Agape Love is a tall order. It is easy to understand, just not easy to practice.
This active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable that Jesus COMMANDED, Jesus also modeled for us, according to the Gospel witnesses.
Paul got it very right in the letter to the Philippians, in one of the most elegant and powerful theological expositions on Agape Love that we have, or could ever need.
Though Agape has nothing to do with feelings directly, Paul wrote about consolation, compassion and sympathy because the readers of this epistle are very often motivated by feelings.
When Jesus gave us His new commandment (a new iteration of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18), as we have that offered to us in Matthew 22:34-40, it was with one's whole heart, soul and mind that Jesus commanded we love God, and that we love neighbor as we love ourselves.
With a nod to the heart here in consolation, compassion and sympathy, and acknowledging that this is a spiritual exercise in our soul's loving relationship with God, still it seems to be the LOVING GOD WITH OUR WHOLE MIND that is neglected most often.
If we rely on our passions, our actions will be inconsistent at best, and at worst radically polarized according to our emotional state, especially in reaction to the words and actions of others.
We are very adept at turning our mundane thoughts, words and actions into spiritual activity, at least in our minds and in front of others around us. "Radical Christianists", in fact, spiritually justify all manner of evils to others. We also practice "spiritual escapism" when we don't want to be bothered by anyone else's problems or "supernatural rescuism", offering prayers when our active commitment is needed. In all these things, we believe ourselves to be quite clever, though by practicing these we have not engaged our minds faithfully in the loving command.
Jesus lived Agape Love. Paul uses in Philippians 2:1-11 Jesus' example of how to fulfill this commandment of our Lord in our lives.
We must be of the SAME MIND - have the SAME LOVE (Agape, which is not a feeling), be in FULL ACCORD with one another in our active commitment to each other and of ONE MIND, all in agreement that Agape Love is a better way for us to live as followers of Jesus - People of the Way of Jesus.
Beyond that, we must have the SAME MIND IN US that was IN CHRIST JESUS...
Loving God with our whole mind,
Knowing that Agape Love is a better way than fear, hatred, apathy, complacency or selfishness.
We do nothing from Selfish Ambition that would allow us to hurt or neglect sisters and brothers
around us for the sake of our own gain in wealth or power, and thus destroy the world in which
we all live together.
We do nothing out of conceit, the desire for Status over others because it leads to divisions and
a lack of well-being in community which is not sustainable in the long term.
We must be humble and live Agape - even to self-sacrifice for the sake of the other, unconditionally
committed to his/her/their well-being, even recognizing that our own well-being depends on
theirs being intact.
Jesus is our example, according to Paul.
We must follow Jesus in how we live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom, here and now.
We must love God, not just with our hearts and souls, but with our MINDS, exercising wisdom and
sound judgment in how we live with one another AS our expression of love for God.
It will lead us where Jesus has gone - to the Cross, to self-denial and sacrifice.
Oh, I know you have skipped ahead to verses 9-11, to see what we get for all the trouble.
But the Glory is reserved for God. Our glory is in the Cross, going to it willingly by living the Agape Love that Jesus COMMANDED us to live, and being with God in the Kingdom, here and now. The redemption and salvation of God is a gift. The living of Agape Love is our RESPONSE to the gift.
When I survey the wondrous Cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God; all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a tribute far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my SOUL, my LIFE, my ALL.
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus - that led the Son of God to empty Himself for us, humble Himself for us and even die for our sake. To follow Jesus means to do the same for one another - THAT is loving God with all we have, by loving Neighbor as Self.
ALL the Glory belongs to Jesus because of it, not to us - we are already recipients of His Grace!
Seek not glory for yourself, but faithfulness in following the Lord of Agape Love and Grace.
Love God with all your heart, soul and MIND. God gave it to you to be used here and now, in THIS PART of God's Kingdom.
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Sunday, February 11, 2018
believe it
In the face of Empire - the elites taking it all off the backs of the rest, when all power seems to be in the hands of the unscrupulous who make up their own rules and exploit everyone else - a new message arose in the 1st Century - even a new genre of message.
In the lived witness of Jesus and His Good News of Agape Love and Grace, a writer wrote an account of what happened when Jesus' message was lived by people who followed Jesus.
It is Gospel. Good News in the face of bad news. It is hope in the midst of despair and light in the midst of darkness.
And it all starts, this first Gospel written, in the first chapter, reporting the first public words of Jesus, with an Imperative - a command -
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; Repent, and believe in the Good News." Mark 1:15
"Repent" (metanoia) means to change one's thinking or mind, in order to turn around - to go in a different direction.
It was empire thinking that brought people to the darkness in which they sat. It was the greed, lust for power and desire for status of elites that drove the empire to exploit, abuse and oppress the people. It was the collusion of the King and the Temple cult leaders of the time that further rendered the rest of the people without much hope. But now God was calling them to repent. Now, anyone who aspired to be like them rather than oppose them was called to repent. God wanted different thinking, different acting - a different way. Jesus came commanding it.
And what was the alternative? "Believe in the Good News." What Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as witnessed to in the following pages would be THE opposite of what empire stood for. Kingdom of God values bring Good News instead of despair when people live them. The Good News was that people could resist empire and its ideologies, philosophies and normative practices that divided, conquered and destroyed much of the world. People who live a different way, even AS resistance to empire and then as a better way that the world might adopt and live. Instead of believing in a way that divided, exploited, oppressed and destroyed, people could believe in Jesus' way - God's Way for the world that would restore justice, peace and hope. It was Good News.
It was centered on the opposite of empire values - in Agape Love that calls one to actively commit to the other and not just the self or those just like oneself. It was centered on the teachings of Jesus around graciousness and humility in a culture that valued ruthlessness and hubris. It was centered on the example of Jesus in lifting up, making whole and empowering, even liberating those around Him out of that Agape Love, rather than exploiting, oppressing and destroying others for the sake of oneself.
