Ron Cole : unplugged, unorthodox, sacrilegious

A Jesus to worship...but to Godly to imitate

The cross must be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am claiming that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble, because that is where He died and that is what he died about and that is where christians ought to be and what christianity should be about. 

- George McLeod ( founder of Iona Community 1938 )

 A mysterious star navigates through the dark space of infinity, through the star fields that God told Abraham would be as numerous as his descendants. It stops on the fringe of humanity and it illuminates the spot where God will become one of us, taking on flesh and bones. I am always captured by the profound reality in the gospels that Jesus the God man is birthed on the periphery of humanity and religion and dies in the same place...abandoned by religion and humanity. Even in the gospel of John when the writer pens that he pitched his tent in the midst of humanity, into our neighborhood...Jesus lives on the margins.

It is easy when your stuck in the " church bubble " to forget what Jesus was all about. We have been indoctrinated to believe that Jesus is all about personal salvation, he died to forgive your sins, guaranteeing a ticket in your hand for flight and accommodation in that eternal retirement home called heaven.

We forget that Jesus was the culmination of the prophetic voices that still echo along the corridor of history. Like resonating sound waves that join in unison and finally collide with Jesus he speaks with crystal clear passion about one thing...the Kingdom of God, and his passion for justice.

We need pause, to be still and listen deeply to the prophets. They speak about God's passion, and Jesus is the fullfilment of the passion.

"The Lord is exalted", proclaims Isaiah. " He dwells on high; he filled Zion with justice and righteousness." ( 33:5 )

" I am the Lord " announces Jeremiah in the name of God. " I act with steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight." ( 9:24 ) 

Again Isaiah, " Is such the fast I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and lie is a sack cloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this fast that I choose; to break the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? ( 58:5-7 )

From Micah, " He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. ( 6:6-8 )

Lastly from Amos, " I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. ( 5:21-24 )

 We forget Jesus the God-man lived on the margins of humanity. He lived amidst its poverty, its injustice, its oppression, its sickness and its sin. He lived so deeply in the midst of the human wreckage that the Pharisees could not really tell him apart of the sinners. As profoundly strange as it sounds he was one of them. We as christians have a real problem with a fully human Jesus, it's extremely uncomfortable to wrestle with that reality. We like a Jesus that is 90% God and about 10% human. That is a far more comfortable Jesus. We keep our distance from that kind of Jesus. We can worship that Jesus without having to imitate his life, and live out and reenact his profound mysterious parables.  

We have pulled Jesus out of the world, out of the stench, out the filth and brokenness of humanity and put him under house arrest in the church building convincing ourselves that Jesus is far more concerned about the sterile vacuum of a sacred holy space. Do we imagine him wandering around a church that stands empty most week days eagerly waiting for Sunday morning when he can inhabit the praises of "his" people?

And when did this Jesus of the gospels all of a sudden aquire an appetite for worship music to appease him, and keep him happy?The prophets seemed quite clear on the type of worship God desired and music didn't seem to make the cut. Jesus profoundly seems to inhabit a more worldy, a more human...a more secular worship space.

   I was hungry and you fed me,
   I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
   I was homeless and you gave me a room,
   I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
   I was sick and you stopped to visit,
   I was in prison and you came to me.'

 "Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me." ( Eugene Peterson's The Message; Matthew 25 )

We come to the profound conclusion that we worship Jesus in the face of broken humanity, not before the altar of the temple.

As christians we are very good at compartmentalizing life and people. We draw lines all through life, barriers, the boundaries of sacred and secular. We draw circles around people, groups of people...we have insiders and outsiders. Life in the context of the profound mysterious reality of Jesus is seen different way.

He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. ( Eugene Petersons The Message; Colossians 1 )

Jesus is the intermolecular force, the gravity that holds all reality together, sacred and secular. Despite how tarnished, filthy, broken and cracked the human image was, Jesus could always see past it...and see the image of God hidden in everyone.

I want to encourage people to really think, reflect deeply on that reality...of finding Jesus in the midst of life. When I hear people say, " I wish we had a space where we could sing christian songs, worship songs." Or, " I can't sing those songs because there not christian." It saddens me deeply.

We forget in the gospels Jesus wasn't speaking christians. He didn't speak christianeze, theological garble when to talked to people. He used a mysterious language, of parable that captured the imagination of humanity. People had to wrestle with them, moving them into a liminal space where they saw God and humanity differently. Often it wasn't the obvious black and white, it was more color that spilled out over the lines...it was more mystery as truth. It gave people a glimpse of a new world, of abundant life. It left people in awe.

I think of how often I listen to music today, so called " secular music " and a line of lyrics will awaken me like a flash of light.  And at the same time the neurons in my brain begin to spark, and the harddrive in my mind begins to whirl...and I think. You could almost say it's an " epiphany."

1. a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something; 2. an intuitive grasp of reality through something; 3. an illuminating discovery; 4. a revealing scene or moment; 5. an appearance or manifestation, especially of a divine being.

