them reasonable explanations to the historicity of Jesus, the OT, and the NT. Also, notice I place Jesus in front. That is where he belongs. Jesus is before all this as God. And as God-Man he restores us to how we're supposed to be. Dismissive and arrogant arguments presented by atheists.org does not dismantle this truth at all.

I feel it is important to go blow by blow on that website to show specific arguments, but being in school I don't know if I can find the time. In the meantime, one common argument heard is how there is no evidence for Jesus outside the NT, and that the four Gospels are not the only ones, etc., etc.

Below I have provided a quote from Ignatius of Antioch of the 1st and early 2nd century. Ignatius is as apostolic as you can get. And the letter I quote is among those which are widely attributed to have actually been written by him. In this section he talks about the history of Christ defending his life, death, and resurrection. Including his birth by the Virgin, his suffering under Pontius Pilate, his death, and his being raised by the Father. Beyond that it also affirms the resurrection to eternal life for believers because of Christ's own resurrection.

In this section Ignatius quotes Matthew and John, while specifically referring to Matthew as scripture. Dates for Ignatius are ca.30-107 AD. He writes this well within a reasonable timeframe to judge the historicity of Matthew as legitimate and as a Gospel for the Church. Also notice, John having been written probably within a few years of Ignatius writing this is cited as legitimate scripture as well. The implications for this are huge in the face of arguments put forth by folks like the ones over at atheists.org. Aside from the defense that is legitimate and helpful which Ignatius provides, read this little bit devotionally as a powerful witness to the Gospel, which also needs to be primary in everything we do. As Advent is upon us, enjoy this appropriate piece by Ignatius of Antioch. The following chapter, The Reality of Christ's Passion, also isn't half bad.

Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with⁷⁸⁷⁷⁸⁷ Literally, “apart from.”70Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly born, and did eat and drink. He was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate; He was truly crucified, and [truly] died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. He was also truly raised from the dead, His Father quickening Him, even as after the same manner His Father will so raise up us who believe in Him by Christ Jesus, apart from whom we do not possess the true life.

Stop your ears, therefore, when any one speaks to you at variance with⁷⁸⁸⁷⁸⁸ Literally, “apart from.”Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary; who was truly begotten of God and of the Virgin, but not after the same manner. For indeed God and man are not the same. He truly assumed a body; for “the Word was made flesh,”⁷⁸⁹⁷⁸⁹ John i. 14. and lived upon earth without sin. For says He, “Which of you convicteth me of sin?”⁷⁹⁰⁷⁹⁰ John viii. 46. He did in reality both eat and drink. He was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate. He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died, in the sight of beings in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. By those in heaven I mean such as are possessed of incorporeal natures; by those on earth, the Jews and Romans, and such persons as were present at that time when the Lord was crucified; and by those under the earth, the multitude that arose along with the Lord. For says the Scripture, “Many bodies of the saints that slept arose,”⁷⁹¹⁷⁹¹ Matt. xxvii. 52. their graves being opened. He descended, indeed, into Hades alone, but He arose accompanied by a multitude; and rent asunder that means⁷⁹²⁷⁹² Literally, “hedge,” or “fence.” of separation which had existed from the beginning of the world, and cast down its partition-wall. He also rose again in three days, the Father raising Him up; and after spending forty days with the apostles, He was received up to the Father, and “sat down at His right hand, expecting till His enemies are placed under His feet.”⁷⁹³⁷⁹³ Heb. x. 12, 13. On the day of the preparation, then, at the third hour, He received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen; at the sixth hour He was crucified; at the ninth hour He gave up the ghost; and before sunset He was buried.⁷⁹⁴⁷⁹⁴ Some read, “He was taken down from the cross, and laid in a new tomb.” During the Sabbath He continued under the earth in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathæa had laid Him. At the dawning of the Lord’s day He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself, “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man also be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”⁷⁹⁵⁷⁹⁵ Matt. xii. 40. The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord’s Day contains the resurrection.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Just read this article over at the NY Times by David D. Hall. The article, Peace, Love, and Puritanism, takes a nice (quick) yet interesting look at the history of Thanksgiving, Puritans, and America. I'm not sure that I agree with the whole of the article, but his line at the end really clicked with me. Hall writes,

In our society, liberty has become deeply problematic: more a matter of entitlement than of obligation to the whole. Everywhere, we see power abused, the common good scanted. Getting the Puritans right won’t change what we eat on Thanksgiving, but it might change what we can be thankful for and how we imagine a better America.

