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.
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