Matthew 22:34-46 is the lectionary text for Sunday, October 25th.
It was 1980 when I started being politically minded. Jimmy Carter was running for his second term and had faced a lot of hardships as President. He was a good, decent and truly generously loving man. He was genuine in his love for country and humanity. He was being bashed by the Reagan campaign over gas shortages, Iran hostages and other recession-oriented issues. It was a volatile time, and Reagan and his cronies threw fuel on the flames in order to get elected. I was completely unaware, as were most Americans, that Reagan had promised arms to Iran in exchange for a delay in the freeing of the hostages, denying Carter the fruits of his diligent labors and thus a second term. On his inauguration day, being a dramatic actor (OK, having played co-star to a chimp for a few movies), Reagan stole the election at the expense of the hostages and the truth, for dramatic effect. After that, Reagan changed government toward oligarchy by appointing agency and ministry heads who represented corporations. The age of blatant empire values in America had come. Greed was good, lust for Power was justified and desire for Status was lifted up as the new, normal American values. He claimed to love America through his hokey, grandfatherly and wholesome veneer. He was anything but genuine.
I also had no idea that Jerry Falwell and the "moral majority", with their emphasis on purity and holiness, did not form out of a deep love for all life as sacred (mostly fetal life) and thus in opposition to abortion, but out of a desire to keep their schools segregated. They claimed morality, but behind the scenes worked on the values of very immoral racism, homophobia and misogyny. They claimed morality, but worked to further the immorality of greed, hatred and intolerance, lust for power over others and desire for status above others. They were anything but genuine.
I call it our Desolating Sacrilege, when the political and religious "right" conspired to have power over the people, impose their will and ways on the people and destroy Christianity in America along with her Democracy. Clearly they were successful, partly due to the intentional, systematic and sustained efforts of Newt Gingrich, the Bush's, Limbaugh, Beck, Pat Robertson and others.
It was during this time that this passage from Matthew 22 took on new meaning for me, partly because I heard it mentioned by Carter in the context of our society and our relationship with others in the world, and partly because I saw it being LIVED by Carter in government, and the striving to live it in economics as a faithful way to live in Jesus. I started applying Agape Love to every aspect of life, even before my "born from above" experience in 1995. I have grieved the loss of sanity, morality, civility, justice, equity, inclusivity, equality in increments since then. I have grown in the conviction that Agape Love and Grace are the imperatives God gives us for the living of these days in this part of the Kingdom, here and now.
The legalists will look for loopholes in the law (see Luke's version in 10:25-37). Fundamentalists do that. They will find exceptions for themselves in morality while abusing others for a perceived lack thereof within them. The Temple Cult Leaders of Jesus' time were like that. Jesus addressed it often. Claiming (self) righteousness, they do not follow Jesus, Jesus' teachings, commands or examples, and do not therefore walk in Jesus' Way.
We are currently in a national, moral, ecclesiastical, political, economic and pandemic crisis because of their steady work since 1981. We live under empire values and practice American Civil Religion instead of Democracy or Christianity, because of their intentional, systematic and sustained efforts. Their unfaithful devotion to the unholy trinity of greed, lust for power and desire for status has driven them to strive for a fascist oligarchy disguised as American-style Theocracy. It is not faithful to Jesus.
If we want to follow Jesus, we must love God with Agape Love - active commitment on behalf of the other. We must love God for God's sake, actively committing our lives to pleasing and obeying God, as we have been shown by the Jesus of the Gospels, who has all authority in our lives as children of God.
If we want to follow Jesus, we must love Neighbor as we love ourselves with Agape Love. We must actively commit to the well-being, completeness and wholeness (Shalom) of our Neighbor, who Jesus defines as stranger, enemy and the most vulnerable among us (again, see Luke 10). Loving Neighbor as self means that we no more want harm or lack to come to neighbor than we want that for ourselves - that we in fact want Shalom for our Neighbor as much as we want that for ourselves. Jesus taught this. Jesus commanded this. Jesus modeled this. If we are to be followers of Jesus, we must live this.
The time for lip service, for serving two masters, for duplicitous words and practices is over if we want to survive. Not all who claim the name are faithful followers of Jesus. American Civil Religion is not Christianity. The "moral majority" was not a majority in America and was certainly not based on any morality that resembled what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us. The religious right is wrong. The political right is wrong. If Jesus is Lord of your life, then living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in how to live in this part of God's Kingdom here and now is the only faithful way.
It's all about Love, genuine Love, Agape Love. Period.
Incidentally, Jimmy Carter is still living his faith and citizenship in truly genuinely (Agape) loving ways. I wonder how life would be different for us now had he not been cheated out of a second term.
Pastor Jamie
No comments:
Post a Comment