Friday, August 29, 2008

Friday 29 August 2008

Today is a look at the third temptation and how it is another way to show how Jesus, like Israel, is called into a contrary witness and life. From The Peaceable Kingdom by Stanley Hauerwas.

Finally, Jesus is tempted to act as the priest of priests, to force God's hand by being the sacrifice that God cannot refuse. In short, Jesus is tempted to play the hero, to take his life in his hands, to be in control of his destiny, and thus to force God's kingdom to be present because of his sacrifice. But such a heroic role contrasts starkly with the man who died on the cross, subject to others' wills. For by being so subject we see that finally it is not his will but God's that is worked out through his life and death. The resurrection, therefore, is not an extra-ordinary event added to this man's life, but a confirmation by God that the character of Jesus' life prior to the resurrection is perfectly faithful to his vocation to proclaim and make present God's kingdom. Without the resurrection our concentration on Jesus would be idolatry, but without Jesus' life we would not know what kind of God it is who has raised him from the dead.

It is so important to remember that Jesus is not the sacrifice that moves God's hand. Rather, the whole life of Jesus is the vocation of the Reign of God. This is how life in the Reign of God is. This is the life of the Son of God. This is, you could say, the life of faithful Israel. There is a day in that day out way of being known to the world. In the resurrection God says "Yes" to this life that has been Jesus...a life that breaks the bounds of death so that all of us can walk in that way. The God of Israel is not a "gotcha" God. That is how the idols of the world work. Our God is one whose compassion and love is embodies on behalf of others because that is the life of God's beloved in the Reign of God. There is no religious game playing - there is only a radical life that gives a face to God's in breaking Reign.

Connection: There is a life that God marks as the life within God's Reign. We are urged to look to that life that is affirmed in the Resurrection - the life of Jesus. It is, in some ways, a reminder of the life that is handed to us a followers of Jesus within this ordinary kind of Friday.

We are brought into the day, O God, with the vital and strong voice of the resurrection saying "Yes" to the life of Jesus and the life of freedom and hopefulness that is ours even as we face the powers of fear and brutality and anxiety within this day. Keep us mindful of this gracious "yes" that sustains and encourages. Amen.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Thursday 28 August 2008

Yesterday I sent too many...today it is late. We continue with Stanley Hauerwas and the connection he makes between the temptation of Jesus and Israel...and the Reign of God (temptation #2).

Again the devil tempts him, this time with dominion, with kingship even greater than that of the great David. It is a dominion that can bring peace to the nations, since one powerful king can force all to his will. But again Jesus rejects such dominion. God's kingdom it seems, will not have peace through coercion. Peace will come only through the worship of the one God who chooses to rule the world through the power of love, which the world can only perceive as weakness. Jesus thus decisively rejects Israel's temptation to an idolatry that necessarily results in violence between peoples and nations. For our violence is correlative to the falseness of the objects we worship, and the more false they are, the greater our stake in maintaining loyalty to them and protecting them through coercion. Only the one true God can take the risk of ruling by relying entirely on the power of humility and love.

"Our violence is correlative to the falseness of the objects we worship." I suppose we could direct this comment to the religious extremist that have turned to acts of terror in our day. Then again, we could also turn this comment and direct it at ourselves. The ways of war - no matter how we choose to wage war - reflect the objects we worship...and as Hauerwas notes - their falseness. When we are hungry for the wealth and power of petroleum, we will do anything to keep it as a vital part of our lives...anything. How do we worship the Prince of Peace when we pledge allegiance to false gods that demand that we sustain them so that they can survive. Isn't odd how we build up objects of worship. They are supposed to be a force greater than us...and yet, they demand that our blood be spilled and that we sacrifice the welfare and the shalom of the world for the sake of propping up what we think is so vital to our lives. The one true God does indeed risk being something new among humanity. We are invited to be a part of that new age and new way - shalom.

Connection: It is not easy to come to grips with the things and forces of our lives that we have turned into gods for which we are willing to kill and go to war. Every day it is good for us to look again at all that attempts to rule us.

Come, O Lord of Peace, and teach us again the ways of your loving power so that we do not fall for the games of war anymore. Amen.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Wednesday 27 August 2008

The next three days will deal with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and how it is a way to view the tie between Israel and Jesus as imitating God's way. How Jesus' life was seen as the recapitulation of God's way with Israel is perhaps nowhere better presented than in the temptation narratives.

For in the wilderness Jesus, like Israel, discovers his vocation through being tempted to pervert God's gift to Israel. In the first temptation we see Jesus so identified with Israel that he experiences Israel's perennial desire for certainty of her own choosing. Is he to be like Moses and turn stone to bread? Surely it would be a good thing to turn stone into bread, to be a ready resource to feed the hungry and the poor. But Jesus rejects that means of proving how God reigns with his people knowing that the life offered Israel is more than bread can supply (Luke 4:4).