 

03 God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

Is it only in christian music, worship music that this can happen? I don't think so. There is so much good music out there, with profound, mysterious spirit-filled lyrics...deeply human and divine. We just need to have the same redemptive imagination as Jesus and engage people in conversation. Draw them into that mysterious place where the Psalmist proclaims. " deep calls to deep ", where spirit talks to spirit.

 

 

 As long as the church retreats, stays in the building, reinforcing and protecting itself, our culture will never experience an epiphany. 

Over the last few decades, the church has been pushed further and further onto the periphery of culture. Or in many instances, the church has retreated to the comfortable confines of its Christian subculture. So we are inside our churches looking out, but we really find ourselves on the outside looking in. God is calling the church out of the church and back into the midst of humanity that Jesus lived " in." 

The slippery slope from believing into...living

 

I am told, that Jesus only directly answers 3 of the 183 questions that he himself is asked in the four Gospels! This is totally surprising to me who has grown up assuming that the very job description of religion is to give people answers and to resolve people's dilemmas. Apparently this is not Jesus' understanding of the function of religion because he operates very differently.

Jesus' questions are to re-position you, make you own your unconscious biases, break you out of your dualistic mind, challenge your image of God or the world, and present new creative and redemptive possibilities.  He himself does not usually wait for or expect specific answers.  He hopes to tweak, or ignite a person's imagination.

 

Reading the gospels moves you into this profound liminal space. Some people call it the " slippery slope ", but maybe it is more circumventing obstacles around struggling with truth and suddenly loosing your footing. In reading the gospels you come to the reality what once made sense no longer does. What caused the fall might have been that for years, and years there was only one way to look at something. But, in your pursuit for something deeper you stated looking at the obsatcle from different angles...and you slipped.

And you thought, Sh........it! now I've done it, I've lost my faith. All the questions like lightning begin to strike you from all angles. How long will this free fall last ? Will I land on anything solid?

Christianity for years has been about " orthodoxy ", right belief. You read the gospels and you can't miss the only thing Jesus was orthodox about was living. It wasn't really " what " to believe it was " how " to believe. And today more and more people don't really care about " what " you need to believe...they want to know how. After we let go of the " what ", we are left with the " how." We grab the profound mysterious " how " and throw it into the midst of life. There its, " how do I believe?" How did I ever believe that? " How does believing this change the world around me?

It is the " how " of belief, that is more about " orthopraxy " the right practice of belief...Or simply how do I live like Jesus, and believe in the things he believed in. "How", is a question that is far more profound and far more life giving than " what ." " How ", implies a sense of purpose and pushes us into a deeper engagement with the world in which we live.

Diana Butler Bass says, " What is a conventional religious question, one of dogma and doctrine; how is an emerging spiritual question, one of experience and connection." How is the struggle of a new way to belief.

 

You read the gospels and you simply see, it becomes blindingly clear Jesus doesn't fight for anyone to believe anything. All through the gospels it is Jesus telling profound redemptive stories, acting out the drama of abundant living in the midst of a broken world. Jesus simply fights for us to " live " differently as " on earth as in heaven."  It is simply about living a radical scandalous redemptive love to the point of self sacrifice.

It became apparent for me when Jesus is arrested by the Roman soldiers in the garden of Gethsemane, when Peter grabs the soldiers sword and cuts his ear off. Jesus tells Peter to put down the sword...and replaces and heals the soldiers ear. We will never convince the world to believe in Jesus by defending, and fighting about right belief. We will convince the world of Jesus when we are willing to put down our swords, and willing to sacrifice our lives...for Love. 

 

I NO longer care or focus on what I beleive...I only care about how I believe...how that might change my neighborhood, and world...and how it will reveal Jesus and his kingdom.

 

 

life beyond the belief meter...

 

One wonders if there isn't one of these parked at the entrance of " heaven's gate ", or on the front porch of that mansion with many rooms. We are led...maybe not led, coerced into believing that an absolute positive outcome on the belief meter is what gets you " in."

What's the pass mark going to be? I don't know. I would assume 50% would just being lowering the bar to much. Heaven forbid, that low, someone could trip over it and accidentally fall in. But, I'm sure you can imagine the hooting and hollering, and high-fiving on the "right side " of the divine gated community, and the jeering and laughing at the folks that will have to take the elevator down to the eternal fire in the basement of existence.

You read the gospels and you wonder, " how in the heck did we come up with a faith that has such an emphasis in absolute belief. If anything Jesus mission was not about belief. ( You might want to read that again really slow ) It wasn't about what you must believe or how you must behave in order to get "in " heaven. Rather his mission was about the character of God, away of centering in God, and the Kingdom of God. It was a mission far more concerned about " living " than " believing."

From the outset after Jesus has collected his band of " Divine Nobodies", his rag-tag band of " Ragamuffins" he doesn't head to a classroom in the local synagogue for a three year course in Hermeneutics, Epistemology...the proper way to cook lamb on an altar. He took his disciples on the road, into the wide open spaces of their world, their neighborhoods not to construct a new religion around a whole new set of rules...but to rediscover a simple faith of living and becoming fully human.

