Go, with God.

 

Matthew 9:35 – 10:23

 Under empire, the people were occupied and oppressed.  That is the context of the Gospels.  Rome was especially vicious and brutal in their tactics, relentless in taking all that people had for the sake of their elites and to further their military might and everything was based on one’s status over others.  Nothing was done for another without some quid pro quo arrangement.

 Jesus brought Good News into this dire situation that had already lasted for way too long (from 63 BCE), and would last for another three centuries (to 313 CE).  Under empire, the people were exploited, victimized and de-humanized.  Jesus’ Good News proclaimed their value in the Kingdom of God, called them to resist the ways of empire in how they lived and treated one another, and commanded them to live selfless agaph in order to restore lives that were being destroyed under empire. 

 That Good News of Jesus addresses empire still today.  The Greed, lust for Power over others and desire for Status above others that marked empires in the ancient world, still mark empire in the modern one.  The hatred that comes from dividing people economically, racially, educationally, socially and spiritually is the same. 

 Our own version started long ago, but was intentionally birthed with the Desolating Sacrilege of the Political right-wing getting in bed with the Religious right-wing in America.  In 1981, Reagan and Falwell intentionally launched a period of normalized empire values that have grown and flourished to bring us to a devastating place in our own land.  From that union, the level of political corruption perpetrated by those on the radical political “right” and the level of collusion and cooperation by those on the radical religious “right” have reversed any progress made as a nation toward a better Democracy, a healthier economy for all, a sustainable environment and the possibilities for well-being for large segments of our people, God’s people here.

 American Civil Religion, in which an exclusive love for nation is claimed not only by Christian nationalists, but projected also onto Jesus, was born.  The equation of love for God and THIS country has warped the minds and hearts of many Christians in America.  False Theologies around Prosperity, Church Growth, Personal Salvation and extensions of false beliefs stemming from the Doctrine of Discovery and Manifest Destiny have fueled divisions and the exploitation, abuse and de-humanization of many in our nation and across the world.  Racism, Homophobia and Religious bigotry are expressions natural to that descent into false teachings. 

 In more recent years, the rise in White Christian Nationalism has been an extension of this as well, fueled by the emboldened fascist bigots who have had their false victimization narrative legitimized by politicians on the “right.”  Because of this, civil rights laws, the acceptance of equal rights for minority peoples of color, sexuality, religion and ideology have been wiped out and replaced with intolerant behaviors, words, actions and laws across the country and around the world.

 In order for this to happen, some people have had to re-create Jesus in their own hateful, ignorant image.  The Jesus of the Gospels is hardly recognizable.  Churches and pastors have twisted the Gospel or ignored it all together in order to create this cult of true believers in the idolatry of America.  Much of the Christian church has been assimilated into this idolatry.  They had “itching ears” to hear what they wanted to hear, that their greed, lust for power over others, desire for status above others and hatreds are justified.  They have been “blown about by every wind of doctrine,” except the Good News of Jesus, landing on what has promoted their destruction of others’ lives.  There are some who are faithful to the Way of Jesus, but many who have not been indoctrinated into America’s idolatry have left the church altogether because of the ignorant, hateful things they see and hear coming out of it. 

These are the ones to whom Jesus referred as “sheep without a shepherd.”  Jesus had compassion on them in His time of life under empire, and we who follow Jesus must have compassion on them now.  They are still “harassed and helpless.”   The harvest is plentiful because so many have either wandered to their false gods or have walked away from the real Jesus and His Way for the world.  The laborers are few because people are struggling to even see the real Good News of agaph apart from empire, and when they do, they are harassed and beaten down by the idolators around them for following Jesus’ Way.

 It is this environment that, again like in the First Century CE, we are sent out “as sheep among wolves.”  We who follow the Way of Jesus in the world and resist the ways of empire, are sent to address empire with Jesus’ Good News and restore the lives of those who have been demoralized by empire.  We are called to call out the false teachings and teachers with their embedded theologies of personal salvation, prosperity and church growth and/or American Civil Religion/White Christian Nationalism.  We are called to speak truth to the powers and principalities that again have taken control over God’s children and have destroyed their lives.  We are called out (ekklesia) to live differently from empire, the Way of Jesus’ agaph, and thus transform the world by transforming lives, communities and the church.

 In order to do that, we must “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”  We must understand the dynamics of empire and how it works, resist it in very wise and impactful ways.  We also must make our motives pure, so that we do not do what we do in order to be the ones on top in a system that is corrupt, oppressive and unsustainable for the world, but rather to change the whole system – politically, economically, socially and spiritually in order to be in alignment with God’s Kingdom values as we have those in the Good News of agaph in Jesus.  We must live selflessly, generously, equally with others and create the beloved community in which all are treated with equity and value in love. 

 We will be persecuted, betrayed and hated, but we must persist.  We must endure to the end.  This must be our Way of life, the Way of Jesus.  We must put it out there in the world, in the face of the purveyors of empire and in the lives of those who have suffered under it.  We must be diligent in our resistance to it and continue to live the Good News of agaph until the Son of Humanity comes.

 If we do not do this, then we are among the “sheep without a shepherd,” because we have refused to follow Jesus.  Go, with God.

