Kevin J. Bowman - a pilgrim trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus

dispossessed

Can "Damn You" be Good News?

Monday, April 26, 2010 7:00 AM

On Friday night I spoke at a 30 hour famine event using the "beatitudes" from Luke 6. However for the sake of emphasis I used the scholars version rendering of the text, because of it's "shocking" words.

Congratulations, you poor!
God's Domain belongs to you.
Congratulations, you hungry!
You will have a feast.
Congratulations, you who weep now!
You will laugh.
Congratulations, to you when people hate you, and when they ostracize you and denounce and scorn your name because of the son of Adam.
Rejoice on that day, and jump for joy!
Just remember, your compensation is great in the place of God's dwelling.
Recall that their ancestors treated the prophets the same way.

Damn, you rich!
You already have your consolation.
Damn, you who are well fed now!
You will know hunger.
Damn, you who laugh now!
You will learn to weep and grieve.
Damn you when everyone speaks well of you!
Recall that thier ancestors treated the phony prpohets the same way.

But to you who listen I say, love your enemies...

On the way home my lovely wife asked me, "Where was the good news in that message?" She was concerned that the teens of our audience would have left feeling more judged and more hated by a God who has been constantly misrepresented already. Although I think that the transition to salvation as transactional between God and man clouds the ability to "hear" the good news, I will not go into that for the purpose of this post. Instead I want to focus on the text itself, and draw out the "Good News" that is very present in this text, even for the oppressor (the rich, the well fed, the laughing).

To begin, I want to ask the reader to take off any lens you have as you come to the text that inclines you to hear the text in an individualistic way. This is hard in the western culture of America, since we are a culture of rugged individualism. However I think it is necessary to understanding that this message, as well as the totality of scripture is directed to communities rather than individuals.

So the text compares two communities, the oppressed community and the oppressor community. To the oppressed community Jesus admonishes them, "your weakness is strength" to the oppressor community Jesus warns them, "your strength is your weakness." Jesus reminds those who have been scorned that they are loved by God. Jesus warns those who have perpetuated that scorn that they are loved by God.

"WAIT," you might be thinking, "he told the oppressors "Damn, you" are you missing that is not an encouragement but a scold?" I did not mistype. Jesus expresses love to this group by foretelling to this group where the institution of oppression leads. History is full of examples of as society's rise up, and then eventually collapse in revolt at the hands of the oppressed.

Let me have you read a story by Clay Shirky:

In 1988, Joseph Tainter wrote a chilling book called The Collapse of Complex Societies. Tainter looked at several societies that gradually arrived at a level of remarkable sophistication then suddenly collapsed: the Romans, the Lowlands Maya, the inhabitants of Chaco canyon. Every one of those groups had rich traditions, complex social structures, advanced technology, but despite their sophistication, they collapsed, impoverishing and scattering their citizens and leaving little but future archeological sites as evidence of previous greatness. Tainter asked himself whether there was some explanation common to these sudden dissolutions.

The answer he arrived at was that they hadn’t collapsed despite their cultural sophistication, they’d collapsed because of it. Subject to violent compression, Tainter’s story goes like this: a group of people, through a combination of social organization and environmental luck, finds itself with a surplus of resources. Managing this surplus makes society more complex—agriculture rewards mathematical skill, granaries require new forms of construction, and so on.

Early on, the marginal value of this complexity is positive—each additional bit of complexity more than pays for itself in improved output—but over time, the law of diminishing returns reduces the marginal value, until it disappears completely. At this point, any additional complexity is pure cost.

Tainter’s thesis is that when society’s elite members add one layer of bureaucracy or demand one tribute too many, they end up extracting all the value from their environment it is possible to extract and then some.

The ‘and them some’ is what causes the trouble. Complex societies collapse because, when some stress comes, those societies have become too inflexible to respond. In retrospect, this can seem mystifying. Why didn’t these societies just re-tool in less complex ways? The answer Tainter gives is the simplest one: When societies fail to respond to reduced circumstances through orderly downsizing, it isn’t because they don’t want to, it’s because they can’t.