The first place Jesus takes his disciples, he immersed them into the midst of life, the wedding at Cana. It was a microcosm of the world, there were friends, family, the town...the black sheep of the family, weird uncles, all the little family clicks...and all the messy dysfunction of real life. It was the good, the bad and the ugly. And just when the party starts to fizzle out, Jesus makes wine, gallons from water...new wine poured extravagantly into the midst of life. It wasn't " certain " guests that received this extravagance...the " in " crowd, the " correct " believers...it was for everyone, all you had to do was accept it. Many likely started rubbing their eyes in disbelief as to what was going on. You kind of couldn't put it in words. Whatever truth came out was from simply living in the moment.

Jesus had to reboot peoples imagination to what the character of God really is. After God being out of the picture for some 400 years, the proprietors of religious goods and services ( aka Pharisees, Scribes, Priests, Religious Scholars ), sort of cherry picked through the old texts and came up with a God that...well, lets say, served them quite well. Here you might insert many proprietors of the religious goods and services of our day.

It was the God that was pretty well disgusted with us, really couldn't bear to look at us. The only way we could get close to him, even in the tiime of Jesus was to create a smoke-screen. It was buying your pound of flesh from the temple priest ( yes I think they sold it by the pound ), and through it on the temple BBQ and create enough smoke that God couldn't see you.

It seemed the only people this God liked was the religious proprietors of goods and services and if you wanted God to like you, you bought what these salesmen sold. It was a life in which the average person lived while being tethered on a short leash to the temple. It was life dictated by rules, and amendments to the rules, and amendments to the amendments. It was living life as a ritual, eating off a menu where the content never changed.

It was also a God that didn't seem to give a crap about the poor, the homeless, the marginalized, the oppressed; the sick, lame and blind...another faith, an outsider...a foreigner. It was a God who likes the people we like. And there was no getting around it, God had his favorites...he loved some, and hated his enemies. It was the prosperity God, the God of investments...if you put 10 danari in the temple offering basket Sunday, God gave you double or triple back Monday morning.

It's not hard even to look around us today and see that this is the same God many churches project into the world. But Jesus, becomes God in the flesh and bones, the God-man and moves into the " hood." This is the God who doesn't need a smoke screen to draw a curtain between himself and humanity. This God moves right in, no, he jumps in heads over heels into the messiness and brokenness of humanity. He doesn't wait for an invitation, for people to repent...shave their heads, wear sack cloths and roll around in ashes. He invites himself, to eat with, to drink...to rub elbows with the sinners, the outcasts, the marginalized. Simply he is a friend of sinners. This is the God of extreme, scandalous grace and love. This is the God that says love your enemies. This is the God that says never tire of forgiveness. This is the God that tears down all the fences, the walls and barriers that are erected in the midst of humanity. This is the God  who says the profound reality to abundant life can be found in something as small as a Tweet, " Love God with absolutely everything you have, and Love your neighbor the same way " #extreme love @God.

This was the character of God that Jesus came to reveal...a God a world away from the god the proprietors of religious goods and services were selling. But, a God that was infinitely and intimately close to humanity...camped in the midst of the worst of it.

And what's this mission of God. Well we get a really good idea from where Jesus pitched his tent. He was camped out on the extreme fringe of society...it was with the people of no worth. It was the sick, the lame, the blind, the oppressed, the poor, the homeless, the sinners...on the ladder to success these people were stepping stones for others to reach that first wrung. This was the God of the Old Testament prophets that continually tried to reboot the imagination of humanity to justice, and mercy...for the very people Jesus camped out with. This missional strand of justice weaves itself through the whole story and is connected the very DNA that is the reality of Jesus' life. These prophetic words still echo down the corridor of history...

"The Lord is exalted", proclaims Isaiah. " He dwells on high; he filled Zion with justice and righteousness." ( 33:5 )

" I am the Lord " announces Jeremiah in the name of God. " I act with steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight." ( 9:24 ) 

Again Isaiah, " Is such the fast I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and lie is a sack cloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this fast that I choose; to break the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? ( 58:5-7 )

From Micah, " He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. ( 6:6-8 )

Lastly from Amos, " I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. ( 5:21-24 )

But the reality, the truth is, Jesus starts telling these wild scandalous redemptive parables, mysteries to capture the imagination of humanity...to God's justice. It was not just loving your friends, it was about loving people you can't stand, people you hate...your enemies. It was not just making sure your rights were protected...it was about becoming a voice for the widow, the orphan, the most marginalized people around you. It was about forgiveness, seventy times seventy...it was scandalous. It was about setting the captives free. It was universal health insurance where as humanity we tried to heal everyone...not the ones who could afford to pay. It was the miracle of feeding the masses...to the point of sharing your last scrap of food knowing you'd go hungry.  There was no in crowd; Jesus knocked down all fences, barriers and borders...as humanity we were one, and we were in this all together. And no one had ownership of God...it didn't matter where you worshipped...it was about doing it in a profound sense of truth. And well, right living, righteousness came down to...loving, God with all your heart, mind and soul...and loving your neighbor as yourself, almost echoing Micah's words.

