Relevance...

Does the Good News of Jesus have any relevance in our lives here and now?
Is the Gospel just about "pie in sky when we die", or is it illuminating and authoritative in guiding how God wants us to live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now?
Do Kingdom Values apply to life here and now?
Does what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for His followers, as we have those in the Gospels, speak to us on how God wants us to live as children of God here and now?


Relevance is in the eye of the beholder.  I remember Jim Wallis at a SCUPE Conference (Seminary Consortium on Urban Pastoral Education) talking about his Bible full of holes, left from a Seminary project of literally cutting out passages on the Poor and Oppressed to put on a poster board... he said that what was left, a swiss cheese looking thing, is America's Bible because we don't want to look at those things relative to our faith.  We all know that folk "cherry pick" their favorite passages to "prove" their ideologies, while ignoring scores of others that challenge those ideologies.  Is what is truly relevant only what we WANT to be relevant?  Can we ignore the rest and be right with God or our Neighbor(s)?


At the risk of some personal "cherry picking" of my own, there are two passages that strike me regarding relevance to how we live in the world in light of Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom.  Both come from the same Gospel, so they have the same writer who worked from a singular context in which the Gospel was shared and to which the Gospel addressed life with God.


Matthew 20:1-16 has long been used to talk about Grace in the Kingdom.  I believe that it is a fine example of that.  But is it Grace solely relative to getting into the Kingdom of God or is it a picture of Grace expectations of God in how we live in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now?  If Grace is a Kingdom value, is it not supposed to be valued by those in the Kingdom here AND there?  Do we wait to value Kingdom Grace when we get into heaven only, or is there value for its living here and now?  What does God want from us? 


It is here that I must interject that I believe the propensity for much of the church that claims Jesus to reduce our faith to concern only for our personal salvation through Worship, Praise, Tithes and verbally claiming Jesus as personal Savior has challenged the relevance of the Gospel in the world today.  I also believe that those who superimpose their beliefs of personal purity and holiness to concerns regarding salvation as if they are the only concern, have further challenged its relevance for us.  These works are not Grace.  Personal salvation, I contend, is not an issue for those who are faithful to Jesus as Lord.  So, what does being faithful mean?


I believe it means what Jesus is witnessed as sharing that it means - abiding in His Word, living His commandments, following Jesus.  The Gospel IS Jesus' fulfillment of The Law and Prophets.  Living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as Lord and Savior IS faithfulness to God.  We live in the Kingdom here and now.  We are called to follow Jesus, what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, here and now.


So when the Landowner (God), goes out into the vineyard to hire laborers at 6am, and then goes again at 9am, Noon, 3pm and 5pm - it is pure Grace.  These are the day laborers who have not been chosen to work for the day and are in danger of not having the daily subsistance pay to feed their families for the day.  The landowner seeks to help out unhirable laborers, for their sake.
And when the Landowner then pays those who came later the daily subsistance wage so that they can feed their families, just like the ones who worked 12 hours, it is because they needed it, though they had not "earned" it.  That is pure Grace.  That is what is valued in the Kingdom of God.


If a Company Owner or CEO follows Jesus, would they not do what Jesus taught is the Kingdom value thing to do?  Would they not hire as many people as possible so that people have work?  Would they not pay them enough on which to live?  In fact, if we value this Kingdom of God Grace that Jesus taught, would we not take less willingly so that others would at least have enough on which to live (be generous like the Landowner)?  Would CEOs not take less than 300x what laborers make so that those laborers can have enough for their families?  Would stock holders not be willing to take fewer dividends because it means that others have what they need?  Yet, people in those positions, many of whom claim Christ Jesus as personal savior, ignore what Jesus taught as Lord.  Some of them claim it would be "socialism" or "communism" and that it flies in the face of American values for Capitalism.  But what does any of that have to do with what Jesus taught?  Is our first loyalty not to the Jesus who taught this?


Yes, you can "spiritualize" this passage and make it only relevant to getting into heaven, except for our second passage from the same Gospel.


In Jesus' vision of the Judgment (25:31-46), it is not those who Worship, Praise, Tithe or claim Jesus as personal Savior, or those who consider themselves (more) pure or holy who are the sheep separated for salvation vs. the goats, separated for "eternal punishment". 
According to Jesus, who IS the Judge as Lord and Savior - salvation is based on how we live Agape Love and Grace - how we took care of the most vulnerable or refused to take care of them here and now, in THIS PART of God's Kingdom.  In fact, Jesus likens our treatment of them to our treatment of Him.  Our salvation is based on how Gracious and Loving we are with:  the Hungry, thirsty, stranger in the land, naked, sick and imprisoned - the most vulnerable who are crushed by the injustices the world creates (in systems like Capitalism), as some take more than they need and leave others without food, clothing, welcoming inclusion in the community, healthcare and justice.  There is little room to "spiritualize" this, so we cut it out of our Bibles, or at least out of the relevance of our faith.


And yes, this may be seen as a works instead of Grace orientation for our faith.  Or it may be seen as obedience in faith to the living of it as it is defined by Jesus.  James 2:14-26 (in fact all of chapter 2)comes to mind. 


For me, Jesus is the fulfiller of the Law and Prophets, Savior and Lord of my life.  Jesus taught, commanded and modeled Kingdom of God Values, and at their center are Agape Love and the living of it, and Grace.  These Kingdom Values are meant to be lived HERE AND NOW, in THIS PART of God's Kingdom.  I do not concern myself with heaven, but rather with living faithfully to the Good News vision of what God values in the Kingdom.  God takes care of salvation.  I must focus my life on living the Agape Love and Grace that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for me.


How is it for you?  Do you try to make Jesus relevant only as personal Savior for getting into heaven, and not Lord of how you live your life?  Do you have a Swiss Cheese Bible that cuts out the parts you don't like or that don't fit into your American Civil Religion ideology, hoping that other works will still qualify you for heaven?  Or do you strive to be faithful to God by being faithful to what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in His Good News?


Relevant or Irrelevant?  Sheep or Goat?  We are children of God and rely upon God's Grace.  We are ALL children of God and rely upon God's Grace being lived among us, here and now.


God loves you and not only you.  God loves those who are in need and those considered strangers or enemies.  Our faithfulness to Loving God is expressed in how we Love (Agape) Neighbor as self. *


Pastor Jamie


*For further understanding of what Agape Love is, please read Luke 10:25-37.  It has been central for me (along with Matthew 25:31-46) in defining Agape Love as active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable.