This teaching features the perspective of three Process theologians: Marjorie Suchocki, Bruce Epperly, and Monica Coleman. Suchocki begins with an overview of prayer from a Process lens, followed by related thoughts from Epperly and Coleman. The latter two address the question of praying for healing, specifically. If the video is not below, you can find it on CrossWalk’s YouTube channel.
Entangled Prayer Week 5: World-Transforming Prayer
Synopsis. The deconstruction and reconstruction process of faith – which we should expect to be an ongoing experience throughout our lives – can be extremely challenging at times. We may certainly wonder if God is even real. Such massive questions impact our confidence and interest in prayer. Sometimes we give up. Jesus instructs us to keep on praying, though, trusting in its efficacy. Could it be that when we least feel like praying is when we most need to pray?
Paul Kix wrote about his experience and that of UCC pastor Hunt Priest (Paul Kix, “God, Magic Mushrooms & Me,” Esquire, October/November 2023). Both had – in different seasons and times – felt like their faith was evaporating or was maybe even gone. Both found it difficult to pray. Hunt Priest entered ministry as a second career and over time found himself wondering where the awe that he once felt had gone, as well as his passion for ministry? Have you ever felt that way? Paul Kix felt like the routinized liturgy of the church he attended was dead – he mainly went to church to be part of a community who was trying to actively make the world a better place. But his belief in God was pretty shaky – did he even believe in God?
Process Question: How do you resonate with the experiences of Paul Kix and/or Hunt Priest?
These two guys are in good company. Mother Theresa had serious doubts during her journey of faith. Mother Flipping Theresa! Jesus cried out while he hung dying on the cross, quoting Psalm 22: “Why, God, have you forsaken me?!” Elijah ran for 40 days and nights out of fear for his life after he was part of God’s saving act. Peter in one scene confessed that Jesus was anointed by the Spirit of God and in the next challenged Jesus’ Spirit-inspired vision, followed later with a statement of his undying love followed by his fear-driven denying even knowing him. Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel and Leah, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Thomas, Paul – and every other major biblical character and every major player in the development of the Christian faith (and I suspect every enduring faith tradition) struggled at times in their faith. I would imagine that most every human being has struggled similarly.
If you are struggling in your faith and considering chucking the whole thing, I feel you. So does everyone else. Yet I encourage you to consider that this is simply the normal human experience of faith. Yet these witnesses from our faith tradition will collectively tell you that there is more beyond the doubting and struggling.
Naturally, when we’re in the darker hours of the struggle, we are sometimes least likely to pray to the God we’re not sure we believe in anymore. For many of us, part of the problem is that we have been oriented by a faith that values a vision of God that requires certainty, absolutes, and discourages doubt as the opposite of faith. Don’t question. Don’t doubt. Just believe in what you’ve been told even if it stops working or making sense. Perhaps that’s why even though 90% of Americans believe in God, only 30% attend church regularly.
Open and Relational theology offers a different approach to faith. It welcomes questions and doubt because it sees ALL of life as an unfolding process. Faith isn’t about finding the absolute truth and believing unwaveringly. Rather, faith is a relationship with God that evolves and changes with time as new discoveries and insights come to light, where God constantly woos but never forces or controls us toward love’s best options. Our understanding of God matters since it impacts all the movements associated with faith. As John Cobb notes, “How we think about God affects how we pray... and what we expect our prayers to accomplish. If we pray to a kind of sky god, we are trying to influence some distant and maybe absent being to pay attention to us and act on our behalf. If, instead, we think of God as already here, God isn’t above or outside watching what’s going on but inside taking part. We don’t pray then to get God’s attention, but to align ourselves with a presence that is already there. We reach out to and through others to a presence that is already working. We aren’t pleading with God to do something God would otherwise be reluctant to do.” (Praying with Jennifer, 65-66)
Process Question: As you have moved through life and your faith has shifted, how has your prayer life been affected?
I am reminded of the honest words of Paul who wrote toward the end of his oft-quoted love chapter, “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Corinthians 13:11-12, NLT) Paul was communicating something entirely obvious that he lived out in his own life – faith is a relationship with God in process. Paul’s Damascus Road experience helped him see how blind he was. Thankfully it stuck. His satori moment wasn’t a one-and-done experience – his thinking continued to expand, resulting in an incredibly inclusive understanding of God that would have put him on the “hit list” he once carried. Faith is a process, not a point-in-time doctrinal statement.
As Jesus processed his faith, he incorporated prayer into his life rhythm and encouraged his followers to follow suit. In his famous stump speech, he instructed the following regarding prayer:
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So, if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” (Matthew 7:7-11, NLT)
Bruce Epperly reflects on the impact of following Jesus’ advice: “Prayer changes things. First, it changes those who pray, giving them a wider perspective and transforming enemies into God’s beloved children. Second, prayer changes challenging situations. Prayer can be a tipping point between life and death, health and illness, and success and failure. As many preachers have affirmed, ‘When I pray, coincidences happen. When I don’t, they don’t.’” (Praying with Process Theology, 86) In my experience, I have at times been reluctant to pray because I wondered if it made any difference at all. At the very least, when I have refrained from praying, I know that I was not personally affected by the caring, compassionate act of praying for another, and neither did those for whom I cared for but did not pray for. Note: no need to pile on guilt or shame here – that’s not helpful – yet I hope you’ll consider how not praying is a loser solution when faced with doubt.
Process Question: Have you ever had a season when you struggled to pray? Why? How did not praying affect your faith?
Process Theologian Marjorie Suchocki offers insight into the impact of prayer that I find compelling. “Prayer changes the way the world is, and therefore changes what the world can be. Prayer opens the world to its own transformation... Prayers for healing make a difference in what kind of resources God can use as God faithfully touches us with impulses toward our good, given our condition. Those prayers can make the difference between reversing a not-yet-reversible illness or not; therefore, God bids us to pray. But God only knows the point of that irreversibility, and in some diseases, it is with the very onset... But what if irreversibility is the case, what then? Shall we stop our prayers for healing? Of course not, for healing comes in many forms, and there is a health that is deeper than death.” (In God’s Presence, 19, 58, 60).
Process Question: What do you think of Suchocki’s vision here?
Sometimes we struggle to pray because we continually face the question of unanswered prayer. Even if we can intellectually understand that prayers don’t get answered the way we deeply hoped, the experience can stop us in our tracks. Why ask, seek, and knock if it doesn’t seem like we’re being given what we ask for, finding what we’re seeking, and the door remains shut in our faces? Process theology helps a lot here, appreciating the fact that God is not controlling and therefore will not break in from the outside to save the day like Superman. Open and Relational theology affirms that God is constantly at work in the world for the wellbeing of all people and creation itself, wooing “souls and cells” – as Epperly quips – toward the best options. It’s the gamble of freedom – free actors may not choose among the better options. Free actors may instead be wooed by their egos, greed, lust, fear, anger, etc. Who hasn’t made poor choices a time or two or a million? It is reality.
When people are facing serious illness and are facing death sooner than later, this can be especially hard. We need to be reminded that our respective bodies are not meant to live forever. The good news is that there is healing, wellbeing beyond the physical. Martha Rowlett reminds us that “how God answers our prayers is beyond our thoughts, and God’s ways are not our ways. But we can trust that our prayers give God more to work with in influencing the world for the good.” (Weaving Prayer in the Tapestry of Life, 121) Let’s keep praying! Stay open to the reality that God is still working toward the good, working toward shalom, which sometimes manifests in physical results, and often offers a deeper current of healing that may matter more.
I have experienced painful loss in my life in several areas that I have at times tried to pray away. The losses came anyway. There is a grieving process that we go through – willingly or unwillingly, consciously or unconsciously, slower or faster. When the dust settles, I have discovered that even though I may have felt like I’ve gone through personal earthquakes, the Ground of Being remains. There is strength and peace sustaining me, a reminder that I am not alone, that there is something in me and everywhere that is eternal. That “thisness” is marked by all the qualities of Paul’s fruit of the Spirit, and in a word, is Love. At the end of the day, this matters most to me. It is not a placebo that fosters the denial of the difficult aspects of life or the avoidance of dealing with its messiness, but rather a foundation that brings me peace, calling me forward with a knowing that there is a Greater Other who beckons us near and calls us home. It helps me get through, well, everything. This week as I was being still, a memory of a song from an artist who died 26 years ago came to mind. Rich Mullins positively influenced the entire Christian music industry, bringing authenticity and a St. Francis type of humility and world loyalty that stood in sharp contrast to the greedy, self-absorbed 1980’s and angst-filled 1990’s. I am generally not comfortable praying to Jesus because I don’t think he wanted that and for other theological reasons that in no way deter my devotion to following in Jesus’ footsteps. Yet, the song, Hold Me Jesus, bubbled up anyway. I took it as a lure from the Spirit of God and found lasting resonance and healing in its lyrics, music, and tone. Maybe it will for you, too.
Process Question: Have you ever tapped into a healing beyond the physical, a deeper wholeness despite not getting your prayer-wish granted?
Paul Kix and Hunt Priest ended up discovering a living God again that was big enough for all their questions and loving enough to trust with their lives. If you’re considering giving up, that’s understandable and certainly an option. But could it be that you still have a prayer? That the voice of God may yet whisper to you again, meeting you in the sound of silence with words of hope and a future? How do you need to pray today? Bruce Epperly reminds us that “prayers create a space for personal and global transformation. I pray with my heart and act with my hands.” (Praying with Process Theology, 93). Maybe, as you struggle with praying, praying is exactly what you need to do. The Lord’s Prayer taught by Jesus offers a structure for prayer. Perhaps using its framework might give God some tools to work with to come a bit closer to you, bring healing and wholeness once more, and ground you in Love. Quite naturally, perhaps the effect of such praying may have impact beyond your life – how can it not?
The Lord’s Prayer: A Guided Meditation
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. We join Jesus in addressing God literally as a loving Daddy (Abba – look it up), recognizing God’s purity/holiness, and goodness.
Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done as it is in heaven. In light of God’s identity as Love, we align ourselves with wanting Love to permeate everyone and everything as the only hope for personal, relational, political, and environmental healing.
Give us this day our daily bread. We look to God for nourishment, grateful for the fact that we have literal food, wanting to do our part to provide for hunger relief in ways great and small, and being open to a “bread” for our souls that is more than literal.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. What are we holding over others that is preventing them from being well? How are we holding onto unforgiveness to limit another’s experience of love – at least from us? Do we realize what a foolish move this is? Are we aware that our experience of grace is tied to our gracefulness? Not that God withholds grace from us – which is always completely available to us in full – but that our holding debt over others limits our capacity to receive and live in grace. This is a hard truth, but it is true.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. We admit that we can be suckers and are stating that we only want to be wooed by the love of God, by Love itself.
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. We want to build our lives on that which is True Community, that which is the greatest Power, and that which is gloriously Eternal – Love. May it be so.
Songs Incorporated in today’s service: Blessed Be Your Name, True Colors, Full Attention, Hold Me Jesus
Entangled Prayer Week 4: Spiritual Adventures
Prayer is bigger than our uttered words to God. Prayer is our living, breathing spirituality. It is wider in vision than our own lives, looking toward the whole of creation. As Bruce Epperly notes, “Whereas once spirituality was seen as an escape from the world, often taking us away from embodiment and the hardscrabble world of politics and economics, today many people see the spiritual journey as holistic in nature, embracing body, mind, spirit, relationships, and the planet. We are all, as Thomas Merton notes, guilty bystanders who are called by God to immerse ourselves in global transformation as part of our spiritual journeys (Praying with Process Theology, 69. This is a bigger way to think about prayer than I understood in my earlier years, when I thought of it as much more individually oriented, for my personal obedience to God – not thinking a lot about world loyalty. My soul needed growing.