This is the essence of the " Kingdom of God " stuff...it is the very heart-beat of the Gospels, and Jesus life pulsated with passion for the Kingdom. God's mission is establishing the Kingdom of God, on earth as in heaven.

And lastly Jesus came to show us how to center our lives in God...Jesus called it abiding. You sense in abiding that it is effortless, you just had to rest in the profound reality that Jesus is...simply as branch on a tree. Life comes from Jesus, pure and simple. I love Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well and her struggle of trying to get it right...of connecting with God. Do we need to go to some mountain, or do we need to go to the temple? She is asking God standing right in front of her, Jesus, " how do I do it right...give me the formula?" Jesus says it simply doesn't matter, it is about doing it, living life in a spirit of truth...these are the people God is looking for."

I don't know how we read the gospels and come up with the idea that Jesus came to make us believe. That somehow he came to pound the " word " into us. Profound as it seems God came to reveal the " word " to us not by writing it out on a scroll, or in a book...but by making the word " flesh " and placing it in our midst. I know that for a lot of people absolute belief is important. We need doctrine, we need creeds...we must have a statement of faith. It's not that I don't believe them, I just don't believe in them in the same way. I am not willing to waste my energy, and exhaust myself fighting to get people to believe. I don't think Jesus was about belief...I think Jesus was about living. The more and more I read the gospels I find something " beyond belief ." I find something that must be lived, something that must be discovered. Jesus said, " follow me." One thinks if he wanted mere belief he could have just set up shop like the rest of the proprietors of religious goods and services. But it's only in following Jesus into the midst of the world, our neighborhoods, the inner city...and love our neighbor as much as we love God. It's in this divine redemptive reactive interaction I find truth...something I can believe in beyond mere words.

In the gospels, I find the greatest story ever told, I am consumed by Jesus and it's cast of characters. It is truly beyond belief, but yet I know for certain, without out a doubt if we dared live the story in our own lives the world would change. It is in this incredible profound mysterious truth that I have come to believe...this incredible power and redemptive imagination that creates new possibilities. I don't believe in the simplicity of doctrines...I believe in the greatest story ever told..."all" of it. If you want to know what I believe, it is the whole gospels, and only as much as I live it. The world will know Jesus not by what I say I believe, but by how I live. So please don't ask me simply what I believe anymore...because I've moved some where way beyond that.

lifting the roof on the proprietors of godly goods and services...

It was about a few days later, and Jesus returned to Capernaum. Word spread like wild fire that he was back home. At first it was a slow trickle, a few people started hanging around outside the house. Then it was as if someone slashed an artery, people were spilling out from everywhere. There was so many people around the house, it was like a plugged sink nothing was getting in or out. Inside the house, Jesus the Kingdom story teller was rebooting the imagination of humanity telling radical, scandalous redemptive parables of an alternative world that turned this one upside down. But there they were four men and a paraplegic weaving through the crowd like a drunken seamstress with a needle. They got as close as they could and couldn't poke their way any further. Sometimes when desperation strikes you have to break something open and create your own window of opportunity.

Walking around the perimeter of the crowd there wasn't even a crack to squeeze through, and that is when up became the only alternative. So scaling the side of the house with their limp, and lifeless friend into the reached the summit. Here, they knocked...punching their way through the roof of the house. They lowered there friend into the midst of Jesus and the front row spectators. Seeing the friends incredible act of faith Jesus said, " Son, your sins are forgiven."

The religious professionals, the proprietors of godly goods and services in their usual front row seats taking notes, squawked among each others like crows, " He can't talk that way! That's blasphemy! God and only God can forgive sins...we manage that business."

Jesus knew right away what they were thinking , and said, "Why are you so skeptical?, you think it can't be done without a middle man. Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, 'I forgive your sins,' or say, 'Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking'? Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both . . ." he looked with compassion, a smile filled with grace at the paraplegic, "Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home." 

 And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then it was electrical, the buzz of people talking about God, saying, "We've never seen anything like this!"

At this point, religious professionals, the proprietors of godly goods and services were fuming mad, they glared at Jesus...knowing this was going to have a huge impact on the religious business. ( my paraphrase Mark 2:1-12 )

This is one of my favourite stories in the gospels. It confronts our theology from all sides. It's like when you were a kid, and your friends would grab you and spin you around and around and then let you go. You would take a step or two, dizzy and wobbly you would fall on your face...your world spinning around you. Jesus often has this effect on our theological mindset. We don't know much about these four guys and their paraplegic friend, mysteriously weaving their way into the story, literally falling into center of it through the roof.

Amazingly the forgiveness formula is challenged, the A + B = C, repent + belief = forgiveness. These guys haul their neighbor in and the first thing Jesus says, " Son, your sins are forgiven." The guy didn't even ask to be forgiven, didn't make a confession of faith. If we are only forgiven by belief that Jesus " died " for our sins, what's going here? Was he just being forgiven for the instrusion? Here again, grace, like divine lighting unexpectedly strikes...without the religious professionals, the proprietors of godly goods and services giving directions making sure the guy has obeyed all the road signs. We really don't give Jesus very much credit that he infact can do things without our help.