It is about sharing resources so that none go without what they need, rather than hoarding what one has in order always to have more.
It is about sharing power with others so that all have what power they need, rather than overpowering others in order to promote self at their expense.
It is about being secure enough in oneself that one need not be perceived as being "better than" or "more blessed and highly favored than" anyone else, and lifting up others.
This Good News of God in Jesus is a different value. It is not easy to embrace and live in the face of empire values. But it is life sustaining, peace producing and love generating by its nature - the opposite of what is produced by empire values.
We are in a new age of darkness. The darkness of lies (some call "alternative facts") has overcome the light of truth. The few have all the wealth and power and the many struggle to survive, exploited and destroyed by the greed, lust for power and desire for status that that the few wield like a sword. Empire values dominate the culture and threaten the world, just like in the 1st Century.'
And in the first Gospel written, in the first chapter, witnessed as the first public words of Jesus -
"Repent, and believe in the Good News."
Can you?
Will you?
Pastor Jamie
In the lived witness of Jesus and His Good News of Agape Love and Grace, a writer wrote an account of what happened when Jesus' message was lived by people who followed Jesus.
It is Gospel. Good News in the face of bad news. It is hope in the midst of despair and light in the midst of darkness.
And it all starts, this first Gospel written, in the first chapter, reporting the first public words of Jesus, with an Imperative - a command -
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; Repent, and believe in the Good News." Mark 1:15
"Repent" (metanoia) means to change one's thinking or mind, in order to turn around - to go in a different direction.
It was empire thinking that brought people to the darkness in which they sat. It was the greed, lust for power and desire for status of elites that drove the empire to exploit, abuse and oppress the people. It was the collusion of the King and the Temple cult leaders of the time that further rendered the rest of the people without much hope. But now God was calling them to repent. Now, anyone who aspired to be like them rather than oppose them was called to repent. God wanted different thinking, different acting - a different way. Jesus came commanding it.
And what was the alternative? "Believe in the Good News." What Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as witnessed to in the following pages would be THE opposite of what empire stood for. Kingdom of God values bring Good News instead of despair when people live them. The Good News was that people could resist empire and its ideologies, philosophies and normative practices that divided, conquered and destroyed much of the world. People who live a different way, even AS resistance to empire and then as a better way that the world might adopt and live. Instead of believing in a way that divided, exploited, oppressed and destroyed, people could believe in Jesus' way - God's Way for the world that would restore justice, peace and hope. It was Good News.
It was centered on the opposite of empire values - in Agape Love that calls one to actively commit to the other and not just the self or those just like oneself. It was centered on the teachings of Jesus around graciousness and humility in a culture that valued ruthlessness and hubris. It was centered on the example of Jesus in lifting up, making whole and empowering, even liberating those around Him out of that Agape Love, rather than exploiting, oppressing and destroying others for the sake of oneself.
It is about sharing resources so that none go without what they need, rather than hoarding what one has in order always to have more.
It is about sharing power with others so that all have what power they need, rather than overpowering others in order to promote self at their expense.
It is about being secure enough in oneself that one need not be perceived as being "better than" or "more blessed and highly favored than" anyone else, and lifting up others.
This Good News of God in Jesus is a different value. It is not easy to embrace and live in the face of empire values. But it is life sustaining, peace producing and love generating by its nature - the opposite of what is produced by empire values.
We are in a new age of darkness. The darkness of lies (some call "alternative facts") has overcome the light of truth. The few have all the wealth and power and the many struggle to survive, exploited and destroyed by the greed, lust for power and desire for status that that the few wield like a sword. Empire values dominate the culture and threaten the world, just like in the 1st Century.'
And in the first Gospel written, in the first chapter, witnessed as the first public words of Jesus -
"Repent, and believe in the Good News."
Can you?
Will you?
Pastor Jamie
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Being Sick
I have had bronchitis and a sinus infection for a week.
I have been miserable.
My arms, legs and other body parts have been fine but because of my sinuses and lungs right now, I have been wholly miserable. I have had sleepless nights of wheezing and coughing and it has rendered my whole body weak.
I have had a chronic issue with sinusitis for most of my life, and sinus infections have often been the result.
I had bronchitis and croup a lot when I was a child, and it would seem that it has returned.
I tried to treat the symptoms with home remedies and over-the-counter products and I kept working instead of taking time off to rest. Finally, I have had to take three days off and go on antibiotics.
Isn't that just how it is with the body?
If one part is miserable, it negatively affects the whole.
If you have not directly suffered for a while, it is easy to ignore the symptoms of impending illness.
You can only ignore it for so long, until it get so bad that you have to do something to heal it.
And once it has you, it has you and it must be addressed.
And it is the whole body that must rest.
It is the whole body that must be healed.
I cannot live without my sinuses or have them removed.
I cannot live without my lungs or have them removed.
They are a part of my whole body and I must deal with them in a healthy way.
The illness of our society must be addressed.
A part of our body is infected with Greed. It affects the whole body.
A part of our body is swelling up with hatred and it affects the whole body.
It has rendered the whole body sick and has weakened us.
We have tried the age-old method of ignoring the symptoms for as long as we could. It did not help, but rather made it worse.
We have tried the cheaper, easier to get and topical remedies but they have not been effective.
It is time to shed our denial of the illness.
It is time to get a real treatment after a careful inventory of the causes and symptoms.
It is time to deal with this internally, intentionally and fully.
It will take a potent medicine and treatment over a long period of time.
And while we would like to go on with our lives as usual, we will have to stop rather and address this so that we can return to living in a healthy way.
Agape Love restores well-being to the body. Until it permeates the body, the illness will continue to grow and render the body sick and weak.