In a daily reading entitled, How Big Is Your Soul? Epperly describes what kind of spirituality we need in our world: “Today, we need persons of stature, extravagant spirited persons who can embrace political, economic, ethnic, and racial diversity in our increasingly polarizing age. We need to have the largeness of soul to treat our opponents with the same care as we give to those for whom we advocate. We need to commit ourselves to constantly enlarging our spirits, so that no person is foreign and every place is our spiritual home” (Praying with Process Theology, 75). Yet for most of us, life distracts us from such an expansive faith.
The Prophet Elijah had just finished a showdown with the prophets of Baal. God won. The prophets of Baal were wiped out. It was an incredible story depicting the tremendous power of God. Immediately following the throwdown, Elijah learns that the wicked Queen Jezebel intended to have him killed for wiping out the prophets. Instead of standing firm in faith, Elijah ran for his life – eventually all the way to the famed Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Some people will travel great lengths to get close to God! What happened next is a scene for the ages:
“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT)
Elijah was indeed a human being. He learned that it is in the sound of silence that we hear the voice of God. No longer directed by his fear, he learned that he was not alone, and that there was another chapter about to unfold that would extend beyond his time as prophet. He was part of a larger story and God was inviting him to help that chapter unfold. God’s question, “What are you doing here?” is always for us as well, a reminder that we have choice in the lives we live with the decisions we make. We are always invited by the spirit of God toward maturity and beauty. Patricia Ann Farmer hopes that we will have fat souls: “A beautiful soul is a large soul, one that can overcome the smallness and pettiness of our human condition. A really fat soul can welcome diverse people, ideas, and ways of being in the world without feeling threatened. A fat soul experiences the intensity of life in its fullness, even the painful side of life, and knows there is something still bigger” (Fat Soul Fridays, 12-13).
How do we fatten up our souls? Spirituality is the key. “By spirituality,” notes Jay McDaniel, “I mean openness to God’s Breathing, dad by day, moment by moment, relative to the circumstances at hand. Understood in this way, spirituality is not supernatural or extraordinary but deeply natural and wholly ordinary. It can be embodied at home and at the workplace, while alone and with others, amid dishwashing and diaper changing, laughing and crying, living and dying” (Living from the Center, 3). Every activity can become a prayerful one, every moment holy, because – if we’ll have it – everything is spiritual.
Last week after church Lynne and I stopped in to see the art of Carlye Jesch as part of Napa’s annual Open Studios art festival, where you can visit local artists where they do their work. Carlye walked around with us, telling us about her art – what materials she used, her creative process, etc. Since I am terrible with this art form, I had/have tremendous respect for Carlye, and I had lots of questions, which she was happy to answer. I ended up really appreciating a painting named “Jordan”. Many of the titles of her paintings come from book characters, including this one. It is a sunset scene on the sea, with magnificent colors playing with the clouds above, and three sailboats drifting by. I liked the painting all by itself, but I love the painting because of its relationship to other subsequent paintings. “Jordan” was the first of her sailboats at sea paintings, created at the time when she picked up the brush after having put it down for a long time. We had seen the later paintings earlier in our tour – “Jordan” wasn’t placed near them, yet the similarities were evident to me. She later wondered herself how Jordan was a precursor that she hadn’t recognized before. The later paintings are part of what she calls her Reepicheep series, based on the same-named character from the book, The Dawn Treader, part of C.S. Lewis’ series of books, The Chronicles of Narnia. Carlye notes:
In C.S. Lewis’ series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” Reepicheep is a mouse, petite in size, yet bounding with courage and faithfulness. His whole life he dreams of Aslan’s country, “Where sky and water meet,” and carries with him the hope he will see it one day. I have often connected with the character of Reepicheep, feeling small, yet driven to continue on. I have consistently been emotionally moved by the moment when he first realizes that he has in fact, arrived.
When I created the first piece in this series, I was not thinking of this small creature, but simply playing with the idea of a colorful clouded sky and moving ocean water, enjoying the fact that I wasn’t entirely sure myself where one ended and the other began. Once I realized this was reminiscent of Reepicheep’s story, I chose his name as the title for the series I wanted to create. Each of the newer pieces includes at least one metallic ship. The ships allude to the theme of journey, while the metallic coloring gives a hint of something richer, something beyond.
I love the adventure inherent in sailing. The ups and downs of the swells, the interaction with the wind, the spray of water on your face from time to time. I have only sailed a handful of times, but I know enough to appreciate its wildness and the requirement to participate meaningfully if you hope to get anywhere. I also loved hearing about Carlye’s artistic process – the Reepicheep vision – but also the nuts and bolts of how she goes about creating her pieces. Layers. Textures. Sometimes tape being lifted to reveal a different line beneath. She noted that when she paints, it is in some way a dialogue, as if the painting is calling to her in particular ways. She responds and responds and responds until she feels that it is complete. She has her story about the painting, her experience of it, and then she offers it to the world.
Those who then interact with her painting become part of that dialogue, too, as questions are asked, insights offered, and new storylines emerge, even for the artist. Part of why I wanted the painting for myself is because it represents the beginning of something. It is the genesis of what would lead to the beautiful, inspirational Reepicheep series depicting that space where heaven touches the sea, and you cannot tell them apart. Beautiful. Jordan certain has elements of that image. I love it because that represents part of Carlye’s life journey as she picked up the brush after years of a struggle with OCD. That takes courage.
Beyond what her intentions were, I love the names she chose for my painting and the subsequent others (two more are in process – Reepicheep 1 and Reepicheep 2). But the three book characters that were ascribed to the paintings, in order, were Jordan, Jonah, and Henry. My painting is a seascape, while the Jordan is a river in Israel of great significance. My mind goes beyond the river to the people who crossed it. The Hebrews were the Jewish people of old. Most people associate the word Hebrews with the region of Hebron where they settled. Yet there is another rendering that I find more compelling. Hebrew can be translated as “cross over”. The Hebrews were people who crossed over. The Red Sea in the famous Exodus story. And the Jordan River as they crossed over to the Promised Land. In the waters of the Jordan a foreign military leader, Naaman, was healed of Leprosy after bathing in it seven times at the direction of Elijah’s predecessor, Elisha – a crossing over from a death sentence to new life. John the Baptist baptized throngs of people – their expression of their crossing over to faithful readiness for what God wanted to do in their time and place. Jesus himself was among those baptized – his baptism was a crossing over from little-known carpenter to itinerant healer and teacher. A painting depicting three sailboats at dusk – a crossing over from one time and place to another. An artist who was doing the same.
The next painting, “Jonah”, depicts three ships sort of going away from the golden space associated with Reepicheep’s vision of Aslan’s sea. Fitting title, given the biblical Jonah chose to flee instead of going where God instructed. That’s the human experience. We sometimes have the vista right in front of us and choose to turn and go in another direction, which we have the freedom to do.
Finally, Henry, the clearest of the examples of Reepicheep’s vision where there is not a clear line on the horizon. Carlye mentioned that this painting is of particular importance for her:
Henry is extra important to me because the character is from the book I was reading when my Grandpa Fred was passing. It's also important because foster care was another thing that "called to me before I heard it." I had been wanting to name a painting after Henry for a long time (a fictional child placed in foster care from the book, “Chicken Boy”), but my OCD wouldn't let me... the book was "contaminated" in my mind because of a joke another character made about selling his soul to the devil by joining an HOA. Anyways, the moment I had the strength to name a painting Henry was meaningful for me in my journey, and it was afterwards that the painting made me think of Reepicheep.
While Jordan and Jonah made me raise my eyebrows, when I heard the title of the third painting, Henry, it didn’t mean anything to me. There aren’t any Henry’s or Hanks in the Bible. Or so I thought. It turns out the English name, Henry, is a play-off of the French name, Henri, which comes from the German name, Heimeric, which translates as the “ruler of the house.” The most concise English translation of the name, Henry, is “lord.” The painting she was working on and dialoguing with as her beloved grandfather was fading was named Lord. She was interacting with the Lord while he drew closer and closer to death. She was painting the scene he was headed for. The name of the painting that empowered her to take a big step in her battle with OCD was literally the name of the Lord. She called on the name of the Lord – Henry – and experienced a degree of salvation, of healing.
And three ships in each of the three paintings – and the two more to come? Carlye made the choice for aesthetics – one or two seemed too few, four seemed too many, three seemed just right. Fair enough, and who am I to question an artist’s eye? And yet, three ships make me think of the Trinity – God depicted as the moving dance between three characters or modes of being – Creator/Father, Redeemer/Incarnate/Son, and Sustainer/Spirit. I think of the Christmas Carol, I Saw Three Ships. What were they carrying? Christ.
In a postmodern world where such dialogue between artists, architects, writers, etc. and their audience allows for meaning to grow beyond original intent, I am free to muse here. Equipped with an Open and Relational Theology where God is constantly wooing us whether we know it or not, I am simply offering that Carlye, given all the scenes available to her to paint, may have been wooed to choose such a seascape where the earth and sky meld as one, lured to choose names from fiction that carried deep meaning, including the presence of three ships that symbolize the ongoing interaction between God and all of creation. The more I think about the art, the more I think I got a steal on this treasure.
Bernard Loomer offers insight into the phenomena I believe was unfolding in Carlye’s art (and life): “Every important revelation, every important incarnation, carries with itself the principle of transcendence. Every revelation exists to be surpassed and therefore every revelation contains within itself a pointing beyond itself” (“S-I-Z-E is the measure,” Cargas and Lee, Religious Experience and Process Theology, 75). Carlye’s every move was met with God’s every woo, resulting in my meaningful acquisition. So it is with us.
May we have the faith and heart to join Bruce Epperly in his prayer: “Creative Wisdom, move me to action that heals the Earth. Help me see your calling in my daily tasks and my responsibilities as a citizen. Give me faith to move the mountain of apathy and passivity. Help me find the peace that calms and empowers and trusts your loving power in all things. Amen. (Praying with Process Theology, 84)
I breathe the spirit deeply in
And blow it gratefully out again.
Entangled Prayer Week 3: Christ is Alive!
Sometime while Paul was under house arrest in Rome, he sent a letter to a church in the city of Colossae in what we know as modern-day Turkey. Early in his instructive letter to this highly spiritually-focused community, he shared a poem, a hymn that may have been already known. It expresses a much more expansive view of Christ than the simple the notation of God’s anointing located on one person (a very narrow understanding of the Messiah-Christ anointed one) but sees it rather as an expression of the expansiveness of God, the presence of God in which all creation thrives. When we move beyond the limiting vision of God “out there” who might break into our lives occasionally and embrace the God who is already present everywhere tying everything together, our notion of reality itself is altered.
Highly acclaimed Spoken Word poet Amena Brown was definitely awake to this way of seeing as she responded to the rhetorical question, “how do you know when you’re hearing from God? Her response evidences her view that the movement of God is constantly flowing in the grandness of creation and the minutia of daily life. John Cobb noted that “Christian spirituality is the formation of life in response to the divine Spirit that is known in Jesus Christ. The divine Spirit is God. Hence, what we believe about God determines our spirituality” (Can Christ be Good News Again? 152). Theology matters.
If Paul’s vision is onto something – even if highly affected by his personal and historical context as is the case for all scripture and our vision as well – then we have a very expansive way of engaging the world. Bruce Epperly proclaims such a reality: “Christ is alive! Christ’s spirit can creatively transform us and give us the vision and energy to transform our world. That is our calling as followers of the Healer from Nazareth” (Praying with Process Theology, 54). In his daily “devotional”, Praying with Process Theology, Epperly recounts a story about Michelangelo. As he was rolling a boulder to his front porch a neighbor asked him what he was doing. The great artist replied, “There’s an angel inside and I’m trying to let it out.”
