Posts Tagged: Jesus
“A Better Story”
Sunday, June 2, 2019
My affirmation for today is as follows: “Today, by God’s grace, I am showing consistent interest and care for the lives, needs, thoughts, and stories of others. This interest and care enriches my own life, needs, thoughts, and story.”
For too much of my life, I have been the central character in my story. And that makes it a very thin plot. The characterization isn’t particularly compelling, either. It is time for God and other people to play bigger, more important roles. I would like to make more of a cameo appearance.
Jesus is the most important character. He has all the best lines, and most dramatic actions.
But many others have vital roles as well. Twelve-step friends, church friends, students and colleagues at the university where I teach, our neighbors, my sweet wife—all these and many more are vital to the story line.
I am a writer. But my magnum opus is not my blogs or the short stories and books I’m working on. It is not my scholarly articles or books that are in my mind and will one day (hopefully) be on paper. No, my great work is my life.
And the dedicatory page will say To Jesus and to Many Others.
And the subtitle of the dedication will read With Profound Gratitude for Letting me be Part of Your Story.
“THE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE OF GOD”
“Many people associate the word “justice” with the penal system and retributive justice. Yet the prophets and Jesus clearly practiced what we now call “restorative justice.” Jesus never punished anybody. He undercut the basis for all violent, exclusionary, and punitive behavior. He became the forgiving victim so we would stop creating victims. He “justified” people by loving them and forgiving them at ever-deeper levels. ” (Richard Rohr, from his September 22, 2017 post, “Nonviolence: Healing Our Social Wounds,” at https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/, italics mine. The entire post is well worth your time to read.)
A justice that restores, rather than punishes! Sounds like a wonderful dream, doesn’t it? It also sounds like a pipe dream.
Right after Rohr’s quote above, he writes the following lapidary paragraph:
“Punishment relies on enforcement and compliance but does not change the soul or the heart. Jesus held out for the heart; he restored people to their true and deepest identity. When the church itself resorts to various forms of shaming and punishment for “sin,” it is relying upon the retributive methods of this world and not the restorative methods of Jesus. We have a lot of growing up to do in the ways of Christ.”
Many of Jesus’ teachings, as well as his encounters with people, were exercises in restorative justice. The story of the prodigal son—which should really be called “the story of the loving father and his two messed-up sons”—is about restorative justice. (See Luke 15:11-32 for further details.) The story of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14) is about God’s restorative justice, too.
In fact, I will make a bold, sweeping statement: Virtually everything Jesus said and did can be understood through the lens of restorative justice. It could be said that Jesus’ first name is “Restorative,” and his middle name is “Justice.”
While that may be all very well and good in the case of Jesus, can regular people practice this restorative justice? That is a very fine question indeed!
I have known a few people in my life who have practiced restorative justice. I am thinking of my mom. She was pretty good at restorative justice. I remember a time when I was going through a very wild, lost period in my life. She and I had some harsh words about my drinking, which was (of course) not really out of control—according to me. I spent the night out drinking with a friend, and then passed out at his house and spent the night.
The next day, we were all supposed to get together at my brother’s house for lunch. I almost didn’t go. Partly, I was too sick from the liquid flu. Partly, I did not want to face my mom. But I went.
Mom and I hardly spoke. My brother asked Mom to pray before we ate. She asked God to bless the food, but then she began to cry and said, “And forgive us . . . forgive me . . . when I am unkind to others.”
Anger can be resisted. But how do you defend yourself against humble kindness?
And then there is my wife. She has practiced restorative justice many times with me. She doesn’t even realize how rare and wonderful that is. The fact that she doesn’t realize it makes it even more wonderful.
So, what will you and I do today? Will we practice restorative justice today? I’m certain we will have opportunities to do that. The world is plum full of people that need restorative justice. Keep your eyes peeled and your heart open!
“When it is a Sad Anniversary”
Today is a sad anniversary for me. Someone I love a great deal took his own life on this day.
He was a good guy in many ways, just confused. And like all survivors of suicide, I tend to blame myself.
However, it is important, even in the sad times (perhaps, most of all during the sad times) to remember the good qualities of someone. This young person was funny, and loving, and wise beyond his years. There are good memories, as well as the huge hole in my heart.
“Love is as strong as death,” says the Song of Songs, chapter 8, verse 6. The Apostle Paul takes it even further. The greatest thing in the world is love, and it will last (1 Corinthians 13:13). In 13:8, Paul says, “Love never fails.”
Really? Even when it seems to have failed completely?
Yes! Even then!
So, I go on loving. Why let the grave stop me? It didn’t stop Jesus!