Isn't that so much within all of our minds and hearts - the certainty of our own choosing. Whatever that may be, it is often the power that turns us away from the call to live within God's Reign. Rather, we take off and attempt to be a part of a reign we have in our mind...a reign that we may be able to control and direct and make a life for ourselves. I just realized how funny "make a life for ourselves" sounds. That is part of the idolatry out in the wilderness...part of the temptation that confronts our Lord and one that is pecking at us each day. We forget that "this is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." We all have plans for how we will make it. How we will turn stones into bread. How we will somehow be the power that can turn us into somebody. So Jesus moves through the temptation that is so much a part of us and Jesus is not moved by its power to persuade. Rather, he holds to the promise and renounces the power within the day that attempts to turn us into something we are not.

Connection: Watching the political conventions and listening to pundits do their thing reminds me of the importance of being watchful in regard to how we want the world to move. So much "buzz" it is enough to turn a promise into just a self-indulgent day.

Come, Lord God, Come and lead us through the wilderness and feed us with your grace. Too often we turn from you and attempt to be our source of life. It never works. Empower us to trust in you alone. Amen.

Wednesday 27 August 2008

The next three days will deal with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and how it is a way to view the tie between Israel and Jesus as imitating God's way.

How Jesus' life was seen as the recapitulation of God's way with Israel is perhaps nowhere better presented than in the temptation narratives. For in the wilderness Jesus, like Israel, discovers his vocation through being tempted to pervert God's gift to Israel. In the first temptation we see Jesus so identified with Israel that he experiences Israel's perennial desire for certainty of her own choosing. Is he to be like Moses and turn stone to bread? Surely it would be a good thing to turn stone into bread, to be a ready resource to feed the hungry and the poor. But Jesus rejects that means of proving how God reigns with his people knowing that the life offered Israel is more than bread can supply (Luke 4:4).

Isn't that so much within all of our minds and hearts - the certainty of our own choosing. Whatever that may be, it is often the power that turns us away from the call to live within God's Reign. Rather, we take off and attempt to be a part of a reign we have in our mind...a reign that we may be able to control and direct and make a life for ourselves. I just realized how funny "make a life for ourselves" sounds. That is part of the idolatry out in the wilderness...part of the temptation that confronts our Lord and one that is pecking at us each day. We forget that "this is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." We all have plans for how we will make it. How we will turn stones into bread. How we will somehow be the power that can turn us into somebody. So Jesus moves through the temptation that is so much a part of us and Jesus is not moved by its power to persuade. Rather, he holds to the promise and renounces the power within the day that attempts to turn us into something we are not.

Connection: Watching the political conventions and listening to pundits do their thing reminds me of the importance of being watchful in regard to how we want the world to move. So much "buzz" it is enough to turn a promise into just a self-indulgent day.

Come, Lord God, Come and lead us through the wilderness and feed us with your grace. Too often we turn from you and attempt to be our source of life. It never works. Empower us to trust in you alone. Amen.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tuesday 26 August 2008

Today the quote from Stanley Hauerwas is repeated with the material that follows.

Israel is Israel, therefore, just to the extent that she "remembers" the "way of the Lord," for by that remembering she in fact imitates God. Such a remembering was no simple mental recollection, rather, the image remembered formed the soul and determined future direction. "To remember the works of Yahweh and to seek him, i.e., to let one's acts be determined by his will, is in reality the same. Consequently, to 'remember' the 'Way' from the Reed Sea onwards is to act now on the basis of the relationship between God and Israel there revealed, and in so doing to appropriate it, and know it to be most real."
Thus the call of the prophets to Israel was always a summons to return to the vocation of an imitator Dei: God "asks of people that they shall reflect his own character, so far as it can be reflected within the limitations of human life.... When the prophets denounced harshness and oppression and called for compassion for the unfortunate, they were calling people to reflect the character which was uniquely expressed in God's deliverance of God's people." For Israel, therefore, to love God meant to learn to love as God loved and loves.

We must remember that this "imitation" takes place because we are brought into the Reign of God by the action of our God. It is an imitation in response to the God who invites us to live as though the Reign is here. We see what that life is as we look at Jesus. His life, lived with and on behalf of the least and outcast was a life rejected by the powers of the world and yet, it was the life that was raised up by our God as the way God's Reign is to be. This affirmation of Jesus life give us a view of life that is within the vision of our own lives. The foundation is laid. The ground is already beneath our feet. We are invited to live as though God's action of raising Jesus is the power that moves us to live within the vision that was already present among Israel.

Connection: It is not easy to remember that we are a part of this Reign of God that awaits our coming to life within it...as though this is who we are and will be.