Such a way of seeing and being in the world led Epperly to offer this prayer: “Companion of All Creation, wake me up. Give me greater sensitivity to your hidden presence in all things. Help me to go beyond the surfaces of life to experience the holiness of life and then encounter all things with reverence and care. Amen” (Praying with Process Theology, 60). The prayer and underlying vision celebrates the idea the “the glory of God is a person fully alive.”
When we realize what we are a part of – connected to everyone and everything by the Spirit of God – we cannot sit still. Love grows within us motivating action, leading us to pray along similar lines expressed by Epperly: “Loving God, your companionship and care are amazing. You know our joys and pain and guide us toward abundant life. You show us what it means to be fully human and guide us to care for your children everywhere. Help us to know that our lives are our gifts to you, and that as we bring beauty to the lives of others, we bring beauty to your life as well” (Praying with Process Theology, 56). Part of this action is prayer itself, believing that our focused attention makes a difference in the world: in our lives, in the lives of the focus of our prayer, and therefore in creation’s unfolding. Our hearts are softened, wooing us to utter words like Epperly as he offered this prayer: “Mirror of Beauty and Love, we see you in every face. We experience your love in the outcast and forgotten and move forward to embrace and heal. Let our arms be wide open to welcome others as you welcome us” (Praying with Process Theology, 65).
Benediction: “Spirit of Gentleness, flow through us, enlivening and challenging us to go forward through the wilderness of our time. Give us wisdom and energy to respond to the crises in our midst, caring for the non-human world in our neighborhood and for species across the globe. Spirit descend upon us and ascend in us, give life, and inspire service to this good Earth. Amen.” – Bruce Epperly, Praying with Process Theology, 67
Questions to Consider:
How is this way of thinking about Christ different than what you may have been taught?
How does this way of thinking about Christ affect the way you think about your life, the world you live in, the people sharing life in this world with you?
How does this way of thinking about Christ impact your view of prayer?
September 24 Service Elements:
Announcements & Greeting: Share a time when you had your prayers answered?
Birdtalker: One
Meditation: St. Patrick’s vision of Christ; Christian Namaste
Birdtalker: I Know
Teaching: Entangled Prayer Week 3: Christ is Alive
Amena Brown, Spoken Word Poem: She Said How Do You Know When You’re Hearing from God?
Christ with me
Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me
Christ beneath me, Christ above me
Christ on my right, Christ on my left
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me – St. Patrick
Entangled Prayer, Week 2: The Adventurous God
Someone wise once quipped, There are two groups of people in the world, those who are in relationship with the Divine and know it, and those who are in relationship with the Divine and do not know it. Open and Relational Theology (ORT), an umbrella within which Process Theology resides, believes that everything exists in God and that therefore God is in everything in some fashion. The $20 word for this is panentheism – everything in God. Process theology also believes that the primary characteristic of God’s nature is love. Not power. With love at the center of God’s identity, God cannot coerce or force God’s will on anyone or anything. The most God can do – which is a lot! – is lure, woo, and call us toward love’s best options for every given moment ad infinitum. God doesn’t therefore have a singular plan for our lives, but rather a vision that unfolds as we live our lives. God woos, we choose, God recalibrates and woos again and again, we choose again and again. God’s hope is that we experience the best life has to offer, for everyone, and for the planet itself.
This may seem like a departure from the biblical witness, particularly if we are accustomed to hearing that God is in control. We remember stories of God appearing to be in total control, breaking into the human experience in myriad ways, and afterward saying, in effect, I told you so. Yet the biblical witness also expresses the process notion of God being in constant, genuine relationship with humanity, particularly with Israel. If you do this, I will do that... The cycle replays countless times for all of Israel’s history. Yet, as Bruce Epperly pointed out in his book, Praying with Process Theology, “If the teleology (purpose) of the universe is aimed at beauty, then our quest to bring greater beauty to the world challenges texts that encourage oppression and marginalization” (45).
Process theology is not mainstream. Mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, recognized as the person who developed Process Philosophy and Process Theology, recognized that what the Christian religion had become by the time he was alive was a significant departure from the Galilean vision evidenced and promoted by Jesus. We human beings have the capacity to misunderstand the character and nature of God, which can lead to disastrous results. John Cobb noted, “Because I believe in God, I find it supremely important to reconsider and doubt my belief. And because God is of ultimate importance, how we think of God deeply affects how we live. Every misunderstanding of God reflects itself in a misdirection of human energy” (Can Christ Be Good News Again? 36). Our beliefs about God matter because they significantly influence our attitudes and behaviors.
Or theology, therefore, impacts how we pray and what we pray for. If we believe that the center of God is everywhere and the circumference of God is nowhere, then God is not a white-bearded Santa Claus King in heaven “up there.” And if God is love, and therefore not coercive, our prayer for God to break in with force seem out of tune. For many who resonate with Process Theology, the purpose of prayer is essentially attunement more than anything else. Being attuned with the Spirit of God’s wooing, luring, and calling us, trusting that the loving character and nature of God can be trusted with our allegiance. Prayer is about sensing God’s vision for our lives more than a specific plan we’d better not miss. Much better than a singular plan, a responsive God rolls with us through everything, offering opportunity after opportunity at every impasse to choose the best loving option that will serve ourselves and everyone and everything else best.
Viewing God this way jibes with my experience. If God was all about THE PLAN written in stone, I would have been lost before I started, I think! My experience resonates with the writer of the Bible’s Lamentations: The faithful love of the Lord never ends; God’s mercies never cease. Great is God’s faithfulness! God’s mercies begin afresh each morning (3:22-23 NLT). Note that these words come from the book of LAMENTATIONS! How often do we blame God for our plight, alienating ourselves from the very source of strength to get us through? Beliefs matter. As pastor, author, and theologian Patricia Adams Farmer notes in her book, Embracing a Beautiful God (55), “You can blame God for this horrible curse, making God into some kind of monster who does wicked things such as this [multiple sclerosis]. Or you could let go of those worn-out images of the Divine and help God weave something novel of your life as it is. For God is the gentle weaver who works with each all-matched thread to bring about novel patterns of meaning and hope.”
Prayer makes a difference in the world, beginning with ourselves. When we attune ourselves to the Spirit of God, we approach the world differently. Speaking to a divided church in Rome where very different Christian theologies coexisted, the Apostle Paul instructed:
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume all Christians should be vegetarians and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It's God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:
"As I live and breathe," God says,
"every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God."
So tend to your knitting. You've got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
Forget about deciding what's right for each other. Here's what you need to be concerned about: that you don't get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I'm convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it. So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say,
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the LORD,
‘every knee will bend to me,
and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’”
Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So, let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. (Romans 14:1-14 MSG)
Jesus, just having offered a different approach to living in the world – not as gatekeepers but rather gate openers – was asked a question about how to live it out (which he probably would have liked to immediately retract!):
At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"
Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.
"The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn't pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
"The poor wretch threw himself at the king's feet and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.
"The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, 'Pay up. Now!'
"The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, 'Give me a chance and I'll pay it all back.' But he wouldn't do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?' The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy." (Matthew 18:21-35 MSG)
In light of Love’s call for us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus which led Paul to instruct the Romans as he did, Bruce Epperly encourages: “Throughout the day, listen to others’ deeply held beliefs. Hear the truths hidden in their “falsehood” as you look for common ground. When you disagree, creatively challenge their beliefs without diminishing or judging them as persons. Do not succumb to the hate speech and derision characteristic of much social media communication. Speak your truth with love and respect and encourage continuing dialogue” (Bruce Epperly, Praying with Process Theology, 51).
May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.– Paul, Romans 15:5 NLT
Entangled Prayer, Week 1: Loving God
The teaching this week happened to dovetail nicely with the lectionary texts being used by thousands of churches worldwide this week:
Psalm 119:33-40 (MSG)
GOD, teach me lessons for living
so I can stay the course.
Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
my whole life one long, obedient response.
Guide me down the road of your commandments;
I love traveling this freeway!
Give me a bent for your words of wisdom,
and not for piling up loot.
Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,
invigorate me on the pilgrim way.
Affirm your promises to me—
promises made to all who fear you.
Deflect the harsh words of my critics—
but what you say is always so good.
See how hungry I am for your counsel;
preserve my life through your righteous ways!
Romans 13:8-14 (MSG)
Don't run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don't sleep with another person's spouse, don't take someone's life, don't take what isn't yours, don't always be wanting what you don't have, and any other "don't" you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.
But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can't afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don't loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ and be up and about!
Matthew 18:15-20 (NRSV)
“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Entangled Prayer - Introduction
I wasn’t sure how to title this series on prayer. I landed on Entangled: Quantum-Informed Prayer because it is so abundantly clear... I could have gone with Prayer after we let go of God as Merlin or Genie or Santa... But I figured that might be too much for those who love those paradigms.
In his book, Praying with Process Theology, Bruce Epperly offers seven weeks of daily devotional thoughts, affirmations, and prayers that he hopes will teach and foster a robust, thriving spiritual practice for folks who resonate with Open and Relational Theology (Process Theology fits under the umbrella of ORT). In the first section, Epperly offers some bedrock affirmations to ground our practices:
Affirmations: the world in which we live.
• Our world is a dynamic, ever-evolving process. Relationship is primary to reality.
• We live in a world characterized by dynamic interdependence.
• We live in a universe of experience, and this includes non-humans as well as humans.
• Value is co-extensive with experience and reality.
• Every creature has value and deserves ethical consideration, apart from human interests.
• Creativity and freedom are essential to reality, including the nonhuman world.
• The future is open, and our actions make a difference in shaping the world to come.
Affirmations: God’s nature
• God is present everywhere and in all things.
• God experiences everything and God’s ongoing experience of the world is constantly growing in relationship to an evolving universe.
• Although God influences all things, God’s power is best understood in terms of love rather than coercion or domination.
• In all things, God works for good – even life’s most challenging situations.
• God’s power is persuasive and invitational, a call forward, as the source of possibilities and ideals appropriate to every occasion of experience and our whole lifetimes.
• The future is open for God as well as us.
• God needs us to be partners in God’s dream of world transformation.
Affirmations: our spiritual journeys
• God is present in our lives as the “still small voice” speaking in our “sighs too deep for words.”
• Our spiritual practices bring God’s unique and personal visions for our lives and the world to consciousness.
• When we pray, we align ourselves with Gods’ vision for us and experience greater divine energy/presence.
• Our prayers, in an interdependent universe, create a field of force that enables God to be more active in our lives and the lives of those for whom we pray.
• Our prayers create new possibilities for divine and human activities and may influence the nonhuman world in amazing ways.
While you may find yourself easily nodding your head to much of the above, realize that many of the statements above challenge long-held classic Christian beliefs. The truth is that many Christians today have one foot in ORT and the other in classic Christianity. Their stated beliefs mirror the tenets challenged by the statements above while their experience simultaneously resonates with those same statements. In my experience as a human being who has moved through and away from dominant classic Christian beliefs that have reigned supreme for at least 1,000 years, and as a pastor who has led many through the same journey, I can tell you that the deconstruction-reconstruction process is very difficult. Prayer becomes collateral damage in that process. If God isn’t “up there” then where am I directing my prayers? If God isn’t omnipotent in the way I’ve been told to believe, what is the value of my prayers? These questions are the “why” behind this series. I believe Epperly’s book will be very helpful in moving into a renewed passion for prayer. My teachings might help, too. Might...
