I have been following some great discussions about sin, and in particular, the sin of homosexuality. Now if there is an explosive hot button issue that seems to be it. David Fitch has been blogging on a missional approach to the GLBT circumstance as a third way to the Neo-Reformed and the emerging strands of doing church. I have been contrasting that with the discussion about Jennifer Knapp (Jesus Creed here and here and here) and her recent announcement that she has been involved in a lesbian relationship for a number of years. Now I’m not a fan of hers, though her rendition with Mac Powell of Sing Alleluia was particularly powerful, I have been somewhat repulsed by the violent response to her coming out.
At first the idea was how about looking at this matter based on that old adage, “hate the sin, and love the sinner.” That strikes me as somewhat arrogant and condescending, and ultimately just plain wrong. For many of us (actually make that all of us) our identities are so intertwined with our particular brand of sinfulness that such parsing calls for some mighty fine distinctions and therefore results in too slippery of a slope to be walking on for any length of time.
Another way of looking at the situation is to come to grips with the idea that there are grades of sinfulness – some worse and some not quite so horrible (well, okay another fine distinction to be made) and here I’m thinking of those folks who like to make much of the OT admonitions that homosexuality is an abomination (which falls somewhere along the lines of something wicked, something detestable, something shameful – hmmm, thinking there are some things people do to each other that are pretty wicked, detestable and downright shameful other than being in an active homosexual relationship - reading Genesis 18, the fuller passage lists other abominations including lying with your neighbor's wife).
Take this little test and see how you come out on the other end - we want justice done, that’s pretty much conceded as truth, we want the wrath of God to come upon those we deem as evil and sinful people, in other words we want God to correct all that's wrong with our world by getting rid of those people, and we want God to punish those sinners – okay maybe not lightning bolts but we do want God to do something to stop the unrighteous from their dominance. Boom just happened. Anybody still here reading this blog?
As well there is truth to what Jesus said to the Pharisees in the story of the woman caught in adultery, “Let him who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7 ESV) Francis Chan in his book, Crazy Love, suggested another little test on understanding our sin status. He suggested we take the well known 1 Corinthians 13:4 passage and insert our name for the word love, and see how we fare. I did that and I’m not ready to discuss that one. But that posture seems to imply that either we overlook the sin or that we need to be affirming but somehow I have this sense that overlooking or affirming our various and particular sins isn’t what the Kingdom is all about.
I am haunted by the idea that prior to becoming missional; we need to be in a position to confront our sins, which requires involvement in a nurturing community, and from that base move out into the world. Anything short of that, it seems to me, falls back into worldly posturing. The lines from Yancey’s What’s So Amazing about Grace, quoting Gordon MacDonald, “You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace,” read in conjunction with Matthew 7:21 (the rendition by Peterson’s The Message is particularly convicting), "Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'), points out the danger inherent in embarking on a program of performing good works and actually anything less than obedience – which seems to rule out a posture of overlooking or affirming.
Hmm, certainly can’t condemn, but can’t overlook or affirm. What’s a believer to do?
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Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Going Deeper Loving and Being Loved
If small groups are the answer, what is the question?
In another of his powerful sermons, Matthew pointed us to John 13:34, "You must love each other, just as I have loved you." (CEV). Matthew then directed us to take a step deeper by asking who are these "each others." Paul enfleshes that commandment of Jesus in Galatians 6:10, "Every time we get a chance, let us work for the benefit of all starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith." (The Message)
Maybe, just maybe, we can cast a wider look at things, like
(1) Is the church the means by which God displays His love? Philip Yancey asked the question, "How can we sense God's love now that Jesus has ascended to the Father?" and suggests, "One New Testament answer centers around the 'body of Christ.' When Jesus left, He turned over His mission to flawed and bumbling men and women…. leaving the tasks of arms, legs, ears, eyes and voice to the erratic disciples - and to you and me," (from Grace Notes) and
(2) Is not the desire of the church to bring people into the Kingdom? David Fitch observes, “Each visitor, each person becoming part of the church community, needs to be nurtured into life in the Kingdom," and
(3) How are ways one is nurtured into the Kingdom? Nurturing leads new Christians to visualize what God desires them to become and/or nurturing involves modeling the Christian disciplines - in prayer, humbling one’s self, engaging worship, Bible study, and reflecting on God's work in their lives through meditation and community.
