Becoming our True Selves: The Inferno

If you are a real human being, it is very likely that in one form or another, you have been told to go to hell.  Maybe quite literally.  Maybe with “sign language”.  Maybe with looks that could kill.  It is not often that we are invited to go to hell on purpose, for a tour, so that we might learn a thing or two to help us get through all the hells we will eventually endure as human beings.  Roughly 700 years ago, Italian poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy (which is not terribly funny – but lets us know the key character isn’t going to be dead by the end of the story). The unintended consequence of his writing was that it greatly informed the Church’s imagination regarding hell itself, which was a terrible, terrible misstep as his work was poetry not to be taken as some sort of literal guide for future travelers.  His goal was, in part, to say something about the human condition.  It resonated with people.  So much so that this work is among the classics to be appreciated for all time.

     Last week we began with Dante in the Dark Wood of Error, the beginning of the tale but the middle of his story.  Dante is lost and afraid.  The easy way out – climbing over Mt. Delectable – isn’t an option.  His favorite philosopher-poet from antiquity, Virgil, showed up as a guide at just the right time – as they often do – to lead him out of the Dark Wood of Error.  The bummer?  The only way out was to go through hell – as is generally the case.  Above the gate to the Inferno: Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.  In other words, what lies ahead on the only way out will not be easy.  Cowardice must be replaced by courage.

     Virgil leads Dante into the Inferno, an other-worldly place of torture and despair.  The reason Virgil is taking Dante into the Inferno, through hell, is not to leave him there, but so that he can observe – every step and every level – and learn from it.  What led to the souls being sentenced to their respective levels of torture?  What types of sin lead to increasing suffering at every deepening level?  Frequently, Virgil encourages Dante to ask questions of the damned, and sometimes, at Dante’s request, Virgil does the asking or prompting because Dante was too terrified to speak. Dante’s journey is a gift, an opportunity to see things differently so that he may live differently on the other side.  This puts the entire work of the Divine Comedy into a category with which we are very familiar, especially around the holidays.  A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Family Man all represent the same general idea. The Church, unfortunately, got caught up too much in the imagery and missed the point.  Instead of understanding it as a form of wisdom literature, the Church used it as an almost literal field guide to life after death for the damned and used it quite effectively to scare the hell out of people so that they would clean up their act.  The Divine Comedy, however, rather than scaring the hell out of us about the afterlife, should wake us up to the challenges we face as human beings.  Coming into greater consciousness, we are then able to wonder about our own lives, our own decisions, our own passions, using what we see in Dante’s story as a reference of sorts. That’s where Dante’s work takes on relevance and continues to speak even today.

     The Inferno consists of nine levels, descending from the least offensive offenses that warranted an eternal sentence to the worst. Worsening grievances are accompanied by increasing severity of torture.  As Martha Beck notes in her book, The Way of Integrity, the dominant theme running throughout all of hell and every offense that landed its victims there revolves around truth and lies.  The lesser offenses, which comprise the first six layers of hell in Dante’s imagination, are what he calls errors of incontinence.  You read that right!  Babies who haven’t been potty-trained, adults who have lost the physical control they once had, and all others who have wet themselves while laughing too hard or have arrogantly sharted in private or at a party are all doomed to hell!  Sorry.  Okay, maybe Dante wasn’t talking about literal incontinence...  Martha Beck suggests we think of the first six layers more along the line of innocent mistakes that result in our suffering.  In Beck’s view, suffering naturally happens when we experience misalignment from integrity.  She would agree that this could also be expressed as not living from our True Selves but from our smaller selves that, to varying degrees have been more influenced by the cultural forces around us than what we would call the Spirit of God residing within us.  We live our True Selves more when we can distinguish the difference and live accordingly.  Beck also distinguishes between pain and suffering: “Pain comes from events, while suffering comes from the way we handle events – what we do about them and, especially, what we think about them”(The Way of Integrity, 77).  The Stoic philosopher, Epectitus, wrote similarly, saying, “What upsets people is not what happens to them, but their thought about what happens” (77).

     Appreciating Beck’s insight here, it makes sense that all of hell is ordered by truth and lies. What lies have we chosen to believe to be true, even if intellectually we know otherwise?  For the first six levels of hell, most of the suffering comes from giving into lies – some culturally propagated ones, some driven by lust and envy – that people simply were not challenging.  They just moved forward, not examining their interior world and finding themselves in pain and subsequent suffering.  The lowest three rings of hell are reserved for those guilty of the “errors of righteousness”, where we shift from innocence to consciously choosing to embrace a lie that works for us, doubling down in willful defiance of the truth.  Murderers are consigned to ring seven because they have willfully chosen to lie to themselves about the inhumanity of their victim which allows them to justify their actions.  A severe disconnect from the truth of our equality and connectedness.  The last two levels are for liars of another level – those that lie deeply to themselves, to others, and to God.  Why do these liars face a worse fate than murderers?  Because, as Maya Angelou noted, “lying is the cornerstone of all vices” (120).  Lying to and about ourselves, lying to others – especially the innocents – and ultimately lying to God are the chief offenses.  Dante – and Beck and Angelou and Epectitus and C.S. Lewis and many others – recognize that this is where the worst evil is rooted.

     One of the greatest gifts of Beck’s book is a method of checking ourselves using two phrases.  First, she instructs readers to ask the simple question of what we are telling ourselves: are you sure?  This simple pause can keep us from a great number of errors as it inherently reminds us of the need for humility before we launch into a verbal attack against someone (or ourselves).  The second phrase she borrows from Byron Katie, who takes it to a deeper level: Can you absolutely know that thought is true?  Katie’s phrase is strengthened by the word “absolutely” to quicken our attention.  Both statements rely not just on the power of pausing in the moment to gain clarity, catch our breath, and act with intention.  Both assume that the truth can be recognized on a deep level within us beyond factual analysis.  They assume we have a built-in capacity, an inner voice that speaks truth.  While it is the work of our lives to continually whittle away all the influences that are not true, I wholeheartedly agree with their core assumption.  The Jewish story of creation has human beings being breathed into being.  The divine nature is inextricably woven into us. The only separation between us and the divine is what’s happening between our ears.  When we can slow down, the answers to the questions are you sure and can you absolutely know that thought is true whispers in our ears.  Object if you want.  I only ask you to consider this, and even try it.  I have discovered that there is great power in this exercise that has incredible affect.  Note: lies we must always hold in tension is our propensity to think of ourselves more highly than we ought – another lie we embrace for our own comfort.  I understand the objections to the suggestion – yet I encourage you to embrace what may be very true about the exercise and try it instead of throwing it out because you see its limitations.

     With all this in mind, let’s take a look at an infamous story from the earlier testament about a chapter in the life of Israel’s beloved Jewish King, David, when he was deep in the Dark Wood of Error on one particularly infamous occasion.  He was no longer young, no longer fit for battle, no longer able to identify himself in the ways he used to, and it caught up with him.  The “Man after God’s Own Heart” made mistake after messy mistake that cost literal and metaphorical life.  He was lost.  A guide showed up for him – Nathan – who, in his own abbreviated way took David through hell.  Because the only way out is through.  Take time and think deeply about every part of this story, the lies that were embraced the whole way through.  David pretty much commits every sin that could take him to the ninth circle of hell.  Can you identify them?

     What are you struggling with currently in your life?  Where are you suffering?  What are you saying to yourself about your reality right now.  Take some time and space.  Are you sure about what you are hearing, seeing, interpreting, and believing?  Can you absolutely know that thought is true?  What is the Spirit of God whispering in your ear as you listen?  Put pen to paper – journal this stuff out – it will help.  As you work through this process, you will see more and more how you have settled for your small self and hear more clearly the voice of your True Self speak.

  For exercises related to The Way of Integrity, and a discussion guide for each section, click here.    

Becoming Our True Selves: The Dark Wood of Error

Have you ever had a moment in your life when you were not at your best?  Sometimes the moment lasts a day, sometimes a week, sometimes a season when, in retrospect (and sometimes in the moment) we feel like an alien took over our bodies or something, because the attitudes and behaviors we’re exhibiting really don’t reflect who we want to be, who we believe ourselves to be.  When we’re in such moments, we feel a bit lost and in the dark.  We’re not exactly sure how we got there or how to get out.  It’s not a pleasant experience.  Have you ever been there?  If you haven’t, I wonder how you are enjoying your cruise on the River Denial?

     I wondered if there are any biblical characters that went through such common experiences.  A few notables came to mind immediately, but the more I thought about it, the more stories came to mind of people who got lost.  Adam and Eve.  Caine and Abel.  Noah.  Abraham. Isaac. Jacob. Joseph. Moses. Aaron. Saul. David. Solomon. Hezekiah. Elijah. Hosea. Jonah. Job. Peter. Paul. Judas. James and John. John the Baptist. Jesus’ family.  Oh, and Jesus.  I am leaving out many more, but hopefully you get the point.  Every one of these characters spent time feeling lost, not living into or out of their True Selves.  For some it took time and consequences to wake them from their stupor.  For some, they woke up so late that they roused only to die.  We generally don’t wittingly choose to get lost – we simply find ourselves there.

     Martha Beck, Ph.D. is a renowned author and coach for people who realize they are a little or a lot lost.  In her book, The Way of Integrity, she takes her readers on a fantasy journey crafted by Dante in his classic, The Divine Comedy. Beck sees more than a sci-fi tour of hell in this prose.  She sees a journey that every person is invited to take as part of being human.  Not everyone makes it all the way to Paradise, where we find great freedom and peace, because getting there is difficult.  Some get stuck in hell.  Most remain lost in the Dark Wood of Error, which is that space when we realize we are not living as our True Selves, but rather our small selves.

     From Beck’s long experience, she offers some symptom signs that we may be in the Dark Wood of Error, where we have lost sight and touch with our True Selves – who we are made to be, who we can be and long to be, who we can get back to being.  You may be in the Dark Wood of Error if you are feeling purposelessness.  Or emotional misery. Or physical deterioration. Or experiencing consistent relationship failures. Or consistent career failures. Or can’t shake persistent bad habits.  Of course, there can be other reasons beyond being in the Dark Wood of Error for the symptoms.  Yet I imagine there may be something resonating with you here, because this reflects very real human experience.  Dante’s work became a classic for a reason.  He was onto something.  He wasn’t simply describing his central character’s experience, was he?

     Are you lost in the woods?  Try the following exercise from Marth Beck.

Exercise: Finding integrity in the dark wood

Here is a simple exercise that will put your feet squarely on the way of integrity, no matter how lost you may feel. Below you’ll find a list of simple statements. Your job is to say them out loud. Whisper them privately, proclaim them to a friend, shout them at the next telemarketer who interrupts your day. And just for a moment, as you say each sentence, tentatively accept that it might be true.

Now here’s the important part: as you speak each sentence, feel what happens inside you. Your pride may sting, your inner critic may put its back up like a startled cat. But does your body relax a little, despite the apparent negativity of a given statement? Does your breath deepen? Do you feel a battle easing in your gut, your heart, your head? Just notice this. Don’t worry about what comes next. Okay, go.

My life isn’t perfect.
I don’t like the way things are going. I don’t feel good.
I’m sad.
I’m angry.
I’m scared.
I’m not at peace.
I can’t find my people.
I’m not sure where to go.
I don’t know what to do.
I need help.

     If we realize we are in the Dark Wood, we might wonder how we got there.  Beck believes that our True Selves get drowned out by other influences from our respective cultures.  In the Western world, she believes that pursuing and portraying culturally defined success leads us astray because the achievement of such success rarely delivers what we really desire for our lives.  This drive to get out of the woods as fast and easy as possible is represented in Dante’s Mt. Delectable.  Yet when we try climbing the mountain, we quickly realize it will be in vain and worse, potentially deadly.

     Especially in places where consumerism drives culture, advertising can be an incredibly powerful influence in our lives, tempting us away from things that really matter to us.  Take a moment to engage Beck’s exercise to help us get her point.

Exercise: Culture or nature?

First, recall the last time you saw some sort of advertising that really appealed to you. It might have been a television commercial, an ad on social media, or a display in a storefront. As it grabbed your attention, you might have felt strong desire for whatever was being advertised. Suddenly, you wanted—really wanted—the latest model of that smartphone, or that slick new car, or a trendier jacket than any you now own. Write down the thing you wanted.

Something advertising made me want:

For a moment, think about having this thing. Notice how your body feels as you hold the thought. Maybe you almost thirst to own this item. Maybe you feel a little racy with hope, or bitter with the conviction that you’ll never have such an awesome object. As best you can, write down a description of the sensation you get when you let yourself want this item. What do you feel, physically and emotionally, when you think about getting it?

When I imagine getting the thing advertising made me want, I experienced the following sensations:

Physical sensations:

Emotional sensations:

Now, shake it out. Literally. (Shaking your head, hands, or whole body, the way an animal might as it climbs out of water, can help clear your mind and emotions.) Let go of the advertising image. Notice if this is hard for you, if you’re almost compelled to go place an order for the New Thing, or at least stare at images of it. Whenever you can let go of this wanting enough to feel centered in the present moment, answer the following question:

When you’re alone in the quiet—say, lying awake at night—what do you yearn for? Not just want, yearn for. Write down the first thing that comes to mind.

Something I yearn for when I’m quiet:

Allow the sensation of yearning for this thing to grow. Vividly imagine having it. How does this image affect your body and your emotions? List them below.

When I imagine getting the thing I yearn for when I’m quiet, I experience the following sensations:

Physical sensations:

Emotional sensations:

Can you pick up any differences? The exact experience will be particular to you, but people typically feel completely disparate sensations when they’re triggered by advertising, as opposed to letting their desires emerge spontaneously from within.

     A final influence she identifies is what she calls “cultural hustle”, doing things we really don’t want to do, things that are not aligned with or True Selves.  Give a look at Beck exercise and see what sticks.

Exercise: Detecting your hustle

If you found out that some of the things you do every day come from culture, not your true nature, you’re hustling up your own version of Mount Delectable. Are you ready to get radically honest about that? Then ask yourself the following questions, and pause after each until you can feel the real answer. (Again, you don’t have to do anything except allow for internal recognition of the real situation. Just notice the difference between things you genuinely love to do and things you do for other reasons.)

·       Do you ever hang out with people you don’t truly enjoy? Who are they?

·       Do you consistently make yourself do anything (or many things) you don’t really want to do? Make a list.

·       Are there things you do solely out of fear that not doing them will upset someone, or lower your value in someone else’s eyes? What are they?