How scary true is this? I feel this speaks volumes, loud ones at that, to contemporary America. I also feel this speaks volumes to the current American religious landscape. Hall points out the Puritans had no self indulgent work ethic. The "Protestant Work Ethic" is really the American way. I am Christian. I am American. I am free. Get out of my way.

It brings to mind the parable of the Good Samaritan and how many Americans would cross by on the other side of the road. My real point however, is this: Martin Luther, in the 16th century, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in the 20th century, saw Christian freedom not as freedom from but rather freedom for. You can almost hear the American religious chorus shouting, "Amen!" Until we realize this freedom for means that as a Christian, American or not makes no difference, your freedom is that you are not in condemnation by sin and as such are free for your neighbor. The Christian call is not American gluttony, "Give me my rights!" talk, but rather a sense of humility and service that often gets overlooked, yet you do it because Christ has gone before you to the cross, and also in his resurrection we know we don't live in vain.

So I would ask this Holiday season we do not clamor for our rights and our freedoms from things. Instead, I would ask that we clamor for our neighbor and our freedom for him.

Blessed are the...

Tomorrow we observe All Saint's Day in church. Here are some thoughts that I have concerning tomorrow's Gospel text, Matthew 5:1-12...

The revelation of God is revealed to those who are his disciples. The end times intrusion upon the earth that God has made in Jesus Christ is what makes the disciples “blessed.” They are blessed because of the already reality of the advancement of the reign of heaven, but they also wait in anticipation of the not yet. The not yet is the day of reversal when the wicked ones the Psalmist lament about will be put away forever, including the very wicked one himself the devil, and the righteous will remain. The entire life of the Christian is one in anticipation, in hope, of the things to come. Yet, this does not create a disavowal for what is already here. There is still work to be done for sure, and those who are a part of that working reign of heaven are certainly blessed.

Social justice theories and Evangelical moral laws of conduct do not give this text its due. The purpose of the beatitudes is not to advance left wing political ideology or right wing American theology. The beatitudes are Gospel, pure and simple. The best way to study and read the beatitudes is within the narrative framework that Matthew the Evangelist uses. There is no reason to tear them from their place in the story of salvation. Those beatitudes speak a truth and a reality about those found in Christ. Ours is already now the reign of heaven, even as we wait the day of the not yet. The future promises found in the beatitudes establish the purpose of Jesus’ coming, dying, and rising again. The purpose is restoration. And all of creation groans with the flock of Jesus for that day when all things will be made new. There is no hope outside of Christ. The beatitudes point directly at what that hope is.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Creation and Fall

Just read Bonhoeffer's Creation and Fall and I gotta say the man did an incredible job with the text of Genesis 1-3 (and also first verse of 4). It reads poetically and with a literary prowess unrivaled by much of anything that I have read. Bonhoeffer will get criticism because of his higher critical tendencies, but find me someone who in dealing with the actual text does a better job.

This excerpt I give to you is from his final chapter, about page and a half, when after having gone through Genesis 1-3 he sets up the next movement of the biblical narrative, and its Christological implications. He starts off by wrapping everything together under the theme of humans becoming "like God" getting what they wished for in falling for that very temptation by the serpent. And yet not fully understanding the consequences and heavy implications that come with being "like God." We are now our own creators, we live off of our own resources. In our delusion we grasp at the tree of life more and more because it was banished from us, but we cannot eat of its fruit because it is out of our reach. The only thing we can really grasp in our obsession to live is death. So humanity marches on and Cain is born. And we know the story that Cain strangles life out of his own brother. Bonhoeffer writes that Adam, the one who is preserved for death and consumed with thirst for life, begets Cain, the murderer (Bonhoeffer, 145).