(4) Are there some people who will be resistant or hesitant to join small groups due to some concern or fear or previous poor experience or just shy or simply not comfortable, and their question may be is it safe? Very likely.
After asking these questions, do we come up with the same answer?
Somewhat tongue in cheek – maybe a group for those who aren’t sure they want to be in a group? Or as Donald Miller asked in his blog, do we ask people to leave? Or even if we don't ask them to leave, by seeking to force them into the mold aren't we doing the same thing anyways? Maybe a better way is for the "pastors and leaders to take regular time to sit, have coffee, and listen and call people into this life of allowing Jesus to reign in our lives and the life of our church, and to discern the marvelous things He is doing in and around us that we can participate in" (another great thought from David Fitch there). Isn't this what Paul was talking about in Galatians 6:10?
In another of his powerful sermons, Matthew pointed us to John 13:34, "You must love each other, just as I have loved you." (CEV). Matthew then directed us to take a step deeper by asking who are these "each others." Paul enfleshes that commandment of Jesus in Galatians 6:10, "Every time we get a chance, let us work for the benefit of all starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith." (The Message)
Maybe, just maybe, we can cast a wider look at things, like
(1) Is the church the means by which God displays His love? Philip Yancey asked the question, "How can we sense God's love now that Jesus has ascended to the Father?" and suggests, "One New Testament answer centers around the 'body of Christ.' When Jesus left, He turned over His mission to flawed and bumbling men and women…. leaving the tasks of arms, legs, ears, eyes and voice to the erratic disciples - and to you and me," (from Grace Notes) and
(2) Is not the desire of the church to bring people into the Kingdom? David Fitch observes, “Each visitor, each person becoming part of the church community, needs to be nurtured into life in the Kingdom," and
(3) How are ways one is nurtured into the Kingdom? Nurturing leads new Christians to visualize what God desires them to become and/or nurturing involves modeling the Christian disciplines - in prayer, humbling one’s self, engaging worship, Bible study, and reflecting on God's work in their lives through meditation and community.
(4) Are there some people who will be resistant or hesitant to join small groups due to some concern or fear or previous poor experience or just shy or simply not comfortable, and their question may be is it safe? Very likely.
After asking these questions, do we come up with the same answer?
Somewhat tongue in cheek – maybe a group for those who aren’t sure they want to be in a group? Or as Donald Miller asked in his blog, do we ask people to leave? Or even if we don't ask them to leave, by seeking to force them into the mold aren't we doing the same thing anyways? Maybe a better way is for the "pastors and leaders to take regular time to sit, have coffee, and listen and call people into this life of allowing Jesus to reign in our lives and the life of our church, and to discern the marvelous things He is doing in and around us that we can participate in" (another great thought from David Fitch there). Isn't this what Paul was talking about in Galatians 6:10?
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Going Deeper - Serving and Eating Books
Is anyone hungry?
In a remarkable vision, the Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel was told to eat a very particular item. In the 3rd chapter of his text, we read: " 1The LORD said, "Ezekiel, son of man, after you eat this scroll, go speak to the people of Israel." 2-3He handed me the scroll and said, "Eat this and fill up on it." So I ate the scroll, and it tasted sweet as honey." (CEV)
Scott introduced many of us to a new word, a very powerful and image-invoking Greek term, perichoresis, or as he translated it, the "divine dance." This divine dance, understood theologically, is not just a continual circling and experience of the joy of the dance. Rather, the divine dance is a special dance displaying the unique relationship between the Father, the Son and the Spirit, their mutual indwelling, their mutual intimacy, their mutual sharing and sustenance of each other.