In such systems, there is no way to make things a little bit simpler – the whole edifice becomes a huge, interlocking system not readily amenable to change. Tainter doesn’t regard the sudden decoherence of these societies as either a tragedy or a mistake—” Under a situation of declining marginal returns collapse may be the most appropriate response”, to use his pitiless phrase. Furthermore, even when moderate adjustments could be made, they tend to be resisted, because any simplification discomfits elites.

When the value of complexity turns negative, a society plagued by an inability to react remains as complex as ever, right up to the moment where it becomes suddenly and dramatically simpler, which is to say right up to the moment of collapse. Collapse is simply the last remaining method of simplification."

As Shirky foretells the fall of complex society, Jesus in this text also warns of the downfall of living atop the oppression food chain.

Jesus illuminates that both sides of the oppression equation, the oppressor and the oppressed, are caught in slavery to the violent system that oppression is. Jesus tells both groups that they are loved by God, by planting the very seed of hope needed by both groups. Jesus is not condemning the individual, instead he condemns the societal grouping, the institution, that enslaves each community.

To put this another way, in a way I know might offend many of you but captures the gist of Jesus' words with contemporary relevance, the text could read, "Damn you America your military corporate imperialist machine will crumble." Jesus can condemn the institution of American exploitation and oppression. This is not a condemnation of the individual but rather, as with all others on both sides of the oppression equation, a recognition that slavery to that machine is damaging to the humanity of it's persons.

The slavery to oppression is a cruel master no matter which side of it's violence you are seated in. So Jesus offers the only alternative to violence to everyone willing to hear the alternative, "Love your enemies." By embracing the shared humanity of all persons the cycle of violence is broken. The oppressed can see the humanity of the oppressor and therefore feel his oppression. The oppressor can see the humanity of the oppressed and therefore feel her oppression. Enemy love is the great radicalizer. It frees all to stand in freedom; freedom with God, and freedom with fellow humanity.

The invitation to embracing uncompromising love makes Jesus' "Damn You" an invitation to freedom. Enemy love ends the cycle of violence, though often it's participants feel the burning from both sides of the cycle. Enemy love joins all once divided by social fences back to oneness. Enemy love is the mystery through which creation reconciles back to God. Enemy love is not transactional, it is the relational cradle of new life. Enemy love is the extremist act whose seditious ripples topple the violence of oppression. Enemy love is Good News and all structures and institutions that prevent one from experiencing it be damned!

Labels: Beatitudes, Love

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Jesus: The Pascal Mystery

Friday, April 02, 2010 11:45 AM

As I was preparing to write my thoughts for this Good Friday I wanted to do a little reading to prepare myself. I had some unique observations last night as we ate a ritual meal with friends that I was wanting to share. I will not write those thoughts, well not exactly. As I was reading and preparing I came across a speech by Richard Rohr from 2005. In 1 paragraph during the speech he succinctly, and with far better words than my own put these thoughts together. So instead of my own thoughts, I feel much more compelled to just give you that paragraph. If you would like to read the enitre speech you do do so by following this link - http://kbow.us/2ULu.

Labels: Jesus, Lent, Richard Rohr

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Dane Potts: A Personal Note

Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:30 PM

“Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.” -John Lennon

When Dane first arrived to live with us, it was autumn and we'd sit outside on the patio for hours. We talked about music, pain, God, movies, camp, and Ashley. It was in one of those talks where I was schooled in the “appreciation” of AC\DC. One night we came upon the subject of The Beatles. Now let me out myself to you all, in the same way I outed myself to Dane that night. I am fairly Beatles ignorant. So I got educated, I learned why Sgt. Pepper is the greatest rock album ever, and why Yellow Submarine is still a more important album, or something like that. Although I am sure the Beatles fans can correct me as to the details of my “lesson” that night, for me the thing I remember most was transitioning into talking about John Lennon. For those of you who have never picked up on it, I am a bit of a hippie, so Lennon was a subject I could get into. Talking about Lennon, got us talking about 'Imagine.' Talking about 'Imagine' got us talking about God. That's how it was, our conversations were tapestries, and I am bundled up in the warmth of the memories tonight as I face this cold news.

Dane is not here anymore, as Christi put it so eloquently tonight, “the piece of God that lived in Dane is what I will miss” I agree. There is more to Dane that I will miss than I could possibly write in a letter like this.