·       Are there any times in your daily life where you’re consistently pretending to be happier or more interested than you really are? And what areas (relationships, job activities, places) do you tend to do this?

·       Do you ever say things you know aren’t true, or things you don’t really, truly mean? What are they?

     As Dante recognized that climbing the mountain was not going to work, he came across a guide from his imagination – his favorite poet, Virgil.  Beck notes that guides seem to show up when we are in the Dark Wood.  These Soul Teachers, as she calls them, are there to help us find our way.  She notes that there are some common themes that seem to show up for many people.  Soul teachers: Capture our attention.  Come with a dash of magic. Offer genuine love. Don’t share our culture’s values. Don’t care about our hustle. Know when to quit.

     Inner guidance is available to us as well, flowing from our True Selves.  This inner voice is capable of helping us live with integrity, making choices that foster the peace we desire.  Try this exercise on for size:

Exercise: Meeting your inner teacher

Maybe you’ve never had an experience of pure, sweet integrity. Do you want to have it? Or maybe you’re remembering an experience of feeling briefly but totally aligned with your own truth. Do you want that feeling back? If so, one powerful step you can take right now is to acknowledge not only that you’re feeling a bit lost, but that you would really like to have a soul teacher. Our society doesn’t encourage you to admit this, but if it’s true for you, your heart won’t stop yearning for the mentor to arrive. Allow this feeling and keep your eyes open—your soul guide may show up any minute, from virtually anywhere. And if you’d like something to do while you’re waiting for that to happen, here’s a way you can access your inner teacher right now.

For this exercise you’ll need five to ten minutes in a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. You’ll also need something to write with. You can use your own paper for this exercise, or fill in the spaces provided here.

1.     In the previous chapter you wrote down a few things you consistently make yourself do, even though you don’t really want to do them. Now pick one of these things (or think of a brand new one) and write it here.

2.     With this activity in mind, say to yourself, “I am meant to do [this thing].” For example, if your activity is “take out the garbage,” mentally repeat, over and over, “I am meant to take out the garbage.”

3.     As you repeat “I am meant to [take out the garbage],” notice any physical sensations. Scan your body, noting the feelings in your muscles, joints, stomach, gut, skin surface, and so on. Write down anything you notice:

4.     Now turn your attention to your emotions. As you repeat “I am meant to [take out the garbage],” what emotional reactions arise? Anxiety? Bliss? Apathy? Write them down:

5.     Answer this question yes or no: As you mentally repeat “I am meant to [take out the garbage],” do you feel free? Now let go of the thought “I am meant to [take out the garbage].” Instead, mentally repeat this sentence: “I am meant to live in peace.” You don’t have to believe this, just repeat it in your mind over and over.

6.     As you repeat “I am meant to live in peace,” again notice your physical sensations. Scan your whole body with your attention and write down what you’re feeling physically:

7.     Still repeating “I am meant to live in peace,” notice any emotions arising. Write them down:

8.     Finally, answer this question yes or no: As you mentally repeat “I am meant to live in peace,” do you feel free?

     Let’s take stock for a moment.  We recognize that there are times in our lives when we find ourselves in the Dark Wood of Error. We are lost there because we have been influenced by external cultural factors that are not necessarily aligned with our True Selves.  These influences may encourage an easy out via Mt. Delectable, but such a pursuit is perilous.  When the time is right – when we are ready – we discover that guides are available to help us move forward.  We also recognize that deep within us our True Selves speak, helping us discern those decisions that lead us to deep peace.  This is all well and good. 

     What might not seem well and good is the news Virgil shares with Dante – the same news all worthy guides share with us.  The only way out of the Dark Wood of Error is through the Inferno which has inscribed above its gate, Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.  The hope that needs to be abandoned is that we can keep on living exactly as we have been and somehow also live our True Selves. This is called denial, which is a separation from reality.  Our living from our small selves got us into the Dark Wood of Error.  The Inferno holds secrets about ourselves, the things that have influenced us.  The Inferno is the place where we can look in the mirror and see what has been there all along.  Some of that which we will see is much too traumatic to look at alone – we need trained professionals.  But much of what needs to be seen simply requires honesty, which requires great courage.  When we choose to step through the hell gate and into the Inferno, into the total honesty zone, we realize that we do not control what happens next.  Beck offers a newsflash: we really don’t control anything, anywhere, anyway!  Time to let go of our denial and pursue the truth that just may set us free.

     Guts are required to move forward.  Our cowardice will sometimes tempt us back into the Dark Wood and set up camp.  Beck offers an exercise to help us defeat cowardice and replace it with courage.  Quite simply, she encourages us to realize that in each moment we have what we need to survive.  We fret over what might happen, but in reality, we only have right now. We are not living in the past.  We cannot live in the future.  We only live right now.  When we focus on our present, our Now, we find peace and strength. Meditation revolving around breathing helps us find peace in the moment, which gives us strength and courage because, guess what? – the future is filled with moments where we can walk in peace.

    Next week, we’ll enter hell. What could go wrong?

2022 Christmas Day Incarnation: God is NOWHERE

John’s Prologue (John 1:1-5 NLT)

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He existed in the beginning with God.

God created everything through him,

and nothing was created except through him.

The Word gave life to everything that was created,

and his life brought light to everyone.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

     Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name.  Christ means anointing.  Jesus was clearly anointed by God given his teaching, his lifestyle, and his ministry (especially of miracles). 

     Christ is the presence of God that permeates everything.  We witnessed it in Jesus – an ordinary man by his own account and preference – who woke up to the presence of God that is everywhere, always, and inextricably intertwined in all of creation, including ourselves.  We are not separated from God as the tracts tell us – not literally – because that is impossible.  Our separation is in our blindness, in our incapacity to recognize what’s been here the whole time.  Jesus was unique in this – he took a major step forward from the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, and from Moses.  For Jesus, God was never “up there” but in here and everywhere.  That Good News changed his perspective which changed his life and eventually changed ours!  Richard Rohr notes,

“We daringly believe that God’s presence was poured into a single human being, so that humanity and divinity can be seen to be operating as one in him—and therefore in us! But instead of saying that God came into the world through Jesus, maybe it would be better to say that Jesus came out of an already Christ-soaked world. The second Incarnation flowed out of the first, out of God’s loving union with physical creation” (The Universal Christ, 16, 14-15).

     If Rohr is right – and I believe he is, perhaps we need to train our eyes differently.  Amy E. Herman, in her A Lesson on Looking TED Talk, refers to her work on “seeing” that has helped people from a wide range of industries pay attention to things they might otherwise ignore. Could it be that we need to learn from her when it comes to our faith?  Is it possible that if we had eyes to see, we could discover God in the midst of the artwork of our lives as often as we are willing and able to look and see?

     Author Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) saw incarnation this way:

     A sky full of God’s children! Each galaxy, each star, each living creature, every particle and sub-atomic particle of creation, we are all children of the Maker. From a sub-atomic particle with a life span of a few seconds, to a galaxy with a life span of billions of years, to us human creatures somewhere in the middle in size and age, we are . . . children of God, made in God’s image.

     Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, Christ, the Maker of the universe or perhaps many universes, willingly and lovingly leaving all that power and coming to this poor, sin-filled planet to live with us for a few years to show us what we ought to be and could be. Christ came to us as Jesus of Nazareth, wholly human and wholly divine, to show us what it means to be made in God’s image. Jesus, as Paul reminds us, was the firstborn of many brethren [Romans 8:29].

     I stand on the deck of my cottage, looking at a sky full of God’s children, knowing that I am one of many brethren, and sistren, too, and that Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

     Bathed in this love, I go into the cottage and to bed.

     Writer and organizer Kelley Nikondeha describes how the context of Jesus’ birth demonstrates God’s Incarnation amongst those who suffer and are oppressed: 

     The advent narratives demand we take the political and economic world of Roman Palestine seriously. The Gospel writers named the empires of Caesar and Herod not for dramatic effect; they didn’t mention a census or massacre for literary flourish. The Gospel writers used contextual markers to describe in concrete ways the turmoil of the times that hosted the first advent.

     It is this very context that makes the advent narratives contemporary—whether in Israel-Palestine or lands beyond. Our troubled times, shaped by all manner of injustice, cause continued suffering, making the loud cries of lament and cries for peace timely, as they are answered by advent. . . .

     The Incarnation positions Jesus among the most vulnerable people, the bereft and threatened of society. The first advent shows God wrestling with the struggles common to many the world over. And from this disadvantaged stance, Jesus lives out God’s peace agenda as a counter-testimony to Caesar’s peace.

     This is the story of advent: we join Jesus as incarnations of God’s peace on this earth for however long it takes. God walks in deep solidarity with humanity, sharing in our sufferings and moments of hope. Amid our hardship, God is with us. Emmanuel remains the name on our lips in troubled times (Kelley Nikondeha, The First Advent in Palestine: Reversals, Resistance, and the Ongoing Complexity of Hope).

     And how about this?  Father Greg Boyle is the Founder of Homeboy Industries, which offers jobs, services, and dignity to former gang members. He has witnessed the healing that comes from having reverence for reality—which is where we bump into God: 

     We remember the sacred by our reverence.... This is the esteem we extend to the reality revealed to us. Jesus didn’t abandon his reality, he lived it. He ran away from nothing and sought some wise path through everything. He engaged in it all with acceptance. He had an eye out always for cherishing his reality. A homie, Leo, wrote me: “I’m going to trust God’s constancy of love to hover over my crazy ass. I’m fervent in my efforts to cultivate holy desires.” This is how we find this other kind of stride and joyful engagement in our cherished reality. The holy rests in every single thing. Yes, it hovers, over our crazy asses....

     I always liked that Saint Kateri Tekakwitha’s name “Tekakwitha” means “she who bumps into things.” What if holiness is a contact sport and we are meant to bump into things? This is what it means to embrace a contemplative, mystical way of seeing wholeness. It gives a window into complexity and keeps us from judging and scapegoating and demonizing. If we allow ourselves to “bump into things,” then we quit measuring. We cease to Bubble-Wrap ourselves against reality. We stop trying to “homeschool” our way through the world so that the world won’t touch us. Hard to embrace the world . . . if we are so protective and defensively shielded from it. A homie told me once, “It’s taken me all these years to see the real world. And once ya see it—there’s only God there.”

     Boyle closes the gap between the secular and the sacred: 

     We don’t want to distance the secular but always bring it closer. It’s only then that ordinary things and moments become epiphanies of God’s presence. Some man said to me once, “I want to become more spiritual.” Yet God is inviting us to inhabit the fullness of our humanity. God holds out wholeness to us. Let’s not settle for just spiritual. We are sacramental to our core when we think that everything is holy. The holy not just found in the supernatural but in the Incarnational here and now. The truth is that sacraments are happening all the time if we have the eyes to see... the Infinite is present in it all... (Gregory Boyle, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness).

     And finally, Rachel Held Evans sums it here:

To understand Mary’s humanity and her central role in Jesus’s story is to remind ourselves of the true miracle of the Incarnation—and that is the core Christian conviction that God is with us, plain old ordinary us. God is with us in our fears and in our pain, in our morning sickness and in our ear infections, in our refugee crises and in our endurance of Empire, in smelly barns and unimpressive backwater towns, in the labor pains of a new mother and in the cries of a tiny infant. In all these things, God is with us—and God is for us.

     May we have eyes to see, really see, and appreciate and embrace the incarnation of God in all of creation, and at this time, in Jesus, that we might embrace the reality of incarnation in ourselves.  May that truth permeate us, change our vision of ourselves and all others.  May we find great strength and courage and self-esteem to move forward in the knowledge that we are forever loved, forever held, forever included in the grace of God.

A Closing and Opening Prayer: God, Lord of all creation, lover of life and of everything, please help us to love in our very small way what You love infinitely and everywhere. We thank You that we can offer just this one prayer and that will be more than enough, because in reality every thing and every one is connected, and nothing stands alone. To pray for one part is really to pray for the whole, and so we do. Help us each day to stand for love, for healing, for the good, for the diverse unity of the Body of Christ and all creation, because we know this is what You desire: as Jesus prayed, that all may be one. We offer our prayer together with all the holy names of God, we offer our prayer together with Christ, our Lord. Amen.

2022 Christmas Eve: Rebel Jesus

As a nation we celebrate the birthdays of key historical figures in US history.  It’s meant to honor their memory and rekindle ours.  George Washington, of course, led the Revolution, and after serving his term as president, peacefully transferred power to the next president. Abraham Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation and led the US through Civil War, freeing slaves. Martin Luther King, Jr. peacefully protested to increase genuine equality and equity for those who didn’t have it, especially African Americans.  Christmas is, of course, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the unlikely founder of Christianity which strives to follow his teachings.

     I don’t remember spending any time placing a mini plantation on our mantel to honor Washington or building a log cabin anywhere in our home for Lincoln or buying greeting cards with a two-story Queen Anne style home to honor MLK.  We don’t focus much at all on their birthplaces – we focus instead on their leadership legacy.  Yet where people start sometimes alludes to what matters to them later.  Washington was born into great wealth on his family’s plantation. Perhaps it was his wealth that helped him truly see how poorly the King was governing that moved him toward revolution? Lincoln spent the first half of his life in a log cabin.  Could that beginning have shaped his understanding and empathy of those who physically labored to get by?  Could MLK’s beginning have shaped his understanding of segregation’s severe inhumanity?  Could there be a correlation between Jesus’ beginning and his leadership mission and vision?

     In the first century, nobody sent Christmas cards of Jesus’ birth site.  Because it was humiliating and unfit for any publicity.  There is almost nothing about Jesus’ birth narrative that is beautiful.  An extremely poor couple finds their way to Bethlehem just as Mary is going into labor.  In a part of the world that is noted for the hospitality ethic, nobody makes room for them.  How humiliating is that?  The only option given them was a cramped space where farm animals were kept.  Smelly.  Filthy.  Unholy.  Mary gave birth in that awful setting with only the help of Joseph and a supporting cast of a cow, donkey, a goat or two, and sheep.  Think gas station bathroom.  You can’t get much lower.  And the first folks to come greet them?  Not the Mayor of Bethlehem or the Governor or Chief Priest, but the lowest-on-the-totem-pole shepherds, who smelled like the labor and deliver barn.  Nobody wanted to get that card in the mail!  Can you imagine receiving a Christmas card of a family crowded into a highway gas station bathroom? If we didn’t have angels signaling that this was happening, nobody would see it as anything more than pitiful.  Yet this beginning spoke volumes of what was to come.  This beginning was countercultural and counterintuitive.  This is the narrative the Luke’s Gospel chose to spotlight.  In the worst circumstances imaginable, God was powerfully present.  Not rejecting them.  Not ridiculing them.  But joining them.  Inhabiting the space with them.  Empowering them.  In the humblest of settings, with the humblest of means, we recognize God showing up.