It might help to remember that Jesus was a fan of prayer. He integrated solitude into his rhythm. He encouraged us to ask, seek, knock – all directed toward God. His model for prayer: attunement more than atonement. His final prayer: that his followers would be connected – one with God like he was – and that they would continue his work. We can answer Jesus’ prayer by our decision to grow. Will you so choose?
A Model for Prayer
Our loving, supportive, holy ABBA:
Your presence is here and everywhere!
May your Divine Commonwealth come!
May your will be done through us!
We are grateful for the gift of food
and work for all to eat their fill.
May we work for a world
where mutual grace and respect abound.
May we foster SHALOM everywhere.
Strengthen us for the work to which we’re called.
Amen. May it be so.
CrossWalkMoth: Unexpected
Taking a cue from the unexpected twists and turns from the book of Jonah, we invited CrossWalkers to come share stories of the unexpected in their lives. Such good, diverse stories! So fun!
Unexpected: God in the Book of Jonah
What can God do? How powerful is God? How much does God know? How does God interact with the created world?
What do we learn about God in the story of Jonah? Given that the entire purpose of the tale is to hold a mirror to Israel’s face to point out their hateful prejudice toward other human beings as a contradiction of God’s love for everyone, we might just simply say that God is graceful. That’s a good conclusion all the time. Love is the defining characteristic of God – a higher, deeper, broader, stronger love than we can imagine. God’s love forces us to grapple with some assumptions about God that appear in Jonah’s tale.
The story has God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah goes in the opposite direction, toward Tarshish. God then sends a storm to wreck the ship. The sailors repent, losing their cargo, and finally, reluctantly, cast Jonah overboard (a paradox: they were more reverent of the gods than Jonah). The storm immediately ceased. Jonah is rescued from the watery grave by a great fish who swallows him at God’s command.
After Jonah has the opportunity to write a lovely poem inside the pitch-black belly of the fish filled with all sorts of stomach acid and no oxygen – for three nights – God directs the huge dogfish to vomit Jonah out on shore. Dogfish are well known for vomiting not in the ocean, but onto dry land. Not really – this is yet another reminder of how purposely ridiculous this story is. God appealed yet again to Jonah to go to Nineveh, which he did.
After giving the worst sermon ever preached, the Ninevites repent, and God relents. Jonah, of course, gets pissed about God’s grace, focusing anger on a plant’s life and death (an act of God’s direction again) rather than the beauty of God’s grace and Nineveh’s salvation.
What is this story saying about the character and nature of God? God apparently can change the weather instantly, can call a large fish to find and swallow Jonah and somehow keep the fish’s intestinal track from killing him, and then causing him to vomit him up on queue onto dry land, break the plan to destroy an entire city, cause a plant to grow, call a worm into action, make the sun a little hotter so that the plant withers – all to teach Jonah a lesson. Yet somehow it was impossible to affect Jonah’s mind enough to do what was asked in the first place. The stakes were high, too. The sailors lost their cargo. The Ninevites’ lives were on the line – all hinging on Jonah. It sure seems that if God were all powerful, that would include the capacity to make Jonah do his bidding.
Of course, the book of Jonah is pure fiction and therefore perhaps we shouldn’t get too caught up in the details. Yet it remains a true story of human nature, and presents us the opportunity to wonder what kind of God the original audience believed in, and invites us to wonder what kind of God we believe in.
Maui lost Lahaina as hurricane-force winds fanned the flamed from one house and community to the next until nearly everything was wiped out. We know how wildfire works and know that such fires can cover the length of a football field in seconds. What stubborn Jonah was responsible for such destruction? Who failed to throw him to sea to avert disaster? And what kind of God would allow such destruction in the first place if God had the power to calm the wind at will? Without a doubt, unless you are emotionally dead there certainly must have been times in your life – maybe right now – when you wondered why God didn’t show up to answer your cry for help, to calm the winds of destruction, to stave off cancer or COVID, to keep the economy moving forward, to end racism in a snap, to eliminate slavery of all forms worldwide immediately, and to move the SF Giants into first place with a wide margin over the Dodgers somewhere toward the end of September (no need to be picky about the date so long as there’s no way the Dodgers can catch us – we can be reasonable, right?).
Recall that the Bible was written over centuries of time by a wide variety of authors living in very different cultures and contexts than our own. They lived in a primitive time when it was assumed that the gods controlled nearly everything. And yet in the Bible we see clear tension in God’s character – sometimes willing and able to do literally anything, and at other times not. At times it appears that everything was God’s plan, and at other times God changes God’s mind, even going back on God’s own word. This reminds us that we are people in process. Each age has the freedom and responsibility to do their best to understand who God is to the best of their ability. That’s where we are today. Jonah does not solve the problem. God is graceful (unless you were among the sailors or their customers or that big fish that got seasick or the plant or the worm that lost its meal and probably died in the blazing sun). How are we to think about all of this?
I’ve already mentioned that the Bible needs to be taken in context – we need to let it be what it is – a profoundly rich library from hundreds and hundreds of years of history, thousands of years before our time. Some new information has come out, however, that reminds us of something else that is related to the Bible: sometimes our struggle with a text is a problem of our traditional understanding being off from the start. Much of Western Christian theology was heavily influenced by a Western, Platonic based worldview. That’s a big problem, especially when considering Hebrew texts which are rooted in the Eastern tradition. We assume that the ancient writers thought about power the same way we do. They didn’t. They didn’t think about omnipotence the way we do. Further, no modern theologian or philosopher worth their salt believes that “God” truly has total power to do anything God wants to do – it simply doesn’t hold up to simple logic. The Jewish creation story does not have God creating out of nothing, either even though that has been drilled into our theologies by tradition.
Open and relational theology offers an alternative approach that is biblically supported, philosophically sensible, and rings true with our experience. Rather than God commanding or controlling anything, God works with and in creation to move toward deeper shalom for all. So, in the Jonah folktale, this would work out as God’s presence being one of multiple factors leading to a potential outcome. God doesn’t have full control, however, so long as there are other variables in play (and there always are). The interaction with Jonah is illustrative of this dynamic. God makes clear what he wants the prophet to do, yet Jonah does the opposite. God doesn’t override Jonah’s agency. Rather, as Jonah makes his decisions, God adjusts God’s moves like an ongoing chess game. God doesn’t know what will happen because it hasn’t happened yet. God is one (very significant but not controlling) character in the story. Jonah and all the others all have their play, too. What would have happened if the Ninevites refused to repent? Would God smite them? Or would God give them a pass since Jonah was so sucky?
We have decisions to make regarding the character and nature of God. If you prefer the traditional model where God is in control and in charge, you’re welcome to it. But the story of Jonah doesn’t fully validate that, does it? Neither does your lived experience or the history of humanity overall.
Unexpected 2: Jonah's Subversive Message Then and Now
You are familiar with the story, and perhaps have even ridden a ride taking you through it. Geppetto is an Italian clock maker who is alone in the world (save his cat and goldfish). To offset his loneliness for companionship, he crafts a young boy marionette, which he names Pinocchio. Seeing the wishing star appear before he went to bed, he wished that his puppet could be a real boy. Overnight, his wish was granted by a fairy, who also appointed Mr. Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio’s present conscience since the boy would be starting from scratch with no bearing about right or wrong. Pinocchio was promised that he could obtain real boyhood if he proved himself to be a good boy, gauged by his ethical behavior. On his way to school he got sweet-talked by a clever fox who convinced him to join the theater instead of going to school. It worked out for a minute, but one thing led to another, and Pinocchio found himself with other young lads on Pleasure Island, where all manner of reckless manliness could be enjoyed: smoking cigars, drinking copious amounts of beer, getting into fights, vandalism, and various carnival games. Unfortunately, Pleasure Island was a trap put in place by owners of a salt mine in need of donkeys. When the boys drank enough of the beer the villains tainted, they soon turned into jackasses (or were they already?) and shipped to the mine where they would spend the rest of their days. Pinocchio managed to escape before he was totally jackassed and rushed home only to discover that his “father” had gone to search for him on the sea and was swallowed up by Maestro, the Monstrous Whale. Pinocchio plunged himself into the sea to rescue his father, managed to get everyone out of the whale’s belly through heroic efforts at the expense of his own life. His selflessness, however, wiped out all the jackassery he had engaged in before, including the lying that caused his nose to grow. The scales of goodness now tipped in his favor, the wishing star fairy not only brought him back to life but made him a real boy. It’s a fun animated film, with adult humor thrown in as per usual with Disney films. The latest version won an Oscar recently, adding some interesting twists from the original. Without a doubt, this story was inspired by the Bible’s Jonah, where errant behavior landed him in the belly of a whale for three days and nights, eventually being spat up on shore to try again.
While the literal details of Pinocchio may not be factual, it is a very true story. Geppetto fully entrusted Pinocchio to be a good boy even though the wooden lad didn’t know Schlitz from Shinola. Bad decision that set up the kid for failure. The puppet’s deceit not only got him into deeper and deeper trouble, but it affected those he loved as well, landing his wood carving creator in the belly of a whale. We are prone to making decisions based primarily on our unexamined egos. When we do, there is always a price to pay, and it is often high. We don’t know what happens in Pinocchio’s next chapter in the Disney film – does the now flesh and blood boy attend school and live as a good boy? We know Jonah didn’t. He may have gone to Nineveh, but he remained unchanged in his heart.
In the great American novel, Moby Dick, Captain Ahab commanded the crew of the Pequod to join him on his pursuit of Moby Dick, the very large white whale that took his leg. His insanity ended up costing the crew their lives and the ship’s oily cargo, save Ishmael, the slave of a sailor who was, like his biblical namesake, forsaken by the father of his ship. But there is much more to the story. Melville may have been writing a story about the pursuit of a monstrous whale, but between the lines he was actually critiquing the culture in which he lived in the 1800’s: Capitalism was doing a lot of good in the world, but it was also capable of unthinkable evil which included American slavery for the first two and a half centuries of our history on this land, and child labor to this day in other part of the world. He witnessed the power of greed and prejudice that was tearing our country apart. He was fully aware of what was happening in the deep south after reconstruction ended – slavery may have become illegal, but there were many other ways that white people could subjugate black people. We are still paying the price for that today. Melville couldn’t call it out too directly, however, because of family ties. He wrote an incredibly long book where he could write deeply so that there was much to be read between the lines for those sensitive enough to recognize it, while those who couldn’t or wouldn’t simply enjoyed the story at face value.
The Book of Jonah is like that. For those who simply want a crazy folktale with lots of humor along the way, it stands alone. Yet for those who wonder why the book was written in the first place and study the context, the textual peculiarities, and undertones, there is so much more. The prejudice held by Jonah is obvious – he goes toward Tarshish because he doesn’t want the people of Nineveh to get any kind of warning because he would rather see them suffer God’s judgment. He knows that God’s desire to warn them is an act of grace that speaks volumes about the nature of God. Jonah believes God is graceful so much that he refuses to give Ninevites a chance to hear out of his hatred. Paradoxically, the non-Jewish sailors showed more grace and godliness than the supposed holy man from Israel! They all worshipped as hard as they could to no avail and were distraught at killing Jonah. The Ninevites even put their animals in sackcloth and ashes to appease God’s wrath! Note: Please laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of this detail clearly indicating it’s folklore-like genre. These foreigners who would not consider the God of Israel a threat suddenly become holy – much more so than Jonah who still cannot get over himself (even after a near-death experience).
