My 2016 Lenten Journey--Day 13

February 22, 2016 ~ Day 13

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 6:1-4 ~ Concerning Almsgiving

Does it seem strange to you that Jesus begins a teaching about almsgiving with a reference to the practice of piety? Have you ever considered piety and almsgiving to be related?

A strong faction sees almsgiving (charity) tied, not to the piety of the giver, but to the worth of the recipient; and, apparently that faction judges very few to be worthy recipients. It’s not a new perspective.

As I note in prior blogs, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann submits that the Hebrew Scriptures are presented in a testimony/counter-testimony format, much like a courtroom scenario with multiple competing voices—each claiming to have the authoritative, correct view.  

The testimony is the ancient wisdom that good is rewarded and evil is punished. The application (e.g., Job’s friends) is used to explain why bad things happen to people: the presence of poverty or suffering is proof of sin. The victim is to blame.

The counter-testimony (represented by Job and by later prophets) advocates for the victim and argues that the traditional wisdom is unjust. The debate in Job hinges on God’s response to Job’s friends: “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7).

Here, the voice of the victim is heard for the first time in a world context “in which it was exceptional for the voice of the victim to be heard at all. These were the ones who formerly were scapegoated, condemned and dehumanized, but who Jesus saw and loved. This is the cry of the least of these.”[1]

Of course, some will take advantage of any display of generosity. They are not true victims. But, convincing data says they represent a tiny portion of those who seek charity, and, since I nave neither the ability nor the right to judge who is a true victim, I will give alms, anyway.

Yes, government should not be the primary agent of charity; but no other source is doing it adequately. So, until churches and civic clubs and trusts and foundations and individual philanthropists can match the need, I will advocate for public assistance for the victim.

Jesus took sides in the debate. He opted to advocate for the victim. If I am to follow him and become more like him, I will do the same, without concern for the worthiness of the recipient.

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

---

[1] Derek Flood, Disarming Scriptures: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus Did (San Francisco: Metanoia Books, Kindle edition), Location 592.

---

[1] Derek Flood, Disarming Scriptures: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus Did (San Francisco: Metanoia Books, Kindle edition), Location 592.

Spiritual Fruits, or Just Religious Nuts?

“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” ~ Galatians 5:22 (NRSV)

The sermon ended with a simple question: “What fruit does your life bear?” Afterward, she confronted me in the narthex: “You totally omitted all the context that goes before that verse—that stuff about the fruit of the flesh and all that sexual immorality.”

Never mind that of the fifteen listed fruits of the flesh, only three made any reference to sexual immorality. Of the dozen remaining fruits (idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing), most of which she (and I) commit regularly, if not daily, eight relate to animosity in human relationships.

We tend to specialize when it comes to sin; and I suspect it’s the sins we don’t regularly commit that show up most frequently on our list of “worst” sins. I want forgiveness and pardon for my jealousy, factionalism, strife, enmity, etc.; but throw the book at him for his sexual immorality.

And never mind that the New Testament is abundantly clear that there is no hierarchy of sins. Sin is sin, and “the wages of sin is death.” The breaking of one law—one sinful act—makes us sinners. How fast do you drive in a 65 mph zone? If you drive 66 mph you are a law-breaker.

Yeah but…

So, out of a list of 15 fruits of the flesh, she picked out the three that relate to “all that sexual immorality.” She wanted me to damn the sexual sinners to hell.

My response was, “Yes, I recognize that there is a list of fruits of the flesh. My question for us today is, ‘Do our lives bear fruits of the Spirit?’”

“But, what about those sins of the flesh?” she countered. 

“Don’t do them.” I responded. “If your life produces Fruits of the Spirit you won't have to worry about fruits of the flesh?”

“But aren't we supposed to rebuke and correct sin?” Now I was beginning to get it. She felt safe in her righteousness; so, she wanted the bad guys to "get theirs."

“I’m wondering if you’re confusing the task of Scripture[1] with our task. Our task is to bear fruits of the Spirit.”

She persisted, “Well, we can’t be soft on sin,” and turned on her heels and left in a huff.

It’s been my observation that in a culture smothered in the residue of Puritanism and Victorianism, most people already know all about sin. But threats of hell and other fear tactics never seem to make a dent in the preponderance of sinful behavior. Fear tactics, however, do produce a lot of guilt and self-justifying behavior; and one of the easiest ways to justify oneself is to condemn others: “his sin is greater than mine.”

Among the prophetic writings of the Hebrew Scriptures, far and away the most frequently named sins of Israel were idolatry/unfaithfulness toward God and injustice toward the poor. Jesus most frequently condemned the hypocrisy of the religious leaders and their unjust treatment of the poor. Yet in many Christian circles today injustice toward the poor has become a scripturally sanctioned institution by blaming the poor for their lot. 