We must take the time necessary and inject Agape Love into the whole body for a restoration (or initiation) of health in our society.
Pastor Jamie
I have been miserable.
My arms, legs and other body parts have been fine but because of my sinuses and lungs right now, I have been wholly miserable. I have had sleepless nights of wheezing and coughing and it has rendered my whole body weak.
I have had a chronic issue with sinusitis for most of my life, and sinus infections have often been the result.
I had bronchitis and croup a lot when I was a child, and it would seem that it has returned.
I tried to treat the symptoms with home remedies and over-the-counter products and I kept working instead of taking time off to rest. Finally, I have had to take three days off and go on antibiotics.
Isn't that just how it is with the body?
If one part is miserable, it negatively affects the whole.
If you have not directly suffered for a while, it is easy to ignore the symptoms of impending illness.
You can only ignore it for so long, until it get so bad that you have to do something to heal it.
And once it has you, it has you and it must be addressed.
And it is the whole body that must rest.
It is the whole body that must be healed.
I cannot live without my sinuses or have them removed.
I cannot live without my lungs or have them removed.
They are a part of my whole body and I must deal with them in a healthy way.
The illness of our society must be addressed.
A part of our body is infected with Greed. It affects the whole body.
A part of our body is swelling up with hatred and it affects the whole body.
It has rendered the whole body sick and has weakened us.
We have tried the age-old method of ignoring the symptoms for as long as we could. It did not help, but rather made it worse.
We have tried the cheaper, easier to get and topical remedies but they have not been effective.
It is time to shed our denial of the illness.
It is time to get a real treatment after a careful inventory of the causes and symptoms.
It is time to deal with this internally, intentionally and fully.
It will take a potent medicine and treatment over a long period of time.
And while we would like to go on with our lives as usual, we will have to stop rather and address this so that we can return to living in a healthy way.
Agape Love restores well-being to the body. Until it permeates the body, the illness will continue to grow and render the body sick and weak.
We must take the time necessary and inject Agape Love into the whole body for a restoration (or initiation) of health in our society.
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Radical Community
Today is our first Community Devotion in Philly. The theme is "Radical Community"
The Roman occupation of Palestine in the 1st Century and following represented Empire at its worst. Elites had all the power and wealth and lived for status among themselves, flaunting it. Everything was lived on a quid pro quo basis. Nothing was given for nothing. They took all they could from everyone they could, exploiting the masses for personal gain, and a powerful war machine backed them up.
The people were conquered, occupied, exploited and oppressed. They had no rights. What they could do once for a sustainable living now no longer sustained them because so much of it was taken to feed the empire machine. They suffered cruel injustices, had everything they once owned taken away from them and suffered excessive sentences and punishments for "crimes" against the empire. The people sat in this darkness for generations. Their king was a vassal of the empire, and their religious leaders were corrupt and in collusion with empire, cheating people out of their ancestral lands and demanding devotion to the Temple cult itself instead of God.
Then came the Teacher. He represented God as one of the people. He was a spiritual leader, but not like the corrupted Temple cult leaders of the day. He did not buy into the empire philosophy, ideology or values. He taught Agape love (committed action on behalf of the other, even stranger or enemy and especially the most vulnerable). This was not a quid pro quo arrangement, but rather the self-less, unconditional and even self-sacrificing love of other. And the teacher did not just teach it. The teacher commanded it and lived it as a perfect example. He confronted the false teachers and leaders, and even on a couple of occasions raised an army of followers in front of the empire in a single day, but did not call them to arms. The teacher taught them a different way, a better way centered in Agape Love. The teacher's end was predictable. The corrupt leaders couldn't have this going on. It threatened their legitimacy, their control over the people, their authenticity and their authority - above all, their profit. The teacher had made the people realize that the values of empire were not the norm, or good or sustainable or from God. It was unforgiveable. They made an example of the teacher.
But for a couple hundred years after, those who followed the teacher directly applied what the teacher taught, commanded and modeled in Agape Love, to life in the world around them. In the face of empire and its corrupt political and religious leaders, they lived this Radical Love and formed a Radical Community of people who followed the teachings. They practiced Radical Sharing (Acts 2:43-47) and even Radical Ownership (4:32-35), giving of their abundance for the good of everyone. They ended poverty among them because of it. No one had unmet needs. They also practiced Radical Generosity, in taking care of people who lived far away, even people they had never met (11:27-29). They practiced Radical Inclusion of women and people of other ethnicities and faith backgrounds (10:9-48), and even included those who were different among the leadership (6:1-7; 7:54-60). They included even those who were excluded by the old laws over sexual differences (8:26-40). And they practiced Radical Advocacy, standing with and up for others and lending them their voices and power (9:26-31), which led to Radical Empowerment for some and even Radical Liberation from bondage for others (16:16-24, 27).
They did all this in the face of empire and its values. They lived by a different set of rules and values, all based on what the Teacher taught, commanded and modeled for them. And people noticed the difference, as it was a big difference. And people wanted to be a part of this, so they came and joined them in living a different way, a better way for the world around them. And there were problems, to be sure. They had squabbles and at times failed, but for a few hundred years they actively lived what the teacher taught, commanded and modeled in Agape Love. This Radical Love brought them to live in Radical Community and it changed the world, or so the chroniclers of the 1st Century wrote about this movement of followers of the Teacher.
I am all about Agape Love. I believe it is a standard that, in its living creates a better way for the world. I am all about the Radical Community that can be formed when people live Agape Love together. I believe Agape Love brings people together in their common humanity, regardless of their differences of ethnicity, background, sexual orientation, income level, faith practices or non-practices, gender, country of origin, language or anything else. I believe that when we live active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger or enemy and especially the most vulnerable among us, we transform the world because we are being transformed by the force of Agape Love. When we put it out in the world around us, it changes the world around us, the world in which we live. That is how we create Radical Community that lives a different set of rules and values, even in the face of empire. Dare to resist the normalcy of Greed, lust for Power, desire for Status and the hatred that keeps them alive. There is a better way.