Centuries later, Jesus was teaching in the northern part of the country where he grew up. He was renowned for his teaching, healing, and miracles. But his magic show could be explained away by his critics (religious leaders), so they demanded a clear sign that he was anointed by God. Jesus said the only sign he would give was the sign of Jonah, who was in the belly of a what for three nights before rising again at the will of God. Similarly, Jesus was alluding to his own experience of death, burial, and resurrection three days later. Remember that the Gospels were written decades after Jesus’ life and ministry. For many believers at that time, the resurrection became their “proof positive” that Jesus was anointed (endorsed and empowered) by God. The Jewish leaders, however, dismissed this “Sign of Jonah” altogether, claiming it to be a fabrication, or covering up what they couldn’t understand. They didn’t experience the resurrected Christ, and certainly didn’t want to change their lives based on the ramifications thereof.
History has a way of repeating itself, especially when those who are living fail to give due attention to their own history which always informs the present. Prophets of old are not to be looked upon like wizards with crystal balls who can foretell the future. Prophets were and are those who are so familiar with the vision of God, the heartbeat of God, the harmonies of God, the authenticity of God that when they see something that is out of line with the vision, sense that there is a miss-beat, hear something off key, and smell something foul they simply call it to attention. Jonah was a joke of a prophet given his prejudice and hatred, mirroring the prevailing attitudes of the people he represented and served (can it ever be dangerous for leaders and their followers to simply echo each other?). The writers of the story perhaps took this approach because the temperature in the room was too hot to speak directly, like Melville writing about serious issues thinly veiled in his whale of a tale. What would the writers of Jonah see today? What would they hope would be considered by a country that claims Christian roots? Given their vision of God, what might they wonder about how we are treating each other in the public square? Women’s rights to their own bodies? The LGBTQ’s freedom to live authentically and love who they love? The treatment of human beings hoping to work for a better future here and abroad? Nuclear threat? Our role in global warming and our reluctance to take it seriously because of money? Our care of the environment to ensure that we don’t ruin it for the generations to come? How about income disparity? Obsession with arms while wanting greater peace? And of course, our ongoing reluctance to own and address America’s greatest sin – the enslavement of others with the blessing of the Church.
Statistically, American Christianity is Jonah. Publicly, Christians – painted with one wide brush – continues to be viewed not for their desire to live into shalom, but for the disturbance of it. It is no surprise that we are witnessing more people leaving not just church but the faith than ever before. Why would someone consider Jonah when the sailors enroute to Tarshish, and the ruler, people, and animals of Nineveh appear to be more aligned with shalom than the one who is supposed to proclaim it?
As Jesus followers – and as people of faith in general – we are called to live by the vision of shalom. For everyone and everything. Are we taking any time to wonder what that looks like and compare it to our personal lives, our family systems, our work and friendly relationships, our community governance, our country, and our world? The presence of God woos us ever forward toward shalom. Are we paying attention? Do we care?
Unexpected: Jonah's Whale of a Tale
As we begin this series, take time this week to simply become familiar with the story.
Chapter 1: RUNNING FROM GOD
One day long ago, GOD's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son: "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer."
But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from GOD. He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish—as far away from GOD as he could get.
But GOD sent a huge storm at sea, the waves towering.
The ship was about to break into pieces. The sailors were terrified. They called out in desperation to their gods. They threw everything they were carrying overboard to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship to take a nap. He was sound asleep. The captain came to him and said, "What's this? Sleeping! Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe your god will see we're in trouble and rescue us." Then the sailors said to one another, "Let's get to the bottom of this. Let's draw straws to identify the culprit on this ship who's responsible for this disaster."
So they drew straws. Jonah got the short straw.
Then they grilled him: "Confess. Why this disaster? What is your work? Where do you come from? What country? What family?"
He told them, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship GOD, the God of heaven who made sea and land."
At that, the men were frightened, really frightened, and said, "What on earth have you done!" As Jonah talked, the sailors realized that he was running away from GOD.
They said to him, "What are we going to do with you—to get rid of this storm?" By this time the sea was wild, totally out of control.
Jonah said, "Throw me overboard, into the sea. Then the storm will stop. It's all my fault. I'm the cause of the storm. Get rid of me and you'll get rid of the storm."
But no. The men tried rowing back to shore. They made no headway. The storm only got worse and worse, wild and raging.
Then they prayed to GOD, "O GOD! Don't let us drown because of this man's life, and don't blame us for his death. You are GOD. Do what you think is best." They took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the sea was quieted down.
The sailors were impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of GOD. They worshiped GOD, offered a sacrifice, and made vows.
Then GOD assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish's belly three days and nights.
Chapter 2: AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish. He prayed:
"In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to GOD.
He answered me.
From the belly of the grave I cried, 'Help!'
You heard my cry.
You threw me into ocean's depths,
into a watery grave,
With ocean waves, ocean breakers
crashing over me.
I said, 'I've been thrown away,
thrown out, out of your sight.
I'll never again lay eyes
on your Holy Temple.'
Ocean gripped me by the throat.
The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.
My head was all tangled in seaweed
at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.
I was as far down as a body can go,
and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—
Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive,
O GOD, my God!
When my life was slipping away,
I remembered GOD,
And my prayer got through to you,
made it all the way to your Holy Temple.
Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds,
walk away from their only true love.
But I'm worshiping you, GOD,
calling out in thanksgiving!
And I'll do what I promised I'd do!
Salvation belongs to GOD!"
Then GOD spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah on the seashore.
Chapter 3: MAYBE GOD WILL CHANGE HIS MIND
Next, GOD spoke to Jonah a second time: "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer."
This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying GOD's orders to the letter.
Nineveh was a big city, very big—it took three days to walk across it. Jonah entered the city, went one day's walk and preached, "In forty days Nineveh will be smashed."
The people of Nineveh listened, and trusted God. They proclaimed a citywide fast and dressed in burlap to show their repentance. Everyone did it—rich and poor, famous and obscure, leaders and followers.
When the message reached the king of Nineveh, he got up off his throne, threw down his royal robes, dressed in burlap, and sat down in the dirt. Then he issued a public proclamation throughout Nineveh, authorized by him and his leaders: "Not one drop of water, not one bite of food for man, woman, or animal, including your herds and flocks! Dress them all, both people and animals, in burlap, and send up a cry for help to God. Everyone must turn around, turn back from an evil life and the violent ways that stain their hands. Who knows? Maybe God will turn around and change his mind about us, quit being angry with us and let us live!"
God saw what they had done, that they had turned away from their evil lives. He did change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn't do.
Chapter 4: "I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!"
Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at GOD, "GOD! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!
"So, GOD, if you won't kill them, kill me! I'm better off dead!"
GOD said, "What do you have to be angry about?"
But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.
GOD arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.
But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God sent
a hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah's head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: "I'm better off dead!"
Then God said to Jonah, "What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?"
Jonah said, "Plenty of right. It's made me angry enough to die!"
GOD said, "What's this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can't I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than a hundred and twenty thousand childlike people who don't yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?" (The Message Translation)
The story of Jonah is not to be read as a literal story of an historical event. Even though it the central character is noted elsewhere in the Bible, it is unlikely that they are the same person. It is uncertain when the story came about – somewhere between 800 BCE – 400 BCE, when Israel was quite bitter toward the more powerful nations that subdued them. Scholars are mixed on what genre best characterizes this writing. Not exactly a folktale, not a parable, not midrash, but rather a little bit of each. One thing that scholars do agree about: it’s a masterpiece that continues to be relevant today.
What stands out to you in this story – what are you noticing, what would you like more information about, what is striking?
How do you think the original Jewish audience might have received this tale? What do you imagine was the hoped-for outcome in its sharing?
How is this story relevant in our day and age?
How does this story hit home with you? What characters do you resonate with? Have you ever had a moment or a season when you resembled Jonah?
2023 Camp CrossWalk Review
This week we were thrilled to offer Camp CrossWalk for our CrossWalk kids! Monday through Friday, our younger CrossWalkers had a blast while learning cool songs, hearing great stories, making amazing crafts, eating incredible snacks, and playing super fun games! Why do we do this? Simply because we love the kids and want to help them have an incredible life. We believe the way of life taught and modeled by Jesus guides them toward the best life for themselves, all others, and the world itself. Here is a recap of the biblical stories we shared with the kids this week, along with the point we were trying to make.
Monday we talked about Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11-32 (which should be renamed the Prodigal God). The story is about a son who dishonors his father, himself, and others in the worst ways imaginable. When he finally hit rock bottom, he realized he would be better off as a servant for his father than where he was. He went back, ready to apologize and ask to be nothing more than a servant. Much to his surprise, however, his father was looking for him, hoping that he would one day return. When the son showed up, the father ran to him, embraced him, cleaned him up, fully restored him to his former status, and threw a party to celebrate. This is how God is toward us. Always loving. Always welcoming. Always wanting the best for us. Always with us as we move forward to the depths of wellbeing.
Tuesday we talked about Jesus inviting people to follow him, saying that he would make them fishers of men and women (Mark 1:17-18). Sounds kinda creepy at first glance, doesn’t it? Sometimes its portrayed that way – Jesus turning people into his minions to sell his snake oil door to door. The better way to understand this that we shared with the kids is that Jesus is inviting us to follow him in encouraging people to embrace the way of love in their lives and in the world. What Jesus was saying is what God does all the time, wooing us toward the way of love for ourselves, for others, and for the whole world. Love is the path that seeks wellbeing for everyone and everything on the planet. God always calls all people and all things toward love, for love.
Wednesday, we talked about Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). In this story, a man made the fateful decision to walk a perilous journey from Jerusalem down to Jericho alone. This was unwise on his part as that journey was known for high crime rates. Sure enough, he was mugged, beaten to unconsciousness, and left for dead. A priest came upon the scene, but instead of helping, he walked on the other side of the road. A religious man came upon the scene next and avoided the man similarly. Finally, a deeply loathed man came along who everybody in Jesus’ audience thought was an awful person. But instead of being awful, the man stopped, attended to the beaten man’s wounds, hoisted him onto his donkey, and took him to a hotel where he put him up and paid for his care. The point of the story is that the way of love is active, and everybody can do it. The story also suggests that religiosity isn’t worth much if it doesn’t love people who clearly need it. Perhaps you are starting to catch the theme here...
Thursday we taught about the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Zach was short and had probably heard about it his whole life. That may have contributed to him choosing a job that made him an outcast – a tax collector. In those days, the Roman Empire would contract with locals to collect taxes from the people. Tax collectors were notorious for hitting people with bigger tax bills than they owed simply because they could get away with it. Zacchaeus was loathed by his peers – he was a sell-out to their Roman oppressor and cheated his own countrymen for profit. People had to deal with him, but they didn’t want to. When Jesus saw him, he took the way of love, speaking value into him from the start. Hearing love from another changed Zacchaeus’ life. We never know how our loving attitudes and behaviors might contribute to their wellbeing and restoration. Love is powerful.
On Friday, we looked at the story of Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33), freaking the disciples out, and inviting Peter to come out and join him. Peter walked on water toward Jesus, but as soon as the disciple’s eyes paid more attention to the wind and waves, he began to sink. Jesus rescued him, taking him to the boat, saying, essentially that if he had kept his eyes on him – had faith – he wouldn’t have sunk. Did this story literally happen as it is written, or was it fictionalized history to make a statement about the power of faith when faced with fear? Who cares if it was a literal story – the point is true.
Lots of good stories here. So many things to take away. What’s nudging you?
And I, I Did Not Know...
“And I, I did not know.” The best part of this story, in my humble opinion. Jacob was undoubtedly aware that he was running for his life after screwing his brother, Esau, out of his rightful fortune. But he was probably not aware of the deeper currents running in his psyche that influence him to deceive his father, his brother, his mother, and himself so deeply. He did not know about his inner workings – at least not enough to correct course if he cared at all.