For some of us, the purpose of the Cross wasn't simply to give us that ticket to Heaven, as true and powerful as that is. Rather, the purpose of the Cross was to issue an invitation to the world to join in the divine dance of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. The Father knew we were not able to keep the covenant. The Old Testament is filled with stories of such an invitation being given time and again but never accepted (sort of what I tried to talk about when I looked at the idea of covenant – we humans simply have a awfully hard time keeping covenant), and sent His Son in the fullness of time to be the one-time eternal grace-enabled invitation to the dance.
Scott spoke about serving as an activity that flows from the very nature of God. Going deeper, when we join in with the divine dance, while not fully now but in the process of being ultimately fully realized, we are able to partake in that indwelling, intimacy, sharing and sustenance that is the characteristic of the divine dance of the Father, Son and Spirit – that eternal and powerful flow comprising the nature of God.
We, as with Ezekiel and his eating of the scroll, are able to be feed by that flow of the divine nature. Jesus told us what is a part of that flow, “the Son of Man came to serve, not be served,” Matthew 20:28 (The Message). Let us be Ezekiels.
In a remarkable vision, the Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel was told to eat a very particular item. In the 3rd chapter of his text, we read: " 1The LORD said, "Ezekiel, son of man, after you eat this scroll, go speak to the people of Israel." 2-3He handed me the scroll and said, "Eat this and fill up on it." So I ate the scroll, and it tasted sweet as honey." (CEV)
Scott introduced many of us to a new word, a very powerful and image-invoking Greek term, perichoresis, or as he translated it, the "divine dance." This divine dance, understood theologically, is not just a continual circling and experience of the joy of the dance. Rather, the divine dance is a special dance displaying the unique relationship between the Father, the Son and the Spirit, their mutual indwelling, their mutual intimacy, their mutual sharing and sustenance of each other.
For some of us, the purpose of the Cross wasn't simply to give us that ticket to Heaven, as true and powerful as that is. Rather, the purpose of the Cross was to issue an invitation to the world to join in the divine dance of the Father, the Son and the Spirit. The Father knew we were not able to keep the covenant. The Old Testament is filled with stories of such an invitation being given time and again but never accepted (sort of what I tried to talk about when I looked at the idea of covenant – we humans simply have a awfully hard time keeping covenant), and sent His Son in the fullness of time to be the one-time eternal grace-enabled invitation to the dance.
Scott spoke about serving as an activity that flows from the very nature of God. Going deeper, when we join in with the divine dance, while not fully now but in the process of being ultimately fully realized, we are able to partake in that indwelling, intimacy, sharing and sustenance that is the characteristic of the divine dance of the Father, Son and Spirit – that eternal and powerful flow comprising the nature of God.
We, as with Ezekiel and his eating of the scroll, are able to be feed by that flow of the divine nature. Jesus told us what is a part of that flow, “the Son of Man came to serve, not be served,” Matthew 20:28 (The Message). Let us be Ezekiels.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Going Deeper: The Marathon Man and the Church
Unless you are older than say about 40 years you may not have seen a classic drama movie starring a young Dustin Hoffman and Lawrence Olivier. In a famous scene, Olivier, portraying a Nazi war criminal who is attempting to retrieve his diamonds, suspecting any effort to get them from the safety deposit box is a trap and that Hoffman has information about any surveillance, tortures Hoffman by drilling a tooth after a tooth all the while asking him "is it safe?"
Matthew's sermon Sunday (4/11) dealt with the serious need for church to be a place where one knows and is known and ultimately a place where no one stands alone. But for many, the question being asked of Hoffman by Olivier becomes the question to be asked before we can come to the conclusion church is a place where no one stands alone. Is it safe? If church is safe, how did it become that way? If it isn't, how can it be a place where no one stands alone, let alone be a place where Jesus is Lord?