Labels: Dane Potts, RIP

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Glen Beck & Social Justice

Monday, March 08, 2010 10:06 PM

I have been recently on a series of posts looking at Jesus. The point of this has been to distill down how I am understanding the words, teachings, and ministry of Jesus at this point in my journey. I am continuing forward with that series. I am currently writing the "Prayers of Jesus" and will be posting that soon.

However, the stir created over Glen Beck's much reported comments on his radio program has caused me to desire to post some thoughts originally part of a conversation on Facebook on here.

Recapping the original Glen Beck quote:

I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church?

After these comments by Beck I set my status to a quote by John Allan Bankson (@knowtea).

I'll continue to preach social justice because Jesus did. I pity anyone who gets his/her theology from Glenn Beck.

A friend of mine responded with his endorsement of Glen Beck's ideas.

So this was originally offered as my response to him. I am now posting it as my response to Mr. Beck and those others who would claim that Jesus' message is easily harmonized with the republican motto of "individual freedom and personal responsibility"

Being born into the most privileged class of the most powerful empire on earth, it is easy to be sold on the imperialst creed of 'freedom' and 'personal responsibility'. However great those ideas are, and I do believe they are great ideas, there are causes and complication beyond those ideas.  Loving people requires we (I am speaking to those like myself born of privilege) look to understand the systemic inequality and emotional complication those inequalities make manifest in the world.  

This does not mean we look to the state for answers to the systems of oppression. I am not supporter of using the empire as vendors of good & services.  Coercive power, even when being used for "good" is an enemy of love.

Instead we practice a new creation, a powerful transformative force rooted in economic justice.  We empty ourselves of privlege, entitlement, and power, to suffer in solidarity with, and to creatively empower new realities within oppressed peoples.

Look at the life and ministry of Jesus. Whether it's Healing the sick, giving the blind sight, setting the oppressed free, and proclaimg God's love among the poor that he promised in his ignaugral adress and traveled from village to village to practice, or  touching the unclean, eating with the outcasts, and speaking against an oppressive religious system which ultimately got him executed as an insurectionist; Jesus message was FIRMLY rooted in social justice.

The power of social justice is one of self identication as equals to the poor and disadvantage.  Social justice is the word of God, (love your neighbor) taking on flesh.  Incarnation is social justice, and I would tell anyone, if you're NOT hearing social justice in your church then leave, because they are preaching a different Jesus than the one recorded in the gospels.

Labels: Glen Beck, Politics, Social Justice

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Jesus: His Commands (Follow Up)

Friday, March 05, 2010 6:00 AM

This is the follow up to a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

As I reread my entire piece today, I am struck by such a sense of inadequacy of these words. I am earnestly attempting to live out the commission to "follow me." I read these commands compiled so succiently, and I get a lump in my throat. I do not dine as equal with the poor, I have not sold everything and given to the poor. Both my hands and both eyes are still in place, though they most assuredly cause me to sin. I focus on the temporal, I serve non altruistically, I forget to remain a child, and I bear a yoke that does not come from my teacher.

It would be easy to see the weight of these commands and walk away, content to live in a "Spiritualized" reading of the text. It would be easy to look here and say, "I am saved by grace, admission paid for entrance into heaven." and feel no obligation to be affected by these words. It would be easy to reduce "Love your enemies" to a statement on church politics, while supporting the military industrial machine that works to obliterate it's enemies. It would be easy to support "Love Your Neighbors" looking around my suburban neighborhood at homogeneity of neighbors like me, while oppressing those around the nation and world who do not worship, marry, eat and earn like me. It would be easy to "Be Born of The Spirit" if this is about a tingly feeling from the rhythmic pulsing music of the worship band while ignoring that the Spirit of God first led Jesus to a wilderness to suffer and ultimately to a death as an insurrectionist against the state. It would be easy to make these words moral platitudes rather than face the reality that this is the clear action required for being discipled relevant to the here, the now, this place of time, space, and matter.

I offer this follow up as a bridge-way. Tomorrow I intend to continue on, looking at the "Prayers" of Jesus. I believe that if we don't come to speak the words and heart of the Christ, back to the father, who's Spirit rested on Jesus, then we will never experience a sense of God's "doing" in the world. Our commission as the followers of Jesus is to Love God, Loving People, preserving and illuminating the world with the divine light that fills new creation and proclaims resurrection the the places and things destroyed as casualties to this empire.