Pastor Jamie
The Roman occupation of Palestine in the 1st Century and following represented Empire at its worst. Elites had all the power and wealth and lived for status among themselves, flaunting it. Everything was lived on a quid pro quo basis. Nothing was given for nothing. They took all they could from everyone they could, exploiting the masses for personal gain, and a powerful war machine backed them up.
The people were conquered, occupied, exploited and oppressed. They had no rights. What they could do once for a sustainable living now no longer sustained them because so much of it was taken to feed the empire machine. They suffered cruel injustices, had everything they once owned taken away from them and suffered excessive sentences and punishments for "crimes" against the empire. The people sat in this darkness for generations. Their king was a vassal of the empire, and their religious leaders were corrupt and in collusion with empire, cheating people out of their ancestral lands and demanding devotion to the Temple cult itself instead of God.
Then came the Teacher. He represented God as one of the people. He was a spiritual leader, but not like the corrupted Temple cult leaders of the day. He did not buy into the empire philosophy, ideology or values. He taught Agape love (committed action on behalf of the other, even stranger or enemy and especially the most vulnerable). This was not a quid pro quo arrangement, but rather the self-less, unconditional and even self-sacrificing love of other. And the teacher did not just teach it. The teacher commanded it and lived it as a perfect example. He confronted the false teachers and leaders, and even on a couple of occasions raised an army of followers in front of the empire in a single day, but did not call them to arms. The teacher taught them a different way, a better way centered in Agape Love. The teacher's end was predictable. The corrupt leaders couldn't have this going on. It threatened their legitimacy, their control over the people, their authenticity and their authority - above all, their profit. The teacher had made the people realize that the values of empire were not the norm, or good or sustainable or from God. It was unforgiveable. They made an example of the teacher.
But for a couple hundred years after, those who followed the teacher directly applied what the teacher taught, commanded and modeled in Agape Love, to life in the world around them. In the face of empire and its corrupt political and religious leaders, they lived this Radical Love and formed a Radical Community of people who followed the teachings. They practiced Radical Sharing (Acts 2:43-47) and even Radical Ownership (4:32-35), giving of their abundance for the good of everyone. They ended poverty among them because of it. No one had unmet needs. They also practiced Radical Generosity, in taking care of people who lived far away, even people they had never met (11:27-29). They practiced Radical Inclusion of women and people of other ethnicities and faith backgrounds (10:9-48), and even included those who were different among the leadership (6:1-7; 7:54-60). They included even those who were excluded by the old laws over sexual differences (8:26-40). And they practiced Radical Advocacy, standing with and up for others and lending them their voices and power (9:26-31), which led to Radical Empowerment for some and even Radical Liberation from bondage for others (16:16-24, 27).
They did all this in the face of empire and its values. They lived by a different set of rules and values, all based on what the Teacher taught, commanded and modeled for them. And people noticed the difference, as it was a big difference. And people wanted to be a part of this, so they came and joined them in living a different way, a better way for the world around them. And there were problems, to be sure. They had squabbles and at times failed, but for a few hundred years they actively lived what the teacher taught, commanded and modeled in Agape Love. This Radical Love brought them to live in Radical Community and it changed the world, or so the chroniclers of the 1st Century wrote about this movement of followers of the Teacher.
I am all about Agape Love. I believe it is a standard that, in its living creates a better way for the world. I am all about the Radical Community that can be formed when people live Agape Love together. I believe Agape Love brings people together in their common humanity, regardless of their differences of ethnicity, background, sexual orientation, income level, faith practices or non-practices, gender, country of origin, language or anything else. I believe that when we live active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger or enemy and especially the most vulnerable among us, we transform the world because we are being transformed by the force of Agape Love. When we put it out in the world around us, it changes the world around us, the world in which we live. That is how we create Radical Community that lives a different set of rules and values, even in the face of empire. Dare to resist the normalcy of Greed, lust for Power, desire for Status and the hatred that keeps them alive. There is a better way.
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, January 21, 2018
I confess my privilege
It was when we moved back from a small island in Lake Erie, and in starting Junior High School that I realized my privilege as a while male. I wondered why other children who did not look like me were treated differently than was I. I wondered why I heard such hateful things spewed out about them with schoolmates, adults and at our dinner table. I did not believe any of it, but still what I heard was that "we take care of our own", and I knew I was privileged, and by no merit or positive attributes of my own.
My education on bigotry continued over the years and I became aware that being straight gave me privilege in this culture as well. Eventually, my being employed and middle class added to my privilege in the society.
Now, I am proud that I worked my own way through school. My parents could not and did not help me financially, except by their poverty to make me eligible for some grants - even that eligibility for me, I would find out later was a product of being a white male in the 70's, for while there were some regulations on inclusion with minorities, still a good percentage of white recipients were guaranteed.
I did not ask for my privilege, but...
I had doors opened to me that were not opened for women in society.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened for people of color.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened for my LGBTQ sisters and brothers.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened to people not born in this country.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened to people who were not Protestant Christians.
All of that, just because I happened to be born a straight, white, Protestant male in America.
The unfairness of that has sunk in over the last 46 of my 58 years of life.
The tangibles of family name, schools attended, degrees and my picture and voice on the phone have
opened doors.
The intangibles of people in positions of power, even unaware of their own biases and prejudices in
making decisions that affected my life, have opened doors.
None of that was due to the quality of my character, my moral make up or work ethic. Some of what I have achieved hopefully has been due to that, but my gaining position, power and wealth have most often been simply because I was born a straight, white, Protestant male in America.
I cannot change what has been.
I have become aware of it, however.