Jacob likely believed that God (or gods) existed as a way of understanding the universe and his place in it. Yet he was perhaps not aware of how his cosmology affected his spirituality (I thought angels had wings – why take the stairs?). He knew he was experiencing a “thin place”, yet seemingly failed to recognize that everywhere is a “thin place” where the divine can be encountered. More, he didn’t realize that “thin places” are less about geography and more about mentality - our own capacity to slow down and see what is right before us all the time.
Jacob’s making a cairn as a marker and reminder of the experience was a good idea, yet he was apparently unaware of his own hubris evident in his statement of “faith” – a transactional agreement that was very human but not very humble. “I’ll make you my God if you help me win the lottery” and its myriad iterations and variations miss the point of walking humbly with God entirely. This type of faith is control-oriented and isn’t faith at all. We remain God.
Jacob was unaware of just who this God was that was being revealed in his vulnerability. This God was one who came with blessing and encouragement despite Jacob’s character flaws – a constant presence of love and grace wooing Jacob toward the deep wellbeing for him and all of creation represented by that rich Jewish word, shalom.
How aware are you? What don’t you know? About yourself – a mix of wheat and weeds that won’t be separated in this life except by your own work through? About your cosmology and its effect on your worldview and spirituality? About your own hubris when it comes to faith? About the character and nature of God as an original blesser and the implications thereof?
Hidden History of Napa
Enjoy this interview of author Alex Brown (The Hidden History of Napa), hosted by CrossWalker Stephen Corley and Sheri Smith, Director of the Napa History Museum.
Hagar & Ishmael
Enjoy this robust discussion among four amazing CrossWalk women regarding the story of Hagar and Ishmael.
Hope
The influences of fear, greed, and power will always be present. These forces have influenced the most egregious suffering on humanity and the planet itself. These forces are always at play in politics, even in a perfect democracy like ours... Sigh...
But there is a greater influence that has been and always we will present. Call it the Spirit, God, our Ground of Being, Higher Power, or simply Love. This influence has led to more beauty, more freedom, more inclusivity wherever it goes. This influence is at work no matter who is in charge, even amid horror. This influence is winning, even though there are times of setbacks usually due to the influence of fear, greed, and power.
The Jewish people tapped into the greater influence and wrote about their experiences that we can read for ourselves in the Bible. The Jewish creation myths in the first few chapters of Genesis make this clear: the God moving and working in creation viewed everything as good, and human beings as very good! This contrasted with other theological perspectives that portrayed “the gods” as beings to be feared, entities that seemed motivated by greed and power just like humans. This Jewish way of seeing allowed them to move into the world differently. Yet, just like us, they struggled to welcome and include, limiting the rights of women, orphans, and immigrants, and despising certain other people groups.
Yet something was at work that influenced these ancestors of our faith into a different way of seeing everything. I recently saw a Facebook post from the Executive Minister of Evergreen, the region CrossWalk calls home within ABC-USA. It simply states something obvious in the Bible - viewpoints and policies changed, softened over time to become more inclusive, not less.
Ten to fifteen years after Jesus died, there was a rising Jewish star named Saul who was adamantly opposed to the Jewish sect of Jesus followers. He was so filled with hatred that he gained authority to hunt them down to arrest them and bring them to “justice” in Jerusalem where he likely hoped some of them would be stoned. In his view, they were apostate – worthy of the wrath of man mirroring the certain wrath of God to come. Like many committed Jewish leaders, he had strong opinions about who God loved and who God didn’t. Non-Jewish people, Samaritans, the uncircumcised, women, people who didn’t conform to dominant sexual identities – these and others were not loved by God as far as Saul was concerned, and therefore he needn’t love them, either. Apparently, religions themselves – and their adherents – can be overly influenced by fear, greed, and power. Jesus challenged all three of those things, which is why he was killed. All of that changed for Saul while he was enroute to rustle up some of Jesus’ followers. He was stopped in his tracks on that road to Damascus by a spiritual experience of a blinding light shining down on him, with a voice self-identifying as Jesus. Saul was blind in many ways, and it took some time for him to see clearly – maybe for the first time in his life. Ironically, the once hyper critical legalist became one of the greatest advocates for grace. Once barely tolerating Gentiles, Saul changed his name to Paul to foster greater trust in them, becoming known as The Apostle to the Gentiles.
On one occasion where legalism crept into a new Christian community (fear, greed, and power still loomed), Paul directly spoke into the errant vision that was dividing people and calling into question God’s love for them:
For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. – Galatians 3:26-29; 4:6-7 NLT
This movement of the Spirit toward greater inclusion and love influenced people over and over again. We now live in a time when we are enjoying the great advances that once seemed impossible. While it is tragic that we still have a long way to go, let us celebrate how far we’ve come. There will be setbacks to freedom and inclusion, influenced by fear, greed, and power. Yet we, as people of faith, join the greater influence of Love that will continue to improve and enhance the world and the people in it – all toward shalom/peace/deep wellbeing for all.
I want to celebrate the fact that our denomination, American Baptist Churches USA, re-affirmed our commitment to gender equality at their recent Biennial in Puerto Rico. Rev. Nikita G. McCallister is now the President of ABC-USA until the next Biennial. That’s awesome. Oh! And she’s also black – double reason for celebration! Fear, greed, and power are at play, but the greater influence of Love is winning.
When I first arrived at CrossWalk, if you were gay, you kept it to yourself, and most likely you did not come to church here. Now we are known as a safe space for our LGBTQ neighbors! There will be setbacks in our culture regarding equality, equity, and inclusion due to fear, greed, and power – those forces are real. But the greater influence is on the side of Love and is winning.
For many in our country, there is concern about immigration, and a fear that when so many foreigners enter our country, we’re doomed. I simply don’t see it that way. I have many friends in the community who have come to the United States from south of the border. Many of these are Executive Directors working to make Napa a stronger, healthy, more vibrant community. They love their heritage, but they love being in the United States because of the dream it represents. A more recent person that has become very important to me immigrated to the US at six years old. Her mother, aunt and uncle, her siblings and cousins all crammed into a two-bedroom apartment to try and make a go of living in the United States. Her mom and aunt and uncle worked multiple jobs – not just for themselves but so that their kids would have a better life than they would have had in the Philippines. Diana and her sister graduated from one of the highest ranked public schools in the country in SoCal, and both went on to graduate from college. She and my son, Noah, met at Pepperdine and remained friends after graduation. After she returned from teaching in South Korea as a Fulbright scholar for a year, she and Noah reconnected. One of Diana’s dreams is to use her skills and education to help Filipino immigrants become fully engaged citizens of the United States. She also hopes to do something to help her community in the Philippines thrive. Diana is no marauder. She is a contributor. While there will always be some who are not well and do not mean well for others, I believe the vast majority of those who come into the US simply see the dream and want a part of it. The sooner folks who look like me can embrace that – and them – the sooner we can get be rid of the racial divide that persists. The fear of the unknown other, greed and power are real, powerful forces at work to be sure. But the greater influence of Love is beckoning us forward to help us become a more perfect Union. The Spirit invites all the to the table in Love and for the sake of Love.
We are a people of faith loved into being, loved forward, loved home. Sometimes the forces of fear, greed, and power will overwhelm us for a moment or season. But these are not the forces that create life – they destroy it. We are being called to be co-creators in this life, in this world, in this nation, in this community, in this church, in our relationships, in ourselves, all supported by the Love that will never let us go.
2023 Heart of Christianity: Commencement Address?
What types of things do you write in cards celebrating a High School or college graduate? Or in a card celebrating a wedding? Or a pregnancy or birth announcement? I am quite certain that we all keep things on the positive side, wishing the recipients well as they move forward to a new chapter.
Deeper into that new chapter, our conversations with these folks change. We may still be positive and optimistic, but, if the person is even just a bit more than an acquaintance, we will also share more honestly about the reality of life. There are high points to celebrate – and we should – and yet there are challenges that we will absolutely face as well. Being honest about those things doesn’t make us a Debbie Downer, it actually gives others permission to be real.
If you’ve spent time with people in their last season of life, there is another shift that takes place. The sting of the pain experienced between the big dreams at the beginning and the later years is softened for many people. A perspective born of wisdom that only time can foster often yields a peace despite the ongoing reality of struggle. If only we could begin with the grounded perspective of age-earned wisdom!
We see a reflection of this in Jesus’ instructions to the disciples as they are commissioned to go into the towns and villages to carry out the work Jesus had begun. What we have in Matthew’s text (Matthew 10:1-39) is very likely much more than Jesus told the disciples on that day. My hunch is that Jesus’ actual words at that moment were more like a High School graduation commencement address: “You’re awesome! You’re capable! You’re cool! The world is your oyster! You’ve got this!” There was not much need for more than that. The disciples simply needed to hear from their leader that he thought they could do what he was charging them to do.
Why then is there so much more instruction, and a lot of it discouraging?
The Gospel of Matthew is not a collection of newspaper articles chronicling things in real time. Many scholars believe that Matthew’s Gospel wasn’t complete until around 85 CE – 50’ish years after Jesus’ death. Matthew borrowed heavily from Mark’s Gospel (as did Luke), and tapped a body of work scholars simply call “Q” (shorthand for the German word quelle, which means “source”). They also added remembrances from their unique body of Jewish Christians. By the time the final product was finished, these Jesus followers had experienced A LOT of reality. They also assumed that people who would read this account of Jesus’ life and ministry would already be familiar with the story, which gave them further confidence to add some things to the account to make some key points. This means that, even though the words Jesus spoke might be in red ink in your Bible, he may not have said it. This does not mean that the Matthew writers were reckless – they didn’t have Jesus instructing the disciples to enjoy pulled pork sandwiches for lunch. All the words they put into Jesus’ mouth are accurate reflections of what would eventually happen to many of the disciples over the next decades. But Jesus likely did not say them at that point in time. The words attributed to him require a knowledge of the history to come. This was written retrospectively, also reflecting the theological perspectives of the Matthean community.
The speech isn’t a total bust. On balance, there is a lot of hope in the address. Perhaps this is because the Matthean community of Jesus followers had been through hell and discovered that God was with them through it all, providing strength and hope all the way, gifting them with the presence of the Spirit to give them confidence in what lies beyond the grave.
None of us nail the discipleship thing 100% of the time. We’re human. Yet we are called to follow. Know that when we do, there will be wonderful times of joy and transformation. Know also that there will be extremely challenging times as well. As my Grandpa Shaw used to say, “that’s just the way it is.” Remember, though, that the goodness of God will be with you as you Go Be Jesus. Remember, too, that “You’re awesome! You’re capable! You’re cool! The world is your oyster! You’ve got this!” Because despite the horrors that may come when we bring shalom to places that prefer the status quo, the accolades are true. You’re a child of God, and that means you are inherently very good.
Commentary from the SALT Project...
Big Picture:
1) From now until November, the gospel readings will move chronologically through Matthew. This week’s reading is from the second of five major discourses or teaching sessions Jesus delivers in Matthew (likely an echo of the five books of the Torah). This one is sometimes called the “Missionary Discourse,” since it consists of instructions to the disciples as Jesus commissions them to preach and teach and heal in villages throughout the region.
2) Jesus sends the disciples out in a way that underscores their vulnerability: he tells them to bring no money, no bag, no extra clothes, no sandals, no staff (Matthew 10:9-10). This puts them at the mercy of the hospitality — or hostility — of the people they encounter along the way, and in this week’s reading, Jesus both encourages the disciples and warns them that adversity awaits.