Take us by your hand, O God, and lead us into the character of your Reign so that the world may experience through us the bold and gracious presence of what you have called all of us to be as you are present with us. Amen.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Monday 25 August 2008

Here we hear a bit of that importance of the remembering of Israel - Stanley Hauerwas.

Israel is Israel, therefore, just to the extent that she "remembers" the "way of the Lord," for by that remembering she in fact imitates God. Such a remembering was no simple mental recollection, rather, the image remembered formed the soul and determined future direction. "To remember the works of Yahweh and to seek him, i.e., to let one's acts be determined by his will, is in reality the same. Consequently, to 'remember' the 'Way' from the Reed Sea onwards is to act now on the basis of the relationship between God and Israel there revealed, and in so doing to appropriate it, and know it to be most real"

I find this to sound like our remembering at the Lord's Table. When the story is told and we participate in that Meal, our character for life is being shaped again. The notion of our Lord being "really present" is a reality that is pulling at us and moving us out into the world from our places of worship as a people who are ready to walk in Jesus' way. A people is being shaped - both as individuals and as a body. We move from worship after the meal connected to and a part of the story that we have been hearing. The break of bread the drinking of wine is the life that is ours. In a world that is afraid of being broken for the well being of others, this is a vital story that gives us a life that is quite distinct and radically new in any age. We are remembering into the future.

Connection: I think worship is meant to send us into the stories we hear as the community gathers. The next time we hear the stories...remember that we are there and it surrounds us with life.

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and take us into this day as your followers who long to be alive within your gracious Reign. Amen.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Friday 22 August 2008

This is a wonderful way to look at the relationship between Israel and God and through that...a look at all of us who follow Jesus - again Stanley Hauerwas.

...the task for Israel, indeed the very thing that makes Israel Israel, is to walk in the way of the Lord, that is, to imitate God through the means of the prophet (Torah), the king (Sonship), and the priest (Knowledge). To walk in the way of God meant that Israel must be obedient to the commands (Duet.8:6); to fear the Lord (Deut.10:12); to love the Lord (Deut.11:22); and thus to be perfect in the way (Gen.17:1). But the way of obedience is also the way of intimacy, for Israel is nothing less than God's "first-born son" (Ex.4:22). Moreover Israel has the knowledge of the Lord as a just and compassionate God and so Israel too must act justly and with compassion. (Jer.22:16).

I like the reminder that it is a people who are called into this journey - this life - this way of imitation. We are all drawn into this life that comes as the Reign of God becomes visible. In fact, that is what is called for...the whole of the people becoming the image of God's Reign. This is not individualize "faith." This is about life...community life that enlightens the world and calls all people to look again at the fullness of what God is doing among us with power and mercy, grace and forgiveness so that all things will be transformed into a new age.

Connection: Keep in mind the "we" as we live into the faith we carry with us.

When you call us, O God, you call all of us. At times, it is so easy to think of our journey as merely one we take on by ourselves. And yet, it is as individuals that we are called to join others as part of the life within your Reign. Encourage us to move out from our own world and enter the world of your blessed and living promise. Amen.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Thursday 21 August 2008

Today is an important tie between the kingdom of God - Jesus - Israel.

A proper appreciation of the centrality of the theme of imitation must begin, however, not with Jesus but with Israel. For Jesus brought no new insights into the law or God's nature that Israel had not already known and revealed. The command to be perfect as God is perfect is not some new command, nor is the content of that command to love our enemies new. Both the structure and the content of the command draw from the long habits of thought developed in Israel through her experience with the Lord. Jesus' activity as presented in the Gospels makes no sense without assuming what Israel had long known, that any story worth telling about the way things are requires an account of God's activity as the necessary framework for that story.

We are talking about the Reign of God again. It is the Reign that has been unfolding among God's people all along the way. It is so important that we understand how Jesus is recognized as the Messiah of God. He lives as though the Reign of God is his life! He lives as the light to the world. The light that will cause people to turn around and see the fullness of humanity shining in all its glory as humanity is meant to be. It is the peace and love of God - the same peace and love that flows through the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures - coming to life fully. Jesus is not merely imitating this long history of God's love being poured out and shaping a people....Jesus is this love now alive so that we can see our God more clearly. Israel, remember, was given this opportunity. Just as we are. I don't see it as imitation...I see it as simply becoming really alive - present - available. One theologian I like to quote notes that Christians evangelize Jews -not by trying to make them Christians, but by encouraging their faithfulness to God's call to be Israel.

Connection: This whole piece makes me wonder how really close we are to one another when we are able to see the vision of the peaceable Reign....that is so much a part of our humanity when it shines.