The most profound reality in this story is this nuclear explosion that releases a cosmic redemptive energy that changes everything. Jesus talks about it constantly in the gospels. When we hold to and live out Jesus great command constantly in our comings and goings, in our daily momentary living...loving God to the max, and loving our neighbor to the max. These four guys showed that, their risky love for their lame neighbor, and unwavering love for God brought them to their roof top experience. The redemptive imagination of Jesus comes to life...Jesus comes to life. It's here Jesus doesn't need the religious professionals, the proprietors of godly goods and services, we just need to live in the moment. So much of faith is about things we don't control, that this thing called " grace " like divine lightning can strike anywhere at anytime...forgiving, and healing.

Risk, just living out loving God with absolutely everything you have, and loving your neighbor with everything you have. You might be surprised. 

OK! No more Kingdom language...something more culturally relevant and conservative.

 

There has been some grumbling, and whining around the word " Kingdom " the language and it's use, like ( here ) and ( there). For some it's just not culturally relevant enough...and for the Evangelicals are fearful it's just too liberating. So some, figure people just aren't smart enough to get " it ", and the others its just too grace-filled, like a house with an open door that " anyone ' can walk into. So, here is my attempt to help these people fix the problem of the " Kingdom."

So really if we really want to solve the problem you can't just do a patch job like repairing a leaky roof...as Mike Holmes says, " gut it ", you have to go right back to the start. Now, I'm not going to re-write the whole Bible...I could, but I'm not. I'll just sort of pour a foundation we can build on. Well, hang on, here we go...the beginning.

In the beginning God was lonely, productivity between the other 2 partners was down. Not much was happening except grumbling. The Spirit guy was like he had ADD, just couldn't settle down. " Let's build something ", the Spirit said. The Word guy, " OK, I'll say it and you build it."

Finally there was some creativity among the three partners. 

God said, "Light!" And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. 
God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning—Day One. " Now, we will have daily sales, weekly sales...seasonal sales " God looked at what he made and said, " This is good...very good."

 God thought. " Land to develop!" And the Word guy spoke, " Bulldoze." And the Spirit guy, frenzied went into action. There was dirt flying every where in all directions. " Not good enough!" shouted God. The Word guy stuttered momentarily, but out came the word, " Pavement." Again, the Spirit guy brooded over the ground waving is arms, and suddenly like rolling out carpet, there was a hard surface. God smiled, scratching his head and suddenly shouted, " Parking lot." Day Two. God looked at what he had made and said, " This is good...it is really getting good."

God thought, lost for words put his hand over his head, then moved his arms along his side. Frustrated like a game of charades, shouted out, " sounds like?" Mr. Word, excitedly jumped up and down, shouted, " Building!" Again, like a kid that had eaten far too much candy Mr. Spirit was spinning like a hurricane. Suddenly, there was an enormous building that seem to spread out for miles. God looked on amazed and said, " Yes!...W-mart." Day Three. God looked at what had been made so far and said, " This is better than good...this is freaking awesome."

God looked on stroking his long white beard, " It's a lot of empty space." Mr. Word closed his eyes as if imagining something . Suddenly, out it came, " lets fill it ", he proclaimed, " With stuff, crap and all kinds of junk." Suddenly, there was screaming and yelling, his body twisting and contorting like a crystal meth addict, Mr. Spirit was moving like the wind in and out of the W-mart. In a matter of hours it was filled with everything and anything imaginable. Again, God gave the partners the thumbs up and said, " Merchandise." Day Four. God looked at what had been made so far and glee-ly rubbed his hands and thought, " Marketing!"

Day Five was not a very creative day but it was productive. It was a round table discussion of what to do with this huge mega-building of stuff, the utopian garden, W-mart. The three partners wandered around the immense building, aisle after aisle counting and taking stock, and puting price stickers on all the merchandise. It takes a lot to impress this tri-union business team, but, they were astounded at what they had built. But they were still stumped as what do do with their creation. So God said, " let's call it a day." Day Five. God looked around at what he had made, his eyes flickering like candles ready to go out...suddenly he was snoring.

God dreamed all night, but in the morning he awoke bright-eyed and refreshed. He quickly nudged the other two partners waking them up. He then shared his dream, " let's make people that sort of look like us, but that aren't as smart...and really like the stuff in W-mart." Mr. Word looked at God, then at Mr. Spirit and said, " lets call them consumers." So God dug his hand in the filthy dirt and dug out a clump, coughed on it, threw it down. And there before there eyes stood the first consumer. Day Six. God looked around at everything he had made, and then looked at the first consumer and smiled from ear to ear saying, " I have a plan!"

This was the end of a busy busy week, so God said, " Let's rest...before we put our plan into motion." Day Seven.

God looked on at the male consumer wandering around W-mart confused and frustrated not knowing what to buy. This saddened God, but not only that, he was loosing on everything the partners had invested in. So he said, " It is not good for the male consumer to be alone, he needs a partner." So God created the female consumer...the ultimate shopper.