Here What The Spirit is Speaking, Let Jubilee be sounded!

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (14 of 14)

Thursday, March 04, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 14 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Judge with Proper Judgment – John 7:24 – This command would seem opposite of Jesus' command to not judge. Two things that I note here, one is that the religious leaders who this is specifically directed are already judging, so Jesus commands them, in light of the reality that how we judge we will be judged, to judge rightly. The second thing I note here, is that this is not a judgment of a person's actions or moral standing, instead Jesus reminds all listening to see the fruit of those who speak and anct on behalf of God, and use wise discernment to see which are producing the kind of outcomes that are in line with the God of justice and mercy.

Come Thirsty – John 7:37-38 – Jesus once again invites those who wish to follow him to come with their inadequacies. As he has stated elsewhere, this is not an invitation for those who are spiritually healthy, and well provided for. This is an invitation where we are commanded to come broken and receive the power of resurrection, to receive a new spirit!

Wash One Another's Feet – John 13:14 – Jesus instructs his followers to take the position of servant to each other. The family of God must not be a place of politics and posturing, instead it must be a place of servanthood. Jesus illustrates his commands of intentional emptiness before commanding those who follow the way to practice the same. Each relationship of our life, should challenge us to deeper language and practice of service.

Love One Another – John 13:34-25 - This command is repeated several times in this last conversation Jesus will have with his disciples. Love must define the follower of Jesus. The apostle John writes elsewhere that “God is Love' so if God's incarnation expression of his immanence on the earth is to be realized through the actions of those who follow in the way of Jesus, the our selfless sacrifice and intentional emptiness must lead is to the place of becoming love embodied. Jesus followers will be defined by their love.

Keep My Commandments — John 14:15 — Jesus concludes his time of teaching much the same way he started it. The ministry and mission of Jesus was defined by these commands, and he asks his followers to be defined all the same. It is in following these commands that we as conduit's of God's Spirit, can join Christ in selflessness, emptiness, and divine light. It is in these commands, rooted in God's love, manifested in his mercy and justice, that we practice resurrection as an insurgent kingdom against the kingdom of this world. It is in these commands that we are filled with, and bring new creation to the broken, dark places. It is in following these commands that we preserve and illuminate the world. It is in these commands that God is incarnated, and continues to dwell in the neighborhood of humanity.

I also posted some Follow Up thoughts to the commands.

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (13 of 14)

Wednesday, March 03, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 13 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Dine as Equals with the Poor – Luke 14:12-14 – Following the way of Jesus is not possible if we are not able to see ourselves in solidarity with the poor. Intentional emptiness calls us to give up our rights, and in selflessness realize that the practice of resurrection is not a practice that makes us savior to the poor, instead it is entering the new creation economy and living equally with the poor so that together there is enough.

Obey Unselfishly – Luke 17:7-10 – One does not follow God for a reward. Like other warnings about receiving glory from men, and desiring prosperity, Jesus reminds that the Jesus follower participates in God's kingdom, because that is the kingdom he is a citizen of. Do not expect special reward for your participation in God's work.

Do Not Profit Off God's Name – John 2:16 – Jesus is overwhelmed at the temple for what it has been turned into. In God's divine order, the temple had a place of worship for the entire world. However, the space for the message of God's love for the world had been replaced by those seeking to profit for themselves off others devotion to God. This is a strong warning to the Jesus follower to not find themselves using the things of God to their own financial advantage.

Be Born of the Spirit – John 3:5-8 – Participation with God's work in the world does not begin with us. It is the spirit of God, poured out like the wind, that initiates the person into this life. It is not by superior wisdom, personal decision, or moral merit that a person is empowered to live by the Jesus way. Instead, it is God's work, being spread throughout the creation, that begins the work in us to follow Jesus into selfless sacrifice and intentional emptiness.

Don't Focus On Temporal -John 6:27 -There is a tendency by those who are not hearing God's voice calling them into practicing resurrection life to come looking to Jesus to meet the temporal. Jesus commands the followers of the Jesus way not to be fooled into using his name to meet there temporal needs. Jesus warns his followers not to think there are deeds or behaviors that will serve as incantations to receive God's favor. Instead, God's work in the world is new creation.