Finding a place of real safety seems so difficult. For the unchurched, church, any church, is a new experience (at least hopefully somewhat different than childhood Sunday School classes – usually less than wonderful memories) with new people and with a new social ethic, and for those who have left a church due to a bad experience at another church, feelings of safety will be under heavy guard.
For much of the last decade, the church has taken a number of blistering attacks, some well founded, as places captive to the consumerist culture of America, or as attractive/entertainment centers, so-called “seeker churches.” Underlying both types of churches may be a works righteousness mentality, that is we need to become sinless or be moving on down (or is it up?) that particular road (as impossible as that is).
Newer forms of “church” are the social justice/activist strands, many of which may be considered as emerging, and missional churches. Much merit seems to be resting with those strands, particularly missional, but at first glance, as youthful forms of church, efforts may need to be directed to prevent them from becoming clubs which means some may not fit in.
Henri Nouwen gives pause for some thought as we consider that question, is it safe, “I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own and to let them know with words, handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.” (Gracias: A Latin American Journal).
Matthew's sermon Sunday (4/11) dealt with the serious need for church to be a place where one knows and is known and ultimately a place where no one stands alone. But for many, the question being asked of Hoffman by Olivier becomes the question to be asked before we can come to the conclusion church is a place where no one stands alone. Is it safe? If church is safe, how did it become that way? If it isn't, how can it be a place where no one stands alone, let alone be a place where Jesus is Lord?
Finding a place of real safety seems so difficult. For the unchurched, church, any church, is a new experience (at least hopefully somewhat different than childhood Sunday School classes – usually less than wonderful memories) with new people and with a new social ethic, and for those who have left a church due to a bad experience at another church, feelings of safety will be under heavy guard.
For much of the last decade, the church has taken a number of blistering attacks, some well founded, as places captive to the consumerist culture of America, or as attractive/entertainment centers, so-called “seeker churches.” Underlying both types of churches may be a works righteousness mentality, that is we need to become sinless or be moving on down (or is it up?) that particular road (as impossible as that is).
Newer forms of “church” are the social justice/activist strands, many of which may be considered as emerging, and missional churches. Much merit seems to be resting with those strands, particularly missional, but at first glance, as youthful forms of church, efforts may need to be directed to prevent them from becoming clubs which means some may not fit in.
Henri Nouwen gives pause for some thought as we consider that question, is it safe, “I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own and to let them know with words, handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.” (Gracias: A Latin American Journal).
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Is this what He died for? The gay man and the Samaritan.
Let us re-imagine the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The landscape is a land divided and Jesus is hard to find. The priest is now a pastor in a well-known, orthodox church nearby. The Levite has become a CEO of a large and also well-known parachurch organization specializing in helping the widow and the orphan. The man riding on the bicycle is the person who sits next to you in the pew on Sundays, but he sings loudly, more often than not off key, and he raises his hands during prayer, and more than once you have heard him pray, forgive me Lord for I am a sinner (of course none of these identities are intended, explicitly or implicitly, to be reflective of any one or any group, and may be more reflective of the various logs in my eye).
As you are walking down a quiet street in your town you come across a man, lying on the side of the road, bloody and beaten, groaning, and you see a sign on him, "This man is gay, and the judgment of God has fallen on him." As you watch, you see the pastor walking down the street. He sees the man, and kneels by him. "Son, you are in pain and dying. Confess your sin, and repent, and let Jesus take away your sin." The gay man raises slightly, gasps, and says, softly yet clearly, "No!" The pastor rises and walks away, muttering, "Lord have mercy on his soul."
Next you see the CEO come by. He kneels and says "Son, you are in pain, let me help you, and after you are healed, let me get you into a program useful for ex-gays." The gay man raises slightly, gasps, and says, softly yet clearly, "No!" The CEO rises and walks away, muttering, "Lord, have mercy on his soul."