So God took the two of them aside and said, " all this is yours to manage...everything in the Mall." " But what ever you do, by no means open the safe in the middle of W-mart that contains the book of Knowledge, " The Perfect Business Plan ", God said looking at them sternly, " For if you do, you will surely die." " Now go forth and multiply, fill the earth with more and more consumers."

I think we know what happened...they did open the safe. It was her fault, always just had to have the best deal. God threw them out of the W-mart. And they did multiply...but it continued to be a series of failed small franchises, mom and pop operations. Finally sick of the failed operations, poor productivity and no profit, God decided to erase everyone of the face of the earth. But while fluttering around the earth Mr. Spirit happened to notice one consumer with potential so he went back and told God about Noah and his family.

God spoke to Noah and told him of his plan to erase this lot of consumers from the face of the earth. God told Noah to build a super tanker and fill it with two of everything from W-mart. When the task was completed it would rain for forty days and forty nights, the earth would be flooded erasing the old lot of consumers. At the end of the forty days, the earth would dry again. But God would make a promise, a rainbow would appear to indicate it would never happen again.

But as always, it's a continuation of the same old shit, failure after failure...failed businesses, poor productivity and no profit. All through history God sends prophets, or shrewd business managers to steer the consumers back in the right direction. It doesn't help...the unruly consumers beat, them up, kill them...and just run some out of town.

As the hands of time keep ticking along and history unravels, things just don't get any better. Thinking back to the beginning God wonders if he shouldn't have mixed a bit more " smart " into the consumers. But finally fed up with all the crap that has been going on...he sends Mr. Word to speak some common sense into the consumer. Mr. Word shares this parable with the consumers from Matthew...

Here's another story. Gather around and listen closely. There once was a an owner ( God, creator), a shrewd aggressive business man, abundantly wealthy, who built a mall, W-mart ( creation). He fenced it, with a cash register and safe, and turned it over to the managers and consumers ( humanity ) and then left for a far away trip.

When the time arrived for it to bear profit ( the fullness of the Kingdom ), he sent his regional managers ( the prophets ) to check on them. But the consumers ( humanity, the empire, religion ) beat some and killed others. The managers/consumers grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more regional managers. They got the same treatment.

Finally, the owner ( God ) sent his son (Mr.Word ), saying, “Surely they will reverence my son.” But this was not the case. They laid hold of him, cast him out, and killed him.

  "Now, when the owner of W-mart arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the mangers/consumers?" ( my paraphrase Matthew 21:33-46 )

OK. No more " Kingdom Language " because people just don't get it, can't relate to it. From now on the new Kingdom...is W-mart. We all get that. Also, to avoid any connection with the old Kingdom language being too liberating...now it is serious business.

 ( Remember, this is satirical writing...put down your stones )

a parable: the murder of the farm owner's son

 

 

What is the Kingdom? we get our first glimpse in the garden…harmony, the reality of what communion really is, and should be…God, humanity and creation as one. We see the prophets continuously, like editors in the script of the human story popping up…to re-focus us to fix the injustice of broken communion. Not just make me better, me and God being soul mates...but this beautiful interconnectedness of the three, God, humanity and creation.

It get’s to the point much like the parable where after the vineyard owners have killed all the messengers…the master finally sends his own son.

Here's another story. Gather around and listen closely. There once was a an owner ( God, creator), a person with a green thumb, abundantly wealthy, generous and gracious who planted a vineyard ( creation). He fenced it, dug a wine-press, and put up a watchtower, then turned it over to his farmhands ( humanity ) and then left for a far away trip.

When the time arrived for it to bear fruit ( the fullness of the Kingdom ), he sent his servants ( the prophets ) to check on them. But the farmhands ( humanity, the empire, religion ) beat some and killed others. The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment.

Finally, the owner ( God ) sent his son ( Jesus ), saying, “Surely they will reverence my son.” But this was not the case. They laid hold of him, cast him out, and killed him.

  "Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?" ( my paraphrase Matthew 21:33-46 )

This parable is directed at all of us, the empire of the day, the religion of the day and humanity that turns a blind eye to the witness of a brutal premeditated murder. Jesus is saying to us, " God leased this land to you. He entered into a covenant with you ( read Genesis ) in good faith, expecting you to carry out your end of the bargain. He sent his servants to you. These were the prophets. And what did you do to them?

" Well, we took up a " love offering " gave them an honorarium thanked them for their godly words, and told them to come back."

No that's not what they did back then. Back in those days, prophets understood the economy of language...they made every word count. The preached in a way that was as clear a bell, and everyone could understand. And by the time, Mr. prophet made is point. rocks were coming at him from all directions.

After God hadn't recieved any messages from home, concerned he sent more servants. So he sent Isaiah, Amos, Micah, Obadiah and Malachi. But the tenants took them too and beat and killed them. " Oh", God thought, " WTF! what kind of people did I rent my vineyard to?" " What am I going to do now, shit, if they won't listen to my servants...who's left?"

