The Lenten Journey Day 20

John Dear (not John Deere, or a Dear John letter) writes a pointed essay advocating for complete non violence in today’s reading. Dear’s text is from Matthew 26:50-52, though the narrative is in the other three gospel accounts as well, and gives the account of Jesus’ arrest in the garden. One of His disciples, John tells us its Peter, grabs his sword and cuts off a soldier’s ear. Jesus immediately rebukes Peter and tell him to put away the sword.

Dear builds on this text and makes a case for pacifism for all believers in every area of life. He says definitively to the question of if Christians can be be employed by the Pentagon, the police, or the nuclear-weapon's manufacturers, “ If we will obey the last words of Jesus, the we will not, like Judas, side with the imperial authorities- and we will not employ their means of violence. We will refuse to carry weapons, even for the noblest reason, and we will not work for any institution that inflicts violence. We prepare, instead, to undergo what Christ undergoes.”

There are very legitimate arguments against Dear's absolute conclusions. For example, I would argue that it’s possible for Christians to have employ in “violent” institutions and work for reasonable peace from within instead of complete opposition from without. However, even if one disagrees with Dear’s conclusions, this text and the overall example of Jesus should challenge us at it pertains to the human penchant for destructive anger and violence.

Dear says that Peter, and other followers, were not really protecting Jesus with their swords but looking out for their own selves and interests. Do we resort to or promote violent speech/actions that more serve OUR causes than the purpose of Christ? Do we jump in with the mob or consider how the Spirit of God might have us to respond? Dear cites Isaiah’s call for turning plows into plowshares. I wonder if something like turning Facebook posts into notes of praise might be a contemporary application. It’s worth considering at least.

The Lenten Journey Day 19

In today’s reading, Meister Eckhart, takes up the narrative that is the subject of our Sunday morning sermon today at UBC. Eckhart is reflection on the synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) account of the clearing of the temple by Jesus during the week leading up to the crucifixion. The sermon focuses on John’s account of what I believe to be the first of two temple clearings at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Eckart looks at the temple cleansing from a perspective of Lordship. He then pivots to an inward application of this narrative. The Lord’s temple, asserts Eckhart, is the soul of each of His human creations. Christ desires to be the sole occupant of the soul. So, He clears out whatever is within us that conflicts with His presence. Eckhart compares the merchants in the temple courts with our human penchant towards setting up an exchange system with God. We exchange what we’ll do for Him with what we want done for us. This is sinful because it alienates the supreme grace of Christ at work in our lives.

“See! This is how the temple is cleared: when a person thinks only of God and honors him alone. Only such a person is free and genuine.” It is that genuine nature of soul that we should seek.

The Lenten Journey Day 18

Today’s reading is a written dialogue between Nicaraguan Priest Ernesto Cardenal and the congregants from a migrant Farmer’s camp on the island of Solentiname. Cardenal recounts the NT narrative of Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume out of an alabaster jar. The remainder of the article is the group engaging all the aspects of the narrative and applying it to their own lives. Their reactions are honest and insightful.

I am drawn to Cardenal’s discussion over Jesus’ comments after the event and following the disciples’ negative reaction. Jesus praises Mary’s act, prophesizes its historical impact, and ends with an intriguing, confusing final statement. He says, “the poor you always have with you, but you will not always have me with you.” I have taken this simply to be Jesus pointing out the ongoing reality of a poverty in a sinful world and his temporary state in the flesh. Cardenal doesn’t dismiss this interpretation but he does postulate another aspect of interpretation. Cardenal says to the group, “Very simply. As long as there are poor, they will always be among us, we shall not be separated from them. Because the Christian community must be with the poor.” Furthermore, he points out the possibility that the poor among us is actually the presence of Christ, to be replaced by the risen Christ at His second coming. Certainly, the inhibited, perfected new earth will not know the reality of poverty, everyone will be satisfied and content. But that does not mean that the presence of current poverty should always come with a stain and stench of evil.

To see the poor, really see them is to see Christ. To serve the poor, to listen to them is to serve and hear from Christ himself. To be rich is not to overcome a sin of poverty. To be rich is to be filled with the contentment of knowing and doing the will of Christ to the glory of God.

The Lenten Journey Day 17

Research in the philosophy behind humor reveals a central principle to what is found as funny. The logical breakdown looks like this, “A plus B does not equal C.” The definition of this expression is incongruency. When the “punch line” or result of a spoken or written line is not the expected conclusion to what has been said leading up to it, then that is typically found humorous.

I think of this when I read the New Testament narrative of a young Jesus who is in Jerusalem with his earthly parents. Joseph and Mary leave Jerusalem, heading home with a caravan of friends and family. After a days journey they discover that Jesus is not in the group. They have lost the promised Messiah. Because of the incongruency, I find this scene humorous. Imagine, being greeted by Angels, gifted by Magi, and losing the reason for all of the attention and celebration.

However, though it is “funny” and humorous John Donne’s essay also brings home the very serious spiritual application. Just as his earthly parents could not find Him, there are times in our personal lives and communities that we lose the presence of Christ. From Donne, “ We may lose him by suffering our thoughts to look back with pleasure upon the sins which we have committed, or to look forward with greediness upon some sin that is now in our purpose and prosecution.” The enduring good news is that Christ can quickly be found. Again Donne, “Christ is at home with you, he is at home within you, and there is the nearest way to find Him.”

The Lenten Journey Day 16

In today’s reading, Barbara Brown Taylor, efforts to center the death of Jesus in its context and crossing into our daily context. Taylor calls readers to see the crucifixion of Jesus as a mirror where every person sees themselves for who they really are. This truth is often met with discomfort and the mirror, the presence of Christ, is forcibly removed.

From Taylor, “What happened then goes on happening now. In the presence of his integrity, our own pretense is exposed. In the presence of his constancy, our cowardice is brought to light. In the presence of his fierce love for God and for us, our own hardness of heart is revealed.”

I have often thought that the reason most of us want to move the celebration of the resurrection is because we do not like focusing on death. But, could it be the reason that we move so quickly through passion week and Good Friday is because we are uncomfortable with what needs to die in us?