     The theme continued all the way through Jesus’ life.  He was not known for climbing the corporate ladder but rather descending it to be near and befriend those who felt rejected (because they were).  Outcasts. Lepers.  Prostitutes.  Tax Collectors.  And mostly everyday people.  He walked around proclaiming that God did not favor the powerful over the powerless as has always been believed even to this day, but that God has a more pronounced presence with those who struggle.  He challenged the religious and political systems that protected the status quo that favored the wealthy at the expense of the poor.  He called out bad theology taught by the highest leaders of Judaism.  He lived in defiance of their narrow teaching.  He proclaimed love for all and he himself loved all.  His way was love all the way through his death.  He was no Zealot looking for a violent revolt.  He was a pacifist rebel who was so effective at what he taught and lived that we don’t just give him a day to honor his memory, we give him a season. 

     What Jesus are you remembering this year?  The glossy, overly romanticized, highly filtered Jesus that never existed, or the one whose birth was a rebellion of norms that shaped the Rebel Jesus?  His birth reminds us that God is with those in the worst of circumstances.  His life proved that it was true. 

     This week I read an email sent out by Pete Enns to his fans.  Enns is a biblical scholar, author, speaker, and host of The Bible for Normal People.  He wrote:

     Over a decade ago, I heard well-known scholar of early Christianity, John Dominic Crossan, speak at an academic conference...  He said if you took someone who knew nothing of Jesus, but did understand the religious-political powder keg of 1st century Palestine— understood the tensions between various Jewish groups with different ideas about God and how to live in their own land under Roman rule, and tensions between Jewish and Greco-Roman customs, now centuries old—and then handed that person the Gospel of Mark, that person wouldn’t have to read much before asking, “Who is this Jesus?” and “When is he going to be killed?”

     I like being reminded of this Rebel Jesus, the one Jackson Browne wrote about.  I want to forget the Jesus who behaves, who looks like he would fit right in at church, who acts as expected, colors between the lines, and never wanders off the beach blanket, and remember instead the rebel Jesus, the countercultural, sometimes snarky, sometimes funny, uncompromisingly in-your-face-against-hypocritical-gatekeepers, uber-compassionate toward outsiders, challenger of the status quo, total mensch Jesus. That’s where I’d rather be this Christmas.

     Some of us need to pause and remember Jesus on this celebration of his birthday to reset our minds.  Is there any part of us that lost sight of who he was and what he was about?  Have we traded the rebel for a revolutionary?  Or worse, for a model of the status quo?  The Rebel Jesus challenges our thinking, our worldview, our held beliefs, our motivations, our attitude, our biases, and our behavior with Grace.  How will we be altered considering his birth?

     Some of us are struggling and need to be reminded that God draws near to the brokenhearted – broken by struggle, poor health, economic issues, bad luck, bad choices, bad start, etc.  Some of us relate to the humiliation of the stable and manger all too easily.  That’s were God showed up with love and light.  God is with you.  You are not alone.  You are loved, supported, and empowered by the Source of everything.

     Considering all that Jesus’ birth represents, have hope, peace, joy and love! In the Rebel Jesus these were reborn in a time of political turmoil, deep prejudice, inhumane injustice, and extreme poverty. Christmas declares forever that God is like a current that runs deeper than despair, flows with and toward love, for everyone (including you!).  Always.  May you find yourself in that flow.  May you find yourself altered where you need it.  May you find yourself full of the love of God that has always been there, and always will be.

The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne

All the streets are filled with laughter and light

And the music of the season

And the merchants' windows are all bright

With the faces of the children

And the families hurrying to their homes

While the sky darkens and freezes

Will be gathering around the hearths and tables

Giving thanks for God's graces

And the birth of the rebel Jesus

Well, they call him by 'the Prince of Peace’

And they call him by 'the Savior’

And they pray to him upon the seas

And in every bold endeavor

And they fill his churches with their pride and gold

As their faith in him increases

But they've turned the nature that I worship in

From a temple to a robber's den

In the words of the rebel Jesus

Well, we guard our world with locks and guns

And we guard our fine possessions

And once a year when Christmas comes

We give to our relations

And perhaps we give a little to the poor

If the generosity should seize us

But if any one of us should interfere

In the business of why there are poor

They get the same as the rebel Jesus

Now pardon me if I have seemed

To take the tone of judgement

For I've no wish to come between

This day and your enjoyment

In a life of hardship and of earthly toil

There's a need for anything that frees us

So, I bid you pleasure

And I bid you cheer from a heathen and a pagan

On the side of the rebel Jesus

Complete Joy

     Happiness and Joy.  I have met people who are happy but not joyful.  I have met people who have discovered that they can be joyful even though they’re not happy.  I have met people who are happy and joyful.  I have also known people who know not happiness or joy – they are to be empathized with the most, because they are truly, deeply miserable. When we think about Mary the mother of Jesus, we find in her a person who discovered deep abiding joy even though happiness tended to come and go.

     Happy but not joyful people are a dime a dozen.  Momentary is a word that comes to mind when I think of happiness.  We can be caught up in happiness for a period of time – sometimes only a flash, sometimes lasting awhile.  For some people, happiness is as easy as a good parking space during the Christmas season at any store.  I have thanked my “Parking Jesus” many times in my life when, Lo and Behold, a space seemed to appear from the heavens just for me.  Sometimes it’s a Frappuccino.  Or a homemade scone.  Or a kind word.  Or a Giants or A’s or Sharks or Warriors or 49’ers or Chiefs win.  Or a Dodgers loss.  Or a feel-good Christmas movie we can get lost in for a couple of hours for the hundredth time.  Or a good conversation or date or party or work review.  It’s a long list of things that can make people happy.  What’s on your list?

     Most of the things on that list don’t last for long.  The Frappuccino for me is gone in five minutes, regardless of size.  It’s just physics, I guess.  The win, the parking space, the review, the movie, the new toy – the buzz usually fades pretty fast. 

     I have known people who have neither happiness or joy.  They are often more miserable than most because nothing will make them happy even for a moment -not even a puppy or kitten! – and worse, they do not know or have lost sight or connection to the source of joy.  Joy is bedrock.  Without it, we are left with shifting sand that cannot support happiness for very long.

     Happiness and joy are not the same thing.  Joy is deeper, a foundation that is strong enough to build life upon, to get us through hard times when happiness cannot be bought or won or found or watched.  Believe it or not, I have known people who have been joyful even when also in great sorrow.  They aren’t bouncing around like Tigger.  They aren’t smiling.  They may be weeping.  Yet they – paradoxically – are also joyful.  Something deeper is operating in their lives that holds them and strengthens them.  I see that at times of death, when a loved one has passed on.  A person can be filled with grief and loss yet have joy at the same time – for the time and life shared and for the confidence that life is more than flesh and bones and neurons and synapses.  I have even met people on their literal deathbed who smile, not in denial of their looming death, but because joy runs deeper.  As a pastor I get a front row seat on such things.  I am not kidding here – I have known several people dying painful deaths who were joyful even as they cringed.

     I think Mary knew joy that runs deep.  I think she discovered it by the very good news that was also very bad news.  The bad news?  She was going to have an unplanned – and to some degree, on some days more than others, unwanted – pregnancy.  She went to visit her cousin Elizabeth for a reason – to get out of Dodge!  She needed time and space to breathe, to prepare for what was to come while she could hide it in the company of safe people.  But she couldn’t stay with Elizabeth forever.  She had to face life ahead, which included her parents, her friends, her village, and her fiancé.  None of them would be initially supportive or believing.  That’s what makes her Magnificat so magnificent!  Here she is, in a terrible, terrifying, unhappy predicament, yet she expresses joy.

     Where does her joy come from?  The good/bad news itself.  “You’re going to be with child, Mary, and not in the usual way.  I know that’s bad news, really bad news, in fact, but that’s what’s coming.  God is in it, though, so keep faith and reflect on what a blessing you are receiving – bringing a life into the world that will radically change everything. So, Keep Calm and Carry On, Good Luck and all that.  We’ll be in touch...”

     Pixar put out an animated movie years ago called Monsters, Inc., telling the story of two buddies trying to do their best to scare enough humans to keep the lights on.  Mike, voiced by Billy Crystal, was the much-less-scary sidekick to Sully, voiced by John Goodman.  When Sully and Mike would get some positive press, the focus was always on Sully, with Mike’s image likely obscured or covered up by something, leaving barely any evidence of his presence.  The gag, however, was that when Mike would see the publication, instead of being upset that he wasn’t more prominently featured, he lit up with delight because he made the front page. 

     Mary recognized something in the “invitation” that carried deep, joyful meaning.  She was being addressed by God, invited by God, valued by God, celebrated by God, blessed by God.  Whatever bad news was inherent was eclipsed by profound, easy-to-miss-in-our-era good news.  Mary was a peasant girl, born to peasants, with no hope for being more than a peasant. Don’t get too excited about her lineage, either.  One thousand years since he lived, the Davidic line was about as impressive as saying that you’re a direct descendent of Adam.  Not much of a pride point (although perhaps that’s not altogether true?  More on that later...). Her future included an arranged marriage that was already in place, children that came with a high mortality rate (for mothers, too), being treated like property with no official power.  Maybe she would live into her 30’s.  No hope for formal education or a job or respect.  That’s her basepoint.  That’s why the news carried so much joy.  The invitation itself spoke volumes.  She mattered.  To God.  Forever. God who is eternal and unshakable.  God who is ultimate reality.  Source of life and all that. Holder of whatever comes after this life.  That God spoke value to her, which is why she says the things she does in her Magnificat.  She got the message loud and clear.  The message may have been unhappy, but it was deeply joyful.  She mattered.

     It turns out that this message was one that Jesus came to bring to Mary types everywhere.  “God loves human beings and is with them” was revolutionary thinking.  Theologically there was precedent in the Jewish tradition, but in popular thought it was easy to miss.  Still is.  People today can be overwhelmed by the messages of the culture, their family, their significant others, their workplace, the images in popular media, their bank account, their zip code, and on and on that tell them they are less than what they hoped.  Some people tell themselves the destructive, deceitful message that denies the Gospel.  So let me tell you plainly.  You are pregnant.  Pregnant with the Spirit of God that is forever part of you. Pregnant with possibility even if you’ve had a hard life.  You are inherently valuable, meaning that your core value as a human being cannot be minimized.  Being related to Adam and Eve turns out to be quite a declaration.  We may be dirt clods, but we are God-breathed into life!  This is cause for unshakable joy even when life is hard. 

     When we center on that, we can get through most anything.  When we lose sight of it, happiness is fleeting.  Henri Nouwen notes that “Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing - sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death — can take that love away.” Thus, joy and sorrow can not only coexist; joy can even be found during sorrowful circumstances.

     How are you seeing yourself today, Mary?  How is your vision of yourself limiting or buoying or propelling your life? How are you viewing others?  Are there people that are easy for you to recognize as modern Marys?  Are there people who aren’t so easy to see for their inherent worth?  How are you treating them?  Could it be that the way we interact with people influences how they see themselves just like our own self-talk influences ourselves?

     I hope you have a Happy Christmas.  Much more than that, I hope you are able to tap into the Joy to the World, because the Lord has come, is in you, and is inviting you forward into unshakable, joy filled life.

Wheat and Chaff

The commentary I read on this week’s passage remembering John the Baptist’s ministry, which was a precursor to Jesus, made an interesting observation: baptism was a rite of passage used especially for Gentiles converting to Judaism, although surely some Jewish folks immersed themselves as well.  It was a sign of being “all in”.  That imagery still fits.  The Gentile association surely recalls the “baptism” of Naaman, a military commander who contracted (?) leprosy and sought help from Elisha (2 Kings 5).  This was a healing/cleansing act of trust on Naaman’s part that required from him great humility as a military leader.  It is a bit of a leap to equate the two, but one can see the reason for it.  Regardless, if baptism was more for Gentiles than Jewish people, this means that the scene was one of inclusion, inviting any and all to “prepare for the coming of the Lord.”

     John’s invitation to both Jews and non-Jews is to repent – to turn around, to change one’s mind and live differently, fruitfully.  This is more than a forgiveness thing – this is a change your life thing.  The religious leaders who showed up to see what John was doing were infamous for counting too much on their religious heritage and their correct beliefs to keep them in God’s favor.  John called them out for their hypocrisy and called them to repent as well.

     From one perspective, John’s remembered preaching appears to be like an accurate example of a hellfire and brimstone preacher, using terrifying threats to motivate the audience toward repentance.  Yet there is more than meets the eye here.  The image of separating the wheat from the chaff, which will then be burned in the fire, seems particularly hellish.  But what if he was simply using a well-known symbol of change to help his audience understand what Jesus came to do?  Separating the wheat from the chaff is to get rid of what is not longer necessary so that the grain can be used.  We as people are not the chaff.  Yet all of us have chaff that surrounds the wheat – our True Selves.  John’s call to get prepared is an invitation to let go of all that holds you back in order to let your True Self emerge and lead. The invitation is to become who you are meant to be and naturally produce good fruit by the way you live your life.

     One great aspect of this interpretation is that it solves a theological problem then and now related to apocalyptic fever.  John is saying that the end is near, essentially, and that we are invited to clean up our act.  The invitation intimates that it is possible.  God desires to help us turn our lives around.  He sees the religious leaders who are counting on their heritage and orthodoxy to bring about the salvation they hope for and tells them they are getting it wrong!  They need to get rid of the husks, too, and live unencumbered, fruitful lives.

     Husk of Religiosity. Ever since Jesus was no longer walking the planet, we have been living in the “end times.”  The New Testament writers were thinking Jesus might come back in some sort of Sci-Fi supernatural way any moment.  As time drew on, some got discouraged, and were reminded that God, being eternal, may have a different time horizon than mere mortals.  Religious fervor still exists today, with some folks every generation declaring that we are in the end times.  The thought behind it is that God will end the human experiment by bringing the end of time to reality where everybody gets judged and a new reality emerges.  God’s just waiting until it gets bad enough, I guess?  For some folks, this seems ridiculous and provides just cause to separate from the faith.  Others simply say we need to have faith and keep watch.  The problem is that most people I’ve seen who get really “excited” about the end times ratchet up their religious zeal and more or less blow off any faithful living that might actually produce fruit.  They sit confident in their belief statement and don’t really care if the world goes to hell – probably because they think it will anyway!  John’s admonition is quite relevant here – having faith isn’t simply about getting forgiven, it’s about bearing fruit.  Those who claim to take the end times so seriously have a lot of work to catch up on that got deferred in their apathy! Their husk of religiosity needs to be removed.