Come, Light of the World, and shine among us so that we will become that light even as we wander through the parts of our day when we do not see light around us and often feel as though we are not the light you have called us. Amen.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wednesday 20 August 2008

More from Stanley Hauerwas:

There is a deeper reason that I cannot and should not mimic Jesus. We are not called to be the initiators of the kingdom, we are not called upon to be God's anointed. We are called upon to be like Jesus, not to be Jesus. ...that likeness is of a very specific nature. It involves seeing in his cross the summary of his whole life. Thus to be like Jesus is to join him in the journey through which we are trained to be a people capable of claiming citizenship in God's kingdom of nonviolent love - a love that would overcome the powers of this world, not through coercion and force, but through the power of this one man's death.

The way of this citizenship has already been spelled out. We are now to claim it. The way of the Reign of God as we see it through the cross as it is a reflection of Jesus' whole life gives us a way to move ahead. The way has already been set and the end has been established. We are now ones who are invited to live into that end...and end that comes alive in the life of Jesus - a way we of life we are invited to follow. We are not establishing the Reign. That has been done and it is the power that pulls us into lives of peace and justice and mercy and reconciliation in a world that doesn't want to live in that way. Though Jesus goes ahead of us, there is nothing magical that helps us move along this path. Rather, we must each enter this life and call upon those around us within the body of Christ to walk with us.

Connection: Keep looking at the story that brings us the story of our lives.

Be our strength, O God, and bring us into the unfolding of your Reign as we follow Jesus this day. Open up our lives to this way that has proven to be contrary to the world and yet brings an abundance of life that participates in your love. Amen.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tuesday 19 August 2008

Now we move into the area of the the imitation of God - by Stanley Hauerwas.

The theme of "imitation" is subject, however, to much misunderstanding. In particular, it carries with it individualist positions that are antithetical to the social nature of the Christian life. For there is no way to learn to "imitate" God by trying to copy in an external manner the actions of Jesus. No one can become virtuous merely by doing what virtuous people do. We can only be virtuous by doing what virtuous people do in the manner that they do it. Therefore one can only learn to be virtuous, to be like Jesus, by learning from others how that is done. To be like Jesus requires that I become a part of a community that practices virtues, not that I copy his life point by point.

Again, there is this common theme that we are always being called to be in community. In fact, we cannot be the followers of Jesus without being a part of a community of others who at least wrestle with the notion of being such followers. We do not have a check list that gives us a grade as to whether or not we are imitating Jesus' life just as he lived it. Rather, we are thrown into our lives within real communities and there we begin to see what it is to follow our Lord in and through this day. What we do and become...comes from the power of the Spirit that brings this life within God's Reign to life among us. We see that virtuous life as it continues to reveal itself within the lives of those around us.

Connection: We are a part of the wonderful unfolding of God's Reign as we keep in mind the lives of others who have shown themselves to be reminders of the way of life that is so precious to God's Reign.

Come, Lord of the Community, come, and nurture us with the stories of your Reign and send your Spirit to bring new stories to life among us so that today there will be a glimpse of your blessed Reign shining in the midst of our world. Amen.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Monday 18 August 2008

More from "The Ethical Significance of Jesus" in Stanley Hauerwas' book "The Peaceable Kingdom.

We re called to be like God: perfect as God is perfect. It is a perfection that comes by learning to follow and be like this man whom God has sent to be our forerunner in the kingdom. That is why Christian ethics is not first of all an ethics of principles, laws, or values, but an ethic that demands we attend to the life of a particular individual - Jesus of Nazareth. It is only from him that we can learn perfection - which is at the very least nothing less than forgiving our enemies.

We follow the one who is our "forerunner." I find this small section to be very important for us as we consider who we are as we follow Jesus. "We attend to the life of a particular individual." We translate everything into life from this life that we see in Jesus. When it comes right down to it, we can say you hold up certain values...we can even try to say we are 'value voters' in something like an election. But...what do we do...who are we.. how do we view and act with enemies. Is it at all like the vision we see put to life in Jesus. Sure there are issues we encounter today that were not apart of the world view of Jesus' time...but...there is the action in life that is so grounded in the vision of God's Reign and that is available to us.

Connection: Attend to the life...today.

When you pull us into your Reign, O God, you invite us to walk in the way of Jesus. Encourage us and strengthen us so that in this day we will persistently follow you. Amen.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Friday 15 August 2008

More with Stanley Hauerwas.

My emphasis on Jesus' life as depicted by the early church is not, therefore, an example of a "low Christology." Indeed it is my contention that by attending to the narrative form of the Gospels we will see all the more clearly what it means for Jesus to be God's anointed. By learning to be followers of Jesus we learn to locate our lives within God's life, within the journey that comprises God's kingdom. I will try to show how the very heart of following the way of God's kingdom involves nothing less than learning to be like God. We learn to be like God by following the teachings of Jesus thus learning to be his disciples.