The obsession over "welfare fraud," [you don't work, you don't eat (II Thessalonians 3:10)] justifies the withholding of all assistance in all forms from all people. Yet it is documented repeatedly that welfare fraud accounts for a minuscule portion of monies spent on public assistance. Administrative embezzlement accounts for much more.

The strategy I infer from the confrontation in the narthex is, “Don’t let anybody get away with anything!” It’s a diversionary tactic to focus attention away from my own brokenness.

We are not responsible for the sin of others (Ezekiel 18:3, 17, 19). Our calling is part of “the more excellent way” of I Corinthians 12:31. Love calls us to bear faithful witness—with integrity of words and actions—to the Love of God. And Jesus was crystal clear: we will be known by the fruit we bear. But by emphasizing the sin of others, we risk neglecting the orchard.

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

Together in the Walk

Jim 

---

[1] A reference to II Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” The reference apparently was wasted on her.

Summary of My Lenten Pilgrimage to Date

Lent. Wandering the wasteland of apparent contradictions in Hebrew and Christian Scripture. Giving up unproductive—even counterproductive—ways of reading Scripture. Taking up the challenge of reading Scripture as Jesus did.

The unproductive ways:[1]

1. Reading to defend Scripture (as if it needed my defense!); accepting every word at face value and reading from a prospect of unquestioning obedience, with relative disregard for the people and life situations to which the text was originally addressed and the life situations within which the current reading takes place. This has brought about the necessity of rationalizing (denying) any apparent contradiction in the name of defending the Bible. 
2. Again, accepting every word at face value, but rejecting the whole on the basis of the unresolved contradictions.
3. “Cherry-Picking.” Selecting the texts that support my presuppositions and avoiding the rest.

 Jesus’ way:

1.       Reading from the prospect of faithful questioning based upon an understanding of God’s nature as Love.

2.      “The Priority of Jesus was not on defending a text or a ritual, it was on defending people—in particular defending the victims of religious violence and abuse.”[3]

The Hebrew Scriptures make no apologies for their seeming contradictions. Indeed, the conflicts are a central feature—an organizing theme—of the collection of diverse writings that comprise what we call the Old Testament.

Walter Bruegemann compares it to a courtroom with disputing testimony and counter-testimony representing diametrically opposed understandings of God’s nature. Which is it: (1) Is God a warrior/despot, jealous of his conquests and harsh in judgment upon those who stray from his pronouncements and laws, or (2) is God a creator, redeemer and sustainer whose concern is the wellbeing of the people who choose to live in relationship with him?

The courtroom reverberates with the debate[4]. The book of Job is the perfect paradigm, with Job taking the second argument above, and his friends taking the first.

Many of the Psalms and later prophetic writings side with Job; in fact, if we are really alert to the content of the prophetic writings, we cannot avoid the realization that among the most frequently listed sins of Israel is the neglect of widows and of the poor.

These debates are based upon the ancient wisdom that the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. Job, the Psalms and the prophets don’t argue against this moral paradigm; indeed, they support it, even to the point of advocating violent retribution against evil. Their contribution is in their recognition of unjust enforcement of the paradigm; that is, sometimes evil people prosper and good people suffer. Still, these Scriptural voices become the earliest advocates for justice on behalf of victims. Previously, suffering was seen as evidence that the sufferer had sinned or committed evil and thus deserved to suffer (such assumptions persist even today within some circles, e.g., the poor are lazy and should get a job. The truth is that not everybody is able to work. Period.) It is these cries of the victim that Jesus takes up in his reading of Scripture.

Jesus entered fully into the debate, clearly and articulately choosing sides. In doing so, he set the standard for any who choose to follow him. If we are to read Scripture as Jesus did, we will begin with the understanding that God’s basic nature is Love, and that the Scriptures are a witness, leading us to accept that Love, both as a gift (grace) to be received and as a gift to be given and shared.

Jesus’ new twist that brought him into direct opposition and confrontation with the Pharisees, was his abandonment of the traditional wisdom that victims suffer because of some sin or evil in their lives, and thus deserve to suffer. Jesus acknowledges the reality of “innocent” victims, and challenges the injustice of their suffering.

Of course there are lazy “welfare bums” and “welfare queens.” Of course some people have learned to manipulate the system and leech off it! I have never heard anyone deny that. Given that starting place and the dialectic of Scripture, we have two choices, and if we are to follow Jesus we will take sides: (1) we can assure that absolutely no abuse of public assistance is tolerated, even if it means cutting off funds and thereby abandoning the many (demonstrably the overwhelming majority) who are simply unable to work or obtain resources on their own, or (2) we can respond to the cries of the victim and make sure that no innocent victim suffers unjustly, even if in the process some of the undeserving find ways of manipulating the system and unjustly benefiting.

I think I know which choice Jesus would make. I think you do, too.

I hadn't anticipated that this summation of my Lenten pilgrimage would lead where it led; nevertheless, that’s the way I see it through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

---

[1] Derek Flood, Disarming Scripture: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives and We All Need to Learn to Read Scripture as Jesus Did (San Francisco: Metanoia Books, 2014), Kindle edition, Location 227 ff.