     Husk of Certainty. The other caution that John’s story provides regarding apocalyptic fever and the hopes for the eschaton is that John himself was blinded by his own expectations.  He was confident that Jesus was the anointed one, but in time – and especially when he was imprisoned for calling out some politicians for their immorality – he questioned whether or not Jesus was the real deal.  John likely thought Jesus would look and act like him – and probably even more radical.  Instead, Jesus wore normal clothing and ate normal food, even indulging in a party with wine and feasting now and then.  John, being the first teetotaling Baptist, was befuddled.  He was subtly judging him from prison. Jesus, hearing his concern, did not admonish John for his limited and limiting expectations, but instead sent report back that the one thing John preached was being delivered: fruit. Lepers were healed, the deaf were hearing, the dead were coming back to life.  Jesus was living out his faith, which was very naturally bearing fruit. John’s husk of certainty needed to be removed so that he could see what was right in front of him.

     What are our husks?  Advent is about preparation for the coming of the anointed One, or, more simply, the anointing.  It invites all to hear that Good News is on the way – Good News that will seek to remove the husk that keeps our True Self grain from being free.  Good News that says that fruit can come from strange places and people.  Who would guess that the central characters would be nobodies from nowhere?  It’s still true today!  Hear the warm, hopeful invitation embedded in what first appears to be a turn or burn sermon. Hear the invitation to fully immerse yourself in the Peace that passes understanding, to be grounded in Hope, that will take us into Joy, and be known by its greatest fruit, Love.

Enjoy the following commentary from the texts we looked at today...

CHANGE YOUR MIND: SALT'S LECTIONARY COMMENTARY FOR ADVENT WEEK TWO

Second Week of Advent (Year A): Matthew 3:1-12 and Isaiah 11:1-10

Big Picture:

1) This year we’ll be walking together through the Gospel of Matthew. The journey began last week with a kind of “flash-forward” from Matthew 24: on the verge of his descent to the cross, Jesus warns of difficult days ahead, both assuring his disciples that God will make everything right in the end and urging them to “keep awake” and “be ready.” This week, we turn to Matthew’s story of John the Baptizer appearing in the wilderness. It’s a little bit like when a film starts with an arresting scene from late in the story, a glimpse of the breathtaking drama to come — and then rewinds to begin at the beginning.

2) As we enter Matthew’s masterpiece, it’s worth remembering what sort of thing a “gospel” is. Originally intended to be read aloud, Matthew is a kind of story-sermon meant to declare good news — euangelion or “gospel” — in ways that provoke listeners to reflect, repent, believe, and serve the wider world. It’s a decidedly practical, poetic work of art, layered with multiple levels of meaning and grounded both in Matthew’s immediate situation and in the broad, astonishing sweep of salvation history. In short, a “gospel” is a form of strategic storytelling that aims to change your life.

3) The second week of Advent traditionally centers on lighting a candle of peace, a light to shine against the growing shadows of conflict and war. Accordingly, this is an excellent week to think, preach, and reflect on war and peacemaking, conflict and reconciliation, hearts full of violence and the wolf lying down with the lamb. And an excellent starting point is to recall that Matthew’s Gospel was written in a time of military occupation, from the perspective of an oppressed people under the thumb of the Roman Empire.

4) In this week’s reading from Isaiah, the prophet speaks of a new king on whom “the spirit of the LORD shall rest,” whose reign will bring peace and concord to the whole creation (Isa 11:2). Generations of Christian interpreters have identified this figure with Jesus of Nazareth.

Scripture:

1) On first glance, John the Baptizer’s sermon comes across as a blunt, bristling attack (“Repent!” “You brood of vipers!”) — but on closer inspection, it’s actually a powerful, door-opening message of inclusion and hope.

2) How so? First, there’s the figure of John himself: ostensibly, he’s a scraggly, isolated eccentric, alone in the wilderness. But Matthew highlights specific details (“camel’s hair,” “leather belt”) that cast him as a new Elijah, and at the same time as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s vision of a “voice in the wilderness” ushering in a day when God’s glory will be revealed, and “all people shall see it together” (Mt 3:4; 2 Kings 1:8; Mt 17:11-13; Isa 40:3-5). Matthew’s point is clear: God has raised up another Elijah in the wilderness, out beyond the coordinates and control of the empire. God is on the move — and the dawn of the new era of redemption, heralded by Elijah’s return, has arrived.

3) Second, the core of John’s message — “Repent, for God’s realm has come near!” — is a radically open invitation. The Greek word for “repentance” here is metanoia (from meta, “change, and noia, “mind”); today we would say, “change of heart” or “change of life,” a thoroughgoing and ongoing shift and reorientation. Accordingly, the visible sign for this change John uses is baptism, an immersive rite then typically reserved for Gentile converts to Judaism, to signify their comprehensive conversion. But John is calling on the children of Abraham to undergo this baptism, too, as if to say, We all require conversion, not just the Gentiles. For a new day, a new era is at hand! Change your minds and hearts and lives! Come and be baptized for the sake of forgiveness of sins — for God is coming near!

4) Third, John then underscores that “bearing fruit” is what matters most. Mere membership in a religious or ethnic lineage won’t cut it, he thunders; what matters is what you do!  Again, the central idea here is an opening up of salvation beyond religious or ethnic boundaries. Ordinary folks, supposed outsiders, presumptuous insiders — everyone is invited to change for the better, to “bear good fruit,” and so to become “children of Abraham,” which is to say, heirs to the covenantal promise God gives to Abraham (Mt 3:10; Gen 17:7). John’s words are stern and his images are full of urgency, but his vision of salvation is universal in scope.

5) But wait a minute — doesn’t John sum up his remarks by speaking of “separating the wheat from the chaff,” including some but excluding others? And doesn’t he say Jesus will come and make this fateful separation, burning the chaff away in “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12)? That’s one way of interpreting John’s metaphor here, but a closer look points us in a different direction. Every grain of wheat has a husk, and farmers (even today) use wind to separate these husks — collectively known as “chaff” — from the grain, the goal being, of course, to save every grain, not to separate the good grain from the bad grain. This is a metaphor of preservation and refinement, not division. What the wind and fire remove are the husks that get in the way: the anxieties, self-absorption, apathy, or greed that make us less generous, less just, or less respectful of others. Alexandr Solzhenitsyn has it right: there is a line between good and evil, but it doesn’t run between groups; it runs through the heart of each person. What each of us requires is restoration, liberation from whatever “husks” are holding us back. And sure enough, later in the New Testament, this is exactly how the wind and fire of the Spirit work: not to destroy, but to sanctify, purify, challenge, restore, and empower (see, for example, Matthew 3:16; 4:1; Luke 4:1-21; Acts 2:1-4).

6) Likewise, Isaiah’s vision of the final redemption is breathtakingly broad. All creatures — wolf and lamb, lion and calf, child and asp — live together in peace: “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9).

Takeaways:

1) Even with its brusque elements (“You brood of vipers!”), John’s preaching is nevertheless good news. How? First, John’s challenge itself is dignifying, since it presumes that we have the capacity to rise up and meet it, to bear the “good fruit” God created us to bear. Second, John’s challenge is open to all, not just a privileged few, thereby declaring the divine covenant open to all. And third, John’s prophetic poetry includes the promise that the Spirit comes, in wind and fire, not to destroy but to refine, to restore, and to empower the children of God. Will we have to let go of our anxieties, our self-absorption, our apathy, our sin? Yes, and those will be burned away. But the chaff is removed — for the sake of the wheat! Jesus comes that we might be saved, which is to say, restored, set free from the “husks” in our lives and communities — and this is the good news of the Gospel.

2) Both because this week’s traditional Advent theme is “Peace” and because Matthew is a subversive Gospel of peace written during a time of military occupation, this may be a perfect week to name and explore the realities of conflict in our lives today. God is calling us toward greater peacemaking between peoples and between individuals, and Advent is a season both to long for God’s shalom and to become lights of that shalom in the shadows.

3) As we prepare for this new era of shalom, John challenges us to change our hearts, minds, and lives — for the days of peace have come near! Make way! Remove the obstacles, the husks that get in the way! Bear fruit! The Prince of Peace approaches — not on a warhorse like the imperial authorities of the day, but rather as a humble prophet, teacher, and healer, God’s beloved child, born homeless, sleeping with the animals. For the days are surely coming, cries the prophet, when no one will “hurt or destroy… for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9).

Isaiah 11:1-10 NLT

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—

yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

He will delight in obeying the LORD.

He will not judge by appearance

nor make a decision based on hearsay.

He will give justice to the poor

and make fair decisions for the exploited.

The earth will shake at the force of his word,

and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.

He will wear righteousness like a belt

and truth like an undergarment.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;

the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.

The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,

and a little child will lead them all.

The cow will graze near the bear.

The cub and the calf will lie down together.

The lion will eat hay like a cow.

The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra.

Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.

Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,

for as the waters fill the sea,

so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD.

In that day the heir to David’s throne

will be a banner of salvation to all the world.

The nations will rally to him,

and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

Isaiah 11:1-10 MSG

A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse's stump,

from his roots a budding Branch.

The life-giving Spirit of GOD will hover over him,

the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit that gives direction and builds strength,

the Spirit that instills knowledge and Fear-of-GOD.

Fear-of-GOD

will be all his joy and delight.

He won't judge by appearances,

won't decide on the basis of hearsay.

He'll judge the needy by what is right,

render decisions on earth's poor with justice.

His words will bring everyone to awed attention.

A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked.

Each morning he'll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots,

and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.

The wolf will romp with the lamb,

the leopard sleep with the kid.

Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,

and a little child will tend them.

Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,

their calves and cubs grow up together,

and the lion eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,

the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.

Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill

on my holy mountain.

The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,

a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

On that day, Jesse's Root will be raised high, posted as a rallying banner for the peoples. The nations will all come to him. His headquarters will be glorious.

Matthew 3:1-12 NLT

In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!

Clear the road for him!’”

     John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

     But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

     “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”

Mathew 11:1-11 NLT

When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region.

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

and he will prepare your way before you.’

“I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!

Advent, Expectations, and Hope

When Jesus was born, his Jewish peers were distraught.  Nobody alive at the time of his birth knew anything other than Roman occupation.  A revolt of sorts in their past only led to greater tyranny.  Yet, their origin stories reminded them of a time when they were enslaved in far faraway Egypt and God rescued them.  Could God do it again after all these hundreds of years?  It seemed that they were due for such a deliverance. So, they waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And hoped. 

     A different sort of virus was taking hold – Apocalyptic Fever was catching quickly all around.  And it was lethal for those who got a bad case of it.  It would lead ordinary, everyday people to revolt against the Roman Empire.  Every time it happened, they lost their lives as well as varying numbers of innocents who were dragged into it. The only way they could imagine God saving the day was violence, so that’s what they hoped for, dreamt of, and prepared for.  What they hoped for, and perhaps more importantly the means they assumed would lead to the realization of their hopes, powerfully shaped their imagination and vision.  They hoped for a peace brought on by a violent overthrow, so they trained for battle, turning their plowshares into swords, their pruning hooks into spears.  It was the only way they could imagine.

     We see a glimpse of this thinking in the Gospel reading today that will be read by hundreds of millions of people around the world today.  The gist of the words put on Jesus’ lips was to remain ready for what God is going to do.  The day of God’s movement could happen at any moment.  While the stories of Jesus circulated for decades before Matthew’s Gospel was finalized, the finished product undoubtedly was impacted by the experiences of Jesus followers, including the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.  It was the final blow to Jewish dreams of gaining their homeland though violence.  Their only hope became an inbreaking of the power of God like the story of Noah and the ark.  “God, supernaturally rescue us!” was their prayer of hope that shaped their vision.

     Yet that’s not the story of Jesus’ origin, really.  The birth narratives of Jesus do not include references to violence, but rather a different sort of reversal by a different route.  Joseph and Mary could not be humbler folk – they represented the bottom rung of society.  Elizabeth and Zechariah (relatives of Mary) weren’t any different, except that they were known for their faithfulness to God.  The fact that Mary visited Elizabeth tells us that the news of her pregnancy was not welcome but more likely scorned – this is not how a holy god would go about redeeming people, right?  The place Jesus was born was also a sign of terrible poverty and shame, especially given the hospitality ethic that reigned supreme in that part of the world.  Shepherds who heard the angelic birth announcement were working the graveyard shift representing the fact that they, like Joseph, were insignificant socially.  Eventually the Wise Men would enter the picture, but their expectations had to be modified as well.

     Jesus is remembered as mentioning Noah – the Jewish Flood myth competing with all the other Flood myths of seemingly every culture everywhere.  Playing along with the story, Noah would have seemed crazy preparing for a flood requiring such scale of preparation.  When the flood waters came, however, it took people by surprise, taking some lives while leaving others.  Even in our day of weather forecasting, some victims of hurricanes are surprised somehow and lose their lives.  Noah was responsive to a crazy notion and his life – and the lives of his family and animals – were spared.  It was his responsiveness to God’s movement that made the difference.

     Nothing about Jesus’ birth narratives suggest that the hopes of the Apocalyptic dreams would be fulfilled in the way expected – with violence.  Everything in the stories speaks of the opposite – God is going to do something in highly unexpected ways, not with military strength and power, but something much different.  The humblest of people become the heroines and heroes.  The Way of nonviolence is what sets Jesus apart, not the violence of the Zealots all around.  Even his death would follow suit, instructing his followers how to die in the Way of the Spirit of God.

     As we begin our journey to Bethlehem’s manger, we are called by those who gave us this story to examine our dreams of how God may be at work in our world to bring about shalom as God always has.  Could it be that our dreams are so far off as to cause us to miss what God is doing?  Knowing that God invited “nobodies” to play key roles doing things that nobody would even notice, yet actions that led to great change, perhaps we should follow suit and keep our eyes and ears and hearts and minds open to a different invitation than we might otherwise expect.  An invitation to bring shalom not with violence, but with shalom itself.  Toward shalom with shalom.  Who knows?  Maybe our saying yes could lead to Christ being born in a new way for our time, bring the same healing hope, peace, joy and love that Christ always has.  Maybe we “nobodies” may be the heroes we’ve been waiting for to make the difference we long to see in the world.  We are mixed bags, aren’t we?  Mixed motives every day.  Some days we really live into our highest aspirations, living by and in the flow of the Spirit.  Other days we fulfill the prophet words of Proverbs: like a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool to his folly.  I imagine the nobodies of the birth narratives had their dog days.  Yet we remember them, and the world is better because they lived significantly into the flow God was inviting them into.  May it be so for us.