It would be my bet that many folks will not like the direction taken here. Have you ever thought of yourself as "learning to be like God?" Don't push the notion away. Hauerwas is not saying that we are learning to be God - we do that enough. Attempting to be like gods, we drive ourselves away from the one God that is given substance in Jesus. When we attempt to be gods or make aspects of our lives into god, we are left up to our messes. With Hauerwas' comments I hear the call for us to understand and see and absorb the life that blossoms in God's Reign. In that movement, we are also invited to be in the middle of it all. That is, we learn to walk in the ways of God's Reign - to be like God. When people say we look like or act like a parent, they know we are not our parents...but we are like them. Imagine living within a life that made people pause and look again and listen again because they thought that the familiar air in the room was that which blows through he Reign of God!

Connection: Do not shrink away from living as though you are a reflection of God's image within the ordinary stuff of this day.

O Lord of Life, bring us into the spaciousness of your Reign that opens up the whole creation to the wonder and power of your peaceable Reign that is available even now. Amen.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Thursday 14 August 2008

More on the Ethical Significance of Jesus - by Stanley Hauerwas.

...it is interesting to note that when the fathers (early church fathers) wish to explicate the word "incarnation" in speaking of Jesus, the word they use is "economy," which simply means how God manages the world. So for Athanasius the incarnation notes how God's economy - that is, God's Word - appropriated a human body so that he might die and be raised. Thus incarnation is not a doctrine that places all significance on the birth of Jesus, nor is it a doctrine about Jesus' person or nature, but it is a reminder that we cannot assess God's claim of Jesus' significance short of seeing how his whole life manifests God's kingdom.

We have much more presented to us in the birth of Jesus and his humanity. We are given a concrete look at how the Reign of God is viewed at its essential level. Rather than be tied up in grand hypothetical stories of the interplay of gods and goddesses and they doctrines that attempt to master, with words, the very being of God, we get Jesus. To put it in economical terms, what a bargain. Do you want to see the Reign of God? Do you want to get your hands on the fullness of that Reign? Well...look to Jesus as presented in the Gospels. That is a good place to start and a good story to give us an open look at what it is we are invited to share. I was wondering about how this all plays into the celebration of Christmas. We are so "baby" focused that we can often miss the way the story is held within the vision of the Magnificat - the Reign of God is coming to life...come down from the hillside and take a look...come down to the river and take a look...come...come...come and see....come, come, come and be.

Connection: There is such a big story place before us. We are a part of what brings life and energy to that story - each of us.

When you call us blessed, O God, you are calling forth the power and dynamics and character of your Reign that is already breaking out around us. As we look to Jesus, remind us of this way that is more and more animated as we join along and follow. Amen.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wednesday 13 August 2008

We continue with Stanley Hauerwas on the "Ethical Significance of Jesus."

To locate our lives in relation to Jesus is already to be involved with the basic issues of Christian ethics. Jesus is he who comes to initiate and make present the kingdom of God through his healing of those possessed by demons, by calling disciples, telling parables, teaching the law, challenging the authorities of his day, and by being crucified at the hands of Roman and Jewish elites and raised from the grave. Insisting that Jesus is the initiator and presence of the kingdom, of course, does not mean he was not the Christ, or that he is not God incarnate, or that his death and resurrection has nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins, but it does mean that each of these claims are subsequent to the whole life of this man whom God has claimed as decisive to his own for the presence of his kingdom in the world.

One of the comments made by Marva Dawn fits here. She notes that there is an important comma missing in the second article of the Apostles' creed. She says that we presently say "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified....." She suggests that there needs to a comma after suffered. Jesus did not merely suffer "under Pontius Pilate." Rather, because of his life within the Reign of God he suffered all along the way. Each time he healed...each time he ate with outcasts....each time he stood up to the authorities...he suffered. As the initiator of the Reign of God, we are introduced to a whole ethic - a life that is inspired by the promises of God that are able to call forth a life that does not fall in line with the ways of the world. The events of Holy Week come as a result of the life that was lived all along the way. We therefore must not ignore that which is essential to the groundwork of God's Reign coming to light within the the ordinary of everyday life.

Connection: The ordinary is the place and time for the Reign of God to shine. For ordinary people, that means this day that we often call "just another day" is really a day within the Reign of God.

Lead us, O God, through the days of your Reign and encourage us to follow. Amen.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Tuesday 12 August 2008

We continue with Stanley Hauerwas' look at the ethical significance of Jesus.