“THE GOD OF GREAT REVERSALS”
I was reading Psalm 113 this morning, during my devotional time, when I noticed an intriguing comment in the NIV Study Bible (page 1141). “This psalm highlights the Lord’s character and nature, especially his ability to accomplish great reversals.”
Have you ever had “a great reversal?” There are certainly bad reversals that are huge. I have had a few of them in my lifetime. Some (no, most) have been caused by own bad choices. Such reversals are painful. But, as someone has said, you can learn a lot more from 10 minutes of real pain than from ten years of pleasure. Still, pain is pain.
But there are also good reversals that are quite large. You lose a job, and immediately find one that you love that also pays more. You lose a close relationship, but come to realize that it was not healthy for you, and that your present relationship is exceedingly good for both of you over the long haul. You are pretty sure that you have a life-threatening health issue, but find out that it is something that can be treated by a course of antibiotics.
The Bible has stories and teachings that deal with both kinds of reversals. Kings in the Old Testament start off well, and then go off the rails. Slaves are liberated, and then start complaining and remembering “the good old days”—when they were slaves!
But then, there are also a lot of great reversals that are also good. Joseph is sold into slavery (by his brothers, no less), but eventually is second in command in Egypt. Eventually, he is even reconciled with his brothers—sort of.
Daniel is thrown into a pit with hungry appetites, but strangely enough, they are fasting that particular night. Come the morning, Daniel walks out of the lions’ den unscathed.
The New Testament is full of reversals as well. Saul (a.k.a., Paul) hounds believers in Jesus to the death, but Saul himself is stalked by the Hound of Heaven, until Saul is run down on the road to Damascus. Paul now became a leading proponent of the very Jesus he had despised.
But the greatest and best reversal of all was Jesus himself. Tortured, crucified, dead, and buried. A few days later, Jesus was alive.
Now, that is a grand reversal! What great reversal do you need in your own life?
JESUS’ GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
“I continually give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” (John 10:28, my translation from the Greek.)
First, a technical point: The Greek present tense usually suggests some sort of continuous or ongoing reality.
The present tense of the word “give” is used in John 10:23. This likely suggests that Jesus was referring to an ongoing, continuous giving of eternal life to his followers.
Eternal life is not simply something that was given in the past, or reserved for the future. No! Eternal life is something that is granted to us in each passing moment.
It’s a good thing! If I were given all my eternal life at once, I would devour it all and ask for more. It would be like the peanut butter sandwich cookies that my sweetheart got me the other day. They are already gone.
How freeing and relaxing it is to think of Jesus giving me eternal life continually. My regular, everyday life is energized by the One I love and follow. Many things may happen today that I can’t handle, but nothing will happen to me today that Jesus’ life in me can’t face.
This gives me great hope. Of course, someday my mortal body will cease to function. That is why it is called a mortal body, for crying out loud! I am exceedingly temporary.
Of course, there is a catch. There is always a catch, isn’t there. However, Jesus does not bury the proviso in a footnote in fine print. In the verse right before verse 28 (which, strangely enough, is verse 27) Jesus says the following: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” If we are following God as best we can at any given moment, we can rest in the assurance that we are never far from his kingdom. Eternal life becomes a reality for us the moment we obey.
“NO SUPERHEROES”
In the ancient Near East, there was Gilgamesh. In ancient Greece, there was Hercules. In England, there was Robin Hood.
Superheroes have always been with us—or, at least, stories about superheroes. Some were demigods. Others were very shrewd humans with great powers.
The Bible has a few characters who could be regarded as superheroes . . . if you don’t read the whole story. Moses, Gideon, David, and Solomon could all be considered superheroes, except that each of them is portrayed in his weaknesses, as well as his strengths. Furthermore, each of them is portrayed as very weak when he doesn’t depend upon God. And all of these quasi-superheroes are portrayed as ending rather badly.
It is much the same in the New Testament. The original disciples of Jesus were portrayed as asking the wrong questions, failing to understand when Jesus was speaking literally and when he was using metaphors, as cowards who ran away when Jesus was arrested. Paul (also called by his Hebrew name “Saul” in the book of Acts) was a murderer.
Jesus is sometimes thought of as a superhero, but I don’t think that there’s much evidence for that. Jesus was born in a barn, had nowhere to call home on a regular basis, had to borrow a small coin for a sermon illustration, was crucified on a Roman cross (a means of torture and death reserved for non-Roman criminals and runaway slaves), and even had to borrow a tomb. Some superhero!
And yet . . .
And yet . . .
Jesus did not intend to be a superhero. He intended to be a servant. Indeed, Jesus claimed to be not only a servant, but one who would lay down his life, a ransom for many.