The Good Samaritan

What happened to the hero in this story that made him have a different response to the wounded victim than the religious leaders on the other side of the theological aisle? It's a parable - a made up story - so we only have our imagination to work with. If he was a human like me (and many others), the something that happened must have been an expression of Divine Love that changed his heart, his eyes, his mind, that led to a change in the way he used his hands and feet and mouth. Maybe, as was the case for the disciples, we may have similar experiences that lead to similar outcomes.

     If we are to believe the biblical revelation, it seems that God does not love the people Israel if they change (as they first imagine), but so that they can change. Divine Love is not a reward for good behavior, as we first presume it to be; it is a larger Life, an energy and movement that we can participate in—and then, almost in spite of ourselves—we behave differently. It seems few of us go there willingly. For some reason, we’re afraid of what we most want.

     This whole human project pivots around Divine Love. Because our available understanding of love is almost always conditioned on “I love you if” or “I love you when,” most people find it almost impossible—apart from real transformation—to comprehend or receive Divine Love. In fact, we cannot understand it in the least, unless we “stand under” it, like a cup beneath a waterfall. When we truly understand Divine Love, our politics, our anthropology, our economics, and our movements for justice will all change. - Richard Rohr

Grace in Action: Prodigal God

The God that Jesus experienced as Abba was incredibly, ridiculously generous. The Gospel of Luke shares three parables Jesus taught about how God feels about people who have lost their way, the lengths God goes to find them, and the joy when God does.  The third and longest, the parable of the prodigal son (or father?), adds incredible color to Jesus’ understanding of the character and nature of God.

     The parable was NOT crafted to represent good parenting skills. Indeed, the father in the story in many ways was a lousy, enabling parent.  The parable isn’t really about parenting, even though the central character was Abba/Daddy.

     The parable was crafted to show just how extravagant, deep, and reckless is the love of God.

     The young son who insults his father in the worst way isn’t immediately dismissed, but rather given the opportunity to speak his mind.  That is some seriously generous patience!  Note: we are all the younger son, perpetually, seeing (unwittingly) the world through an extremely narrow, usually self-centered lens. It is amazing that God has anything to do with us.

     Instead of simply refusing to give the son his ridiculous request, the father instead gives him his share of the estate.  Really foolish parenting on Dad’s part, but obviously reckless generosity.  Note: this happens in real time every day for all of us.  We each have an enormous amount to work with, gifted us by the one in whom we live and move and have our being.  While we may feel that our resources are scarce, they are actually overflowing.  We have always far more at our disposal than we generally realize.  Can we see it?

     The younger son leaves the nest and behaves exactly like we should expect, quickly blowing through his lottery winnings only to find himself penniless and knee-deep in pig slop. He was prodigious in his frivolity as his father was in his generosity.  Note: we are largely guilty of the same, leaning selfish with that which has been entrusted to us.

     The younger son finally reaches a breaking point and decides to return home, hoping that his father will have pity on him and provide a job, perhaps.  He starts off, working on his sales pitch the whole journey.  Note: This is our perennial human cycle, isn’t it?  We live a bit, hit our nose against the wall, wake up for five minutes, feel remorse and say apologetic things that we mean to varying levels of sincerity, then we move back into life and repeat the cycle.  Sometimes our transaction-prayers are born from pain and deep longing, and sometimes we are simply trying to bum another $20 from Dad so we can buy another case of beer...

     The father, it turns out, did not forget about his younger son.  He longed for him, watched for him, prayed for his safe return.  He was generous in his hope for his son’s return because his love didn’t with his kid’s insult.  When Abba sees his younger son, he races to embrace him – a very generous, counter-cultural, awkward thing for an elder statesman to do.  Note: Abba’s love for us in unending, regardless of how deeply we have disturbed shalom. God is always looking to the horizon hoping to see our silhouette emerge.

     Before the younger son can get his sales pitch out of his mouth, Abba cuts him off and restores him to his former glory, including access to the family checking account (signet ring).  Undoubtedly, Jesus’ audience would have audibly scoffed at this ridiculous move on Abba’s part, yet Jesus included it on purpose to make a point about the audacious generosity of God.  Note: While we may have to endure the consequences of our poor choices (and the poor choices of others that impact us), when it comes to God and who we are, we rise with everything we need – and more – all over again and again and again.  There is still breath in our lungs, blood in our veins, the Spirit in our sails.  God does not turn off the spigot of God’s Spirit when we fail. Perhaps, as in this story, God opens it up even more.

     The father celebrates his younger son’s return lavishly, killing the fatted calf and opening his wine cellar.  His joy cannot be contained, and he welcomes all to the party – his entire household is invited to celebrate this good news.  Note: this joy upon finding that which was lost is repeated in each parable.  Why is this so hard for us to embrace for ourselves?  What loving parent doesn’t want to celebrate their kid’s special day or homecoming?

     The older son wasn’t happy at all to hear about what was happening and gave Abba a disrespectful earful.  Yet Abba’s generosity extended to his older son, too, with generous patience listening to his concern, with generous tenderness in his response, and with generosity in inviting the ingrate to the feast.  Note: we are the older son as much as we are the younger son.  We get bent out of shape when we experience similar things.  We feel ripped off somehow even though we haven’t lost a thing, really.  Like the older son, we’re often blind to what we have while we’re sitting in the treasury, surrounded by gold.  This is the human story.

     This is a lifelong parable where we are invited to wonder about how we are like the younger and older sons, full of ourselves to the chagrin of the Father and hurting ourselves and others along the way.  This is a lifelong parable that invites us to consider the ongoing, never-ending, prodigious love of God.  Which character will we choose this day to emulate?

In the Image of God

Genesis 1 offers the Jewish view of God and creation, in contrast with other views surrounding them. It speaks of a God who loves to create, and declares every step of the way that creation is good. When God creates humans, God shares that these creatures are crafted in the image or likeness of God, having creative capacity and responsibility. He declares these creatures to be very, very good.

This is very good news still today, as alternative worldviews seem to be demoralizing. Will we live into our very, very goodness? Will we exercise our creative capacity and offer all that we have and are to the world? Will be choose to responsibly care for the world and all its creatures?

Born Again in Berkeley

Actor Theresa Donahoe performs the show she wrote, and autobiographical dramedy that is fun, witty, poignant, touching, vulnerable, and compelling.

Do I Stay Christian? How?

     He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: 'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.'

     "Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, 'God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.'"

     Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."– Luke 18:9-14 (MSG)

Brian McLaren, in the last third of his sobering, insightful, and compelling book, Do I Stay Christian, offered guidance for Jesus followers who want to stay Christian in a world where a larger, louder voice reflecting the reasons so many people are leaving dominates.  How do we stay Christian in the world in which we find ourselves, staying faithful and perhaps even helping others find a hopeful alternative?  His chapter titles hint at the recommendations he makes:

How Do I Stay Christian?

     Include and Transcend: Respect the Human Process. In one of his earlier books, Faith After Doubt, McLaren outlined a way to frame how we develop as human beings in our thought processes regarding faith and life.  Read through the chart McLaren crafted, one column at a time.  Which one(s) most resonate with you?  Have you shifted over the years?  Why?  Perhaps when we recognize our own development, we will also recognize that everyone else on the planet is developing, too.  Perhaps that will soften our hearts toward one another.

     Start with the Heart: Love is the End and Means.  The shortest way to summarize this chapter and McLaren’s point is to simply say that we won’t argue our way toward harmony.  Love is the only motive and the only means that brings us to a loving end.

     Re-Wild: Creation is God’s First Word; “Read” It.  God’s first Word is creation itself, revealing so much about the nature of God.  Spend some time in creation – of which you are a part! – and observe.  Not to study or categorize or identify, but to simply be in the first Word of God so that it can speak to you.  It will.

     Find the Flow: The Spirit is Moving; Move w/ It. The Spirit of God is always moving toward all that God intends for all that God has made.  The intention is that it be well and whole and fully alive as it should.  How are you moving with the flow of God in your individual life for your personal wellbeing?  How are you moving with the flow of God for the wellbeing of the planet?  All its inhabitants?

     Re-Consecrate Everything: Redeem v. Refuse. I do not think those who lived before us had an evil plan to interpret scripture in ways that would one day be used to turn the Bible into a club.  People see things as they are.  People see things as THEY are.  All that has shaped our eyes causes us to interpret things the way we do, according to the way we see things, according to the way we are.  Instead of throwing everything out, why not redeem them so that their value can go forward?  It like holy recycling.  Let’s rethink and recast the beautiful traditions of baptism, communion, confession and more to reflect the loving purposes of God.

     Renounce and Announce: ID Mistakes & the Gospel.  Like the above, there are passages that have been used to enslave, abuse, shame, and kill people.  We need to shine a light on those passages, talk through the interpretations, and recast them through the lens of Jesus.  All people ARE equals regardless of skin tones. Women ARE equal with men.  LGBTQIA+ are fearfully and wonderfully made and are equal with straight people.  Divorced people are not second-class citizens.

     Stay Loyal to Reality: Know & Avert Your Bias.  Below are several paragraphs – each one a prayer – crafted by McLaren to help us acknowledge our biases and ask God’s help to avoid them.  Take time to slowly work through each paragraph.  Which ones stick more than others?

     Stay Human: Increasingly Just, Kind, Humble.  What kind of human do you want to continue to become? The picture of a mature person in the Bible – one who truly walks with God – is one who acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God (Micah 6:8). Jesus nailed it, which is partly why we are still talking about him!  This is the Way that leads to life with God, life for all people, life for the planet.  How are you developing such maturity in your life?

The parable Jesus told was a slap in the face to the religious leaders who may have been listening.There were plenty of people who thought the religious leaders were full of “it”.The dynamics may have been different, but McLaren’s book would have resonated with plenty of people in Jesus’ day, too.The model Jesus presents in this parable is the least likely candidate, yet the one who knew it and addressed God in deep humility.May it be so for all of us.

A Prayer to Minimize the Risk of Bias and the Sin of Certainty (Brian McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?)

     Source of all truth, help me to hunger for truth, even if it upsets, modifies, or overturns what I already

think is true. Guide me into all the truth I can bear, and stretch me to bear more, so that I may always choose the whole truth—even with disruption—over half-truths with self-deception. Grant me passion to follow wisdom wherever it leads. [Confirmation Bias]

     Spirit of wisdom and understanding, help me not be seduced by simple lies or repelled by complex truths. Instead, teach me to seek out understanding as if it were hidden treasure, digging deep beneath surface appearances to discover what is real in the depths. [Complexity Bias]

     Inspirer of holy boldness and humble bravery, give me the humility to learn from my community along with the courage to differ graciously from my community, seeking truth even when my companions are unwilling to see it or accept it. Help me remain humbly loyal to the truth even when I am misjudged and rejected by my community for doing so. [Community Bias]

     Revealer of insight, do not let me be satisfied to see only what is visible from my limited perspective. Grant me insatiable curiosity to understand what my neighbors can see from their different vantage points. Help me draw near to them, to walk with them, to see through their eyes, hear through their ears, and feel through their experiences, so my horizons will be broadened through empathy. [Contact Bias]

     Spirit of wisdom, protect me from being misled by those whose words are full of flattery, familiarity, and false promises, and keep me humble enough to learn from those whom I am tempted to dismiss as strange, difficult, or unfriendly. [Complementarity Bias]

     Wellspring of all self-knowledge, give me humility so that I do not overestimate my competence. Save me from both excessive confidence and a lack of confidence; instead, please grant me proper confidence, to see myself, my abilities, and my limitations with a clear eye and sound mind. [Competence Bias]

     Voice who beckons me toward growth, help me see what I am mature enough to see right now, and not only that: help me to know now how little I can know until I grow more mature. Grant me the curiosity and awe so that I may honor the bottomless, limitless wonder, beauty, and mystery of this world. [Consciousness Bias]

     Spirit of truth who sets us free by the truth, do not let my desire for comfort blind me to truths that will inconvenience me. Grant me resolve to welcome the pain that often comes with wisdom. Help me choose empathy over apathy and courage over complacency, and to abhor the bliss that accompanies ignorance. [Comfort/Complacency Bias]

     Holy source of both surprise and consistency, help me never to be held captive by rigid ideology on the one hand or addiction to novelty on the other. Do not let me be blinded by conformity or loyalty to any political party or economic arrangement. Whatever is changing around me, help me always to do justice persistently, love kindness cheerfully, and with unflagging sincerity, to walk in humility with you, my God. [Conservative/Liberal Bias]

     Cosmic witness who cannot lie, keep me vigilant against con artists for whom lies and truth are spoken with equal confidence, and who tell me what I want to hear so that I will do what they desire. Protect me from surrendering to others my responsibility to think for myself. [Confidence Bias]

     Holy light who illumines what is real, help me to see danger that is all the more threatening because it unfolds gradually and, likewise, help me to see possibility that is easily missed because it emerges slowly and subtly. Grant me, I pray, the long view. [Catastrophe Bias]

     Beloved One who loves me, help me to hate money in comparison with you and help me see in the love of money the hidden root of all kinds of evil, so that I may see and cherish what has true value, freely giving what I cannot keep to gain what I cannot lose. [Cash Bias]

     Companion who walks with me in light, help me guard my heart from stories and theories that cast me as an innocent victim or virtuous hero, while simultaneously casting someone else as villain or enemy. Instead, help me join your cosmic conspiracy of kindness, justice, joy, and peace for all, seeing myself and all my neighbors as equal beneficiaries of your boundless, merciful love. [Conspiracy Bias]

Do I Stay Christian? Why I Stay

Throughout this series I have engaged issues highlighted in Brian McLaren’s book, Do I Stay Christian?  And there are many issues. Violence directly instructed or tacitly endorsed by Christian leaders amounting to literally millions of lives lost.  Rigidity regarding orthodoxy (dissenters were tortured and killed). Antisemitism. Politics.  Developing for so long, combined with our living at a time of unparalleled access to information and communication has resulted in an unprecedented number of people not just leaving the Church, but the faith the Church proclaims.  I have had many conversations with people who are spiritual but are so disgusted with how they see Christianity represented – as fear mongering, wrath threatening, bullying, power-driven – that they don’t want to bother trying.  Even if they believe in some of the fresh, life-giving ways of embracing Christianity, for them it is not enough knowing that most self-proclaimed Christians resemble what they can no longer tolerate.  For themselves.  For their children.  The problem is not going away.

