Resurrection Means Reorientation

Poor Thomas! He has gotten a bad rap as a doubter (John 20:24-29) when all he was trying to do was wrap his head around a new perspective. How can a person move from one way of thinking to a completely different way of thinking? Thomas was being asked to move from "Jesus was crucified and is dead" to "Jesus is alive!" That's not an easy thing to do!

Can you imagine the kind of reorientation - the kind of shift in thinking - Jesus' resurrection required of the disciples?

• a different understanding of what they thought Jesus was going to do as the messiah
• a different understanding of the messiah's role
• a different understanding of Jesus' death
• a different understanding of who they were and of their role as Jesus' disciples
• a different understanding of how power is used
• a different understanding of suffering 
• a different understanding of what determines value and significance and greatness
• a different understanding of God
• a different understanding of what God was doing in/through the nation of Israel
• a different understanding of Israel's role as God's chosen people
• a different understanding of others, including the hated Romans and the despised Samaritans
• a different understanding of the resurrection.

You might say the disciples had to rethink everything from the perspective of the resurrection. 

This radical shift in thinking is precisely what is involved in being a follower of Jesus. We move from thinking from a what's-in-it-for-me perspective to thinking from a what-is-God-doing perspective, from a self-oriented perspective to a God-oriented perspective, from what can I gain to what can I give, from me-and-mine to ours. Our orientation shifts from my needs, wants, and desires to something bigger than me. It's like shifting from "the sun revolves around the earth" to "the earth revolves around the sun." Complete reorientation - a radical shift in thinking. It throw us off balance initially while aligning us with Divine Truth.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways, my ways, says the LORD" (Isaiah 5:8).

This shift in thinking is an on-going process. It lies at the the heart of the spiritual journey. Paul spoke of it as the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). It is what leads to a shift in how we live and what we do. We learn to live with the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).

And that's not necessarily an easy thing to do!

Death and Resurrection - the Pattern of Life

It seems to me most people think of resurrection in terms of death, as in the end of life. In this way of thinking, resurrection is the way we escape the finality of death. It is the doorway into life eternal. As a result, we only talk about resurrection at Easter and at funerals. Resurrection has little to do with our life today and everything about the future.

This kind of thinking about resurrection is man-centered. It's about us. And it is short-sighted. It is about going to heaven when we die. And it is impoverished. It misses the fuller truth about resurrection.

Resurrection lies at the heart of the spiritual life. Or, rather, death and resurrection lie at the heart of the spiritual life. Death and resurrection is the pattern of the spiritual life.

This pattern is based on a spiritual principle woven into the very fabric of life itself. Jesus expressed it this way: "Unless a grain of when falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). All of creation proclaims this great truth: death leads to life (resurrection). Until a seed dies, the life potential within it remains dormant. But when the seed dies, that life potential is unleashed. The "death" of the seed begins a process that ultimately leads to an abundance of fruit. The single seed is multiplied many times over.  In nature, the pattern of death and resurrection is called planting and harvest.

This pattern is true in all of life, not just in nature. Without death, there is no resurrection - in any dimension of life. Death and resurrection is the pattern of growth, physically and spiritually. An infant crawls on hands and knees. It is an effective means of getting around. Except there is a better, more effective, faster way of getting around. It's called walking. An infant moves from crawling to walking through a process of learning to stand, balance, and take a step. The infant dies to crawling in order to walk. As long as the infant is content to crawl, she will never learn to walk. When she is willing to leave crawling behind (die to crawling), she discovers the freedom found in walking. This pattern of leaving one stage behind in order to move into another, fuller stage is repeated throughout life. We die to one stage of life in order to move to a higher level of life.

Our problem is we fear death - not just dying at the end of our life, but any form of death. We don't want to turn loose of what is. of what is familiar, of what is comfortable. We hate change of any kind. It is a form of dying. By holding onto what is, we miss what could be. We miss the new life God always brings out of any dying. In other words, we miss resurrection as a daily occurrence, as a way of life, as the way to grow.

Death and resurrection is designed into the very fabric of life itself because it lies at the heart of who God is. It is the pattern of the Godhead. It is the way of self-giving love. As Paul said of Jesus, "though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:6-11). Death and resurrection - it was and is the pattern of the Godhead. And it is the pattern of being a follower of Jesus. Paul exhorted the Philippians, "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).

Death and resurrection - it is the pattern of the spiritual life. We only make progress on the spiritual journey when we recognize and embrace this pattern for our own lives.