The form of the Gospels as stories of a life are meant not only to display that life, but to train us to situate our lives in relation to that life. For it was assumed by the churches that gave us the Gospels that we cannot know who Jesus is and what he stands for without learning to be his followers. Hence the ironic form form of Mark, which begins by announcing to the readers this is the "good news about Jesus, the anointed one, the son of God," but in depicting the disciples shows how difficult it is to understand the significance of that news. You cannot know who Jesus is after the resurrection unless you have learned to follow Jesus during his life. His life and crucifixion are necessary to purge us, like his disciples and adversaries had to be purged, of false notions about what kind of kingdom Jesus has brought. Only by learning to follow him to Jerusalem, where he becomes subject to the powers of this world, do we learn what the kingdom entails, as well as what kind of messiah this Jesus is.

So...disciples or followers of Jesus are apprentices. We follow the one who has been there and done that and we are introduced into the elements of the life that makes up the Reign of God. This involves the building of a character that shares the character of the one we follow. When we join together to look at Jesus' life as it is handed to us in the storytelling of the Gospels, we do not have to agree as to all the dynamics of that life. We must be able to listen and absorb and then talk about what it all means. Obviously we will come away with different ways of seeing the stories. That is the power of the Holy Spirit working. There is no "party line" to swallow...no dogma that must be force fed. Rather, we learn to follow Jesus as we hear those stories and attempt to bring elements of the character of Jesus into our community of followers. This will involve disagreement about interpretation and emphasis...so we must be willing to keep pressing one another to see what kind of messiah Jesus is among us.

Connection: Go back to the stories. The stories of Jesus touching the untouchable and eating with those outside of the circles of acceptability all have something to say to us as we begin to walk as followers of Jesus today.

Master Designer, the life you place before us is wrapped in the humanity you have handed us. Somehow, you take us just as we are and begin to inspire a life that is a living image of your beloved, Jesus. Help us to see our lives as truly a part of your ever-unfolding Reign. Amen.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Monday 11 August 2008

From the chapter, "Jesus: The Presence of the Peaceable Kingdom," in The Peaceable Kingdom - by Stanley Hauerwas.



...the "real Jesus" did not come to leave us unchanged, but rather to transform us to be worthy members of the community of the new age.

It is a startling fact, so obvious that its significance is missed time and time again, that when the early Christians began to witness to the significance of Jesus for their lives they necessarily resorted to a telling of his life. The "Christology" did not consist first in claims about Jesus' ontological status, though such claims were made; their Christology was not limited to assessing the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection, though certainly these were attributed great significance; rather their "Christology," if it can be called that, showed the story of Jesus as absolutely essential for depicting the kind of kingdom they now thought possible through his life, death, and resurrection. Therefore, though Jesus did not call attention to himself, the early Christians rightly saw that what Jesus came to proclaim, the kingdom of god as a present and future reality, could be grasped only by recognizing how Jesus exemplified in his life the standards of that kingdom.



If this good news story is to be good news for us it must come back to the life that was present - the Jesus who with words proclaimed the Reign of God and within life...made the words into something alive and real and within the realm of human life. In preparing for a series in our Sunday adult education for this fall, I'm tracing through the development of how we came to some of the aspects of our proclamation about Jesus, the Christ, and the Reign of God. Some of our statements are so tied into attempts to define the "being" of Jesus or the being of the "Christ" that we stir ourselves away from the story of his life that has been passed down by faithful folks who wanted this life to be remembered for what it was - the in-breaking of God's Reign in the flesh and a life that is available to all of us. The "standards of the kingdom" are revealed in life. If they are only noted in writing or the subject of discussion, they are not true standards of a life that is being handed to us. The simple note that "you will know them by their love," is a standard that is made known when this love that we see in Jesus is the love that abides within our life together as the body of Christ.

Connection: We often say look back at the story of Jesus to see how our story is to come alive. It is easy to get caught up in the "extraordinary" events of that life. But remember, those events were simply that which happens in ordinary days when this Reign of God begins to show it self through the lives of real folks...just like us...just like Jesus.

Lord of Life, we are drawn to your Reign as we see our Lord, Jesus, as the standard bearer who is not removed from the everyday dilemmas of the world, but remains within them as a part of your ever-present new age. Continue to draw us into your embracing life. Amen.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Friday 8 August 2008

Today starts a series of devotions based out of "The Peaceable Kingdom" by Stanley Hauerwas.

...there is widespread agreement that one of the most significant "discoveries" of recent scholarship is that Jesus' teaching was not first of all focused on his own status but on the proclamation of the kingdom of God. Jesus, it seems, did not direct attention to himself, but through his teaching, healing, and miracles tried to indicate the nature and immediacy of God's kingdom. It may be objected that even this conclusion about him seems to presuppose exactly what we just said could not be assumed - namely, that we are able to isolate the real Jesus from the Jesus created by the early churches. Yet we can at least say that Jesus as depicted in Mark, Matthew, and Luke does not call attention to himself, but to the kingdom which the early Christians felt had been made present and yet was still to come.

