“Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ out Lord. Amen”
from The Book of Common Prayer
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
(Matthew 5:43-45)
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
(Matthew 6:14-15)
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Romans 12:14-21)
Enemy love is at the center of the Gospel. Anyone who says otherwise is making excuses to defend their own non-biblical perspective.
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."
(Matthew 26:63-64)
Every time I read the accounts of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion, I always seem to make new connections. Christians have always, and should always, emphasize the point that Christ did not fight back with violence against his oppressors, but I think we do him an injustice if we forget his striking statements during his trial. At his baptism, God’s voice declares “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Immediately after Satan tempts him saying, “If you are the Son of God.” And now Caiaphas invokes God’s name asking Jesus if he the Son of God. I think we often confuse these accusations as statements of status, either Jesus is God’s son or he is not. However, the way Caiaphas and Satan are wording their questions shows that they are doubting Jesus’ job description not his pedigree.
The Son of Man from Daniel 7 is imbued with dominion and glory and a kingdom. If Jesus is God’s son, where is the might that makes right? Kings do not enter into cities on a donkey, they come in on war horses and chariots. We want Jesus to call down legions of angels and start defeating Roman centurions, but as we shall see on Good Friday, it will be a Roman Centurion – a man who knows both power and violence – who will identify God’s Son.
How frustrated must Caiaphas have been? Jesus who is captured and on his way to his death has the gall to say “you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” At Gethsemane, Jesus was most certainly anxious, but now it seems like he has a vision of “the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus is unwilling to accept the power of the world because he knows the true power he is to take up. This stands in stark contrast to the chief priests who will later bow before Rome saying, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15).
Lord, help us to worship only true power. Help us take up our cross that we may follow it.
And so, brothers and sisters,
I repeat again what I have said here so often,
addressing by radio those who perhaps have caused
so many injustices and acts of violence,
those who have brought tears to so many homes,
those who have stained themselves
with the blood of so many murders,
those who have hands soiled with tortures,
who are unmoved
to see under their boots a person abased,
suffering,
perhaps ready to die.
To all of them I say:
No matter your crimes.
They are ugly and horrible,
and you have abased the highest dignity
of a human person,
but God calls you
and forgives you.
And here perhaps arises the aversion of those
who feel they are laborers from the first hour.
How can I be in heaven with those criminals?
Brothers and sisters, in heaven
there are no criminals.
The greatest criminal, once repented of his sins,
is now a child of God.
- Oscar Romero. September 24, 1978 from The Violence of Love.
I would say that over the past few years I’ve dealt with some serious things in my life. However, be them spiritual, psychological, emotional and or physical issues I would never say that I have experienced a “crisis of faith.” Recently during my exodus from Arizona to my home state of Virginia, I’ve had many people inquire as to whether I still believe the same things I once professed. For lack of a better explanation, I have always answered yes because I still believe the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed (although I will admit it doesn’t matter all that much to me whether the Spirit proceeds from the Father or the Son). At the same time though, I find myself bouncing off the walls of theological and spiritual inquiry.
For at least the last four years, I have heavily identified with Reformed (read Calvinist) theology. I’ve taught classes at churches on theology, church history, comparative religion, and Postmodernism largely without encountering any cognitive dissonance in regards to what I believe. I’ve always been open minded when it comes to theology because I usually just gravitate towards what seems to make the most sense. That said, most of the people around me have not afforded themselves such luxury. My uber-Reformed friends make a point to Tweet about every little thing they hear that bolsters neo-Calvinism and puts down “weak” theology (weak=feminine, abstract, or liberal). Meanwhile I’m reading anything I can get my hands on and trying my best to take it all in. My recent reading list has included, but is not limited too:
I will fully admit that this list is probably not as diverse as it could be, but it does not comprise every book on theology I have ever read, just those I’ve read recently.
So what am I to do with what I’ve learned? My first thought was to use my learning to educate those around me and strive for unity and discussion among believers (and I haven’t necessarily abandoned this initial thought completely). But recently everywhere I turn I find people striving for exactly the opposite. Don’t believe me? Go on Twitter and search for Rob Bell. Just the release of the title of his new book has made some people lose their minds! Now I’ve been a rather outspoken critic of Mr. Bell in the past, but really people? At least I waited until I had a chance to read his book before I disagreed with him. The Bell controversy is an obvious one. Next, Google “N.T. Wright and John Piper.” Read a few blogs and you will see that Piper seems to be pitting himself against Wright over what some would argue is a semantic argument. Some crazies have almost asserted some sort of Matthew 16:19 argument insisting that Wright’s different view of justification threatens to release all Christians from assurance of salvation.
I do not write this post to contribute anything to the discussion other than this. The more I know, the more I know how much I do not know. I plan on expounding upon this further, but I’d love some initial feedback.