Continue Reading Part 14 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (12 of 14)

Tuesday, March 02, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 12 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Fear Not, He is Risen – Mark 16:6 – As has been well illustrated in many of the previous commands followers of Jesus way participate with God in his resurrection work of bringing new creation from to the broken places of this kingdom. Jesus commends his followers here to remember that the first born of the resurrection is risen, and God's redemptive has been empowered. Despite the appearance of success by this world and it's kingdom of death, God's kingdom is advancing.

Be Merciful – Luke 6:36, Luke 10:37 – Practicing compassion is not the default nature of a life following the conventional wisdom of this kingdom. When Jesus teaches Be merciful, as your father in heaven is merciful, he teaches that in contrast to the religious leaders of his day who used “Be Holy, as I (YHWH) am Holy” quoting God as a tool against those struggling with brokenness. Jesus teaches that mercy to the broken places of this kingdom, is living out the very heart of God.

Give Them Something To Eat – Luke 9:13 – Participation in what God is doing. The disciples saw a problem, in this case it was hunger. God too in our lives will open our eyes to the needs of those people whose lives have need. When God opens our eyes to hurt and needs of others it is our duty to respond to God and meet those needs.

Give to Those In Need – Luke 11:41 – Religion teaches that a system of rules, and adherence to policy is the mark of purity from God. Jesus however challenges the idea that personal piety and traditions are able to clean the heart. Heart cleanness, comes from the awareness to are forth following response to the suffering and brokenness of those who have need.

Guard Yourself From Greed – Luke 12:15 – It is common thinking in the wisdom of this Kingdom to see wealth as a sign of favor from God. I recently heard Andy Stanley point out that wealth is all the “extra” we have in our lives. My extra clothes, my extra rooms, my extra car, my extra spending money, etc. We live in a culture of so much extra, and it is our inclination to see that extra for me. Jesus sternly warns that when our resources are expended on ourselves, then our richness is found in those things, rather than being found rich in God.

Continue Reading Part 13 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (11 of 14)

Monday, March 01, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 11 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Stay With Me — Matthew 26:35-45, Mark 14:32-41 — Three times as Jesus prepares for the cross he asks his disciples to stay present in his suffering. Christ asks all followers of the way to stay present in his suffering. There is no resurrection without death, and we therefore join Christ in the selfless emptiness of incarnation, death, and resurrection , filling all the brokenness of this kingdom with the immanent presence of the Kingdom of God.

Make Disciples — Matthew 28:18-20 — The Jesus way is a self replicating organism. Jesus orders his followers as they are going in the goings of life, to replicate his selfless sacrifice and intentional emptiness, thereby being the incarnation of God's redemptive justice and mercy on earth, the preservation and illumination of the creation by God's divine light. In doing this, to train those others God has commissioned to this same task.

Have Faith In God – Mark 11:22-24 – Dependence on the intangible is very difficult. Jesus uses a tangible example to those followers present with him to illustrate God's provision for the work of reconciliation. Those dependent on the conventional wisdom of the kingdom of world place their faith for provision in expertise and income. God's economy of enough is available to meet the needs of provision for the redemptive advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Beware of Religious Professionals – Mark 12:38-40 – Religious experts are easy to find. Most every church employs one. Like the religious leaders of Jesus' day the quest for power and prestige gained by speaking on behalf of God is alluring to a person's selfish pride. While not condemning all professionals in religion, as a generalization Jesus however sternly questions integrity and motivations of this career path.

Stay Focused – Mark 13:33-37 – As anyone charged with a task, so Jesus reminds his followers to be ready for the return of the master. Otherwise put, as the house servants would keep up the house ready to the masters preferences, so followers of the way should remain focused on the mission of God in the world.

Continue Reading Part 12 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (10 of 14)

Sunday, February 28, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 10 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Love the Lord — Matthew 22:37–38, Mark 12:30 , Luke 10:27 — Religious piety demands there be a system of easy assessment to the nature of a person's standing before God. Instead Jesus leaves his listeners with a command that is essentially unattainable. Jesus sets the entire success of living the Jesus way to a wholly obsessed physical, mental, and spiritual embodiment of participation in the immanent presence of God's divine spirit which permeates the entirety of his creation.