There comes down the street your neighbor from church - the one who sings off key, raises his hands during prayer, and who prays forgive me for I am a sinner. As you watch, your neighbor bends over to help the man, and a Cross on his chain falls out of his shirt. The gay man rises slightly and sees the Cross. "Do you want me to confess and repent?" "No," you hear your neighbor say. "Well, will you help me only if I go to a program to decovert?" he asks. "No," you hear your neighbor say. "Well, what is your condition?" he demands.
"I want to help you, and I will take you the hospital. I will visit you while you recover. When you are out I will take you to my house while you rehabilitate. We will share meals and I will introduce you to my friends," you neighbor answers. "Ah, then you will try to convert me!" the gay man responds, "no thanks."
"Well," your neighbor says, "I admit I am not supportive of your life style, but you are welcome at my table, and to join with me and my friends. We love to tell stories when we meet. We talk about a man who came, was crucified, and rose again. A man who ate with sinners. A man who didn't ask about your sin but welcomed all to drink of the living water. We all get thirsty but I can ask of you nothing more."
As you watch you see your neighbor pick up the gay man and carry him to the hospital
___________
Is this what He died for? He died for you and me, dead in our sins, to restore us to love God and to love our neighbor, regardless. The hope that sustains and is eternal is here today, Easter Sunday. Be Blessed.
As you are walking down a quiet street in your town you come across a man, lying on the side of the road, bloody and beaten, groaning, and you see a sign on him, "This man is gay, and the judgment of God has fallen on him." As you watch, you see the pastor walking down the street. He sees the man, and kneels by him. "Son, you are in pain and dying. Confess your sin, and repent, and let Jesus take away your sin." The gay man raises slightly, gasps, and says, softly yet clearly, "No!" The pastor rises and walks away, muttering, "Lord have mercy on his soul."
Next you see the CEO come by. He kneels and says "Son, you are in pain, let me help you, and after you are healed, let me get you into a program useful for ex-gays." The gay man raises slightly, gasps, and says, softly yet clearly, "No!" The CEO rises and walks away, muttering, "Lord, have mercy on his soul."
There comes down the street your neighbor from church - the one who sings off key, raises his hands during prayer, and who prays forgive me for I am a sinner. As you watch, your neighbor bends over to help the man, and a Cross on his chain falls out of his shirt. The gay man rises slightly and sees the Cross. "Do you want me to confess and repent?" "No," you hear your neighbor say. "Well, will you help me only if I go to a program to decovert?" he asks. "No," you hear your neighbor say. "Well, what is your condition?" he demands.
"I want to help you, and I will take you the hospital. I will visit you while you recover. When you are out I will take you to my house while you rehabilitate. We will share meals and I will introduce you to my friends," you neighbor answers. "Ah, then you will try to convert me!" the gay man responds, "no thanks."
"Well," your neighbor says, "I admit I am not supportive of your life style, but you are welcome at my table, and to join with me and my friends. We love to tell stories when we meet. We talk about a man who came, was crucified, and rose again. A man who ate with sinners. A man who didn't ask about your sin but welcomed all to drink of the living water. We all get thirsty but I can ask of you nothing more."
As you watch you see your neighbor pick up the gay man and carry him to the hospital
___________
Is this what He died for? He died for you and me, dead in our sins, to restore us to love God and to love our neighbor, regardless. The hope that sustains and is eternal is here today, Easter Sunday. Be Blessed.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Going Deeper Living in the Paradise
In another wonderful sermon this past Sunday, Matthew recounted for us that powerful image of Jesus on the Cross. As our Lord heard the thief denounce the doubting thief, and ask Jesus to remember him when He came into His Kingdom, the Lord assures him that this day, the thief would be with Jesus. Notice the timing of all of this. Jesus had not yet risen, that is Easter, this was what we call Good Friday. This was the blackest of days, the day it seemed like all that is evil and all that is wrong triumphed. Yet, on that day, the thief was promised Paradise - not in a few days or in the future, but the Greek clearly translates the response as being today. Is it possible the Kingdom has come? Yes. Recall when Jesus was being accused of casting out demons through the power of Satan? In Luke 11:20, Jesus tells His accusers that "but if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you."
