My 2016 Lenten Journey--Day 19

February 28, 2016 ~ Day 19

My 2016 Lenten Journey: Exploring the Gospels to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look like? ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

Matthew 7:6 ~ “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” This is a most troubling verse, made even more troubling by its position immediately following the passage condemning double standards.

In Rabbinic writings of the period, dogs and pigs were metaphors for gentiles; and at least once Jesus made such a reference (Matthew 15:21-28).

I’m going to go out on a limb here; so follow me carefully. It will be difficult for some of you. It’s not easy for me.

Jesus was called, “Rabbi,” and we may thus assume he was schooled in rabbinic tradition. We also acknowledge him as Christ, and Christians generally tag his baptism and wilderness temptation as the point at which he became fully aware of and accepted his calling as Messiah/Christ. There also is evidence throughout the New Testament that from the temptation in the wilderness to the final surrender in Gethsemane, he struggled to know how to embody the fusing of divinity and humanity that was his calling (and which I believe is the calling of all who choose to follow him).

All this will be difficult for many who are uncomfortable with any portrayal of weakness or uncertainty or struggle in Jesus. But the evidence is ample: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NRSV). The “yet without sin” does not reduce the impact of the “testing”; rather, it magnifies the significance of his victory over sin.

Franky, unless Jesus struggled and questioned his calling, he offers no point of contact with which I can identify and follow; thus, he remains a gnostic apparition, and I have no idea how, as a human, I can relate to him. So I’ll accept his struggle and simply trust in that final phrase, “yet without sin,” as the evidence of his divinity.

So, here is where I’m going to stand until I see convincing evidence otherwise: Jesus continued throughout his ministry to grow into his identity as Christ, the Son of God. Early in his ministry he was rooted in rabbinic tradition and believed he was sent only to the Jews (Matthew 15:24, et. al.). Thus, his early references to gentiles as dogs and pigs. But he remained open to God’s revelation, and increasingly extended God’s grace (unconditional love) and restoration to all people.

I pray that I may remain even partially as open to God’s ongoing revelation in my own life and ministry.

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9 NRSV)

‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

Trust is the Opposite of Certainty

We have seen that Jesus interpreted Scripture in the rabbinic spirit of faithful questioning motivated by love. We have noted that Jesus’ interpretation of Scripture was in direct contrast to that of the Pharisees and other religious leaders of his time, who read the Scriptures in a spirit of unquestioning obedience and were motivated by an obsession with correct doctrine. The Pharisees were concerned about who was “right” and who was “wrong,” and were determined to enforce their “right” understanding, even if such an effort required violence.

We have said that over the centuries the Church has tended not to follow the pattern of Jesus, but rather to follow the pattern of the Pharisees, striving to maintain orthodoxy and labeling those who disagree as heretics. The result has been a long history of various manifestations of the church enforcing their authority through violence or the threat of violence—all in God’s name.

The struggle to know what is “right” has replaced Grace as the foundation of faith. In far too many cases our trust is more in the correctness of our doctrine than in the Grace of God. Such an application of religious faith establishes an “us vs. them” mentality, which always leans toward an exclusionary witness and far too often is forcefully inflicted.

While the exclusionary witness establishes categories for judging who is acceptable and who is not, Jesus’ witness was to go out among the outcasts and the fringe people—to eat with them, to touch them and through loving inclusion to restore their lives to wholeness. Too often our approach has been to demand that those on the outside become “like us” before they can gain admission and acceptance. Our doctrine becomes "the way, the truth and the life."

We all read Scripture selectively, and justification can indeed be found for both approaches. They stand in direct contradiction within the Holy writ, and we choose one way or the other:

1.       The way the Pharisees chose: unquestioning obedience to what they had determined to be the “right” doctrine (Law), and enforcing that doctrine as the prerequisite of faithfulness—excluding (and sometimes punishing with violence or threat of violence) all who do not conform (including Jesus).

2.      The way Jesus chose: faithful questioning the violence in Scripture and bearing witness to unconditional love (Grace), including all humanity in a divine embrace of reconciliation and restoration. All humanity. And "All" means "All."

Our celebrated First Amendment rights which grant freedom of speech and religion actually came about in direct response to the church’s legacy of persecution and rampant bloodshed committed in the sincere (but sincerely wrong) effort to maintain purity of doctrine. As a result of those Constitutional rights, there are no more burnings at the stake today.

So, what is the greater wrong: not getting the formulation of the Trinity quite right, or slaughtering those who do get it wrong? What is the greater sin: questioning a doctrine or working to destroy people’s careers and livelihoods because they question it?

Equally important as what we profess is how we profess it and how we live what we profess. When we act in any way to harm others in the name of Scripture or faith or morality we demonstrate that we are neither scriptural, moral nor faithful. Jesus said the whole law and the prophetic writings were predicated upon love of God, love of neighbor and love of self (Matthew 22:36-40). And Paul wrote, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10) When we do not act in love, nothing we do is right, and nothing is faithful, not even according to the law.

The simple formula of the New Testament witness is “Grace Trumps Law.” It’s simple; but it’s not easy. It requires that we “let go” of our efforts to justify ourselves through adherence to “right” doctrine, and that we instead “take hold” of the Grace God offers and surrender to the power of that Grace to mold us into the likeness of Jesus. That whole process of “letting go” and “taking hold” is called “Trust.” Trust is the opposite of certainty, and certainty is a first cousin of control.

And we are a culture of control addicts. Maybe we need a 12-Step program to facilitate recovery. “Hello. My name is Jim; and I’m a controlaholic.”

That’s the way I see it through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim