28 March 2005

We continue to hear from Walter Brueggemann.

A second aspect of what Brueggemann says is a part of Jesus' radical criticism.
Jesus' ability to heal and his readiness to do it on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6) evoked a conspiracy to kill him. The violation is concerned not with the healing but with the Sabbath. Already in (Mark) 2:23-28 he has raised the issue and obviously Jesus' understanding of the Sabbath is that it had become a way of enslavement. Predictably,the objection comes from those who managed the Sabbath and benefited from it.

It is not easy to draw into question what has been held up as a cornerstone of a people. But as Brueggemann says, when those primary aspects of a society become a way to keep people under the thumb of those who manage the systems then...something must happen to interrupt this flow. It is not easy to do and it may mean the interruption comes with a cost - even threats of death. We need cornerstones. They help us to begin to build new things. But sometimes, we are more in love with those cornerstone elements of our society -secular or religious - that their original purpose is distorted or even abandoned. We must be able to maintain that critical tension that is not afraid to speak up or act or call for new ways to build the future.

Connection: It is not easy to see how we benefit from pieces of the structure of our society or our religious community. Sometimes it would be good to stop and consider those who do not benefit from such things and ask why...and what needs to change.

O Breath of the Empty Tomb, what looks abandoned is not. By the power of the Holy Spirit you bring a new life through that which is old and that which is being created out of nothing at all. Take us by the hand and show us the way beyond what is. Amen.