The response by Jesus points us to a new reality - one that has not existed on earth since the days of the cherubim with the flaming sword guarding the entrance to Eden. At that time, due to the Fall, we, all of humanity, became alienated from our Creator. That separation was not going to be healed without a death and a starting over - indeed the history of the Israelites showed that in our version of the salvation drama, there was no salvation merely drama. The thief displayed faith, and that faith was not simply an attitude or an intellectual acknowledging Jesus is the Christ, but the faith of the thief was his realizing that something remarkable was happening with the crucifixion of this man who was the Son of God - that is the death to self and yes to Jesus the Christ.
Yes to the tearing of the curtain and the restoration of the primal relationship. Yes to the realization that the Kingdom had begun, and God was opening wide to all those who say yes in faith to join Him in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself. Yes to the truth that we have no role in the salvation drama developing, that no amount of good works would ever be sufficient to gain entry, nor that any amount of good works after the emergence of this new Kingdom would be enough to maintain our place within this drama as salvation is a freely given gift and not the result of a mutual contract with any quid pro quo - the thief could do neither.
So, for us who remain in the meantime, what are we to do? Let us consider coming to an understanding that we have been called to join in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself, and part of that may very well be living out Micah 6:8, living missionally as led as He extends out His Kingdom until it is fully realized with the return of the Son.
The response by Jesus points us to a new reality - one that has not existed on earth since the days of the cherubim with the flaming sword guarding the entrance to Eden. At that time, due to the Fall, we, all of humanity, became alienated from our Creator. That separation was not going to be healed without a death and a starting over - indeed the history of the Israelites showed that in our version of the salvation drama, there was no salvation merely drama. The thief displayed faith, and that faith was not simply an attitude or an intellectual acknowledging Jesus is the Christ, but the faith of the thief was his realizing that something remarkable was happening with the crucifixion of this man who was the Son of God - that is the death to self and yes to Jesus the Christ.
Yes to the tearing of the curtain and the restoration of the primal relationship. Yes to the realization that the Kingdom had begun, and God was opening wide to all those who say yes in faith to join Him in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself. Yes to the truth that we have no role in the salvation drama developing, that no amount of good works would ever be sufficient to gain entry, nor that any amount of good works after the emergence of this new Kingdom would be enough to maintain our place within this drama as salvation is a freely given gift and not the result of a mutual contract with any quid pro quo - the thief could do neither.
So, for us who remain in the meantime, what are we to do? Let us consider coming to an understanding that we have been called to join in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself, and part of that may very well be living out Micah 6:8, living missionally as led as He extends out His Kingdom until it is fully realized with the return of the Son.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
GOING DEEPER WITH FORGIVENESS
As we approach Easter, Matthew's sermon last Sunday pointed us directly to that ultimate act of forgiveness, the Cross of Christ. In order to go a little bit deeper, maybe looking at the place of forgiveness for people who have come to faith in Christ will be helpful. Somehow it seems like we believers in this post modern culture have forgotten the necessity of forgiveness as a Christian practice.
Today when we talk about forgiveness it seems so much is focused on the therapeutic value of forgiveness – how forgiveness does great things like lower blood pressure, acts as an antidote to bitterness and resentment, or how forgiveness, along with prayer, helps us heal quicker. But all this really translates to nothing more than the drive to make us feel better about ourselves – we forgive because it benefits us – it is something we do for ourselves only.