What we need is not a superhero, or even a hero. What we need is a Redeemer. And I believe that Jesus is that redeemer. To die for the sins of the world is not heroic, just necessary. It isn’t pretty, just important. Indeed, paying for our wrong-doings was not just important. It was essential.
“GOD’S KINGDOM: SOME REALLY GOOD POLITICAL NEWS AND OUR RESPONSE”
“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:14 NAU).”
Are you ready for some really good political news? I know I could stand some.
Well, here it is: No human being is in control of this world. God is!
Now, I’m not stupid, and I do pay attention to the news a bit. It certainly seems as if human beings are in control of our world. And (also certainly) God does allow humans to have a lot of freedom to mess up our own lives, the lives of others, and even the planet.
However, ultimately, God is the King! I believe that this is objectively true, even though many people aren’t sure there is a God. Even those who do believe that a God (or Gods) exist may have a very difficult time believing that God (or the Gods) actually rule this world in any meaningful sense.
About two-thousand years ago, a man came to this planet proclaiming that, against all appearances, God was in control. That man was Jesus.
There was a problem—a HUGE problem: This was the area where this man appeared (Judea) was at the eastern curve of the Mediterranean, and the Romans thought they were in control of this area.
And, in a sense, the Romans were in control.
But along comes Jesus who says, “No, God is in control.”
Now, at this point in the blog, I need to go all scholarly on you. Scholarship is often very boring. Believe me: I know this, because I am a scholar!
However, there are also times when it is fascinating. More importantly than being fascinating, there are times when it really matters—a lot. So, slog with me through this swamp of boring. I promise you that this slog will bring us onto solid ground, and that the view will be well worth the slog.
Mark 1:14-15 comes right after Jesus’ baptism and the account of Jesus’ temptation. Mark is giving a summary of what Jesus was proclaiming from the beginning of his public ministry. God’s good news, which Jesus proclaims, is that the time is fulfilled, that the kingdom of God has come near, and that Jesus’ hearers. His words includes us, if (as I believe) the Bible is for everyone and for every time.
God is king, and not the Romans! That is both good news and fairly easy to understand.
But even here, in these seemingly simple words, a little knowledge of the Greek is helpful.
For example “[t]he time is fulfilled” is in the perfect tense in Greek. The perfect tense usually signifies action completed in the past with ongoing results. Is it not a wonderful thing that the time for proclaiming the good news (which is what the word “gospel” means) has been completed in the past, but has ongoing results?
The word for “is at hand” regarding the kingdom is also in the perfect tense. The kingdom of God has been made to come near to us in the past, but it also has ongoing results. The kingdom is an accomplished fact, says Jesus, and it continues to be an accomplished fact.
However, the next verbs are in the present tense. The present tense is used for actions that are and must be continually going on. Jesus is saying that his hearers (and we) need to respond to God’s completed-in-the-past-but-with-ongoing-results kingdom with an ongoing, continual, life-style repentance and faith.
What is repentance? It is often said that it is “a change of mind.” This is both true and false. If what we mean by this is merely changing our minds about who God or Jesus is, I would say that this is only part of the equation. Repentance is a deep change in how we think of Jesus and God, ourselves, other people, and the world. Repentance is also about transformed action that is based on transformed thinking.
And faith? The word faith does not mean (as one twelve-year-old was reported to have said it meant) “believing in something that you know isn’t true.” Faith, in both the Old and New Testament, seems to have three meanings:
- Faith is believing certain things about God, humankind, salvation, the church, and the Bible.
- Faith means a personal relationship with God. Most Christians (and I include myself at this point), believe that personal relationship comes about through a commitment (faith) in Jesus Christ.
- Faith also means fidelity in how we live our lives.
So, according to Jesus, the kingdom of God is an accomplished fact with ongoing results.
Of course, there is a catch; there’s always a catch. The catch is that, if we wish to enjoy the good news of Christ’s kingdom, we must commit ourselves to a life-style of repentance—transformed thinking that leads to transformed actions and transforming actions. And we must commit ourselves to a life-style of believing, personal relationship, and fidelity.
That sounds pretty grim, doesn’t it? However, did you notice the word “gospel” at in both of the verses that led off this post? The word “gospel” is an old-fashioned translation of the Greek word that is used in both these verses. Many modern translations use the term “good news.” The truth is that this kingdom is governed by a King who knows us fully, and who truly desires the best for us. And if we live as citizens of this kingdom, it is good news for us, and for all with whom we come into contact.
And that is good news, no matter who are you are, what you’ve done, or who we have elected to lead our very provisional earthly kingdoms.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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