Love Your Neighbor — Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27 — Practice of the “second commandment” is so contingent on participation in the first. It is when God's permeating presence and work is recognized in the entirety of creation that our selfish desires are eclipsed to be capable to wholly participate in God's reconciliation work. It is only in total obsession to the fullness of God, that we can be fully emptied to work as conduits of God's compassion and mercy, fully participants in the divine loving renewal of the creation.

Watch Against Deceit – Matthew 24:4-7, Mark 13:5-8, Luke 17:20-21 – Many people, groups, organizations will claim to speak with the authority of Christ. Many will want to manipulate the desire of the genuine follower of Jesus' lifestyle to their own gain. Others will threaten to destroy and even destroy those who are genuine in their selfless loving participation in God's justice mission in the creation. Jesus warns his followers to trust the “law of love” that burns inside as the preservation and illumination of the themselves and of the world.

Be Alert To God's Work — Matthew 24:36–44, Mark 13:9-13, Luke 21:8 — The world is full of would-be messiahs and self proclaimed saviors. Jesus warns his followers to stay attuned and participating in the divine redemptive work of God's own in the creation.

Eat My Body, Drink My Blood — Matthew 26:26–27, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:14-20 — These two commands are well beyond the scope of any satisfactory discussion in a post of this magnitude, and to be rightly handled would require at least an entire post dedicated to the combo and could be more fully worked out in at least a post for each. Suffice to say, these commands orient us to the position and posture of the Jesus follower in the world. Like Jesus we embrace the emptiness in order to be consumed as participants in Christ's brokenness which leads to new creation.

Continue Reading Part 11 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (9 of 14)

Saturday, February 27, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 9 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Do Not Divorce — Matthew 19:3-10, Mark 10:10-12, Luke 16:18 — Although the religious leaders posed a question to trap Jesus in an answer that would make Herod unhappy, he responds with a opportunity to remind his listeners not to give way to a stubborn selfish heart, that makes decision by convenience and emotional feelings, rather than by the selfless sacrifice his life was embodying..

If Possible, Do Not Marry — Matthew 19:11-12 — Once again, Jesus offers a second command that reinforces the fact that the Kingdom of God should be placed before all institutions and traditions of culture and self satisfaction. Here Jesus commands that those to whom it is possible, should avoid marriage all together, thus surrendering their rights to it's pleasures and privileges in order to be fully consumed by participation in following Jesus.

Sell Everything, Give To Poor – Matthew 19:16-22, Mark 10:21, Luke 12:33, Luke 18:21-22 – Scholars and preachers have tried everything to make this text say something other than what it says, or to make it a personal command to this one rich man, despite it being given as a general command in Luke. Applying to just the rich man therefore somehow dismisses it's application to the broader audience of all Jesus followers. I admittedly wrestle myself with the meaning and application of this command. Although, I have not been remotely conformed to fully embrace this command, I believe that the fullest ability to be the embodiment of our commission to preserve and illuminate the world is hindered by our resistance to practice this command.

Choose the Servant Position — Matthew 20:26–28, Mark 9:34-35, Mark 10:43-45, Luke 22:24-27 — Here Jesus changes everything the kingdom of this world says about power. His followers are ordered to pursue the way of Jesus in an ever increasing commitment to downward mobility. Jesus puts no lower limits on the position of service his followers should be moving toward. Instead, his path is to ransom others through willing emptiness to enter their place of slavery, and remain in solidarity to their brokenness. It is in selfless sacrifice of solidarity with the broken that the practice of resurrection is borne.

Give Caesar Caesar's — Matthew 22:19–21, Mark 12:15-17, Luke 20:25 — One can not pursue citizenship in the Kingdom of God while hoarding the property of the kingdom of this world. Like commands before it, the followers of the Jesus way must live with open hands. There is no room for allegiances and properties other than the allegiance to the joining in God's redemptive work of justice and mercy. Whether it be the literal money owed in taxes, or the surrender of all other property that belongs to the world. Once again Jesus confounds our conventional need to hoard and protect my own self interests.

Continue Reading Part 10 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (8 of 14)

Friday, February 26, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 8 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:


Get Up, Do Not Be Afraid! — Matthew 17:5-8 — As the apostle John points out, Jesus is the way and the word of God. As the way and word of God, Jesus will be revealed in his glory in the midst of our lives. Jesus instructs his followers not to fear, diminish, or dismiss the divine vision of God's work, but instead to embrace the mystery and revelation, and live on not in fear, but in realization of the revelation of God.

Become Like A Child – Matthew 18:1-4, Luke 9:48, Luke 18:16-17 – A friend recently told my 5 yr old that the reason why she was beautiful and he and I (also mid-thirties) were ugly was because she had come from more recently. I thought it was very cute, despite the implications of following it through to the end. However, challenging I find the idea being seriously considered in term of physical beauty, not that my friend intended it to be taken seriously, it must be very seriously considered in terms of the ugliness of our Spirit. Jesus commands us to not follow the pattern of the conventional wisdom of this kingdom, that darkens and ages the spirit through the constant ebb and flow of life's pain. Instead we are commanded to stay near the Spirit of God, our divine light constantly flowing out of spiritual proximity to his Spirit of justice and mercy.

Protect Children — Matthew 18:6-7, Mark 9:36-37,42 , Luke 17:1-2 — Continuing the thought from the previous segment, Jesus commands his followers to not only remain childlike themselves, but also to be diligent to protect the virtue and innocence of children. Jesus is not ignorant to the reality that devastation and pain will come into an individuals life, but he reminds that one's own spirit is destroyed by their participation in the damaging of the child's innocence.

Go to Offenders — Matthew 18:15-17, Luke 17:3-4 — Bitterness destroys the spirit of the one who holds onto it. Slander and gossip do not work to dispel the bitterness but rather to strengthen the position of the who feels their rights were violated in an encounter as the offender is further demonized in the assurances support by the hearers of the gossip. Alternately, when one humbles themselves and seeks the path of selfless sacrifice that requires listening to the other's understanding, baggage, and perspective on a conflict, the encounter becomes a bulwark against bitterness and instead builds bridges of trust and justice between the parties involved.

Forgive Offenders — Matthew 18:21–22 — Forgiveness is nearly impossible without the intentional decision to empty ourselves of our rights and instead take personally take on the consequences of our offenders actions. Forgiveness is rooted in the justice and mercy of God. It grows up, as testimony to the power of practicing resurrection in the new creation of life that is built in the space where the brokenness of the original offense started.

Continue Reading Part 9 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (7 of 14)

Thursday, February 25, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 7 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Take My Yoke — Matthew 11:29 — The 'Yoke' was the requirements placed by any rabbi on those who wanted to be proven as worthy to be his disciple. Jesus offers the command to bear his yoke as the antithesis of the yoke's of the religious experts and pharisees. The best, brightest, and most disciplined would take on an extra measure of purity and study to prove themselves worthy of their masters yoke. Jesus does no offer his yoke based on purity, study, or worth. Instead Jesus offer his yoke to the weary, the burdened, and the childlike. Jesus promises a new kind of yoke, one that is good and brings rest.

Stretch Out Your Hand — Matthew 12:13, Mark 3:1-6, Luke 6:10 — Although not considered a general command being it was given literally to a man with a crippled hand, who received a literal healing of his crippledness. The command stands to reinforce that Jesus' kingdom is built on the rejected things of this kingdom, and it is marked by new creation in those things.

Honor Your Parents — Matthew 15:1-6, Mark 7:8-12 — In some ways it would be easy to look at this command and leave it as self explanatory, but contextually there is much more going on here than just a reminder on parent child relations. This command orders us not to be blind to God's work of mercy and justice in the world because of our religious traditions. When religion precludes us from practicing love it is not rooted in the Spirit of God.

Don't Let Your Mouth Defile You — Matthew 15:10-18, Mark 7:14-23 — Here Jesus warns that it is not failure to comply with moral purity of the religious elite that lead a person in a spiritually unhealthy direction. Instead it is the thoughts which become words that show the fruit of heart that is not seeking selflessness or emptiness.

Beware of Leaven — Matthew 16:6, Mark 8:15, Luke 12:1 — In ancient times leaven did not come in convenient easy open packages. Leaven was made by allowing bread from a previous batch to mold, and then adding the molded breaded in the fresh dough. Leaven was therefore associated with uncleaness. Metaphorically speaking, leaven had come to represent sin and evil. Jesus warns that those who seek his way must be intent to discern the evil that comes with spiritual elitism, because that evil separates one's heart far from God.