I am aware that this is a system intricately woven into the fabric of the nation I call home.
I am aware that the systemic racism, classism, homophobia, misogyny and religious xenophobia has
benefitted me and still hurts others around me - people who I love and who God loves.
I am aware that internalized, even subliminal racism, homophobia, misogyny and religious
xenophobia are very powerful and very real among people who either know and deny it or have
had it so internalized that they truly believe, falsely that they have grown beyond it. I know and
love people like that.
We live in a culture that has normalized Greed as an upright value to be embraced.
We live in a culture that has made progress on our bigotries, but that is now again normalizing them
as either virtuous values or necessary ideologies.
We live in a culture that has made status everything for those who can attain it.
We live in Empire. The very few have all the power, wealth and status and will work to keep it. They gain it at the expense of everyone else, especially those not white, male (or submissive to
males), straight and Protestant in this country. This, as in 1920 and 1950 is true in 2018, partly
due to the new embrace of abject greed, lust for power and desire for status of straight, white,
protestant males in 1981 and following (the desolating sacrilege of the religious "right" (Falwell)
and the political "right" (Reagan) working together). It was further promoted under George W.
Bush and is now coming into full hateful and greedy expression under DT.
Jesus lived under Empire, too.
Jesus' message of Agape Love and Grace is in RESISTENCE to Empire.
Paul picked up the mantle with the other Apostles.
What you had in the First Century, then was a movement of Radical Love (Agape) that led to Radical
Community, which valued Radical Inclusion, even in leadership, radical Advocacy by those who
had some power toward the Radical Liberation of those who were oppressed under Empire, and
the Radical Sharing of resources with those who were most vulnerable as victims of Empire's
oppression. (Read the book of ACTS sometime, as a direct application of what Jesus taught.)
As a straight, white, Protestant male in this culture I have been privileged.
I believe that I must work diligently to end a system that benefits people like me just by virtue of how
we were born, and end the ignorant xenophobia that keeps it going.
I believe that I must share of the abundance that I have attained by virtue of society's privilege given
to me.
I believe that I must stand with (advocate) those who have been harmed by this system toward the
benefit of a few.
I believe that I must lend my voice and my power to those who have none.
I believe that I must lend my presence and NOT speak or act in power at times, but affirm those who
are finding or expressing their voice and power, and submit to their leadership.
I believe that I must speak truth to power and strive to enlighten those like me about the
unfaithfulness, injustice, insanity and immorality of their greed, lust for power, desire for status
and hatred (intolerance, exploitation, false belief in superiority over others) of those not like them.
I believe that I must lift up those not like me, even as others are working to hold them down, back
and out from justice, sustainable living and equality of opportunity.
I am driven by my faith in Jesus and what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in the Gospels.
I am guided by the love I have been privileged to receive for those not like me, which has blessed me.
I am determined to positively affect the lives of those I love who are not like me.
I am committed to resisting Empire in all its expressions and working toward a culture, a society
more centered on the Agape Love at the center of the Gospel of Jesus.
I confess my privilege. I will use whatever power or status it has given me to eliminate it, so that
I can walk with sisters and brothers in equitability, justice, love, peace and joy.
If I don't, I am in collusion with Empire that hurts people I love and God loves; therefore, I must.
What will you do with your privilege?
Pastor Jamie
My education on bigotry continued over the years and I became aware that being straight gave me privilege in this culture as well. Eventually, my being employed and middle class added to my privilege in the society.
Now, I am proud that I worked my own way through school. My parents could not and did not help me financially, except by their poverty to make me eligible for some grants - even that eligibility for me, I would find out later was a product of being a white male in the 70's, for while there were some regulations on inclusion with minorities, still a good percentage of white recipients were guaranteed.
I did not ask for my privilege, but...
I had doors opened to me that were not opened for women in society.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened for people of color.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened for my LGBTQ sisters and brothers.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened to people not born in this country.
I had doors opened to me that were not opened to people who were not Protestant Christians.
All of that, just because I happened to be born a straight, white, Protestant male in America.
The unfairness of that has sunk in over the last 46 of my 58 years of life.
The tangibles of family name, schools attended, degrees and my picture and voice on the phone have
opened doors.
The intangibles of people in positions of power, even unaware of their own biases and prejudices in
making decisions that affected my life, have opened doors.
None of that was due to the quality of my character, my moral make up or work ethic. Some of what I have achieved hopefully has been due to that, but my gaining position, power and wealth have most often been simply because I was born a straight, white, Protestant male in America.
I cannot change what has been.
I have become aware of it, however.
I am aware that this is a system intricately woven into the fabric of the nation I call home.
I am aware that the systemic racism, classism, homophobia, misogyny and religious xenophobia has
benefitted me and still hurts others around me - people who I love and who God loves.
I am aware that internalized, even subliminal racism, homophobia, misogyny and religious
xenophobia are very powerful and very real among people who either know and deny it or have
had it so internalized that they truly believe, falsely that they have grown beyond it. I know and
love people like that.
We live in a culture that has normalized Greed as an upright value to be embraced.
We live in a culture that has made progress on our bigotries, but that is now again normalizing them
as either virtuous values or necessary ideologies.
We live in a culture that has made status everything for those who can attain it.
We live in Empire. The very few have all the power, wealth and status and will work to keep it. They gain it at the expense of everyone else, especially those not white, male (or submissive to
males), straight and Protestant in this country. This, as in 1920 and 1950 is true in 2018, partly
due to the new embrace of abject greed, lust for power and desire for status of straight, white,
protestant males in 1981 and following (the desolating sacrilege of the religious "right" (Falwell)
and the political "right" (Reagan) working together). It was further promoted under George W.
Bush and is now coming into full hateful and greedy expression under DT.
Jesus lived under Empire, too.
Jesus' message of Agape Love and Grace is in RESISTENCE to Empire.
