| | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions | | | | | | Here's a good summary about the three voices directed to Judah. To be sure, the traditions of Isaiah (royal), Micah (peasant), and Deuteronomy (Mosaic-covenantal) give differing nuance to the life of Judah. All are agreed, however, that in every sphere of its life, Judah must be a community of intentional resistance, refusing to let dominant, imperial definitions confiscate the life of Judah. The community is enjoined to great vigilance, lest it lose its raison d'etre, which is as a Yahwistic, alternative mode of life in a world of acquisitive, exploitative power (compare Deuteronomy 8:1-20). When we wake in the morning, we wake into a world in which we are - as followers of Jesus - stepping into the realm of resistance. Luther would say that every morning we remember our baptism - same thing. We remember whose we are and the mighty acts of God to hold us and never let us go and then we let that hand lead us and guide us even when the leading takes us in ways that are quite at odds with the world. What is most difficult is to see to what degree we are at odds with the world around us. We have all seen those who seem to take this call into a life of asceticism or one of outright rebellion or one of such counter-cultural moves they are simply written off as complete oddballs. Well...what makes up resistance and how much resistance is enough?! I think we must not look at quantity. We look at the situation at hand and talk within a faithful community about what is needed. Resistance doesn't always mean going directly against the powers of the world. Resistance may also mean the simple movements that make us walk down another path. There are many paths of resistance that can be a part of all of our lives. It is quite important that we all keep talking to one another as we go along the way. Connection: Baptism puts us in the water of resistance and it doesn't matter how deep we are in it - we have already died in this water and come into new life. What part of this new life will now begin to show? That is resistance. Lord of New Life, carry us into the promised land and show us the way to stand on you alone as we journey through this life and share in the abundance of your Reign. Amen. |
| | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions | | | | | | The third literary voice that speaks to Israel when they are being dominated by Assyria is from Deuteronomy - again from Walter Brueggemann. He argues that this book is considered as being written quite later than originally thought. In that, references to the "Canaanites" may well be the "Assyrians." It is widely recognized that covenant receives its definitive voicing in Deuteronomy, the covenant tradition par excellence. "Covenant" is not to be understood as simply a religious slogan, nor as one model among many for Israel's faith. Deuteronomy offers covenant as a radical and systematic alternative to the politics of autonomy, the economics of exploitation, and the theology of self-indulgence. The model of social reality offered in Deuteronomy is that this community - in all its socioeconomic, political, and military aspects - is relational, with members taking responsibility for their neighbors. This notion of social reality touches every phase of social interaction and every exercise of social power. The pervasive disciplines to which Deuteronomy summons Israel is precisely to give up autonomy for the sake of committed, neighborly relatedness. Israel will be Israel only as it is what God has called it to be. Otherwise, it will be nothing more than any other power in the world. The lose is both to Israel and to the whole world. This covenant is the creation of an order that is inspired by the God who calls the people into this special relationship. The relationship is not merely between God and God's chosen, relationship become the very essence of the community as it exists in the midst of the power of the Assyrians. The covenant is a statement of being. This is who we are. We live in this kind of way. We will concerned about the well-being of others in all the various realms of community life. Such a covenant, transforms the entire life of the people. By doing that, the rest of the world powers look on and wonder why it is they are like this. That is the witness of such a covenant - the world takes not of another way of being a community. This is as radical as anything we see in the life of the church. In both cases, it is not meant to be a mere story that is not brought to life as the story of the day. Connection: I am always encouraged by Brueggemann's work because it makes me look at what can be and is real among us. It also makes me remember that the Scriptures paint us a picture of a community in distress - just like ours. From there, we walk by faith. God of Liberation and All Hopefulness, help us to reach out into the promise of your life. Help us to step beyond what we call our own and become drenched in the water of new life that is your Reign. Amen. |
| | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions | | | | | | Continuing from yesterday the second literary voice that speaks to Israel when they are being dominated by Assyria is from Micah - again from Walter Brueggemann. The devastating warning that such coveting will bring disaster is matched in the Micah tradition by two assurances. In 5:2-6, it is anticipated that a new governing authority will reestablish Judah and give peace and security (5:4) and , if necessary, will defeat Assyria and occupy the land. In the end, however, what is envisioned is not simply the defeat of the empire, but a great scenario of reconciliation, in which "peoples and nations" will submit to Yahweh's Torah in Zion and will decide for disarmament and peace (4:1-4; compare Isaiah 2:1-5). What is so remarkable is that the commitment to Torah and peace is a peculiar vision of Judah against the military inclination of the empire. In the imaginings of the poet, however, the peaceable Torah vision of Israel prevails, so that the "contrast community" of Yahweh offers the model and option of eventually embraced by all nations. The Micah vision bespeaks the deep resolve and resilience of this alternative. Holding to the vision itself is a discipline and a mark of this community, a long-term refusal to give in to a more accommodating but hopeless social practice. As noted yesterday, we never are able to see this "contrast community" and how it is able to defeat the Assyrians. The vision never comes to be - real life. And yet, we are always being offered the vision. Even into this day, the vision of a community of reconciliation is a powerful word to hear. Things can be transformed through ways not consumed by violence and the ways of empire. This is to be our way - even as Christians. The power of the resurrection is a power that does not go along with the patterns of the world that can so easily move us and sway us. We are being pulled into more of a life that is willing to call into question what is and then to act contrary to what is when it is not a world of reconciliation and sharing and forgiving. In all of our faithful storytelling, it is our God who enables us to walk in that way. After the resurrection, we are encouraged to walk in the way of Jesus - God made visible among us. Connection: Have you ever thought that there are times within the day when you are a part of this "contrast community'? If so, do you find it to be a good place - is it a place of peace? When your peace reigns, O God, we are invited into a life in which we find ways to turn toward one another and not try to flee from the presence of the other. Continue to pull us into this Reign of peace. Amen. |
| | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions | | | | | | The second literary voice that speaks to Israel when they are being dominated by Assyria is from Micah - again from Walter Brueggemann. ...the poet castigates the greedy who "covet fields and seize houses" (2:21). the ones who violate Yahwism's covenantalism is such a way will lose out when the land is redivided, perhaps by the Assyrians (v.4). Thus the expectations of Yahweh that will secure the community concern economic covenantalism in which the claims of the neighbor are not disregarded. Judah as a "contrast society" is premised on the elemental command, "Thou shalt not covet," which is here understood as broad social policy and practice. The people of God are to be a "contrast society." This is not a simple suggestion. This is the way life is to be among us. Life within this kind of society attracts attention because of the way they live together. When it becomes a society that is ruled by the same kind of powers and rules as the rest of the world, what makes it a light - what makes it a new life? So, the prophets offer a warning. I would say it is more than a warning. It is a blessed reminder meant to turn the heads of the covenant people. The prophet calls the people to re-consider who has given them their place and their life and what it means to carry the banner of this covenantal relationship. We do not know what the Assyrians would have done had they come up against a society that reflected the covenant life that so wonderfully takes a road less traveled. Connection: This may be what we all need to consider. What difference does it make in the world if we would live out of the promises of our God in a world that has its own way of running all things.? Guide us again, O God. There are so many ways we would choose to walk through our lives and yet you call us in a way that reflects your Reign. Guide us along that way, O God. Amen. |
| | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions | | | | | | Brueggemann speaks of three literary voices that spoke to Israel when they were threatened by the Assyrian power. Today we continue with Isaiah. In the Isaiah tradition, faith is engagement with all of the distinctive practices of covenant, most particularly the practice of justice and righteousness. The alternative of unfaith is to abandon the defining marks of Yahwism, and to embrace the world of anxiety, collusion, and self-indulgence authorized and defined by Assyria. Indeed, the prophet is reductionist in insisting that these are the only two options. As a community defined by a covenant with God, this is the radical edge that makes the community stand out in the world. It is not a matter of mere ethnicity or blood lines. Rather, it is the shape of the life of the community. When justice and righteousness is visible as the character of the community, there is faithfulness - there we will see the sons and daughters of God making a mark on the world so that the world will stop and turn and look at what is new. To become nothing more than another one of the powers - no matter what the situation and no matter what will make a good excuse for being like the powers - is to live in unfaith. Though this are only two character traits of life within the Reign of God, they are quite essential because they involve the communal life of the whole - and they are very visible to all. Unfortunately for religious people we are more known by our ritual actions than the character of our lives. Connection: Though our liturgy is a vital aspect of our life and witness in the world, it is that which comes out of worship and ritual that grabs the attention of the world. When we leave our rituals and engage the world with the character announced in worship, we will make an impact on all. Guide us, O God, into the way of your Reign. You promise life and your promises never can be diminished. They become a guiding light and a strong foundation upon which we can live in new ways in a world that never seems to change. Inspire us to live boldly within your Reign of promise. Amen. |
| | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions | | | | | | Brueggemann speaks of three literary voices that spoke to Israel when they were threatened by the Assyrian power. The first is Isaiah. Isaiah offers in most magisterial form an alternative vision of reality. He does not so much address the ethical detail of Judah's life, but rather focuses on the larger issue of compteing political-theological loyalties. Isaiah endlessly reiterates that Judah must trust in Yahweh, who governs history and who will guarantee Judah in the face of imperial threat. We know very little about the tactical ways of prophetic utterance in Israel. What is unmistakable, however, is that the prophet endlessly invites Israel to an alternative imaginative scenario of reality, wherein Assyria is denied domination and Yahweh is shown to be an adequated guarantee of life. Thus in the well-known word play of 7:9, in a bid for loyalty to the world construed around Yahweh, the prophet asserts: "If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all." I am one that counts on the words of the Prophets to help me with my faithful imagination. The words are able to give me a bit more backbone when I know that my knees wobble and I can easily turn around and run away. Having said that, I also know that I do not get any information about "tactical ways of prophetic utterance." At times I long to hear how one is to be loyal to God in the middle of situations that demand action today. As I write this realize the the prophetic word is not an exact battle plan that has everything in place so that we really have no choice about how we are to act. Rather, the prophet seems to lift our eyes so that we will picture faithful to God in our day. That means we must be people who attempt to listen to the story of God's saving power and acts - and what people look like when they follow this God. When we hear words like "stand firm in faith," what does it mean? I'm sure we would hear many different answers to that question. Maybe somewhere in the mix of responses there comes a vision of faithfulness in the situation at hand. Could it be that these prophetic voices are meant to stir up our hearts and expand our vision that we will be a faithful people in the middle of whatever forces attempt to move us and shake us? Connection: More and more it seems as though it is our task to listen - more and more. Lord God of New Life, you are the power that comes upon us to make us faithful within that day we face. Encourage us to turn around and look to you whenever we are being pulled by the powers that threaten us. Amen. |
| | | | Adventures... in Hope - Redeemer Devotions | | | | | | | Today we will begin to take a look at how Walter Brueggemann sees Israel as an intentional, distinctive community in the world dominated by Assyria - though much like the resistance to Egypt, a variety of voices will be heard. In response to the formidable and intimidating power of Assyria, Israelite and Judean kings were wont to give in and accept Assyrian definitions of reality. It is clear, nonetheless, that there was maintained in Judah an insistent alternative to Assyrian hegemony, and alternative endlessly reiterating the claim that Judah's future could be based only upon loyalty to Yahweh, the emancipating, commanding God, and consequently in resistance to Assyrian hegemony. Brueggemann will use three 'voices' from this period of history and we will look at those over the next few days. For now, it is enough to be reminded that we must have something onto which we can hold when the powers of the world attempt to overrun us. Just like an invading army that seems greater than anything we can imagine, we must be a people who have a story that keeps us open to what is available to us for life - even when we are being overrun with other ways to live. It is not easy to look at the condition of life around us and trust a future that is "based only upon loyalty to Yahweh." In some ways, you can bet that there are many disagreements about what that loyalty means. Just as there are many voices that try to tell us what it means to follow Jesus - and some of them act like nothing more than cheerleaders of the powers of the world - we must continue to listen to the voices of the prophets who were quite good at pointing the way of faithfulness. Prophetic voices are not usually well received by establishments of any kind - particularly religious ones. Connection: We must listen again and again. We must turn to those voices of the great prophets and listen again. We must know where to hear the voices of today's prophets and listen and discern what life we are to enter in order to not fall prey to the powers and empires of the day. Lord of all History, you continue to make us your people even when we are wandering through the many powers that attempt to capture our attention and our lives. Continue to inspire us with your Spirit of life. Amen. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