Scripture:
1) As we saw last week, Jesus authorizes and commissions the disciples to do the very work he has been doing; in this sense, he is passing the mantle to the church. Accordingly, he sends them with words of encouragement and comfort: Don’t be afraid; God knows you and loves you better than you know and love yourself, and will be with you all the way along. But in the same breath, Jesus candidly spells out what this “encouragement” implies: their coming adventures will require courage. They will encounter opponents, hostility, threats — even persecution. The powers that be, the death-dealing forces in the world, will not quietly step aside. This is work that will require resolve and perseverance: part-timers need not apply. You’ve got to go all in, or not go at all.
2) Following Jesus, in other words, isn’t for the faint of heart. It means giving things up, even precious things, even things we hold dear. The very fact that Jesus is passing the mantle here is a tacit reference to his coming departure, to the fact that he already is on a pilgrimage down into the valley of the shadow of death. Any who follow him, then, must be willing to do likewise, to “take up the cross and follow me” (Matthew 10:38).
3) But what does “taking up the cross” mean in this context? This is the first reference to “the cross” in Matthew, and Jesus uses it as a metaphor for the difficult work of embracing an unconventional life of intense, generous commitment to God’s mission — a willingness, as Jesus sums it up, to “lose their life” in order to “find it” (Matthew 10:39). According to this ideal picture, following Jesus means making God’s mission of love and justice the first priority in our lives, even above family and livelihood (Matthew 10:35-37; 10:9-10). It means being willing to confront and conflict with death-dealing powers, so much so that — even as genuine peacemaking remains the ultimate goal — it may well initially appear as though we “have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 5:9; 10:34).
4) In brief, discipleship means leaving behind conventional approaches to kinship, career, and social harmony — and that’s not a prospect to be taken lightly. Count the cost before you go. The good news of the Gospel may be for everyone — but discipleship isn’t.
5) That last point — that discipleship isn’t for everyone — may at first be counterintuitive for many Christians today. Isn’t the whole point of Christianity that anyone can become a disciple, and that the goal is to make as many as possible? Well, if Jesus thought so, he had a strange way of showing it. According to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus encountered thousands of people during his ministry — but only called something like fourteen to be disciples. Nor did he send out the twelve disciples to recruit and expand their ranks; rather, he expressly sent them out to heal and liberate and proclaim that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Matthew 10:1,7-8). Likewise, Jesus and his entourage moved through the countryside feeding, healing, and teaching the crowds, but not signing them up as disciples. For the overwhelming majority of the people he met, his signature sign-off wasn’t “Follow me,” but rather: “Your faith has made you well,” or “Return home and declare how much God has done for you,” or “Go on your way, and sin no more,” or “Go in peace.” In short, Jesus comes to save many (indeed the whole world!), but as for disciples, he calls only a few.
Takeaways:
1) As Jesus commissions his disciples, he warns them of adversity to come — and such struggles continue today. Death-dealing forces come in many forms, of course, but in American life (and beyond!) a prime example is racism, a hateful injustice that will not go quietly when confronted by forces of love and equity. Peacemaking is the ultimate goal, of course, but every unjust status quo has formidable supporters with vested interests (that’s why it’s the status quo!), and so moving toward genuine peace almost always initially involves conflict. Jesus both acknowledges and normalizes this turmoil, counseling us to expect it — and calling us to trust a caring God of love and justice along the way. Likewise, if we take Hagar’s story to heart, we dare not lose hope — even when despair seems most tempting. In our lowest moments, God comes alongside us with loving-kindness, asking, “What troubles you?”
3) Building another world — a world where all are seen and honored — requires thoroughgoing commitment, and a willingness to stay engaged when things get dicey. Jesus doesn’t mince words on this point: You are embarking on a struggle; you will meet with trouble, and setbacks, and a long journey ahead. But many have gone before us, many “all in” Christians who have helped show the way: Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Avila; Fannie Lou Hamer and Clarence Jordan; Rosa Parks and Oscar Romero; Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Dorothy Day...
4) In a remarkable sermon on the demands of discipleship, the preacher and author Barbara Brown Taylor once argued that, if we’re honest with ourselves, most of us are less like “disciples” and more like “friends of the disciples.” God does raise up genuine disciples in every generation: the well-known saints and the countless others whose names we may or may not ever know, people who actually did and do, in various ways, put God’s mission of love and justice above conventional priorities of kinship and livelihood. The rest of us are something a good deal more humble than “disciples” in this sense. At our best, Taylor contends, we’re “friends of the disciples” — and like friends, we may extol and support disciples where we can; and like friends, we may be inspired (or haunted, or driven) to follow their examples here and there, in fragments or moments or chapters of our lives.
5) But who knows? The Living One Who Sees Us may yet have another adventure in mind for our itinerary. Jesus’ call to “all in” discipleship remains open and vibrant for everyone. On any given day, even words as challenging as these in Matthew may become a summons personally addressed to you, or to me, or to a particular congregation. In ways large and small, there’s no telling what kind of follower of Jesus we may yet become!
Matthew 10:1-39 (MSG)
Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. This is the list of the twelve he sent:
Simon (they called him Peter, or “Rock”),
Andrew, his brother,
James, Zebedee’s son,
John, his brother,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew, the tax man,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon, the Canaanite,
Judas Iscariot (who later turned on him).
Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
“Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.
“When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.
“When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry—but it’s no concern of yours now.
“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as shrewd as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
“Don’t be naive. Some people will question your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.
“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.
“A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss. Be content—pleased, even—when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?
“Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now.
“Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.
“What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
“Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?
“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.
“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.
2023 Heart and Home: Being Christian in an Age of Religious Pluralism
What do Stephen Curry, Thairo Estrada, and Christian McCaffrey have in common? For starters, they are all great athletes on their respective Bay Area teams. Next question: who among them is the best? It’s a ludicrous question, of course, that cannot be adequately answered without clarifying what activity we’re talking about. Basketball? Baseball? Football? Sports in general? We can quickly recognize that it may not be fair to compare these players to each other since their respective games are played and scored differently. They all play to win, but they play according to the rules of the game they play.
What do Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed have in common? They are all founders of four of the largest, enduring religions in the world. Note: Hinduism dwarfs Judaism but has no single founder. Rather, it is a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions. Who among the four are the best?
The way we are accustomed to think about religion is to declare one the winner, or one as “true”, and the others as false, as “losers”. Borg refers to this as the absolutist understanding of religion. Christian Fundamentalism and its child Evangelicalism are built on the absolutist understanding of religion, and therefore take very seriously the work of converting people to Christianity as a means of saving people from what they deem as a false religion and the hell from which it stems and to which it leads.
Casual bystanders witnessing this passionate proselytizing pursuit are rejecting this absolutionist perspective in increasing numbers and accelerating speed. Like Ricky Gervais, they see the surface argument in similar terms as my sports star analogy and throw up their hands – they walk away from both God and religion because the latter doesn’t seem to connect them to the former. They toss the whole thing as rubbish. Borg refers to this as the Reductionist understanding of religion. Perhaps, then, using the same logic, they should also throw aside all sports since they all play by different rules.
But that’s not fair to Curry, Estrada, and McCaffrey; and certainly not to Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed, either. It’s way too simplistic in its understanding of religions, and far too hasty in its reaction to dismiss them all.
There is another way to understand religions of the world. Borg refers to it as the Sacramental approach. This perspective recognizes that each of the world’s enduring religions were developed by human beings in response to their experience of the “More” – aka God, the Divine, the Ground of Being. The purpose of the religions was to connect humanity with the sacred in their time, place, and with their language, stories, worldview and traditions. Because they were created in their respective contexts, they sound different from each other, and only in the most general respects are they similar. That’s why the Reductionist approach goes too far – or actually not far enough – saying that religions all say the same thing. They don’t – they are as unique as their origins. Different religions are trying to “win” at mediating the divine within their respective contexts as different sports offer contextualized games with the goal of winning in their particular way. Rather than seeing religions as in competition with each other, Borg sees them helping each other: “Understanding other religions can enrich our understanding of Christianity and what it means to be Christian. Religious pluralism can help us to see our own tradition better.”
In this “Religion as Sacrament” vein, the enduring religions of the world are viewed as such:
1. Religions are human creations…
2. … in response to experiences of the sacred
3. Religions are “cultural-linguistic traditions”
4. Enduring religions are “wisdom traditions”
5. Religions are aesthetic traditions
6. Religions are communities of practice
7. Religions are communities of transformation
While the enduring religions of the world are different one to the other, they also share these following attributes in common:
1. They all affirm the more, the real, the sacred
2. They all affirm a path of transformation
3. They all provide practices for the journey
4. They all extol compassion: life’s primary virtue
5. They all contain collections of belief/teaching
Some use the example of various paths leading up the same mountain. Christians who have adopted the absolutist view balk at the analogy, saying that the other religions don’t adequately deal with sin, or don’t even refer much to heaven, therefore they are inferior to Christianity. Borg offers a different version of the analogy, however. Each path originates from its particular place on the base of the mountain, with all of its contextual influences. Each path makes its way toward the top of the mountain where the clouds cover the peak. The path doesn’t take you to heaven, it takes you to the Divine, God, the Greater Other, the Higher Power. Winning isn’t defined by which formula gets you into heaven. As sacramental vehicles, success is ushering adherents into the Presence of God.
A normal, natural question in response might be, why bother with religion at all? Why not just be spiritual and call it good? Borg suggests that religions still play a crucial role in our spiritual pursuit. “Religion,” he says, “is to spirituality as institutions of learning are to education.” Can you learn apart from the institutions? Sure. But you’ll likely learn more, faster, with the external forms of religion helping you. The wisdom, rituals, practices and collections of beliefs serve as vessels of spirituality, mediators of the sacred and the way. Without them, I believe you will get stuck and miss out on much of what is offered: both in terms of understanding the Divine and the fuller experiences of life.
Another question might be, what about the statements attributed to Jesus that appear to support an exclusive understanding of Christianity as the only legitimate religion? Borg suggests that we see and hear such words as those communicating truth and devotion. For Jesus and his early followers, following Jesus was the only way that resonated with them, was the object of their devotion, and was the center of their message of hope. Borg noted that we may use similar language when referring to our “home” – our dwelling or perhaps the geographical place we live or our country. We speak with absolute devotion about our “home”, articulating the truths of its splendor to whoever will listen. But, as Borg notes, loving our home deeply doesn’t make it superior to someone else’s home. They can love and have their home wherever they are.
There is a beautiful song sung to the tune Finlandia that communicates this reality. Imagine replacing references to nations, lands, and countries with religion, faith, etc. Below are the lyrics, and here is the song beautifully sung.
This Is My Song (Finlandia)
This is my song, O God of all the nations
A song of peace, for lands afar & mine
This is my home, the country where my heart is
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
This is my song, O God of all the nations
A song of peace for their land and for mine
The Dalai Lama was asked by a Christian if she should convert to Buddhism. He told her, “No. Instead, become a very good Christian.” Borg recalled a wisdom saying: “If you desire water, you are better off digging one well 60 feet deep than six wells ten feet deep.” It is good and wise to respect different traditions and religions. It is also good and wise to go deep with the one that is most “home” – for the overwhelming majority of people in the United States who are already familiar with the Christian tradition, this is a well worth digging into. You are likely to find a spring that offers living water that will never run dry.
Borg ends his book with this, as part of his answer to why he is a Christian: At the heart of Christianity is the way of the heart – a path that transforms us at the deepest level of our being. At the heart of Christianity is the heart of God – a passion for our transformation and the transformation of the world. At the heart of Christianity is participating in the passion of God.