Paul picked up the mantle with the other Apostles.
What you had in the First Century, then was a movement of Radical Love (Agape) that led to Radical
Community, which valued Radical Inclusion, even in leadership, radical Advocacy by those who
had some power toward the Radical Liberation of those who were oppressed under Empire, and
the Radical Sharing of resources with those who were most vulnerable as victims of Empire's
oppression. (Read the book of ACTS sometime, as a direct application of what Jesus taught.)
As a straight, white, Protestant male in this culture I have been privileged.
I believe that I must work diligently to end a system that benefits people like me just by virtue of how
we were born, and end the ignorant xenophobia that keeps it going.
I believe that I must share of the abundance that I have attained by virtue of society's privilege given
to me.
I believe that I must stand with (advocate) those who have been harmed by this system toward the
benefit of a few.
I believe that I must lend my voice and my power to those who have none.
I believe that I must lend my presence and NOT speak or act in power at times, but affirm those who
are finding or expressing their voice and power, and submit to their leadership.
I believe that I must speak truth to power and strive to enlighten those like me about the
unfaithfulness, injustice, insanity and immorality of their greed, lust for power, desire for status
and hatred (intolerance, exploitation, false belief in superiority over others) of those not like them.
I believe that I must lift up those not like me, even as others are working to hold them down, back
and out from justice, sustainable living and equality of opportunity.
I am driven by my faith in Jesus and what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in the Gospels.
I am guided by the love I have been privileged to receive for those not like me, which has blessed me.
I am determined to positively affect the lives of those I love who are not like me.
I am committed to resisting Empire in all its expressions and working toward a culture, a society
more centered on the Agape Love at the center of the Gospel of Jesus.
I confess my privilege. I will use whatever power or status it has given me to eliminate it, so that
I can walk with sisters and brothers in equitability, justice, love, peace and joy.
If I don't, I am in collusion with Empire that hurts people I love and God loves; therefore, I must.
What will you do with your privilege?
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Good News in the face of Empire
We are clearly living within Empire here.
As I have written before, it had its birth in European conquests, and further development through the Law of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, American Civil Religion and American "Exceptionalism".
It is based on principles that run contrary to the central teachings of Jesus, though many who promote Empire here claim the name of Jesus. Their Greed, Lust for Power and Desire for Status fly in the face of what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for His followers during the Roman Empire injustices, oppression and occupation of His homeland.
The bigotry, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, false superiority and supremacy, racism, classism, homophobia, intolerance of other faiths, misogyny and other hateful intolerances are born of a hubris in believing falsely that some are better than and/or more blessed and favored than others by God.
In Empire, the few have most and the many have little - wealth, power and status.
In Empire, the few conspire with one another to benefit themselves and those just like them at the
expense of everyone else.
In Empire, the few control the systems and institutions designed to keep themselves in power and
wealth.
In Empire, the few pit the many against each other for crumbs (based on race, ethnicity, nation of
origin, religion, orientation, etc., etc.) and work to convince them that this is a natural and
necessary (normal) way for the world to be.
In Empire, the eventual and consequential destruction of everyone is acceptable to the elites in
control as long as in the present they can get more wealth, power and status for themselves.
It was true under Rome. It is true under the U.S. now.
The control we have wielded in the world through the toppling of governments and propping up dictators in their place, the exploitation of the World Trade Organization to benefit our corporations at the expense of whole nations and to get our citizens cheap goods on the backs of others across the world, our influence with the World Bank and other insidious and un-democratic practices has brought others around the world to hardship for our benefit. Within the nation, we have done the same to the middle class and poor, destroying any hope they might have for a future of sustainable economic security for the sake of quick, ill-gotten profit for the 1% of our nation. We do this while claiming that we love Democracy, truth and justice... which are NO LONGER part of the American Way.
The Good News?
There are voices, often ignored or discredited but constant, who continue to resist empire.
Dr. King was a pastor who loved the Good News of Jesus as a better way for the world.
Before him was Rev. Vernon Johns.
Dr. James Cone, Dr. Cornell West, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Rev. Al Sharpton and others...
There have been countless women, clergy and lay, who have been voices for the Good News of
Justice.
Some women and men who consistently preach, teach, write and demonstrate the Good News of Jesus in the face of empire are not famous or even known to most of us, but they are out there.
The thing is, what is considered normative in our society is heaped in empire.
The voices of the prophets of God are silenced by what most consider "normal" here, especially since 1981 when the Desolating Sacrilege of the Religious "right" and Political "right" got in bed together and created the movement that has been moving us wholesale into Oligarchy and recently into a Fascist Oligarchy.
Even the victims of empire consider this "just the way it is", many of whom cannot be bothered to vote or speak out against the injustices perpetrated on others, out of fear that they might lose some of their crumbs (nice cars, 800 channels, TV in every room, a few designer clothes and such), as if the things define them as human beings. They have bought into the acquisition of wealth, power and status as normative and even "godly" for life. Some believe they have "made it" and they turn their backs on those who struggle to survive, even blaming the victims for their plight, rather than the system that has created such inequalities and inequities. It may be normative here and now, but it is not the value taught, commanded and modeled by Jesus. And it may be "godly", just not of the God of Jesus the Christ.
The Good News in the face of Empire is your choice.
You can give lip service to Jesus and give your devotion to these other gods (greed, power, status) or you can learn what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled and live it in the world here and now.
You can buy into empire, ignoring the ways it unjustly hurts so many in the hopes that you might somehow benefit from it, or you can resist empire and not participate in it, even fight it at every turn for the sake of all humanity.
You can join your voice to the voices of those who value empire,
or you can let your voice be heard with the voices of those who value the Good News of Jesus.
You cannot serve two masters according to Jesus.
