| ougomonitsya
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| inner stillness: when everything is all the same to you, and you live for the day, and you are not dreaming and waiting |
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books I've been reading
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Communion, Community, Commonweal: Readings for Spiritual Leadership, by John S. Mogabgab
The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence, by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and Ken McElrath
The Catholic Imagination, by Andrew Greeley
Spiritual Guides for the 21st Century: Faith Stories of the Protestant Reformers
Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ, by Dallas Willard
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movies I'd like to see
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American Splendor
Girlhood
Lost in Translation
The Station Agent
Winged Migration
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sermons in process
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Ruth 1:1-18--"Why Go with Me?"
Mark 12:38-44--"Abundance and Poverty"
1 Samuel 1:4-20--"The Desperation of Hannah"
John 18:33-37--"An Interrogation"
Malachi 3:1-4--"Messages and Messengers"
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lectures on tape in my car
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Introduction to Renaissance Literature
Dante's Life and Times
Dante's Literary Antecedents
Erasmus, In Praise of Folly
Introduction to Shakespeare
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| Saturday, February 2 |
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This morning I preached on the beatitudes. I don’t believe we can overstate how important
these few verses are. Their location in scripture and their content should tell us much about
what Jesus total message was. The sermon on the mount is the largest single chunk of
Jesus teachings, aside from parables, in the gospels. It runs for three non-stop chapters of
Matthew. So, to have this prefaced by the beatitudes tells us something about how Matthew
perceived the beatitudes in relationship to Jesus’ teaching. Also noteworthy is the content
of the beatitudes. Who is Jesus talking to? The poor, those who mourn, the meek, those
who hunger. When the very first words out of Jesus’ mouth to begin three chapters of
teachings are “blessed are the poor,” I think it is rather clear not only what Jesus theology
was, but also what his ideology was. In light of what he says in Matthew 5:3, I find it
unbelievable that clergy would maintain that it is good to be wealthy. In fact, some clergy
argue that Jesus was rich. But this is not only about whether we should or should not have
big bucks. I think it is also about self-esteem. I suspect that many of the people to whom
Jesus preached thought that they were the scum of the earth because others treated them
that way. Indeed, Gentiles may felt that way around the Jews. They definitely did not feel
accepted. So, in light of that, what might be Jesus’ message. I think it is that all of the
downtrodden, in spite of who they are, the poor, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry,
all are accepted by God. They all have God’s blessings. But in my preaching on the
beatitudes I also make a distinction between the first four beatitudes and the last four. The
first four are aimed at the passive downtrodden. The second four are aimed at those who
are trying to do something about the social injustice in the world: the merciful, the pure in
heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. In other
words, God cares for and blesses both the downtrodden and those who seek to minister to
the downtrodden. There are eight third-person beatitudes and one second person
beatitude: “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of
evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” In other
words, you are not the first. Others have been down this road, and they have met the same
obstacles. It is a message of reassurance, and the same truth holds today. Those who fight
for social justice today are putting up with the same obstacles that have been present
throughout time. The contexts and the events change, but the principles of good and evil
remain the same. And Jesus responses are still helpful to us.
posted by
John Harrison at 11:26 PM
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| Sunday, January 27 |
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It’s too bad we don’t know more about Jesus’ procedures for selecting disciples. It all
seems so easy. “As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers...” And what does
he say to them? “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” And that is all it took. Or
so the scriptures would have us believe. On the one hand, I can believe that Jesus was
looking for common, everyday kinds of people. But on the other hand, I still wonder at what
it might have taken to persuade them. According to Matthew, “Immediately they left their
nets....” That’s difficult to belief. It makes Jesus appear to be a master of hypnosis, a
magician. And, although he may have been divine, he was still human. And the disciples he
was selecting were human. I would like to believe that it took more than a handful of words
to attract the disciples, that they needed to be convinced by strong arguments to give up
their boats and nets and fishing to follow Jesus. If they were absolutely unquestioning in
being called by Jesus, how would they behave during his ministry? If we are to consider
ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, are we supposed to be unquestioning, unthinking
followers? I should hope not. It would also appear that the first four disciples, Peter and
Andrew and James and John were chosen rather rapidly. Were the other eight also chosen
with such speed? Or did this take a while? And what kind of disciple-building would we
have expected of Jesus? The United Methodist Church makes much of its mission to “make
disciples for Jesus Christ.” But what, exactly, does that mean? And what did it mean for the
first twelve? What did Jesus WANT it to mean? Later in Matthew, in the twenty-fourth
verse of the sixteenth chapter, Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my
followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” So, let’s give
this a twenty-first century twist. Let’s imagine we are seeking to make disciples of the
unchurched, to bring them into our flocks. And we tell them, “if you want to be a member of
our church, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus.” So, how do
we follow Jesus? Do we do what he did? Do we sacrifice like he did? How many of those
who are currently official Christians can claim that they deny themselves? How many of
them are prepared to sacrifice like Jesus did? My point is that I think we take this whole
discipleship thing much too lightly. We toss the word “discipleship” around as if it were
synonymous with “membership,” when, in fact, what Jesus seemed to have in mind was
denial and sacrifice. Are Christians really up for that? Or would most of them prefer to
remain comfortably settled in their pews? Like I said, I wish we had more details on how
Jesus went about drawing folks to him to be his disciples. posted by
John Harrison at 1:20 AM
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