Jesus is building the Reign of God among us. That is, as he teaches and and he heals and as he in involved in miracles, his disciples that walked with him and all of us who follow him today are being introduced to the glory of God's Reign - in which we are invited to join in the life that is available as he lived it. I find that this bring the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures more and more in line with one another. It is not "all about Jesus" in the Christian Scriptures...and yet....yes it is. As Jesus is the embodiment of what we know about our God, he is also the gateway into the Reign that is already available and visible in, with, and under the fullness of his life. It is all about life. It is all about following. It is less about talk (but there is that), and more about being the substance of the words that display the Reign of God before the world. Remember, it is not a Reign that is completely present...and yet it is present and we are invited/called to be a part of its living presence in the way Jesus lived as one fully alive in that Reign.

Connection: Words to actions...words left as words can be inspiring but words put to life creates a slow building of character that is a witness to the living Reign of God.

Make our lives a witness to the character of your Reign, O God. Just as Jesus lived without hesitation within your Reign each day, inspire us to step out and within the power of your peaceable reign. Amen.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Thursday 7 August 2008

This will be the last posting from Thomas Merton on "the Root of War is Fear." Tomorrow we move to another resource.

So instead of loving what you think is peace, love other people and love God above all. And instead of hating the people yuo think are warmakers, hate the appetites and the disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hat tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself not in another.

The world becomes the home of peace when we bring peace home into our own lives. So it is aldo with justice and mercy and kindness and love. This does not mean that we merely stay focused on ourselves waiting until we each become the fullness of peace. Rather, we are on a journey in which we look at ourselves and we literally become a part of the change that is needed...and then...in that personal process of that transformation, peace is visible around us as we carry the way of peace in our own humanity. The act of loving others and loving God is the essential element of peacemaking because it is active. Love pulls us toward others - even those we would call enemies. Within the power of that pull, peace is made or at least a witness is given to the peace we always hold up in our prayers.

Connection: Again...we are this peace...we cannot ask that others change when we are not on that journey of change that disrupts the warring ways of our world.

Prince of Peace, guide us along this way of life that is a witness to the peace of your gracious Reign. We will resist your way and we will expect it from others but we must be inspired to step within the pathway of peace. Amen.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Included here is yesterday's piece to move us into today's.

To some people peace merely means the liberty to exploit other people without fear of retaliation or interference. To others peace means the freedom to rob others without interruption. To still others it means the leisure to devour the goods of the earth without being compelled to interrupt their pleasure to feed those whom their greed is starving. And to practically everybody peace simply means the absence of any physical violence that might cast a shadow over lives devoted to the satisfaction of their animal appetites for comfort and pleasure.
Many people like these have asked God for what they thought was "peace" and wondered why their prayer was not answered. they could not understand that it actually was answered. God left them with what they desired, for their idea of peace was only another form of war. The "cold war" is simply the normal consequence of our corrupt idea of a peace based on a policy of "every person for him/her self" in ethics, economics and political life. It is absurd to hope for a solid peace based on fictions and illusions.

Just the other day I was listening to some pundits talking about the war in Iraq and the tensions in the middle east. Everyone is pointing fingers and threat and fear is in the air. At one point, there was conversation about the threat Israel feels about the development of nuclear power in Iran and thus the potential for building nuclear weapons. I then wondered about the threat that must be in the air in Iran when they keep hearing that Israel is ready to attack them to prevent such work. Threat and fear hangs over everyone and every side is good at creating such an atmosphere. In the end, all sides are only looking out for life as they have it and want it and, you could say, "hell to the others." Sounds like "cold war" attitudes to me...and attitudes between the U.S and Muslim countries as we hang high the banner of terrorism.

Connection: We all must work day-to-day to get by or push to the side our "fictions and illusions" so that our days will be ones in which we really do have the opportunity to walk in peace.

Within your Reign, O God, we are given the gift to see clearly. Much of that gift is to help us see ourselves and our motives and our wants, needs, and greeds. When we begin to see all that keeps us separated from others we are given a glimpse of your peace and we long to be there. Amen.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Tuesday 5 August 2008

Today's selection by Thomas Merton will also frame what we will hear tomorrow.

To some people peace merely means the liberty to exploit other people without fear of retaliation or interference. To others peace means the freedom to rob others without interruption. To still others it means the leisure to devour the goods of the earth without being compelled to interrupt their pleasure to feed those whom their greed is starving. And to practically everybody peace simply means the absence of any physical violence that might cast a shadow over lives devoted to the satisfaction of their animal appetites for comfort and pleasure.