[2] Ibid., Location 225.

[3] Ibid., Location 424.

[4] I would add the additional metaphor of a bitterly partisan legislature, with each side intent upon inflicting and enforcing its own values upon the whole. And at the infamous bottom line, each side believes sincerely that its own set of values is the best—indeed the only valid—model for life.

The Voice of the Victim

My intention during Lent is to wander in the wilderness of apparent biblical self-contradiction—a wasteland that acknowledges that in the biblical story of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land God told Joshua to destroy the cities and to kill “everything that breathes” (Deut 20:16), to slaughter men, women, children and even flocks, herds and pets. And when a man attempted to keep some of the livestock for his own herd, God ordered him put to death.

In contrast, and in direct opposition, are texts such as the 6^th Commandment given to Moses: “You shall not kill” (Ex 20:13) and Jesus’ teaching, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matt 5:44).

Generally, I have avoided the issue when possible, and when avoidance was not possible I explained the contradiction as the product of a progressive understanding of God on the part of humanity (e.g., the command to “kill everything that breathes” can be seen against the backdrop of previous models of warfare in which the victors tortured, raped and enslaved their victims and reaped the material spoils of victory. In some instances, warfare was the way a tribe or kingdom supported itself financially. The newer command forbids any kind of profiteering from warfare, and thus, while still horrendous in its outcome, is a step toward a more humane way of doing what humanity seems hell-bent on doing, anyway.) My explanation got no support from my seminary professors, nor have I seen or heard anyone else offer it.

Walter Brueggemann submits that the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) are presented in a testimony/counter-testimony format, much like a courtroom scenario with multiple competing voices—each claiming to be the correct view, each claiming authority.

The testimony is the ancient wisdom that good people are rewarded and evil is punished. The application (best exemplified by Job’s friends) is used as explanation for bad things that happen to people: it’s because they’ve sinned. The victim is to blame.

The counter-testimony (represented by Job and by the Psalms and later prophets) advocates for the victim and argues that the traditional wisdom is unjust. In the present consideration the debate in Job hinges on God’s response to Job’s friends: “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7). In such passages the voice of the victim is heard for the first time in a world context “in which it was exceptional for the voice of the victim to be heard at all. These were the ones who formerly were scapegoated, condemned and dehumanized, but who Jesus saw and loved. This is the cry of the least of these.”[1]

It is important to note that, even while they advance the cause of the victim, the Psalms and Job still do not question the ethos in which the just would prosper and the wicked would suffer. They do not question the justice of this ethic, but rather complain that it is not enforced. Neither the Psalmist nor Job sees himself as a sinner in need of forgiveness (as in Paul’s theology); instead, they see themselves as blameless and righteous.

So, while the Psalms and Job represent a significantly unique introduction into the world of religious faith and wisdom, the Scriptures do not at that point reflect an understanding of God’s image as merciful and forgiving.[2]

Thus, Israel fully assimilated the ongoing debate into its life, with the majority advancing a narrative of unquestioning obedience to laws and ritual, and continuing to blame the victims of misfortune and banishing widows, lepers, the poor and virtually all who suffered. According to the ancient wisdom of the majority, it was precisely their suffering that proved that they were evil and deserving of their suffering.

Meanwhile the protesting minority advocated faithful questioning.[3] Perhaps the latest, and therefore the clearest voice for this minority is found in the theme of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah. Here, as in Job, the servant is blameless; thus his suffering is a product of oppression and injustice:

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb,
    so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?”   ~Isaiah 53:7-8 (NRSV)

It is this image of the Suffering Servant, and the role of faithful questioning that Jesus personifies in his understanding of his identity as God’s “chosen one.”

We can see in the Gospels that Jesus embraced some parts of Scripture as describing his messianic mission and reflecting God’s kingdom, while other parts he either ignores, reinterprets, or—as we have seen in his “but I say to you” statements—even directly contradicts. I’ll be moving into some specific examples next,

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

Together in the Walk,

Jim

[Disclaimer: this Lenten series of blogs is a journal of personal pilgrimage which I’m sharing. It is offered in the form of a long—40 DAYS LONG—book report. But more than that, it is my way of assimilating what promises to be a life-changing new way of organizing what I believe about Jesus and how I live out those beliefs. I am grateful for the feedback I’ve been given. It helps me to sharpen my own understanding. I hope you will stay with me through the journey, and I welcome further feedback; but, to be honest, you’d probably be better advised to get the book and read it yourself.]

---

[1] Derek Flood, Disarming Scriptures: Cherry-Picking Liberals, Violence-Loving Conservatives and Why We All Need to Learn to Read the Bible Like Jesus Did (San Francisco: Metanoia Books, Kindle edition), Location 592.

[2] Ibid., Location 601

[3]Ibid., Location 553.