Continue Reading Part 8 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (6 of 14)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 6 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Let Dead Bury Their Dead — Matthew 8:20-22, Luke 9:57-61 — Leave all other allegiances behind. The Kingdom of God is not a kingdom of comfortable homes, lavish funerals, and the comforts of this kingdom. Jesus reminds his followers that everything given by the hand of the powerful of this kingdom, will be taken away in their effort to break the will of those pursuing the selflessness of participation in God's reconciliation love

Go and Learn Mercy – Matthew 9:13 – The religious leaders of Jesus' day had boiled the law and prophets down to a system of piety and ceremony. Jesus rejects any notion that there is a system of behavior or a liturgy of ceremony that brings one into favor with God. Instead Jesus urges us not to attempt to 'win God's favor' but instead to synch our hearts in line with God's heart, which is practiced through mercy.

Pray For Laborers — Matthew 9:38, Luke 10:2— Like Jesus' instructions on prayer in Matthew 6, this command reminds us once again that our prayers are to make God's will a reality that permeates the entirety of the cosmos.

Fear God, Not Man — Matthew 10:26, Luke 10:10-11, Luke 12:4-5 — The systems of powers of this kingdom are tangible, and therefore easily manipulated to instill fear in those that challenge the systems and institutions of oppression that are the engines of this kingdom. Jesus reminds his followers that they are free to work against that machine, since all it's exploitation will be revealed.

Take Up Your Cross — Matthew 10:34-39, Matthew 16:24-26, Mark 8:34-36, Luke 9:23-24, Luke 14:27 — Continuing on the previous thought Jesus gives a command that seems most harsh to our conventional wisdom. It was customary for Roman soldiers to make the condemned carry their own cross. Allegiance to the Kingdom of God will get you charged with insurrection by the powerful of the kingdom of this world. There is no way to remain at peace with those who prosper by exploitation, whether physically, fiscally, or spiritually.

Continue Reading Part 7 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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Jesus: His Commands (5 of 14)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 6:00 AM

This is part 5 of a 14 part piece. Start here to read it through:

Do Not Cast Pearls — Matthew 7:6 — Jesus knew the world had a great many people who would be drunk on their own self righteousness. Knowing this, he warned those who followed his way not to attempt to collude with their power for their advancement. Linking this teaching with the preceding commandment against judgementalism, Jesus warned that those who seek power, by the means of the powerful's tools would find themselves destroyed by the very allies they attempted to use.

Ask, Seek, and Knock — Matthew 7:7–8, Luke 11:9-10 — Rather than the alignment with the power brokers in the conventional powers of this world, Jesus here commands reliance on a new kind of giving. The powerful of this world can give only from the resources of this kingdom. Jesus however reminds that submission to his kingdom requires reliance on the resources of his Kingdom. Ask, Seek, Knock is a promise to meet the needs of those seeking to practice new creation in the broken places of the current kingdom.

Treat Others As You Want To Be Treated — Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:35 — This command is Jesus' own “Cliff Notes” on the law and the prophets. This command is rooted in God's identity as 'Love' and reminds us again that we are to practice preservation and illumination in the world. It calls us to trust in God's promise to provide every need for the perfect reconciliation of this 'Very Good' creation. It commands us to act that way, despite the motivations and goals of the other and despite personal costs it may appear to ourselves.

Enter the Narrow Gate — Matthew 7:13–14, Luke 13:34 — Jesus words are not easy. Alignment with least of these and those nearest to the heart of God is no way to success in this kingdom. Jesus commands his followers to be salt, to be light, to practice selfless sacrifice as the marks of Kingdom of God citizens.

Beware of False Prophets — Matthew 7:15 — Echoed by John in Revelation, Jesus reminds that there are those who will speak the language of Jesus, but intend it to solidify their power in the kingdom of this world. Jesus warns in this command to watch the actions and outcomes to see if it is power of love that is being sown by those who claim to speak on God's behalf.

Continue Reading Part 6 of 14

Labels: Commandments, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lent

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"I want to prepare like an evangelical; preach like a Pentecostal; pray like a mystic; do the spiritual disciplines like a Desert Father; art like a Catholic; and social justice like a liberal."- Mark Driscoll

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