(prayer)
Before church today, and
for the past four Sunday mornings, a group of inquisitive readers have been
discussing their way through John Dominic Crossan’s [long titled] book: "How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis to Revelation".
I don't want to give too
much away because there are still two more sessions left in the study group,
but Dom Crossan ultimately makes the point (and I am convinced that at he is on
the right track) that Jesus was into
non-violent resistance to Roman oppression.
Crossan is not talking about Jesus
as a pacifist... as unconcerned, but... as Jesus advocating, proclaiming and
practicing non-violent resistance to the injustice of Roman occupation in the
Jewish homeland in the name of the Jewish God... [in the torah and prophetic
tradition of] the Kingdom of God.
"Kingdom of God"
language may sound a bit anachronistic and patriarchal to our 21st century,
first world ears, but in the first century, this phrase would have been heard
by the Judean Prefect, Pontius Pilate, as an explicit threat to Rome (whose
Caesar was proclaimed as a god-king).
Proclaiming the nearness of the Kingdom of God was to ask where does authority truly rest?
Jesus' parables (the Kingdom of God is like...) had
reputations as revolutionary political statements in the eyes and ears of Roman
authorities.
The justification of
Crossan's (and other's) claim that Jesus
was non-violent is that - as a matter of history (and Crossan says you
can't do good theology without good history)... as a matter of history - Pilate, executed Jesus as a public
demonstration of what not to do
because Jesus was - in Pilate's judgment - a revolutionary against Roman
order. Jesus was talking about this and rebelliously arousing non-empire ideals
among the people, but he was not promoting violence.
We know this... because
Pilate only came after Jesus; he left his band of followers alone. If Jesus was the leader of a violent revolutionary movement, all of
them would have been rounded up. With
non-violent movements, Pilate knew, through experience, that you only need to
pick off their leader. You don't need to
waste soldiers' time and iron nails.
Just stop the leader and you would demoralize the group... in the short
term, at least. If they happen to
re-organize later, you'd go after the
next leader, and the next... until they went away.
These kind of resistance
movements were a concern to Rome and had to be dealt with, but their
non-violent nature didn't require an overblown, resource-wasting response.
//
//
//
The theme of the second
week of Advent (symbolized by our new candle today) is peace. This gives me an opportunity to spend a
little time thinking about the non-violent Jesus as The Prince of Peace.
That phrase (Prince of Peace) comes into our Jesus
tradition from Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 6 as a description of a yet-to-be-born
royal child who would have "authority [that grows] continually, and [under who] there
shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. [This prince
of peace] will establish and uphold [the kingdom] with justice and with
righteousnes from this time onwards and for evermore" (Isaiah 9:7).
That is a traditional reading for
Christmas Eve because early generations of Jesus followers saw a description of
their Christ in these ancient words.
//
We heard this theme expanded in our
reading from Isaiah, chapter eleven.
There were several images of radical peace in that passage this morning:
·
A
righteous judge who is so
understanding and wise that he is not susceptible to bribery or flattery, which
will result in justice for the poor, and equity for the meek - this deep
fairness will make wickedness a thing of the past;
·
How
dramatic will this peace be? Imagine:
wolves and lambs, leopards and baby goats, bears and cows, lions and oxen
living together without fighting or eating each other;
·
Imagine:
parents not needing to be afraid of their toddlers getting bit by snakes in tbe
heart of snake country;
·
Imagine
things so calm and peaceful that a child could be left in charge.
//
In seven weeks, on the fourth Sunday in
January, I am planning for us to read about the start of Jesus' rabbinic
ministry and how he began to attract disciples.
We will notice then that Jesus
proclaims the same basic message that we heard from John the Baptist this
morning: the Kingdom of Heaven has come
near.
Matthew's gospel uses the exact same
wording in 3:2 as in 4:17 - first John, and later Jesus (after John was
arrested), invite people to respond to the fact that God's kingdom is near.
//
For Matthew, as with all of the
biblical gospels, the appearance of John as a popular figure is seen - in
retrospect at least - as a natural precursor to Jesus' ministry.
The Christian tradition quickly began
to quote Isaiah 40, verse 3: A voice
cries: in the wilderness, prepare a way for the Lord.
//
A strong case can be made that Jesus
was originally part of John's group and then set out on his own after John's
arrest, founded on the same assertion - that the Realm of God was near.
//
//
You would think that living in peace
would be an ideal that everyone could get behind. If we are to know peace, some things about
the way society functions will have to change.
In all times of history, there are certain people who personally flourish
in the absence of peace.
It is sadly not true to say everyone
wants peace - some people benefit from war and conflict too much to want
wide-reaching peace.