I am, and certainly plan to remain, a devoted Christian. Christianity mediates the sacred well for me and so many others. With its guide I am ushered into the Loving Presence of the Divine, guided to love and be loved, and compelled to be used by God to be an agent of restoration, renewal, and even resurrection in this very good world we call home.
What about you? Where is your “home”? How deep is your well?
2023 The Heart of Christianity: Practice
This week’s focus in Borg’s book is on implementing practices that Jesus taught and modeled as a way of living into the faith. At CrossWalk, we emphasize this a lot, represented in Jesus’ stretching, kneeling in service, gracing those who were experiencing injustice, connecting with God through spiritual disciplines, and being an incarnate presence with others in deep community. The fruit of all these movements working together is the abundant life Jesus promised. Following Jesus pays off for everyone (and the planet, too).
I am following the Lectionary this week, focusing on the calling of Abram and Sarai in Genesis, and Matthew the tax collector in the Gospel of Matthew, followed by a related miracle story. Excellent and brief commentary on those passages is copied below for your perusal.
What sticks with me in these stories is the dynamic of the invitation offered and the participation involved to accept such an invitation. Particularly sticky is Jesus’ comment about coming to heal the sick and not the well. To me, this raises questions about our self-awareness and arrogance in relation to our capacity to receive and accept the ongoing invitations of the Spirit of God throughout our lives. How many times have I slipped into the role of the pride-filled onlooker scoffing at others, only to hear that when I am in such a mental space, Jesus really doesn’t have anything for me, because I am self-duped into thinking I am “well”.
May we all walk in humility to know that we are all works in process, always in need of help to help us live and be well through each stage of life. May we be humble enough to perceive the ongoing invitation extended by God to us for our wellbeing. May we be humble enough to see such an invitation as pure gift to receive and employ. May we be humble enough to express our gratitude for it at every turn.
Second Week after Pentecost (Year A): Genesis 12:1-9 and Matthew 9:9-13,18-26
Big Picture:
1) The season of “Ordinary Time” begins this week in earnest — not “ordinary” in the sense of commonplace, but rather in the sense of “ordinal,” or “related to a series.” Think of Ordinary Time as a six-month series, a step-by-step pilgrimage through the story of Jesus’ ministry, with Matthew as our guide (next year it’ll be Mark, and the next, Luke; John gets sprinkled in throughout the three-year cycle).
2) The Christian Year is divided almost in half: about six months of high holidays (Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide), and about six months of Ordinary Time. Like the tides coming in and going out, or a pair of lungs inhaling and exhaling, these two sides of the Christian Year go back and forth, back and forth, the festival seasons of Christmas and Easter giving way to an extended season of everyday life, and then vice versa. And so we begin this week, appropriately enough, with two classic stories, centuries apart, of being called to a life of following God: Abram’s (later “Abraham”) and Matthew’s.
3) The passage from Genesis 12 begins the saga of Abraham, the story that in many ways sets in motion the history of the Jewish people. Genesis 1 - 11 covers the so-called “primeval history,” a collection of ancient accounts and fables gathered from different eras and authors, each with a distinctive mythological style: the first story of creation (“Let there be light!”); the second, quite different story of creation (Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel); the story of Noah’s family, the flood, and the ark (“I have set my bow in the clouds…”); and the story of the Tower of Babel (“because there God confused the language of all the earth”). With this “primeval history” as background, here in Genesis 12, the book’s focus and style markedly shifts: for the next ten chapters, we’ll hear the saga of Abraham and Sarah.
4) Matthew 1 - 8 lays out the stories of Jesus’ birth; his baptism many years later; his temptation in the wilderness; his first major sermon (the so-called “Sermon on the Mount”); and several stories of Jesus healing. Before that major sermon, the initial disciples Jesus calls are fishermen on the shores of the Sea of Galilee — but here in chapter 9, he shifts gears and calls Matthew, a tax collector. Looking ahead, Jesus is on the verge of sending out the twelve disciples to heal and preach (Matthew 10). Matthew is apparently the twelfth disciple recruited into the fold.
5) Finally, Matthew’s early audiences would have been at least loosely familiar with the purity practices recorded in Hebrew scripture: menstruating women were allegedly “unclean” (Leviticus 12:1-8; 15:19-30), as were corpses (Numbers 19:11-13), such that anyone and anything they touched also became “unclean.” And for their part, tax collectors were widely despised as instruments of the Roman imperial occupiers and their collaborators. Indeed, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses “tax collectors” as a shorthand for people lacking in virtue: “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:46). As we’ll see, Jesus overturns all of these ideas in this week’s story, and bearing them in mind helps highlight the tensions driving the narrative: Is he really eating with tax collectors — and recruiting one to be a disciple? Did that “unclean” woman really just touch him, the Holy Teacher? And did he really just touch a stranger’s corpse?
Scripture:
1) Jesus has been on the move throughout the countryside, and here he comes across Matthew sitting in his “tax booth” (or “toll booth”) (Matthew 9:9). Matthew was likely a kind of customs official, charging a “toll” or “tax” on goods being transported to market; for example, such booths were sometimes set up along roadsides near fishing villages. Tax collectors were widely unpopular, not only because the taxes themselves were onerous, and not only because such funds supported the Roman Empire and its collaborators — but also because tax collectors were often suspected of charging more than required, and pocketing the difference.
2) It’s striking, then, that Jesus would call such an “undesirable” to be his twelfth disciple; it certainly raised eyebrows among some Pharisees, as did Jesus’ custom of eating with “tax collectors and sinners” (Pharisees were a local religious group, in many ways similar to the movement gathering around Jesus, and therefore a key rival in that local context). But it’s also worth thinking about that Jesus’ other disciples — many of whom, after all, were fisherman! — likely didn’t care much for tax collectors! Indeed, the gist of the overall story suggests that by calling Matthew, Jesus is driving home a point intended not only for outside observers, but also for his own followers.
3) And what is that point? In a nutshell, that no-one is disqualified from becoming part of the movement — and indeed that Jesus is most interested in people who need help, just as a physician is most interested in people who are sick. As Matthew has been making clear all along in these opening chapters, Jesus is a healer: he comes not to reward those who are already well, but rather to help us become well in the first place.
4) But not, please note, to “make us well” without our active participation. A woman Jesus meets on the road serves as a definitive, iconic role model: she has been bleeding for twelve years (and so likely has been ostracized for twelve years), and yet she approaches Jesus with a fierce form of hope, saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well” (Matthew 9:21). The underlying word here — translated as “be made well” in the NRSV — is the Greek word, sózó (pronounced “SODE-zo,” rhymes with “ROAD-so”), which can also be translated, “save,” “heal,” “preserve,” or “rescue.” And in pursuit of this salvation, this healing, this rescue, the woman is nothing less than audacious. Not only does she make her way through the entourage of disciples in order to touch Jesus’ garment, she pushes through the words of Leviticus, too, the ancient ideas that not only is she “unclean,” but anything she touches will become “unclean” — including the one whose clothing she reaches out to touch!
5) It’s worth pausing here to let this sink in: a supposedly “unclean” outcast, a woman, boldly touches a Holy Teacher without his permission, apparently desecrating him in the process. The disciples must have been wide-eyed, stunned. Will Jesus be angry? Has he been defiled? Jesus stops, turns around, and confronts the woman…
6) …and without skipping a beat, praises her for her boldness, her daring, her persistence, her faith: “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (again, the word is sózó). And this formulation, too, is yet another surprise, since one might well draw the conclusion that Jesus’ power is the reason the woman is healed (Matthew 9:22). But on the contrary, Jesus draws attention not to his power, but to hers. Your faith has made you well…
7) And so Jesus continues on his way to the house of a leader of a local synagogue, a man whose daughter has just died. With a boldness that mirrors the woman’s faith, the man, too, believes that Jesus’ touch can make his daughter “live” (here the underlying word is zaó (pronounced “ZAH-oh”), the same word in “One does not live by bread alone” (Matthew 4:4)). When he arrives at the house, Jesus disperses the mourners, takes the girl’s corpse by the hand — and she gets up. She lives. Here again, with his actions Jesus dissolves supposed barriers: between “clean” and “unclean” (Numbers 19:11-13), between life and death. Thus the story foreshadows Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as the broader promised resurrection to come.
8) The idea that “faith” is a kind of audacity is at least as old as the story of Abraham and Sarah, a saga which begins with God’s call to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). At least two things stand out in this ancient story: first, that it begins with God delivering a single, powerful word — “Go” — summoning Abram and Sarai (later Abraham and Sarah) to leave what’s familiar and set out on an adventure. And second, that the purpose of this calling isn’t only for their benefit; it’s ultimately for everyone: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
Takeaways:
1) As Matthew arranges them, these episodes share a common theme: Jesus’ barrier-dissolving, healing, life-giving ministry, an approach to “salvation” that defies conventional categories. Is Jesus more interested in “eternal life” or “life here and now”? Sózó carries both connotations at once, effectively debunking the distinction. God saves the righteous and damns sinners — right? Nope. Jesus comes to save sinners, he says, the outsiders, those who need help and healing. Even tax collectors! For Christians today, this means: Even and especially people you look down on, or distrust, or otherwise disrespect. While we’re counting them out, Jesus is inviting them in.
2) Likewise, just as Jesus dissolves ethnic and sociopolitical barriers between Jews and Gentiles (a major theme in Matthew’s Gospel), he also dissolves barriers of contempt and marginalization within religious communities. For Christians today, then, the task is most definitely not to criticize Jewish practices (thereby ironically falling into the contempt trap all over again!), but rather to identify and root out Christian practices that implicitly or explicitly divide and marginalize, creating “outsiders” and “insiders.”
3) These stories also provide a glimpse of how Jesus thinks about scripture. He engages holy writ not with uncritical obeisance, as if every word in Leviticus or Numbers (or any other book) is to be taken at face value, but rather with wise rabbinical judgment, carefully weighing which passages are most important, which passages help throw light on other passages — and then applying those insights at the right time, in the right place, and in the right way (remember: “love your neighbor as yourself” is from Leviticus, too! (Leviticus 19:18)).
4) “Faith” is framed here as a form of audacity, a mode of barrier-dissolving boldness — and the woman with a hemorrhage is cast as a prime exemplar, a role model no less impressive than the local religious leader. The two make quite a pair: on one hand, a long-suffering outcast; on the other, a consummate insider. And in both cases, an audacious trust Jesus calls “faith,” a pivotal power possessed by each and every human being: “your faith has made you well [sózó]…”
5) Finally, a key hazard to avoid in coming to grips with these stories is the mistaken idea that any apparent absence of a “cure” means afflicted people are to blame for their “lack of faith.” Indeed, the fact that sózó and zaó encompass such a wide range of meanings — from salvation to health to resurrection to thriving to restoration-to-community — should stand as a guardrail against this misinterpretation. Healing comes in many different forms, physical, emotional, social, and otherwise, and we can trust that our most daring, faithful efforts will be met with God’s merciful healing touch, regardless of the form that healing takes in any given case. For that healing, after all, is the good news of the Gospel in these stories: Follow me. Yes, you. I know, I know: I know all about your past; but I’m calling you to a new future. Take heart, my children, reach out, push through, and dare to touch the edge of my cloak — for I am already reaching out to you, and will yet take your hand, both today and in the end. And when I do, I will call on you to stand up, to go (“Go!”), to set out, to embark on an adventure. In a word: to rise.
2023 The Heart of Christianity: Jesus, Model of Justice?
Enjoy Gordon Waggoner's creative, thought-provoking journey through one of the most puzzling - and uncomfortable - stories of Jesus, the cleansing of the Temple.