All of this to set up for a breathtaking finale in which Bonhoeffer writes,

The end of Cain's history, and so the end of all history, is Christ on the cross, the murdered Son of God. That is the last desperate assault on the gate of paradise. And under the whirling sword, under the cross, the human race dies. But Christ lives. The trunk of the cross becomes the wood of life, and now in the midst of the world, on the accursed ground itself, life is raised up anew. In the center of the world, from the wood of the cross, the fountain of life springs up. All who thirst for life are called to drink from this water, and whoever has eaten from the wood of this life shall never again hunger and thirst. What a strange paradise is this hill of Golgotha, this cross, this blood, this broken body. What a strange tree of life, this trunk on which the very God had to suffer and die. Yet it is the very kingdom of life and of the resurrection, which by grace God grants us again. It is the gate of the imperishable hope now opened, the gate of waiting and of patience. The tree of life, the cross of Christ, the center of God's world that is fallen but upheld and preserved – that is what the end of the story about paradise is for us (Bonhoeffer, 145-6).

Like I said...breathtaking!

"Vindicate Me From My Adversary!"

Sermon, October 16-17, 2010

Text: Psalm 121, Luke 18:1-8 (appointed Psalm and Gospel)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Christian friends,

In our Gospel text for today Jesus tells a parable. You may know this parable as “The Parable of the Persistent Widow.” The narrative begins with letting the hearer know that the parable is about the necessity of prayer. Not only prayer, but persistent prayer. The parable is set up with an absurd parallel. And notice this is how most of Jesus’ parables go. They have absurd aspects to the story. Whether it’s the incredible amount of money one is in debt over and has forgiven to them, or whether the son blows his inheritance in seemingly no time, Jesus’ parables are a teaching point, usually to show the extent of grace, or how great the reign of God is. So it is with this parable today. St. Luke tells us that Jesus told a story of a judge who did not fear God and, I love this, had no regard for man. This was a person out for himself and nobody else.

So you see the absurdity that the comparison is drawn with God! The parallel being drawn is simply not compatible. God and this, fearless toward God and no regard for man, judge bracket this story of the widow. And as such they are both important for telling the story of the widow. We know from Israel’s history that God’s Torah requires justice and vindication for widows. We even see this in early church history in Luke’s second volume, the Book of Acts, that concern for the welfare of widows was and is a top priority for God’s people. Yet this judge wouldn’t have anything of it. The judge heard her complaints for justice from her adversary numerous times to no avail. But then the story takes a turn and we see that for fear of being worn out, or as the Greek suggests, for fear of acquiring a black eye due to this widow’s persistence, the judge granted her justice in this life. What a strange story.

And then if that wasn’t strange enough, it gets even stranger! The last 2 verses provide the “punch line,” if you will, to the parable (read vv.7-8). The contrast is drawn between this judge without a care in the world and the God who cares very much about the world. We want a clear-cut answer for what this parable is about. If, as what is stated above is true, that parables provide valuable moments for teaching, and in return, learning, well just what is being taught and what am I to learn here? It seems at first that the parable is about a way to receive vindication or justice in this life from judges, or even how to wear God out into giving in to us. But then we see that Jesus suggests this parable is about way more than that. In drawing the comparison Jesus pulls the rug from out underneath us and points us to another direction in this parable.

So now we’re left wondering, is this about prayer, persistent prayer even, or is this about Jesus returning? Our way of thinking may push us in one direction or the other so we can get a better grasp on the entire situation, but I’m not so sure the narrative allows for that. In fact, I am convinced that this is about both aspects. And in our running around looking for a clean resolution to the story we lose track of one of its main characters, the widow. This nameless, faceless widow. Who is she? Where does she come from? How has she been wronged? The way she is identified in our story tells us how she has been wronged in at least one way. Her husband has been taken from her, she is known to us only as widow. And her crying out to the judge who is fearless toward God and who has no regard for men seems to ring hollow.