John and Jesus' promise of a realm of
God characterized by sacred peace,
naturally had skeptical opponents.
//
It is unfortunate that both the prophet
(in Isaiah) and John (in Matthew) have difficulty describing a future realm of
peace without using violent language with-respect-to those opposed to this
coming peace:
·
Isaiah
11:4 He shall strike the earth with the
rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
·
Matthew
3:10,12 Every tree that does not bear
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire and he will clear the threshing floor... the chaff he will burn with
unquenchable fire.
These are non-literal
metaphors of course (poison breath, fuel for fire), but they are violent
metaphors and seem out of place in the broader language of a realm of peaceful
coexistence... unless you believe that peace can only happen if the opponents
to peace are violently defeated.
//
In his life and ministry,
Jesus could have chosen a more zealous style to opposing the military might of
Roman rule, but (as was the case just around the time he was born and about 35
years after he died), violent revolution would have likely have been violently
quashed by the Empire.
Jesus lived a different
example.
In spite of Isaiah's and
John's metaphoric rhetoric, Jesus did not choose non-metaphoric versions of airborn poisons or fiery furnaces but - instead - the language and action of radical
welcome and forgiveness.
The image in Isaiah that
Jesus followed was... not the
breath that kills but... that of
enemies (predators and prey) sharing a common meal: the lion eating straw like (i.e. with) the ox.
It bothered onlookers (who
justified their views with a sense of exalted righteousness and piety), but... who Jesus chose to dine with said a lot
about what he imagined that the realm of God was to be like. Jesus' refusal to exclude those who others
saw as outside of God's love and care was one of his greatest living parables: the Kingdom of God is like... this!
//
//
//
"The Kingdom of God has come near"
Not: the kingdom is
coming... but it is near - it is
close.
That was John's (and
Jesus') promise.
Nice words.
Hopeful words.
// aside //
I suspect that each of us
remembers being in the back seat of our parent's car on a trip to somewhere and
getting restless. Mom or dad attempted
to calm us with the promise of near:
it's just over the next hill, or around the next corner, or across the
next bridge or, past the next overpass.
My experience was... that sometimes the promise of near was
exaggerated. It was always not as near
as I was told. There were times I think
they told me it was near, just to shut me up.
A promise of merely words
can fall flat over time.
//
How is it that we know we
are actually getting close to something?
The
promise of near begins
to feel more true, more possible, when we actually start to witness signs of it
coming.
The most convincing of
which is... glimpsing some evidence on the horizon:
·
Reducing
numbers of the distance signs.
·
The
glow of the city ahead.
·
Perhaps,
the tips of buildings begin to come into view.
//
I believe that Jesus did
more than promise (with words) that the Kingdom was near; I believe that he
began to live it out.
The Kingdom has come near,
because Jesus was living it out in their midst.
//
//
//
If we, as modern followers
of Jesus, proclaim him to be a prince of peace, we can look at that in two
ways:
1. actual peace is not
possible (or practical) in our world and will only be realized in some
eschatelogical future time, maybe only in another realm or reality; or
2. there is some realistic
hope that there is truth in Charles Wesley's words when we sing about herald
angels: peace on earth and mercy mild.
//
If Jesus meant the first
option that God's peace would only come through some kind of divine
intervention, then we simply need to patiently wait for it. But we also have to admit that Jesus was
being less-than-truthful with his words that the Kingdom of God has come near.
Certainly two millenia of passing time disqualifies the promise of near.
//
On the other hand, the
language of nearness and the actions of Jesus' life indicate that the realm of
God would become known not through an intervention by God, but by a collaboration with
God.
//
//
Sacred peace is something we have the
ability to coax into the world.
Our example is Jesus, himself.
Peace is known, not in the defeating of
opponents, but in the erasing of battle lines and working at true and honest
reconciliation.
A forced peace was the foundation of
the Kingdom of Rome - a peace gained through victory and might. It was the modus operandi of historically
successful empires. It is the deterent
model: Peace comes from a fear of war.
As the fourth gospel proclaims, that
was not the kind of kingdom Jesus envisioned.
Peace was to be brought about through welcome compassion.
Jesus didn't just talk a good
game. He lived it.
And so can we!
And when we do... the Kingdom of God
comes even more near.
//
Every single day, each one of us has
opportunities to manifest the peaceable kingdom in real and tangible ways.
We won't always take full advantage of
this, but when we do...
//
Don't focus on the missed opportunities. Focus on the light we do shine. We are
reflecting the heart of God with our acts of respect and peaceful coexistence.
"Let there be peace on earth, and
let it begin with me."
//
Let us pray:
God of Peace, enliven our hearts to
face a broken world with open arms.
Amen.
****offering****
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