Easter 2020 - Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

With this joyful acclamation, we greet the sunrise this Easter morning!

But what are we saying? What great truth do we proclaim when we shout, "Christ is risen!"?

Isn't the answer obvious?! Christ is risen from the dead! Death has been defeated! It's power broken! Death no longer has the last word! It is not the end! We no longer have to fear the power of death. The power of God's faithful love is greater than the power of death!

Indeed, we proclaim the defeat of death. But our shout of joy proclaims something more!

Our shout proclaims God's faithful love. Christ is risen because of the faithfulness of God. God's faithful love did not abandon Jesus to the power of death. God raised him from the dead. Thus, when we proclaim "Christ is risen," we proclaim God's faithful love. We proclaim, along with the Apostle Paul, nothing can separate us from that love.

In Romans 8:18ff, Paul spoke of the pain and suffering we experience because of the brokenness of our world. He wrote of how God works in our experience of pain and suffering, using it for our good. God transforms the potentially destructive impact of our pain and suffering into a means of growing us into the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). Because of God's faithful love and transforming work, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37). We are not defeated by life's brokenness. We are not overcome by life's pain and suffering. Their impact on us is not final. We move through them into greater spiritual maturity through the faithful love of God.

Death is the final product of life's brokenness and pain. Just as the power of God's faithful love is greater than the power of death, so the power of God's faithful love is greater than the brokenness and pain that produce death. God transforms them so they produce maturity, wholeness, and life rather than death.

Christ is risen! Death is defeated! God's faithful love never abandons us! God's faithful love brings life out of death, wholeness out of brokenness, healing out of pain.

Thanks be to God!!



Another thought to consider, to be developed later: Death and resurrection is the pattern of all of life. It is the spiritual principle woven into the fabric of life itself. It is the pattern of life we find in the Godhead itself. We make progress on the spiritual journey when we recognize and embrace this pattern for our own lives.

Good Friday 2020

Good Friday - the day Jesus died on the cross.

How are we to understand his death?

The most common way of understanding Jesus' death is to say he died "for our sins." The understanding behind the phrase is stated in many ways. Jesus took our place. Jesus paid a debt we owed. Jesus bore the judgment that was rightfully ours and died the death we deserved. At the heart of this understanding is the belief Jesus died so God would forgive us.

The theological term for this understanding is substitutionary atonement. It is grounded in a court of law image. A wrong has been committed. Punishment is demanded to make things right again. Jesus took our place on trial, accepting the guilty verdict that we deserved along with the death penalty that went with the guilty verdict. In his death, justice has been served and righteousness upheld. God is free to forgive us.

Popular though this way of thinking is, I cannot embrace it as the way to understand Jesus' death.

This explanation of Jesus' death reflects the merit-based thinking inherent to our human nature. It portrays God as being like us. It says God relates to us based on what we deserve. The so-called good news in this thinking is what we deserved was poured out on Jesus rather than us. This explanation projects our ways of thinking and relating onto God as though they were God's ways.

And what does this explanation say about God? This understanding portrays God as one who has been offended and must be appeased, as one who is angry over a wrong done to him and is demanding justice, as one who harbors anger and resentment until restitution is made. This portrayal recreates God in our image; it fashions God in our human likeness.

Bottom line, this explanation is at odds with who God. It fails to recognize the character of God revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:5-7). In that self-revelation, two adjectives and three phrases are used to describe God's character. God is a merciful and gracious God (the two adjectives). That merciful and gracious nature is expressed in the three phrases: (1) being slow to anger, (2) abounding in faithful love that does not give up on or abandon the one who is loved, and (3) forgives every expression of sin (iniquity, transgression, sin). Forgiveness of sin is a dimension of God's nature, an expression of God's merciful and gracious nature. It does not have to be gained by some act on our part. It CANNOT be gained by some act on our part. It is a gift freely given out of who God is.

The character of God is the clue to understanding Jesus' death on the cross. Father Richard Rohr has said it best: "Jesus did not die to change God's mind about us. Jesus died to change our mind about God." In short, Jesus did not die to get God to forgive us. God already forgives us. That is who God is. That is how God deals with our sin.

Jesus death on the cross says as much or more about us than God, about our human nature than about God's nature. If you want to see what we humans are like, look at what those in positions of political and religious power did to Jesus. Look how far they would go and the means they would use to protect themselves and the positions of power they enjoyed. In that sense, Jesus' death was not an isolated event. It is repeated anywhere and everywhere people in power use their position to protect their own self-interests.