How often do we feel that in our lives? How often do we hear our cries for justice, our cries for vindication, ring hollow? Too often, I would say. Perhaps we’re not all widows or widowers, but some of us are. And there’s something not quite right about that. We have all kinds of hardships and failings, and struggles that we deal with in this life. The economy seems like it will just forever be an issue and a struggle. And we feel that struggle daily, don’t we? And of course a bad economy leads into things that affect us even deeper than just a paying salary of some sort when our possessions are beginning to be taken from us. And if all that wasn’t enough, there are always health issues. So I think we all just may identify with this widow more than we would like to. We all want justice to be brought forth in some way. We become invested in news stories that seem to have a lack of justice, we feel that lack of justice in our neighbor’s lives, in our friends lives, in our family’s lives, and in our own lives as well. And if we’re not yearning or crying out for justice, it may be because we’re just too beaten down. Perhaps we’re cynical toward the judicial system, perhaps we know too many judges like this one in today’s story. So we get stuck in that part of the story where the woman cries out that she be vindicated from her adversary, whoever that is, and the judge, for a time, won’t be moved. And we get stuck there because that’s the place where we are too, crying out to anyone who will hear us to vindicate us from our adversaries (Pause).

Who does hear us? When we cry out, are they empty, hollow words? I know this isn’t necessarily part of the week in/week out tradition at Zion to speak or chant the appointed psalm for any given Sunday, but I think today’s psalm appointed for this 21^st Sunday after Pentecost is especially helpful for our discussion here this morning. Psalm 121, a song of ascent, in the section of the psalms from 120-134 that are called “songs of ascent” (Read Psalm 121). From where does our help come? Our help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. Yahweh our personal God, our creator, our redeemer, is also our deliverer, and our restorer. Cry out to Yahweh God for justice against your adversary, because as he has claimed you as his own, he will deliver you from your adversary the devil, and his friends, sin and death!

The point of the parable is not to focus on how the woman persisted and the judge gave in to avoid a black eye. No, the point of the parable is that the woman persisted in faith knowing GOD would give her vindication. Whether she received it that day or on the last day, she knew her vindication was coming. And it’s true that she did receive justice in this life but she also knew of the justice to come. And this is where we might focus our attention, because we don’t always get justice in this life. In fact sometimes it seems as though life is downright cruel. Yet, in faith, when we lift our eyes up to the hills and wonder “where does my help come from?” We can respond confidently, because of God’s faithfulness, “My help comes from Yahweh, my God, who made heaven and earth.”

You see, Yahweh has not forgotten his creation. Our God has not neglected justice for his creatures. He delivers it in due time. And how does he do that? In the person of Jesus Christ, who tells this parable. Most translations render the rhetorical question, “Will God not give justice to the elect who cry out to him day and night?” But the text allows us to look at the question as saying, “Will God not do justice to his elect…?” Perhaps it is a subtle, seemingly inconsequential difference, but I think it makes a difference in how we see God’s actions. Is God granting us justice on the basis of our persistence and/or goodness? Or is God’s character such that that he does justice to us because He has said he will? In a world full of widows, and widowers, and injustices at every corner there is Jesus not to disavow the hurt and the pain that we go through but to take it all to the cross and crucify it with himself. Jesus’ work on the cross upsets the balance of history. God rolls back the tide and justice flows as a rushing river. This is a world here where the unrighteous, fearless toward God, and no regard for man judge gets his way and stays at the top. But in Jesus God overthrows such judges and establishes his rule over all creation.

The entire life, death, and resurrection of Christ reverses the order of the world that we experience and know which places the haughty and proud at the top and the lowly and meek at the bottom. In Jesus’ reality, the widow gets her vindication. In Jesus’ reality the poor are made to be rich, in his reality the unrighteous judges in the world get their due, and in his reality the dead are raised to life. At first it seems backwards, until you realize that when we look at the world that has injustices everywhere, a world where widows are neglected, the poor cast aside, where unrighteous judges rule, and people die and declare that to be forward, that we can see God’s great reversal is not backwards, but this life is backwards, and God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ sets it straight again. That is the hope that we have even in this backward life.

So, when the Son of Man returns will he find faith on earth? Wherever the church is, full of people crying out by day and night to their Creator for justice against their adversaries, yes, he will find it. And he will vindicate it. Amen.

Kyrie Eleison

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy

Definitely youtube a nice chanted/sung version of the kyrie. Not much more beauty in fewer words!