     I can relate because I have wrestled with the same thing as a pastor.  I have had to defend alternative positions my entire adult life.  Creationism.  Biblical literalism steeped in an unbiblical notion of inerrancy and infallibility. Racism.  Interfaith marriage.  Interracial marriage.  Women in positions of authority over men. Politics.  Support of interfaith dialogue and cooperative service.  Human sexuality.  Same-gender marriage. Climate change.  I’ve been an ordained pastor since 1995.  There has never been a season when I have not had to deal with someone pushing back from a deeply conservative Christianity.  I appreciate the “feedback” and understand it.  Conservative Christianity has literally owned the majority of the airwaves, publishing houses, and Christian retail since the 1950’s.  Prior to the late 2000’s, unless people were willing to go to a theological library and pore over commentaries, articles and books, the information was nearly impossible to find.  No Christian bookstore had any titles except those which supported conservative Christianity.  No wonder, then, that when I talked about a different way of thinking it sounded like nonsense and perhaps heresy. I get it.

     I have mentioned in recent weeks that for years I have chosen not to wear a cross around my neck – a departure for me as I have worn one since 1990.  I couldn’t because I didn’t want to be identified with the distorted Christianity that was commanding the airwaves, headlines, and political vitriol.  A similar dynamic has happened regarding patriotic symbols like the flag.  I love this country and its aspirational goal to be a land of true equality and opportunity.  But the flag itself has been coopted by one facet of Americans that reflect a more nationalistic vision.  Sometimes, ironically, these same fellow citizens also fly the Confederate flag of the worst and clearest enemy of our union in our nation’s history.  I don’t want to be associated with their vision of the United States because I think their vision is in some ways anti-American.  Yet because they have somehow owned the microphone and are louder and more threatening than others, they also have now robbed me and many others of the flag itself.  Not of my commitment to the American dream for all.  Just the symbol.  I know I digress here, but because of the politicization of everything, they are related.  In the early 2000’s I considered leaving the pastorate because I was so sick of this dynamic.  In 2018 I was fired from a significant role within our former denominational region because I let them know I was going to officiate a same gender marriage.  It was a one day per week job that afforded my family a little breathing room in our budget, a little freedom to not worry about making ends meet each month.  I was also threatened to lead our church out of that region lest we be kicked out as others had been before us.  Nearly 20 years of friendship and leadership investment not just over but essentially excommunicated in a moment.  Do I regret it?  Absolutely not!  I am so proud of the Board of Stewards who unanimously supported me after weighing out what the decision would mean. Of course, the decision wasn’t really for or about me, but about genuine equality for all, and specifically for two of our own church family members who wanted to make their covenant in their church with their pastor officiating. It is a pride point.  I share the pain of it to simply note that I personally have plenty of reason to walk, to isolate.

     Yet I can’t walk away for a lot of good reasons.

     McLaren makes a compelling case to stay in his book, which can easily be understood through his chapter titles.  Why stay Christian:

·      Because Leaving Hurts Allies (and Helps Their Opponents)

·      Because Leaving Defiantly or Staying Compliantly Are Not My Only Options

·      Because... Where Else Would I Go?

·      Because It Would Be A Shame to Leave a Religion in Its Infancy

·      Because of Our Legendary Founder

·      Because Innocence Is an Addiction, and Solidarity Is the Cure

·      Because I’m Human

·      Because Christianity Is Changing (for the Worse and for the Better)

·      To Free God

·      Because of Fermi’s Paradox and the Great Filter

     Many of you know that when I was at a very low ebb in the early 2000’s, I used my doctoral work to help me discover if there was enough “there” there to remain in my career and the faith.  What I discovered – with conservative scholars in full agreement – was that the conservative expression of faith that dominates the airwaves, media, and still owns the publishing houses has so narrowly defined Christianity as mainly about sin management and heaven attainment that it barely resembles what Jesus was about.  What Jesus was about is as compelling, expansive, challenging, hopeful and healing as it ever was.  I have no problem differentiating myself from the extremely limited expression of Christianity that I cannot embrace.  I can easily let that go because it’s not really letting anything go!  It frees me to embrace Jesus and what he modeled and taught fully, proudly, empowering me to be bold in my proclamation of the faith. And adorn my neck once again with the cross that symbolizes the Way of Jesus.

     At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus reinstates Peter into the inner circle.  Peter had denied even knowing Jesus three times the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, which led to his death the next day.  Peter had given into fear.  He had lost his focus for a moment.  We all do.  Jesus didn’t wear a judge’s robe or strike a gavel.  He talked about love.  Who do we love most?  In our loving the Way of Jesus most, are we okay if it leads in the same way it took Jesus? Peter humbly said yes, even as he struggled with his humanity.  This Peter says yes, too.

Do I Stay Christian? Politics...

     I have heard stories of people who had to keep their voting preference to themselves for fear of retribution.  If they lived in a particularly Republican area, to vote Democrat called into question their patriotism and their Christianity.  Others, if they lived in a Democratic area and voted Republican, were chastised as being swayed by the extreme right and endorsing a hateful form of Christianity.  How did we get here?  Note: for a thorough historical analysis of this development, see One Nation Under God: Ho Corporate America Invented Christian America, by Kevin M. Kruse (2015).

     In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin hammered out a statement that served to shape American thinking ever since: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  The Bill of Rights was written to protect against government overreach when it comes to faith: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  Clearly, faith and religion were part of our country’s origin story.  For the most part, the faith of Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers appears to be Christian Deism, whereby God created everything and then walked away, basically uninvolved in the affairs of humanity ever since.  The expression of faith articulated in our founding documents was purposefully general in nature, to take focus away from theology, not spotlight it.

     Toward the end of the Industrial Revolution and its accompanying Gilded Age, Christian pastors and theologians raised concern over the plight of the poor – children, women, immigrants – who were forced to work in dangerous conditions and live in squalor.  They rebuked the wealthy industry leaders who flaunted their lavish lifestyles while the people who made them rich suffered.  They called on the government to create regulations to protect the vulnerable. They viewed this as a natural response of faithfulness that finds a wealth of support in both the Old and New Testament.  To them, this was part of the Gospel they were charged to promote.  To others, it become known as the Social Gospel.  Laws were put into place because of their work.  The lives of women and children were improved.

     Such government involvement was not welcomed by industries, however.  Some Christian leaders also objected to protections and provisions for the poor and vulnerable, fearing that a perpetual welfare state may be the result.  After the Crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression, industries themselves faced damning public image problems.  Roosevelt’s New Deal promised more government involvement that they opposed.  But how could they turn the tide of public opinion?  Enter Rev. James Fifield, pastor of a large, thriving church in Los Angeles.  Politically, he was a Christian Libertarian.  Theologically, he was moderate, not endorsing the biblical literalism that was gaining popularity during that period.  In his view, the US didn’t need more government, it needed its individual citizens to be saved by faith, which would make them better citizens and the country stronger.  The country needed spiritual revival, not handouts. Fifield networked with 70,000 pastors nationwide, encouraging pastors to proclaim the same message through their respective pulpits.  Industry leaders recognized what was before them – a direct channel to millions of people through churches and the pastors who led them.  Industry leaders were overwhelmingly Republican.  In the 1930’s the marriage between Republican politics and Christianity was consecrated.

     Rev. Abraham Vereide helped take it further. He organized City Chapels all over the nation, a place where business leaders and clergy could come together to study the Bible and pray.  This led to the development of the National (and eventually International) Council for Christian Leadership, where the theological-political ideology was furthered, with the hopes that FDR’s New Deal could be quelled.  In other words, while the platform of the time together was cloaked in religious garb, there was also a clear agenda tied to Republican politics – keep government small, and keep the expression of Christianity focused on individual salvation, not politics. 

     In the 1950’s General Dwight Eisenhower became President, believing that a central part of his calling was to bring spiritual revival to the nation, partly helped along by the threat of nuclear attack from the USSR. With funding from major industries and the network created by Fifield, Vereide, and the crowds amassed by Billy Graham – all voices singing the same song – a campaign encouraging spiritual commitment as a sign of patriotism commenced.  Within a few years, the US recorded record religious affiliation and participation among its citizens that was never reached before or since.  The advertisers on Madison Avenue and Hollywood new how to move people.  During this period of years, the US adopted “In God We Trust” on all currency and added “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, both nods to our country’s early inclusion of faith-language from the beginning, in contrast to Communism’s atheism.

     More conservative Christian leaders wanted to go a step further, mandating Bible study and prayer in public schools.  While the masses initially supported the idea, with time it waned as denominational leaders and scholars challenged the wisdom of the move as well as its Constitutionality.  The Supreme Court ruled it out.  Bills that were entertained in the House and Senate failed, much to the chagrin and consternation of conservative Christians.

     When Richard Nixon became President, he invited Billy Graham to help organize weekly church services at the White House (!), with the guest list hand-picked along with the pastors invited to speak.  It was, essentially, an opportunity to sacralize the president’s agenda on the government’s dime, protected by the First Amendment which it was simultaneously violating.  Graham’s worldview saw no conflict – God had provided the opportunity to influence, and so he did.

     Ronald Reagan, The Great Communicator, played Christian conservatives like a fiddle even though he rarely attended church himself.  He promised to get Bible study and prayer into public schools but never did.  His successor, George H. W. Bush was a devout Episcopal and did his best to keep the Evangelicals happy. To their chagrin a Southern Baptist Democrat, Bill Clinton, defeated him after one term.  Clinton’s immorality with Monica Lewinsky provided plenty of fodder for the Moral Majority and Family Values Republicans to pounce.  It was the beginning of a new level of political animosity, in my opinion, that would only decline.  The rhetoric of the Christian leaders at that time sounded a lot more like those responsible for killing Jesus than the Jesus they claimed to follow.  It has only worsened since.

     George W. Bush was a Born-Again Christian, which was music to the ears of Evangelicals.  Bush, however, was moderate regarding the hot-button issues that Republicans were known for.  His enduring legacy, of course, will be the war in Iraq and Afghanistan in response to the terrorist attack on the US September 11, 2001.

     Obama served two terms as the US’ first African American President, which stoked racial prejudice instead of dampening it.  The passage of the Affordable Care Act was decried as government intrusion and surely fueled the fires for a Republican win in 2016.

     Kruse’ book was written in 2015, before Donald Trump was elected.  There is nothing in Trump’s personal life history that suggests he was ever raised with a Christian ethos, and nothing in his bio that would suggest he practiced it or could even articulate it.  There are too many examples to note, both from his behavior and from his mouth. Nonetheless, he was embraced by the increasingly conservative Christian right as God’s appointed leader, a new Cyrus of old to redeem God’s people.  No amount of immorality on Trump’s part deterred his followers from their devotion because, I think, his personal level of Christian devotion was irrelevant to God’s use of him as a tool for Kingdom advancement.

     All this development of the marriage of conservative Christians and the Republican party have left many with a horrible impression of Christianity as anti-(fill-in-the-blank), generally hypocritical, and the useful idiots of the GOP (even if they think they are pulling the strings).

     Jesus and politics.  Occasionally I hear someone say the church should be like Jesus and stay out of politics. Whenever I hear this, it lets me know that the person making the statement is unaware of a very important fact: Jesus was, without question, politically outspoken and active.  Every reputable scholar believes that his primary teaching emphasis was about ushering in the Kingdom of God, or, as John Cobb phrases it, a Divine Commonwealth where true equity and justice for all exists on a healthy planet.  This was a direct challenge to Roman occupation.  Anytime Jesus used the phrase Good News, it is a slap in the face of Caesar who coined it for Roman purposes first.  Jesus constantly challenged the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem (Sadducees) for their corruption and challenged the Jewish leadership in Galilee (Pharisees) regarding their biblical literalism and associated legalism.  Unlike every other Messiah-wannabe, Jesus did not condone violence.  He was explicitly nonviolent in his actions and instructions.  Nonetheless, it was his political activity that got him killed.  The following passage is just one of many stories that to us seem quite benign, but to his original audience were extremely provocative.

The Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod's followers mixed in, to ask, "Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don't pander to your students. So, tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

     Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, "Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? Do you have a coin? Let me see it." They handed him a silver piece.

     "This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?"

     They said, "Caesar."

     "Then give Caesar what is his and give God what is his."

     The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads. –Matthew 22:15-22 MSG

     Caesar and his subjects considered the Emperor to be God.  Jesus’ simple statement, give God what is his, was a direct challenge to that assumption.  Jesus was politically engaged, and he was clear about who he served.  His primary allegiance was to God.  Always.  While he surely defended the Jewish people, he did not sell out or align himself with any of the four primary Jewish sects of his day.  He stayed focused on his allegiance to Abba.  So should we.

     My hope for this teaching is to simply shed some light on the historical development of the long marriage between conservative Christianity and the Republican party.  I do so because the brand of Christianity showcased and aligned with the Republican party is not reflective of the fullness of the faith that Jesus modeled and taught, and because when we can see what’s what, we can choose more easily.  I know Christian people who have chosen not to support the Republican ticket and have been excoriated by their Republican friends and family and have had their faith and patriotism questioned.  This was not always the case.  This phenomenon developed and intensified over time.  We need to be advocates for a fuller faith that is not beholden to any political party.

     I am not encouraging those of you who are Republican to tear up your membership card and become Democrats (or vice versa).  I am encouraging you, if you claim to be a disciple of Jesus, to reexamine where your primary allegiance lies (hint: it should be Jesus).  As you weigh candidates, choose based on the Jesus criteria.  Also, when you see behavior on the part of any candidate that is clearly destructive, call it out, even if it’s your preferred party’s candidate.  Too many Christians said nothing as Hitler rose to power.  Too many Christians have remained silent when our own country has gone through seasons of difficult change when the vulnerable needed to hear the love of God and those in power needed to be instructed to honor justice with grace as they walk humbly with God.  Jesus followers: follow Jesus.

     And God bless America.

Do I Stay Christian? An Interview with Brian McLaren

This week, we take a break to hear from the author himself. Enjoy this interview from Compassionate Christianity.