Is peace nothing more than the liberty to do as I please for the benefit of myself and my own? I don't think that is the peace or shalom or wholeness that is set forth within the Reign of God. Peace in God's Reign is not a freedom from it is a freedom for. It is is the freedom to share not a freedom to take from others. It is a freedom to replenish not a freedom to devour. It is freedom to face the realities of life around us without any form of cover up so as to see only what we want to see - it is not freedom to hide and keep to ourselves. In other words, peace demands that our eyes are open and we are honest about the condition of life around us. Peace is not self-center and self-consuming...it is always seeking the wellness of the whole. Therefore, peace will by its very nature resist the divisions that are created to keep us each in our own world where we can live as we want even as it destroys or damages the lives of others. Peace in God's Reign is always seeking to weave together the threads of life that can be so diverse we have a hard time putting them side by side. And yet, in such peace making comes the surprising adventure of God's shalom.

Connection: Peace is the life that is before us this day. We must be willing to wrestle with the best ways to make it alive among us.

Lord God, as you bring us into your peaceable Reign, it means that we must face our lives with truthfulness and an honesty that deliberately brings our eyes up to see the fullness of your Reign even as we would rather look only to our own good. Be with us in this journey. Amen.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Monday 4 August 2008

Today we will continue with Thomas Merton on war and fear. As you will see, this piece is dated to a specific time in 20th century world dynamics. And yet, it doesn't take much at all to make the jump into today.

When I pray for peace I pray God to pacify not only the Russians and the Chinese but above all my own nation and myself. When I pray for peace I pray to be protected not only from the Reds but also from the folly and blindness of my own country. When I pray for peace, I pray not only that the enemies of my country may cease to want war, but above all that my own country will cease to do the things that make war inevitable. In other words, when I pray for peace I am not just praying that the Russians will give up without struggle and let us have our own way, I am praying that both we and the Russians may somehow be restored to sanity and learn how to work out our problems, as best we can, together, instead of preparing for global suicide.

I told you it was dated. Then again, we need only change the names and we are right in the middle of his point about prayer when threats of war are manipulating and directing our lives. What comes from such prayers is not magic. Rather, what comes from such prayers is action....our action. Remember we become a part of the prayers we utter. Therefore, when we pray that we may become open to new ways of working toward peace, we really make those ways a part of our personal lives and press those ways with the people who are in positions to bring the way of peace to voice on the levels of the most influential. I even have to say that our prayers may encourage some of us to step up and work to move into positions of more influence. I think it was Michael Moore who encourages ordinary folks to run for the most basic positions in political parties so as to begin to bring new ideas into old and stiff systems. People who long for peace would do well to listen. Another example is that of the Christian Right. We may see them praying quite a bit...but...have you noticed how they are also acting out their prayer in ways that give greater voice to some of the "issues" of concern. It is no accident that over 100 White House lawyers come from Jerry Falwell's Regent Law School...even before it became accredited.

Connection: Our prayers are meant to shape the whole world...that includes us. How are you asking God to shape you?

Make us the instruments of your peace, O God. Turn our words of peace into reminders of the life that comes into being from the words we speak when we turn to you for new life. Amen.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Friday 1 August 2008

The images in today's devotion from Thomas Merton come from the 1960's...but let them be heard in the context of war and fear that is around us today.

For only love -which means humility- can exorcise the fear which is at the root of all war.
What is the use of postmarking our mail with exhortations to "pray for peace" and then spending billions of dollars on atomic submarines, thermonuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles? This, I would think would certainly be what the New Testament calls "mocking God" - and mocking God far more effectively than the atheists do. The culminating horror of the joke is that we are piling up these weapons to protect ourselves against atheists who, quite frankly, believe there is no God and are convinced that one has to rely on bombs and missiles since nothing else offers any real security. Is it then because we have so much trust in the power of God that we are intent upon utterly destroying these people before they can destroy us? Even at the risk of destroying ourselves at the same time?

I found this to be an indicting piece. We wage a cold war against atheists and we are the ones who act as we would expect them to act. Even worse, we depend on weapons of war to calm our fear just was we would pray to our God to do the same. Does that mean, as I think, that we are worshippers of gods other than the God of the Scriptures. Let's carry that into today. We stage a war against them. We label them Islamist extremist and make sure the their ways and their actions are the worst of the worst. And yet, when we look at who we choose to become in their presence, we are not a people faithful to the God of our ancestors. Yes, we bow down to the gods of might and wealth and temporary security and yes, they try to fool us into following their ways. When this takes place, we are not able to let ourselves see "those" others/enemies as God's children. What is worse than that, we do not see ourselves as God's children because we are unwilling to act as though we are living within the power of the Reign of God that is this strange and eternal love.

Connection: It is always good to find the gods of our lives wandering through this day. They show up everywhere but we are so used to them being friends and companions with us that we do not see them for what they are...the gods that would control us and own us.

Come, Lord God, and open our eyes to the way of your Reign. Open our eyes that we may see the many gods that demand our attention and allegiance so that we may be aware of the powers that play with us and use us in ways counter to your merciful Reign. Amen.