Choose this day who you will serve, either the gods of the past generation(s) or the God of Jesus, the Christ. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Pastor Jamie
As I have written before, it had its birth in European conquests, and further development through the Law of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, American Civil Religion and American "Exceptionalism".
It is based on principles that run contrary to the central teachings of Jesus, though many who promote Empire here claim the name of Jesus. Their Greed, Lust for Power and Desire for Status fly in the face of what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for His followers during the Roman Empire injustices, oppression and occupation of His homeland.
The bigotry, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, false superiority and supremacy, racism, classism, homophobia, intolerance of other faiths, misogyny and other hateful intolerances are born of a hubris in believing falsely that some are better than and/or more blessed and favored than others by God.
In Empire, the few have most and the many have little - wealth, power and status.
In Empire, the few conspire with one another to benefit themselves and those just like them at the
expense of everyone else.
In Empire, the few control the systems and institutions designed to keep themselves in power and
wealth.
In Empire, the few pit the many against each other for crumbs (based on race, ethnicity, nation of
origin, religion, orientation, etc., etc.) and work to convince them that this is a natural and
necessary (normal) way for the world to be.
In Empire, the eventual and consequential destruction of everyone is acceptable to the elites in
control as long as in the present they can get more wealth, power and status for themselves.
It was true under Rome. It is true under the U.S. now.
The control we have wielded in the world through the toppling of governments and propping up dictators in their place, the exploitation of the World Trade Organization to benefit our corporations at the expense of whole nations and to get our citizens cheap goods on the backs of others across the world, our influence with the World Bank and other insidious and un-democratic practices has brought others around the world to hardship for our benefit. Within the nation, we have done the same to the middle class and poor, destroying any hope they might have for a future of sustainable economic security for the sake of quick, ill-gotten profit for the 1% of our nation. We do this while claiming that we love Democracy, truth and justice... which are NO LONGER part of the American Way.
The Good News?
There are voices, often ignored or discredited but constant, who continue to resist empire.
Dr. King was a pastor who loved the Good News of Jesus as a better way for the world.
Before him was Rev. Vernon Johns.
Dr. James Cone, Dr. Cornell West, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Rev. Al Sharpton and others...
There have been countless women, clergy and lay, who have been voices for the Good News of
Justice.
Some women and men who consistently preach, teach, write and demonstrate the Good News of Jesus in the face of empire are not famous or even known to most of us, but they are out there.
The thing is, what is considered normative in our society is heaped in empire.
The voices of the prophets of God are silenced by what most consider "normal" here, especially since 1981 when the Desolating Sacrilege of the Religious "right" and Political "right" got in bed together and created the movement that has been moving us wholesale into Oligarchy and recently into a Fascist Oligarchy.
Even the victims of empire consider this "just the way it is", many of whom cannot be bothered to vote or speak out against the injustices perpetrated on others, out of fear that they might lose some of their crumbs (nice cars, 800 channels, TV in every room, a few designer clothes and such), as if the things define them as human beings. They have bought into the acquisition of wealth, power and status as normative and even "godly" for life. Some believe they have "made it" and they turn their backs on those who struggle to survive, even blaming the victims for their plight, rather than the system that has created such inequalities and inequities. It may be normative here and now, but it is not the value taught, commanded and modeled by Jesus. And it may be "godly", just not of the God of Jesus the Christ.
The Good News in the face of Empire is your choice.
You can give lip service to Jesus and give your devotion to these other gods (greed, power, status) or you can learn what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled and live it in the world here and now.
You can buy into empire, ignoring the ways it unjustly hurts so many in the hopes that you might somehow benefit from it, or you can resist empire and not participate in it, even fight it at every turn for the sake of all humanity.
You can join your voice to the voices of those who value empire,
or you can let your voice be heard with the voices of those who value the Good News of Jesus.
You cannot serve two masters according to Jesus.
Choose this day who you will serve, either the gods of the past generation(s) or the God of Jesus, the Christ. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, January 7, 2018
An Epiphany...
Perhaps the light has come on for you of late.
Perhaps as one who has walked in darkness, you have seen the light.
Perhaps the light has not quite dawned on you yet, or perhaps it is still a dim flicker.
Perhaps you are so accustomed to the darkness that you have embraced it, rather than the light.
The light leads to Good News for ALL the nations and peoples, as God is the God of all nations and peoples.
The light shines in the darkness so that the darkness cannot overcome it.
The light is life with God in Christ Jesus - the truth that shines for ALL to see.
The light is our hope, that it will lead us out of the darkness and bring Good News to all nations.
The darkness seems deep and dire.
It has grown like a shadow over our land and the world.
It threatens to bring all into darkness and keep us there for a long time, even to the end.
The darkness is empire, the values of empire, the lies of empire and the destruction that empire brings.
The darkness is the greed, hatred, lust for power and desire for status that drives those few who benefit from empire, to stay on top of the rest of the world. That is the darkness.
And those who profess to follow the Christ of Light and Grace, Truth and Good News - those who have claimed the name of Jesus who taught, commanded and modeled Agape Love as HIS WAY for those who would follow Him to live - those who use the word "Christian" to describe themselves -
have bought into the darkness, grown accustomed to it and the small perks they get from it, while the rest of God's children languish.
Some benefit directly, like the Prosperity Preachers, who promise that with your last ten dollars in the plate God will bless you necessarily with monetary returns. The politicians who claim the name long enough to get into office and then do everything counter to the teachings, commands and examples of Jesus in how they govern. The business folk who call themselves "Christians" and sit their asses in the pews or theater seats, breath in the sanctuary air and offer worship, praise and tithes while devising ways to take away widow's houses so that they can get more wealth for themselves. They attempt to give lip service to Jesus while living empire values. They are the darkness and feed the darkness, along with those who out of desperation, greed or hatred follow them and keep them in power and wealth.