" I'm going to send my boy. And he'll carry my authority, and surely when they see him, and hear him, they will have the respect for him that they have for me." " Yes, I'm going to send my son."

God loved his creation, the tenants of his vineyeard so much that he sent his only son. He came into their midst, among his own and they did not recognize, greet or recieve him.  They took him outside the vineyeard, to a hillside, beat and lynched him...hanging him on a tree.

It is obvious this story Jesus tells is about himself, so I'll ask you as a crime scene investigator...is this a suicide, a ritual sacrifice for sin? Is it the scene of an irresponsible father who knowingly sent his son to be brutally killed? Or, is it premeditated murder by unruly tenants?

Think about...I'll pick it up tomorrow or the next day? Feel free to add your comment.   

transformation...

I do dimly percieve that whilst everything around me is ever changing, ever dying, there is underlying all that change a Living Power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves and re-creates. That informing Power or Spirit of God. and since nothing else I see merely through the senses can or will persist, He is alone.

And is this Power benevolent or malevolent? I see it as purely benevolent, for I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the supreme good.

But he is no God who merely satisfies the intellect, if he ever can. God to be God must rule the heart and transform it. This can only be done through a definite realization. more real than the five senses can ever produce. It is not proved by extraneous evidence but in the transformed living and character of those who have felt the presence of God within.

(The Essential Ghandi...pg 18)

I was once found...now I am lost

 

Until a few years ago I hadn't even heard of the term " Theopoetics " until I started reading Callid Keefe Perry, and being turned onto authors such as Stanley Hopper, David Leroy Miller, and Amos Niven. Todays explorers of theopoetics like Peter Rollins, Catherine Keller, John Caputo and Philip Clayton continue to stretch me, providing kindling, sparking and igniting my imagination to discover a langauge of theological mystery.

The word Theopoetics is derived from the Classic Greek noun poema and the verb poiein; "a created thing" and "to make," respectively. And " Theo " is Greek for God. 

The English author Samuel Johnson wrote, "The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new."  

Percy Shelley added, "Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world."

Theopoetics is to work in the intersection of these ideas: theopoetics is the theory and practice of making God known, particularly through language.  

I think it is easy to mix theopoetics up with " Negative Theology or Apophatic Theology." In negative theology, and I think we would a agree that God is ineffable, unknowable. In Jesus, we have seen, and heard God, but even in that we swim on the surface of the infinite mystery of God.

We wrestle with the existence or non-existence of God, but it takes us to the outer limits of our imagination where we are literally on the very edge of knowing, where we have to let go and reach for something beyond, something we can not confine and capture in human words. We can not say God exists in the usual sense that something exists.

Even with our Trinitarian theology, we can't confine God as one, or three...or really any type of being. It's like trying to stop an atom in motion to look at an one particle...as soon as that happens, the atom no longer exists. It is best to leave God as being simply divine.

Even the challenge of knowing the " Wisdom " of God...can we really claim to know what wisdom is on a divine scale. Maybe diving into the depths of Jobs story will remind we really are ignorant in terms of knowing God.

We can't say God is a creation, or is creation...but is much more. We wrestle, and reach to try and define how God exists and operates in the context of creation and humanity.

Can we really define God in terms of location and space. God lives in Heaven, and not hell. God is only seen in light, not dark. God only occupies the sacred space, and not the secular. 

For me, all this is where I've come to understand " Theopoetics." 'Once I was found...now I am lost' ;' Once I was blind...now I am blinder' ", could certainly sum up my faith journey. I think for many who are comfortable in " church " culture " Theopoetics " is dangerous. It is like lifting anchor, untying the rope from the dock and drifting into the profound mystery of the divine. But, I really believe if we want to engage the world in the new Millenium, we will have to loosen our grip on our " theology ." There is a spiritual hunger in the world...but we will not satisfy its craving with a language, and theological constructs from days gone by. We can tie more ropes to our ship, throw out heavier anchors...or we can drift, engage in a new kind of God Talk.

Fistful of Mercy...

Beautiful music, stunning lyrics...

 

Fistful of Mercy from Fistful of Mercy on Vimeo.

If your definition of supergroup is, "A group of musicians previously associated with other musical catalogs coming together to form a new one," then the birth of a new supergroup will commence at 8 p.m. Thursday at Easy Street Records in West Seattle (4559 California Ave SW). The show is free. If you need reminding, here's a quick refresher on the players involved: Ben Harper: You may remember him from your college days, particularly when he was fronting the dominant Innocent Criminals, a band that peaked with 1999's Burn to Shine. Lately he's been working with the less-satisfying Relentless7. Dhani Harrison: Yes, his dad was the cool Beatle. Joseph Arthur: Maybe you saw him at the Triple Door in January.

 

Putting Away Childish Things :: Marcus Borg

I received a copy of Marcus Borg's latest book " Putting Away Childish Things " last Thursday from Harper One to read and review. I finished it last evening. This is Marcus Borg's first novel, a work of fiction, but, something he calls  " didactic " novel. I love the subtitle, " A TALE OF MODERN FAITH ", because I think it captures the essence of the book. The story, it's characters are fictional, yet Borg weaves reference material through out its pages.