Do I Stay Christian? Antisemitism...

Happy New Year! Sunday’s sunset, September 25 marks the new year on the Jewish calendar, the start of 5783. Happy New Year to our Jewish neighbors!

I will never forget that night.  It was Maundy Thursday, the night that the Christian tradition remembers the Last Supper where Jesus mandated foot washing and the continuation of eating the symbolic bread and cup.  I was in seminary, serving a local church in the Chicago suburbs as a Young Adult pastor.  After the communion service – which was very solemn – one of “my” young adults and I were talking afterwards about how we were feeling after the service.  She said this annual service always makes her angry, and that she didn’t know if she could ever forgive them.  Forgive who?  Forgive the Jews for killing Jesus.  I was really thrown off and am sure my face showed it.  I tried to empathize some – although I really wanted to be snarky.  I think I said something like, well, none of the Jewish people today had anything to do with it!  I thought antisemitism was something underground, uncommon, and certainly not welcome in the church.  I was wrong. 

     I don’t think I knew any Jewish people until I was in 8th grade.  Growing up in suburban Kansas – and a preacher’s kid – I lived in a bit of a bubble, to say the least.  We moved to a small college town when I was 8-13 years old, where there were, undoubtedly, even less Jewish people.  Of course, as a kid, I was oblivious to much.

     Things changed when we moved to a suburb of Lansing, Michigan – Okemos – which was where a lot of professionals, executives, and Michigan State University professors lived.  And a strong Jewish population.  This provided a new experience for me.  These were my peers who I studied with, played music and sports with, partied with, etc.  I didn’t really know what to say or how to think, as I recall.  I wasn’t aware of any antisemitic undertones in our home, but we never really talked much about it, either.  I remember feeling really self-conscious letting them know I was a preacher’s kid.  They didn’t seem phased, however.  The weirdness was on and in me.  I remember I was perplexed that they didn’t follow Jesus, who was Jewish.  I couldn’t figure out why they failed to identify him as the Messiah like we did.  It seemed so obvious to us – how did they miss it?  We didn’t talk about it much.  They were just friends, and that alone helped me a lot.

     The fact that I felt discomfort in the presence of “the other” is itself telling.  We human beings like to flock together along all sorts of lines – race, ethnicity, language, culture, religion, and many more.  Depending on our shaping forces, we have varying levels of openness or hostility to those who are not like us.  Christianity, historically, has been hostile to Jewish people, so I should not have been surprised at the encounter I had in Chicago.  This week, I want to talk about antisemitism – where it came from and why it’s a sticking point for people today.  So much so that it is a reason to consider walking away from Christianity entirely.  I share it also so you can perhaps see it more clearly, and be more thoughtfully responsive than I was.

     Origins of Antisemitism.  One of the earliest sources depicting antisemitism might surprise a lot of Christians – the Gospel of John!  By the time the Gospel was written, Christianity was becoming increasingly non-Jewish, and Christians were less and less welcome in Jewish circles.  John was sloppy in his writing, unfortunately, using a sweeping term, “the Jews”, when referencing those who wanted to kill Jesus, when he should have singled out Jewish leadership.  After all, Jesus and his earliest and closest followers were Jewish, so obviously all of the Jews were not out to kill him...  A number of decades later, distancing themselves from Judaism was good for life expectancy given Rome’s frustration with the Jews.  It was easy to get on board the antisemitism train.  John’s example was followed by some of the most renown shaping voices:    

“From late in the first century onward, beginning with the author of the Fourth Gospel (John) and later including Tertullian, Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine, many of Christianity’s most revered leaders vilified Jews, setting the stage for inhumane acts of persecution against Jewish people in the coming centuries, from ghettoization and banishments to forced conversions and mass executions.” – Brian McLaren, Do I Stay Christian? (22)

     Over the centuries, antisemitism fomented.  When the bubonic plague hit Europe, people quite naturally wanted to blame someone.  According to Frank Sowden (Epidemics and Society), “on Valentine’s Day, 1349 in Strasbourg, France, the citizens of Strasbourg rounded up the community of 2,000 Jews, brought them to the Jewish cemetery, and said that it was their religion that was leading them to poison the wells where Christians drank – and that was the source of the bubonic plague. They had either to renounce their religion or be killed on the spot. Half of the Jews held to their religion, and they were burned alive.”

     And there was strong motive for such pogroms (there were hundreds) beyond the plague:

“Everything that was owed to the Jews was cancelled.... The council... took the cash that the Jews possessed and divided it among the working-men proportionately.  The money was indeed the thing that killed the Jews.  If they had been poor and if the feudal lords had not been in debt to them, they would not have been burnt. – Priest/Historian Jakob Twinger von Konigshofen (1346-1420)

     Pope Charles IV pardoned the city later that same year.

     Martin Luther, whose pen ignited the Protestant Reformation, held strong antisemitic prejudice:

Their private houses must be destroyed and devastated; they could be lodged in stables. Let the magistrates burn their synagogues and let whatever escapes be covered with sand and mud. Let them be forced to work, and if this avails nothing, we will be compelled to expel them like dogs in order not to expose ourselves to incurring divine wrath and eternal damnation from the Jews and their lies... we are at fault in not slaying them.

     Think for a minute about this.  How strong do you suppose Luther’s influence was in Protestant churches in Europe, and Germany specifically?  We should not be surprised that it was not too hard to persuade most German citizens to cut off Jews from their society.  An easy scapegoat.  The holocaust took the lives of two thirds of European Jews – six million.

     In my naivete, I thought that Jews would be thoroughly welcome in the United States – they were Jesus’ people, after all.  But the story of Jews in the US is complicated and ugly, and it is still unfolding.  While Evangelicals boasted love for Israel and Jews decades ago, it became clear that their fondness was related to an apocalyptic hope to hasten the return of Christ.  Also, attempts to Christianize Jewish feasts like Passover did not come off particularly well – Christ really wasn’t in the Passover even though it may have seemed that way to us.  The infatuation with Israel and Judaism may seem harmless, but consider it through the lens of Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg: “Philosemitism is antisemitism, too.  Fetishization of Jews and Judaism is also an objectification of us and a denial of our humanity, and also often comes with a side of appropriation.” (24). And there is an uglier dark side as well related to supersessionism: The Jews were God’s chosen people in the past, but ever since they rejected Jesus, we Christians have replaced (or superseded) them. This, by the way, give some the feeling that they have the right to treat the Jewish people as never-to-be-trusted traitors.

     The events that transpired in Charlottesville, VA August 10-11, 2017, reminded us that antisemitism is still very much with us, and willing to get violent. One young woman was killed when an extreme right protestor drove his car into the crowd. Protestors chanting “You (Jews) will not replace us” recall Nazi propaganda that led to holocaust.  Such rhetoric can never be tolerated or endorsed in the land of the free.  Free speech does not give license to spew hatred or prejudice.

     How did Jesus handle people of competing faiths?  One of the most beautiful examples comes from an exchange between him and a woman at a well in Samaria.  Everything about her made this exchange all the more astonishing.  She was a woman. Samaritan. Rejected by her community because of her past and current living situation – they thought she was condemned by God.  Jesus, however, treated her with dignity:

     "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

     "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." - John 4:21-24 MSG

     Whenever we see or hear someone using hateful rhetoric toward any people group –  focusing today on Jews – we are not witnessing the Spirit of God flowing through them, but rather a hatred from a difference source.  Fear.  Greed. Power.

     When we are tempted to marginalize others as less than, we are being tempted to settle for less than Jesus, less than the Way that leads to life, less than God, less than what we want for ourselves and others.  We will be tempted, too – humanity will always have plenty of chapters where our lizard brains win the day, resulting in loss all the way around. 

    As followers of Jesus, however, we have an opportunity to speak a different word, one that seeks to redeem and restore instead of tear apart.  How will you lend yourself to the healing that the world needs?  How will you be mindful when you are tempted to follow the culture’s lead instead of Jesus?  How will you speak into ugly situations that are causing great harm?  As John Stuart Mill stated in his inaugural address in 1867 to the University of St. Andrews:

“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to achieve their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”

How will you do your part to bring about the Divine Commonwealth for all?

Do I Stay Christian? Christianity's Violent History...

What happens if we embrace the notion of a violent God who hates and smites enemies, calls for the wholesale slaughter of people in the way of Israel as they come into the Promised Land, and even causes a global flood wiping out all but a handful of people and animals? 

     The musical, South Pacific, tells the tale of dynamics at play during WWII on an island in the South Pacific where troops awaited advance.  The musical was a hit, producing some of the best known and most loved songs from Broadway, including “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair” and “Some Enchanted Evening”.  While two love stories are part of the show, it’s really a story about prejudice.  Will a young woman choose to remain with the widower she’s fallen for after she learns that his young children are mixed race?  Will a young officer seriously entertain the idea of bringing home a young islander woman with whom he had been having a romantic relationship?  The officer expresses his insight and torment in the song, “Carefully Taught” (here performed by James Taylor):

You've got to be taught

To hate and fear,

You've got to be taught

From year to year,

It's got to be drummed

In your dear little ear

You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid

Of people whose eyes are oddly made,

And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,

You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,

Before you are six or seven or eight,

To hate all the people your relatives hate,

You've got to be carefully taught!

     Prejudice and racism are taught, mostly covertly from one generation to another.  The worldview of individual families and larger cultures pass along their biases.  Whether or not those views are consciously recognized or embraced is another issue. The beliefs of the father are passed down to the son...

     It stands to reason, then, that if we hold beliefs about God being violent toward God’s enemies, then we, God’s children, will likely emulate such characteristics and behavior.  If we perceive that one person or group is an enemy of God, then we are free to hate them and hurt them, since we believe this is what God is already doing. Violence becomes an act of faithfulness.  This is clearly illustrated in those who yell “Praise God!” as they carry out suicide mission terrorist attacks aimed at creating fear by killing innocent civilians as they worship and work.  September 11, 2001 will forever be remembered for such an act.  After it happened, hatred toward Muslims skyrocketed. We can easily see that this group of Muslims believed that we represented God’s enemies, and therefore to kill such enemies was an appropriate and faithful act.  We can easily look at such an act and be appalled, as we should.  Unfortunately, Christianity has been guilty of violent horrors as well, stemming from the same belief that there are people that God hates and smites, giving us license to do the same.

     The World’s Largest and Most Violent Religion?  Mohammed announced that he had received a revelation in 613 CE from the same God of Adam, Abraham, Mary, and Jesus.  Some Christians embraced his revelation, viewing him as a “brother” and at least entertaining dialogue with his followers.  As Brian McLaren notes in his book, Do I Stay Christian (Chapter 3), by 746 CE, Mohammed was classified as a “false prophet” and later a heretic.  In 1093, Pope Urban launched the first of five Crusades aimed at converting-and-or-killing Muslims in the name of God – a 300 year assault.  Those who agreed to fight were promised heaven as their reward since their sins would be absolved.  The “Crusader mentality”, as McLaren coins it, led to a four-fold approach to all people of non-Christian faiths: convert to Christianity, get out of the way of what Christians were doing and leave, submit to Christian dominance as a second-class citizen, or die (40). 

     While the Crusader terminology came to an end, the violent expansion of Christianity did not, being replaced by colonialism instead.  In the Doctrine of Discovery, Pope Nicholas V (1397-1455) – followed similarly by Pope Alexander (1431-1503) – blessed the violent colonization of non-Christian territory on the part of Catholic states:

     McLaren points out that post-Reformation countries took a similar route forward, but without the requirement to line the church’s coffers.  This resulted in Great Britain’s creation of the largest colonial empire.  The United States, of course, earned its freedom from the United Kingdom, creating a different model of government.  Yet even as our Founders declared that all men are created equal, the early years of this country thrived economically owing in large part to slavery, and its geographical expansion to the subjugation and/or annihilation of Indigenous People, all explicitly or tacitly endorsed by dominant Christian voices.  There is no possible way to calculate how many millions of lives were lost over those five centuries.

     During the 20th century, one researcher estimates that 50 million have been killed fighting to be liberated from colonization.  As McLaren notes, “wherever Christians have gone, we have brought a legacy of schools, hospitals, and other institutions to improve our quality of life and the lives of others. But make no mistake: we have also brought the fourfold ultimatum of convert, leave, submit, or die, which is the unwritten contract of crusader colonial Christianity, past and present” (44). Statistically, the violent outlook remains to this day.  As Robert P. Jones noted, “White Christian churches, both Protestant and Catholic, have served as institutional spaces for the preservation and transmission of white supremacist attitudes. The more racist attitudes a person holds, the more likely he or she is to identify as a white Christian.”

     Jesus’ Response to Violence.  Jesus lived at a time when his people and homeland were under Roman occupation.  The Roman Empire had colonized a massive amount of geography including much of modern-day Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.  This, obviously, included ancient Israel.  There were many fellow Jews who called for a violent revolt.  But not Jesus.  He knew that rising up against Rome would end in calamity and many Jewish casualties.  More, he knew that overthrowing violence with more violence would lead to more and more and more violence.  This did not seem congruent with his experience and understanding of God as Abba of everyone and everything.  This Daddy wanted his kids to get along on a planet they cared for.  Jesus, therefore, called for nonviolent resistance, forgiveness, grace, kindness, even love toward enemies as fellow human beings.  All very radical, and much of it ignored by most Jewish people.  Instead, Israel opted for violent rebellion.  In 70 CE, Jewish rebels fought against Rome and took Jerusalem.  Months later, Roman forces finally broke through Jerusalem’s walls, killed thousands, and burned the city to the ground.  Although Jerusalem was gone – and the form of Judaism it supported – Jesus’ followers steadied on, meeting together all over the Roman Empire, teaching the nonviolent, enemy-loving Way of life that Jesus taught.

     Jesus was remembered saying “don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.  [Remember the Prophet Micah who wrote) ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!’ If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.  If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.  If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it” (Matthew 10:34-39 NLT).  Jesus was not talking about a literal sword wielded for literal violence.  He was noting that the Way he was modeling and teaching was so counter-cultural and counter-intuitive it would cause division even among family members.  It still does.  When people come to face to face with Abba, their vision is transformed as Saul/Paul – it’s as if we were blind, and then scales fall from our eyes and we could see clearly.  People who have not experienced Abba in the same way will view Jesus, his teaching, and the Way as utter nonsense.  They will be vehemently opposed to the Way, in fact, and will likely call for violence in one form or another.  They have been carefully taught to see the world the way they do, and it will not be easily changed.