Now I am not saying forgiveness isn’t all of those things, and that forgiveness should not be something we do because it is of personal benefit, but that seems to me to be missing the mark. This type of forgiveness can be done by the world very well thank you and if we limit ourselves to this type of forgiveness only, we really aren't being that salt and light. To go a little deeper means we have to see forgiveness through the eyes of Jesus. I have this sense that Jesus didn’t give out forgiveness because of the health benefits, whether physical, mental or spiritual, He would get. As Matthew noted in his sermon, the very first words Jesus uttered from the Cross were “forgive them Father.” Rather obvious no benefits were coming.
In my little rant (Frustration at the Intersection) I talk about what the Atonement really means. The Cross wasn’t simply about Jesus taking the wrath of the Father for the sins of humanity, though surely that was an essential part of the Cross. Rather, I see the Cross as being the only means of restoring fallen, and worsening, humanity to righteousness – or right relationship with the Trinity. So being in right relationship means we are now given the gift of participating in the divine life of the Trinity, and that includes being able to join in the mission of God in His redemption and reconciling the world to Himself, in His way and in His time. Being a people who forgive, and forgive freely as a gift to be given out, means we get to become that alternative society within society, and that we are able to empty ourselves of ourselves so that the Spirit may dwell more fully and we become receptive to the mission of God.
Pope Benedict invoked one of the most powerful images of forgiveness in the NT. In his rebuke of the Irish bishops and their terrible handling of the priest abuses, he recalled the image of Jesus writing in the sand before the woman caught in adultery. Let the one without sin cast that first stone. It struck me in that reading that the opposite of forgiveness is judgmentalism.
In the divorce support ministry, sometimes people will ask how I know I have forgiven. My sense of forgiveness is that it is real when we realize the person we are in the process of forgiving, may not only join with us in that mission of God in the here and now, but that person may very well be with us in the New Jerusalem for all eternity.
Today when we talk about forgiveness it seems so much is focused on the therapeutic value of forgiveness – how forgiveness does great things like lower blood pressure, acts as an antidote to bitterness and resentment, or how forgiveness, along with prayer, helps us heal quicker. But all this really translates to nothing more than the drive to make us feel better about ourselves – we forgive because it benefits us – it is something we do for ourselves only.
Now I am not saying forgiveness isn’t all of those things, and that forgiveness should not be something we do because it is of personal benefit, but that seems to me to be missing the mark. This type of forgiveness can be done by the world very well thank you and if we limit ourselves to this type of forgiveness only, we really aren't being that salt and light. To go a little deeper means we have to see forgiveness through the eyes of Jesus. I have this sense that Jesus didn’t give out forgiveness because of the health benefits, whether physical, mental or spiritual, He would get. As Matthew noted in his sermon, the very first words Jesus uttered from the Cross were “forgive them Father.” Rather obvious no benefits were coming.
In my little rant (Frustration at the Intersection) I talk about what the Atonement really means. The Cross wasn’t simply about Jesus taking the wrath of the Father for the sins of humanity, though surely that was an essential part of the Cross. Rather, I see the Cross as being the only means of restoring fallen, and worsening, humanity to righteousness – or right relationship with the Trinity. So being in right relationship means we are now given the gift of participating in the divine life of the Trinity, and that includes being able to join in the mission of God in His redemption and reconciling the world to Himself, in His way and in His time. Being a people who forgive, and forgive freely as a gift to be given out, means we get to become that alternative society within society, and that we are able to empty ourselves of ourselves so that the Spirit may dwell more fully and we become receptive to the mission of God.
Pope Benedict invoked one of the most powerful images of forgiveness in the NT. In his rebuke of the Irish bishops and their terrible handling of the priest abuses, he recalled the image of Jesus writing in the sand before the woman caught in adultery. Let the one without sin cast that first stone. It struck me in that reading that the opposite of forgiveness is judgmentalism.
In the divorce support ministry, sometimes people will ask how I know I have forgiven. My sense of forgiveness is that it is real when we realize the person we are in the process of forgiving, may not only join with us in that mission of God in the here and now, but that person may very well be with us in the New Jerusalem for all eternity.
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