And the rest of us.
Some of us stick our heads in the sand, practicing SPIRITUAL ESCAPISM so that we can ignore the unpleasant realities of those who have been exploited and victimized by empire around us.
Some of us pray for God's intervention while doing nothing and saying nothing about the causes of the circumstances and ideologies that have created suffering for God's children, thus embracing a SUPERNATURAL RESCUISM regarding the environment and political/economic injustice.
Some have become RADICAL CHRISTIANISTS, being more militant in their embrace of a fundamentalist belief system that is designed to divide and conquer - an ecclesiastic expression of empire, which they hope will benefit them, personally. They are wannabes.
Some have embraced SELF IDOLATRY based on achieving their own purity and/or holiness, holding tight to a belief in earned/merited self-righteousness, rather than in faith relying on Christ's Grace and in faith living the Agape Love that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us.
Many have bought in (hook, line and sinker) to American Civil Religion, with its roots in the Law of Discovery and Manifest Destiny of past errant generations and solidly centered in a belief of God's favor and blessings for some above others, our "exceptionalism" and inherent right to exploit, victimize or destroy whoever we want for our own benefit, with God's blessings.
To be clear - very clear - these are not followers of Jesus the Christ.
To follow Jesus the Christ means to go where Jesus the Christ went, to do as Jesus the Christ did, to teach and live what Jesus the Christ taught and lived. It means that we live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as we have that in the Gospels - the Good News.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace that we live in the light and expel the darkness of empire.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace that we are faithful to the one who saved us, by being faithful to those who God loves.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace as Good News that we are a light to all the nations and a witness to the one who is Love.
In this darkness, we NEED an Epiphany.
In this darkness, we need to give ourselves to the Christ and dedicate ourselves to following what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in Agape Love and Grace.
Jesus is the one with whom God is well pleased, the beloved son.
To please God, we who claim the name must follow the Christ - we must live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in Agape Love and Grace.
We need an Epiphany. Here and Now.
Pastor Jamie
Perhaps as one who has walked in darkness, you have seen the light.
Perhaps the light has not quite dawned on you yet, or perhaps it is still a dim flicker.
Perhaps you are so accustomed to the darkness that you have embraced it, rather than the light.
The light leads to Good News for ALL the nations and peoples, as God is the God of all nations and peoples.
The light shines in the darkness so that the darkness cannot overcome it.
The light is life with God in Christ Jesus - the truth that shines for ALL to see.
The light is our hope, that it will lead us out of the darkness and bring Good News to all nations.
The darkness seems deep and dire.
It has grown like a shadow over our land and the world.
It threatens to bring all into darkness and keep us there for a long time, even to the end.
The darkness is empire, the values of empire, the lies of empire and the destruction that empire brings.
The darkness is the greed, hatred, lust for power and desire for status that drives those few who benefit from empire, to stay on top of the rest of the world. That is the darkness.
And those who profess to follow the Christ of Light and Grace, Truth and Good News - those who have claimed the name of Jesus who taught, commanded and modeled Agape Love as HIS WAY for those who would follow Him to live - those who use the word "Christian" to describe themselves -
have bought into the darkness, grown accustomed to it and the small perks they get from it, while the rest of God's children languish.
Some benefit directly, like the Prosperity Preachers, who promise that with your last ten dollars in the plate God will bless you necessarily with monetary returns. The politicians who claim the name long enough to get into office and then do everything counter to the teachings, commands and examples of Jesus in how they govern. The business folk who call themselves "Christians" and sit their asses in the pews or theater seats, breath in the sanctuary air and offer worship, praise and tithes while devising ways to take away widow's houses so that they can get more wealth for themselves. They attempt to give lip service to Jesus while living empire values. They are the darkness and feed the darkness, along with those who out of desperation, greed or hatred follow them and keep them in power and wealth.
And the rest of us.
Some of us stick our heads in the sand, practicing SPIRITUAL ESCAPISM so that we can ignore the unpleasant realities of those who have been exploited and victimized by empire around us.
Some of us pray for God's intervention while doing nothing and saying nothing about the causes of the circumstances and ideologies that have created suffering for God's children, thus embracing a SUPERNATURAL RESCUISM regarding the environment and political/economic injustice.
Some have become RADICAL CHRISTIANISTS, being more militant in their embrace of a fundamentalist belief system that is designed to divide and conquer - an ecclesiastic expression of empire, which they hope will benefit them, personally. They are wannabes.
Some have embraced SELF IDOLATRY based on achieving their own purity and/or holiness, holding tight to a belief in earned/merited self-righteousness, rather than in faith relying on Christ's Grace and in faith living the Agape Love that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us.
Many have bought in (hook, line and sinker) to American Civil Religion, with its roots in the Law of Discovery and Manifest Destiny of past errant generations and solidly centered in a belief of God's favor and blessings for some above others, our "exceptionalism" and inherent right to exploit, victimize or destroy whoever we want for our own benefit, with God's blessings.
To be clear - very clear - these are not followers of Jesus the Christ.
To follow Jesus the Christ means to go where Jesus the Christ went, to do as Jesus the Christ did, to teach and live what Jesus the Christ taught and lived. It means that we live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as we have that in the Gospels - the Good News.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace that we live in the light and expel the darkness of empire.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace that we are faithful to the one who saved us, by being faithful to those who God loves.
It is in the living of Agape Love and Grace as Good News that we are a light to all the nations and a witness to the one who is Love.
In this darkness, we NEED an Epiphany.
In this darkness, we need to give ourselves to the Christ and dedicate ourselves to following what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in Agape Love and Grace.
Jesus is the one with whom God is well pleased, the beloved son.
To please God, we who claim the name must follow the Christ - we must live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in Agape Love and Grace.
We need an Epiphany. Here and Now.
Pastor Jamie
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