     Despite the violence all around them, the earliest followers of Jesus continued to meet, break bread together, encourage each other, remind each other of the Way of Jesus and commit to carrying it forward.  They knew that the Way really does lead to life (even when it is hard) and leads to hope for a violent world (even when the sting of death looms).  Jesus’ mission to persuade his fellow Jews toward nonviolence failed as they picked up swords to revolt against Rome nearly 30 years after his death.  Yet his mission succeeds whenever we wake up to the difference between what we’ve been taught compared to Jesus, and then choose the Way of shalom.   The invitation to wake up and follow is still before us.  How will you respond?

Things to consider...

1.     Are there any positions on any issues where you know you differ from your family of origin?  What made you shift?

2.     Can you think of any beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors that you knew were incongruent with Jesus’ teaching and you changed your ways?  What led to such a change?

3.     How will you know whether or not your current held beliefs line up with the Way of Jesus?  What might compel you to trade up your current way for the Way that leads to life?

Do I Stay Christian? Divine Violence in the Bible...

Every September 11, our nation (and world) remembers the terrorist attack that leveled NYC’s World Trade Center Towers, damaged a portion of the Pentagon, and led to a downed plan that was headed for the White House.  Thousands of innocent people died that day.  Hundreds of thousands of people died as the United States went after the terrorists and those who harbored and supported them. War is hell.  The terrorists yelled their version of “Praise God” as they piloted planes as weapons.  Many of our soldiers were baptized before entering the fray.  Violence in the name of God.  This has been a problem for humanity from the beginning, it seems.  Unfortunately, there are plenty of verses in the Bible that support the notion of a violent God.  How do we dare hope and declare God to be primarily loving when many verses state otherwise?

     This week I am featuring Eric A. Seibert, Ph.D., Professor of Old Testament at Messiah University.  Tom Oord introduced him as the world’s foremost authority on divine violence in the Bible.  I heard this lecture at the 2022 Open and Relational Conference at the Grand Targhee Resort adjacent to the Grand Tetons.  Seibert’s insights take an honest look at how many verses portray God as violent and offers a sensible approach to dealing with them.  Such violent portrayals of embolden some people toward violence, and simultaneously serve to repel others from considering the faith.  This lecture will provide a key that will help us see the violent passages for what they are and help us move forward in the loving Way of Jesus that he derived from his Abba.

Do I Stay Christian? The Hypocrisy...

In my experience, hypocrisy is one of the leading reasons people give for why they aren’t interested in practicing religion.  The people who seem to be the most devoted don’t actually practice what they preach, and statistically, religious people aren’t all that “better” than non-religious folk.  On the one hand, the hypocrisy is certainly evidence.  On the other hand, perhaps it speaks to an even deeper, more troubling issue: given the history of the Church, does Christianity really have the power to transform people into more mature, humane human beings?  Did Jesus ever encounter anything like this?  If so, how did he respond?

     Thomas Auld was a slave owner.  One of his slaves was none other than Frederick Douglass, who recalled the time early in his life when, at a Methodist evangelistic camp meeting in 1832, his Master experienced a Christian conversion.  Douglass had hoped that the conversion would “make him more kind and humane.”  Instead, Douglass writes:

“If it had any effect on his character, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways.” Auld was ostentatious about his piety—praying “morning, noon, and night,” participating in revivals, and opening his home to traveling preachers—but he used his faith as license to inflict pain and suffering upon his slaves. “I have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cowskin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip; and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of Scripture — ‘He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.’” – Brian McLaren, Do I Stay Christian? 75

     How is it that a person can experience conversion to Christianity and become even worse than before, even justifying increased cruelty?  What exactly did he convert to?  Of course, regarding slavery and race, Christians have not spoken with one voice.  The Deep South – still today the most religiously active part of our country – when post-Civil War Reconstruction ended, nearly all momentary advances for equality were retracted, and were replaced by Jim Crow laws that treated African Americans as anything but equals. In the earlier 1900’s political Progressives weren’t really interested in humane advances that went beyond their particular race.  Women and children were given protection not because they were seen as equals, but rather because they were seen as weaker in every regard from men.  Child labor laws were enacted, as well as the 8-hour workday for women, in part because Christian pastors and theologians spoke into it.  In time, however, as political conservatism joined religious conservatism – largely using fear of socialism gone awry witnessed in WWI – the church went largely silent. The Civil Rights movement, while it eventually garnered support from more mainline Christian traditions, were vehemently opposed in Southern Baptist and other Evangelical churches in the South.

     McLaren wonders how an alien might interpret the data regarding the effectiveness of Christianity where it is practiced most ardently.  What should we expect in terms of overall community wellbeing where Christianity is in the air with a church on every corner?  The five most religious states in the United States – Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas – rank among the lowest in terms of longevity of life, education, happiness, median household income, and among the highest in teen pregnancies (McLaren, 79):

     Today, Christianity is more identified with being opposed more than being “for”.  Anti-abortion.  Anti-LGBTQ. Anti-Racial Equality. Anti-Environmental Protections. Anti-Women. Anti-Immigrants. The list goes on and on.  If you have not been frustrated by such realities, I bet you know someone who has.  No wonder people are not just leaving their churches – they are leaving the faith.  They likely agree with Mahatma Gandhi: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ... Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians – you are not like him... Live like Jesus did and the world will listen.”

     If you are frustrated by the hypocrisy of so many self-proclaimed Christians in the past and present, I’ve got bad news for you.  More hypocrites are born every second of every day – you will be frustrated on this note for the rest of your life.  And, even worse, at some point you may even realize (because someone brought it to your attention) that you are a hypocrite in someone else’s eyes.  Gulp!  We are human beings.  Every organization of human beings acts like human beings.  It sucks.  You are in good company in your frustration, however.  Jesus himself was disgusted with the hypocrisy he saw in the Jewish leadership of his day.  The entirety of Matthew 23 is one long rant where Jesus probably crossed over the “appropriate” line, calling out the corruption he saw that was not aligned with the Abba he knew God to be.  Within 38 verse chapter, he called these leaders hypocrites six times, offering support for his accusation at every turn.  The problem of hypocrisy existed before Jesus’ day, in Jesus’ day, all the way to today, and will continue through every tomorrow.  Jesus knew about it, did not ignore it, and called it out. If you’ve been frustrated with hypocrisy and untransformed devotees of Christianity, you are in good company indeed.

     In one particular setting when a large crowd was following him, Jesus took a preemptive approach to limit potential hypocrites (Luke 14:25-33 NLT):

     “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

     “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

     “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

     In light of Jesus’ demand, who among us would claim to be a disciple?  If you are like me, you recognize that you have missed the mark and are as susceptible to hypocrisy as anybody else.  Jesus was likely using hyperbole here, yet his words are still startling, and bring us into clarifying sobriety.  Statements like this move me to ask serious questions about my life, my values, my goals. Questions like these:

·      Do I even know what Jesus did with his life to address the greatest needs he saw? Am I doing much of anything to address the greatest needs around me?  Even to care enough to find out and pray?

·      How did Jesus stand up for those who were being mistreated? How am I?

·      How did Jesus discover the heartbeat of Abba that guided his steps?  How do I?

·      How did Jesus show love and grace to people who didn’t get much love and grace?  Who are those people in our time and place?  How do I show them love and grace?

·      How did Jesus speak truth to power?  How do I?

·      How did Jesus offer his life in service to others?  How do I?

·      How did Jesus place himself in community?  How do I?

·      What additional questions arise for you?

     These questions are penetrating, each one revealing that I may not be the disciple I wish I were.  Yet it doesn’t mean we stop moving forward.  And it doesn’t mean we don’t call out egregious fouls when we see them. It does mean we walk humbly as we learn every day how to follow the Way that leads to life – for ourselves and everyone else.

     Walter Rauschenbusch was a pastor, theologian, and seminary professor who spent his life in service to Christ over 100 years ago.  He and his colleagues were pastoring in and around Hell’s Kitchen in New York City, where horrific working and living conditions were normal for the thousands of immigrants who lived there. There were no child labor laws yet; no hour limits for workdays, no protection for employees in that time ruled by social Darwinism. At the end of the 1800’s, the United States was in its Gilded Age.  While the extremely rich flaunted their affluence, those under their employee starved and suffered.  Rauschenbusch and his colleagues spoke against such things.  The Church was a mixed bag when it came to social justice concerns (as it has always been).  But for his season of time, he and others like him helped move the needle in the direction of the Divine Commonwealth Jesus came to proclaim and nurture.  He himself had encountered Jesus’ Abba, and it forever shaped his heart.  Here is how he describes following the Way of Jesus toward The Blessed Life:

     The main thing is to have God; to live in God; to have God live in us; to think God’s thoughts; to love what God loves and hate what God hates; to realize God’s presence; to feel God’s holiness and to be holy because God is holy; to feel God’s goodness in every blessing of your life and even in its tribulations; to be happy and trustful; to join in the great purposes of God and to be lifted to greatness of vision and faith and hope with God – that is the blessed life. – Walter Rauschenbusch, The Culture of the Spiritual Life, 1897

May we find ourselves walking in the same direction, experiencing the same reward.

An Adapted Lord’s Prayer:

Our loving, supportive, holy Abba

Who art here and everywhere,

Thy Divine Commonwealth come.

Thy will be done through us.

We are grateful for the gift of food

and work for all to eat their fill.

May we work for a world

where mutual grace and respect abound,

modeled after You.

Strengthen us for the work we’re called to.

Amen. May it be so.

Jesus' Mission: Divine Commonwealth

This week we are taking a look at Jesus’ mission which was founded on his experience of God that led him to address God as Abba – uncontrolling, unconditionally loving “Daddy”.  For many Christians, the mission is simply tell people about Jesus’ death as atonement for sins so that we can get forgiven and eventually be welcomed in heaven.  I believe that grace is central to why Jesus called God Abba.  And I am confident that there is more to Life than flesh and blood, something we will one day experience.  But does this match what Jesus spent most of his time doing?  Was this really his mission?  I submit that it was not.  How do we know what Jesus was about?  We examine his teachings, his lifestyle, and also what his closest disciples did after Jesus left.  The Lord’s Prayer provides major clues as well.  Let’s take a look.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.  OUR Abba – all humanity’s nurturing, supportive, present, attentive, compassionate, graceful, unconditionally loving, generous, wise, strong, guiding, shaping Creator and sustainer.  We humbly recognize that while you are with us and in us, you are greater than us in every way.  You are the source of life, and the definition of love.  To minimize who You are would be a great error of arrogance.  Biblical narrative: Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55 NLT).  Not only does Mary acknowledge who has called her to her role with Jesus, she also declares that God’s Way is sometimes in direct contrast to the way human beings choose.  The beneficiaries of what God is about to do are the poor – they will benefit because the rulers and the rich will be held to account.  The disciples continued to reverse things, welcoming any and all to the fold, all in response to the expansiveness of God.

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  You deeply love all creation – all people, all creatures, and the planet we call home – and want it all to thrive harmoniously as a commonwealth.  When we do your will toward that end, your dream for us – which is our deepest dream – begins to realize.  Biblical narrative: Sending of the 72 (Luke 10:1-23 NLT).  In this passage, a larger group of Jesus followers were sent with authority into neighboring villages to do what Jesus had been doing.  When their work was welcomed, the Divine Commonwealth was experienced.  Where is wasn’t, it wasn’t.  We work cooperatively with God – we who are agents of Good News as well as those who are recipients of the news.  To say this line of the prayer is to recognize our role in the process – this is not a “God, fix everything without any effort on my part.”  To pray this line is to agree to do the will of God to make the world a better place for everyone, and to protect the world itself as a good steward should. The disciples created new communities where they could learn together and model the Divine Commonwealth wherever they were. They knew it was up to them to spread the word.

Give us this day our daily bread.  We look beyond our own plates and long for the day when global hunger is a distant memory – a milestone that your will has been done.  We also recognize that we live one day at a time – daily opportunities to give thanks for the bread, to break bread together, and to share our bread with others.  Biblical narrative: Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:12-17 NLT).  When God’s will is done on earth, everyone is fed because everyone shares what they have with others. The disciples followed suit, welcoming any and all to the communion table – a literal meal that welcomed the poorest among them.

Forgive us our debts/sins/trespasses as we forgive our debtors/those who have sinned/trespassed against us.  Beyond personal sin, forgive us as humanity for failing to love each other and our home as you have loved us all.  May we be generous with grace toward others, seeking redemption so that we may move forward toward good for all.  Biblical narrative: Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10 NLT).  Indebtedness has always been detrimental to the poor, who were often exploited by those in power who controlled wealth.  Zach’s repayment was the evidence of a deeper, realized salvation for those he cheated – so much more than forgiveness of sins, and deeply, practically, relevant to him and those who benefitted.  The new communities founded by the disciples were known for sharing everything they had with each other to make sure nobody went without.  The generosity exhibited relieved significant burden for some who were enslaved to debt that was likely out of their control.

Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. Preserve us through time of troubles which will come as we follow your lead – sometimes because we follow your lead!  Help us get through it by being with us, strengthening us for the journey. Biblical narrative: Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46 NLT).  Jesus’ prayer was one of honesty and submission.  He didn’t want to suffer if it could be avoided – there may have been very real temptation to alter his course.  Yet he also didn’t want to perpetuate the evil that he came to address – a violent revolt would be expected.  Instead, he chose his nonviolent response, which we’re still talking about today.  To follow Jesus means to do so even – and especially – when it is difficult – trusting the Way to be sourced and supported by the love of God. The disciples knew that to continue Jesus’ mission might also lead to hardship, and perhaps death.  Yet they were sustained by God, evidenced by their singing even while in chains.

Jewish people were exhausted by Rome’s rule and wanted them out.  There were no shortage of self-identified messiahs willing to lead a revolt.  Whenever they did, they were generally killed. Jesus came with a different message about the character and nature of God, and with it, a different, nonviolent approach to addressing the religious and political systems of power that were abusing them.  Jesus was pleading for Jewish people not to revolt.  Yet they did.  They were squashed like bugs and Jews were scattered abroad.  In this sense, Jesus failed in his mission because people chose violence over nonviolence.

Jesus was successful, however, because his core followers continued to meet together, developing what Jesus taught in community.  These People of the Way were known for being graceful, welcoming, generous people. They were living out the Divine Commonwealth while living in their respective parts of the world.  This is our continued calling today – to choose to be together, developing the Divine Commonwealth among us, and inviting others to join us.  This is the ongoing mission of Jesus working out in our midst today.