My sincere hope is that many people will not dismiss this book because of Marcus Borgs controversial background. We was a fellow of the mid-eighties " Jesus Seminar ", and still one of the most influential voices in " Progressive Christianity ", which characterized by willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity with a strong emphasis on social justice or care for the poor and the oppressed and environmental stewardship of the Earth. Progressive Christians have a deep belief in the centrality of the instruction to " love one another" (John 15:17) within the teaching of Jesus . This leads to a focus on compassion, promoting justice and mercy, tolerance, and working towards solving the societal problems of poverty, discrimination, and environmental issues.

So it is important to understand that this novel flows out of Marcus Borg's life engaged in that contest of living out his faith. This book is extremely important because Christianity is becoming more polarized between the voices of conservatism, liberalism and left and right. As numbers, and churches decline in North America a survival mode mentality becomes the driving force where fundamentalism focuses in on belief more than faithful living.

It will take a special voice, and a different way of writing to engage a polarized faith, to provide a space where we can talk. It will take a story teller. This is a story in which I believe we can all see ourselves, and also the sacred cows that we are unwilling to let roam free.

The story's main character Kate Riley is a popular religious studies professor in a small mid-western liberal arts college. Through the story, and its characters Marcus Borg weaves in the important issues that are dividing and polarizing the Christian faith today. The reader becomes engaged in the deep questions of what does the Bible really teach? Who is Jesus, the historical pre-easter version, and the post-easter Christ version? And, what is the nature of faith today?

One of the dominant strands that weaves its way through the story is " truth ", the postmodern view as truth being relative, shifting sand rubbing against the conservative literal view etched in granite. It is the polarization of truth...factuality is the evidence, verifying something as " true." Or, if evidence can not be excavated like an archaeologist, then truth becomes belief...something different than faith.

In a radio interview Kate is questioned around the gospel stories of Jesus birth, where she claims truth and factuality are not the same thing.

The host spoke again. " So, with these differences --- and some sounding like contradictions---are you saying that these stories aren't historically factual? I think most Christians believe they are---that these things did happen. But if they didn't happen this way, why should people take them seriously?"

" Well," Kate answered, " that depends upon how we see these stories. If we see their purpose as historical reporting, to tell us what happened, then the matter of factuality matters a great deal. People often get fixated on factuality: either things happened this way, or these stories aren't true. ( page 25 )

Through Kate, Borg introduces many of the gospel stories are overtures or parables. Like an overture to a symphony typically introduces the central themes of the symphony as a whole, the birth stories in the gospels are an overture to the grand themes of the good news and Kingdom that follow.

" Parables are about meaning, not factuality. And the truth of a parable is its meaning. Parables can be truthful, truth-filled, even while not being historically factual. And I apply this to the birth stories: we best understand them when we see them as parables and overtures, and when we don't argue about whether they're factual." ( page 26 )

Borg through the voice of Kate offers us a middle way, between the the fortified walls of liberalism and conservatism...where profound divine truth might be found between the arguing, and fighting voices for literalism, and that of a pious fable. Where truth is found in meaning, that place where the Psalmist says deep calls to deep...or to Jesus saying the Kingdom can be found in faith as small as a mustard seed.

In Marcus Borg's book he engages us in the current conversation of religion and politics. Kate believes the separation of religion and politics is un biblical. Reading the gospel stories one can not miss the clash of Roman Empire theology, and that of Jesus Kingdom. This is the reality that made the Jesus so subversive. The Kingdom was a threat to the empire. Jesus death was political as much as it was spiritual. The book draws into the conversation where we must honestly face politics and faith together not as separate entities. The faith of Jesus confronted the politics of the day..." Putting Away Childish things " reminds us, we need do the same.

As I found myself coming to the closing pages of the book, something profound percolated to surface of my mind...what makes a Christian. In our current landscape, it is all over the map...everyone fighting for territory. Stake our claim, and then fight to try and dominate and expand our borders.

In the closing chapters is a seminary in a quandary, about to receive a generous endowment for a chair in evangelical thought. The faculty meets but before they can pursue potential applicants there is great discussion on how the label is applied.

“It seems to me that there isn’t a general sense of agreement about what makes an evangelical… Would it be enough if those under consideration identify themselves as evangelicals? Or does it mean that they have to meet certain standards, such as professing a belief in the inerrancy of Scripture, confessing Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, or counting the Bible as the ultimate basis for their beliefs rather than experience or tradition?” (149)

Some may be mystified by Marcus Borg's change of direction to a fictional novel. But, sometimes you need a story teller to help you see a new way. I highly recommend this book. It is my hope it will draw us all to a place of humble hospitality where grace abounds. To a place where there is always an open table an empty chair to accommodate everyone. We need more than ever to rediscover the faith that Jesus lived and spoke, Putting Away Childish Things brings us to place to talk about what that is.