And if you want to see how God deals with people like us, look at the cross. God refuses to give up on us or abandon us. God forgives us. Thanks be to God!

At least, that's how I understand Jesus' death on the cross.

Palm Sunday: Empire vs Kingdom

Today, Palm Sunday, we join Christians around the world in remembering and celebrating Jesus' royal entry (traditionally we call it his triumphant entry) into Jerusalem that Sunday morning, the first day of the week of Passover. We join our voices in singing "Hosanna!" "Save us!"

Ah, but what do we celebrate on this holy day?

In most churches, we have made Palm Sunday about the children as we enlist them to lead the parade of Palms as we begin worship. But the original Palm Sunday was not about children. In fact, none of the gospel accounts of this event mention children. Like so many of the gospel stories, we have domesticated this event. We have "toned it down" so its message is not so offensive to our thinking or disturbing to our way of life.

In spite of what we have made it, the royal entry was a carefully designed and orchestrated political parade that took place in the capital city. It openly and boldly proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, the true King. The crowd sang Psalm 118, a song proclaiming God's deliverance and the day of salvation (Psalm 118:24) and the unexpected nature of the messiah (Psalm 118:22-23, 26).

Modern scholarship helps us to recognize the true nature of this event. It is the story of two parades. The parade ushering Jesus into the city as king took place this one time, from the east, across from the Mt. of Olives. At the same time, a second parade entered Jerusalem from the west. This parade took place every year on this first day of the week of Passover. It was a military parade featuring the Roman army. Jesus' parade was intentionally designed in response to the Roman parade, challenging and contradicting its message.

Passover relived God's deliverance of the people from Egyptian bondage. As such, it stirred into flame the desire for God to deliver the nation again, this time from the heavy hand of Rome. So it was not uncommon for anti-Roman sentiment to be fanned into flame, leading to riots and, sometimes, outright rebellion during Passover. Rome had learned to expect such expressions of Jewish nationalism and chose to preempt them by strengthening the presence of Roman military might. So each year at the time of Passover, a legion of Roman soldiers would be re-stationed from Caesarea on the coast to Jerusalem, reinforcing the Roman garrison situated adjacent to the Temple. They would march into Jerusalem in full battle armor on the Sunday of Passover week. This particular year, the Roman parade would have been led by the Roman procurator and representative of the emperor, Pontius Pilate. He would have been riding a white stallion, the symbol of power and domination. The message of the parade was unmistakable: military might is how we deal with any kind of opposition to Roman rule.

In contrast to the Roman parade, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, intentionally patterned after the prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9: "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey." A king would ride a donkey when he went to visit the villages of his land. Riding a donkey symbolized the king came in peace.

The two parades portray two ways of life and two approaches to peace.

The Roman parade proclaimed the way of empire in which power was used to put down and eliminate any hint of rebellion. It was power used over and down against the other for the benefit of the one in power, at the expense of the one being dominated. The Roman army embodied this way of life and this approach to peace.

Jesus' parade proclaimed the way of the kingdom in which power is used to serve. Power is used alongside the other, on behalf of the other's well-being and good, often at great cost to the one serving. Jesus embodied this way of living and this approach to peace.

The way of empire is the way of domination. It is the most common pattern in human history. While it can provide some sense of stability, it can never produce peace. The stability it provides is fragile and temporary, at best. The seeds of rebellion are sown in every act of domination. As a result, every dominant and dominating power (nation) eventually falls. It is the repeated pattern of human history. The way of empire only benefits the elite and those in positions of power. The privileges, affluence, and self-indulgent lifestyles enjoyed by the wealthy and powerful ride on the back of the poor whom they take advantage of and exploit. Policies and systems designed by the wealthy and powerful for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful keep the poor locked in their poverty and powerlessness.

The way of kingdom is the way of power used to serve. It is the way of God, patterned after the merciful and compassionate nature of God. It is the way of Jesus, the Servant. And it is the way of the followers of Jesus! (Merciful God, may it be!!)

Jesus' Palm Sunday parade was design to confront Jerusalem and its leaders with a choice: which way of life, which use of power will you choose? How will you pursue peace?

Palm Sunday, in turn, confronts us with the same choice: empire or kingdom? That is, unless we domesticate its message! After all, we do enjoy some of the benefits of empire through our nation.