What does God desire of us?

 Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

 Jesus included a Tax Collector, someone hated by the people because the tax collectors were most often Israelites who worked for the Romans, and who routinely charged more than due and took the difference for themselves.

 Jesus sat and ate with people who were known to be “sinners.”  This defined by the Pharisees of Jesus’ time could have meant any number of folks who committed real or imaginary sins and were looked upon with disdain by the public.

 When the Pharisees criticized Jesus for associating with these marginalized folk, Jesus addressed them with a quote from Hosea 6:6, the context of which was God’s desire for covenantal loyalty, but willingness only to temporarily punish the people because of God’s HESED (steadfast love).  “I desire mercy (eleos here substituted for Hesed – steadfast love) and not qusian (sin offering or sacrifice).

 Jesus then showed mercy to a synagogue leader by raising his daughter, and compassionate mercy on a woman considered unclean by the Law of Moses for many years.  Jesus included in His presence and in His agaph and Grace those who were often excluded by those who claimed to be faithful people of God.

 In this same Gospel (12:7), in the context of the Pharisees criticizing Jesus’ disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath because they were hungry and thus breaking Sabbath laws, Jesus utters the same quote as witnessed.  He referred to those accused by the Pharisees as “guiltless.”

 God desires less punitive treatment of people for every “sin,” and instead wants us to treat one another with mercy, compassion, clemency or even pity.  Why?  Because associating with the marginalized and getting food when hungry are not sins against God or against Neighbor.  No one is betrayed or hurt by this.  And there is another reason – God is merciful with us, abounding in Hesed.  We, as recipients of this Grace are commanded to share the same with one another and not pretend ourselves to be righteous so that we can foster a false sense of superiority in order to hurt others.  That is never justified behavior under the Law of Grace and agaph.

 We are either people of Grace, as both beneficiaries and benefactors of it, or we are not.  We cannot receive Grace, then refuse it to others and hope to be right with the God of Grace.  We are either people of agaph, as both recipients and actors of it, or we are not.  We cannot receive agaph, then refuse to live it with others and hope to be right with the God of agaph.

 The Pharisees believed themselves to be self-righteous and therefore above the need for Grace.  They had no value for it or the agaph Way of Jesus.  Jesus offered them lesson after lesson on how the Kingdom of God is centered on the living of agaph and Grace, but they could not develop a value for it, and certainly could not bring themselves to live it in the world.

 It is all about love.  It is all about valuing human beings equally.  It is all about putting the children of God above laws, pieties, protocols or judgment.  It is about putting our value for people above personal profit, power or prestige.

 Jesus, who found value in tax collectors and sinners, foreigners, non-Jews, women, eunuchs, Centurions and even corrupt religious leaders and rich people, gave Kingdom lessons, healing and inclusion to all of them.  This Jesus called out those who judged others out of a false sense of self-righteousness, but did it out of love for them so that they might repent (metanoia- change their thinking so that their behaviors, words and actions might change), and be right with God.

 We who follow Jesus might be more concerned about being faithful in love for God and Neighbor than we are about appearing to be holy, pure, or righteous.  We might be more concerned about Hesed, mercy, compassion, empathy and kindness, rather than punitive treatment of others to make ourselves feel and appear to be better than them.  The living of agaph and Grace with those who are no better or worse than ourselves is faithfulness to God.

 As God is steadfast in love for us, so we are commanded to be with one another.  As God includes those who are exploited, marginalized, excluded, disenfranchised and hated in the world, so are we commanded to include them out of agaph and Grace. 

Our Mission is Clear

 

Matthew 28:16-20

 “As you are going…”

    As they were out there living their lives under empire, their mission was going into the world in a different way.  They had learned about the Kingdom of God, God’s Will and how it was fulfilled in Jesus’ Way of agaph. Their lives were changed by it.  They changed the lives of others through healing and sharing Good News.  Now, Jesus was sending them out into the world of empire to continue to shed the light of the Kingdom of God on it, expose it for the evil it is and lead people to live differently in resistance to it. 

 “Disciple all nations…”

   As Jesus had called them, taught them, commanded them, guided them, lived with them and loved them, so they are to disciple all people.  As they followed Jesus, so others were to come to follow, not them, but Jesus.  As they were transformed by the Good News of agaph, so they were now given the imperative to bring other student followers who would learn the way of the Kingdom, Jesus’ Way, and transform the world through the living of that love. 

 “Baptizing…”

  Including.  It is about inclusion.  They were to include others, people of all nations, diverse peoples into the body of Christ.  They were not to discriminate or exclude.  Baptism is about inclusion and belonging, not just to Christ Jesus, but also to one another.  It is inclusion into a movement of agaph addressing the darkness of empire with its light, and about transforming the world to see that Jesus’ Way is God’s Way, a better and more sustainable way for all people to live, belonging to one another and thus, as a body to God.  There is no message about individualism here, personal salvation or “me and Jesus.”  It is about inclusion and belonging in the body of Christ together, regardless of differences.

 “Teaching…”

   By example.  They were taught by Jesus.  Jesus used teaching statements while addressing the evils of empire before them.  Jesus used imperatives to command that they do or not do, according to the Law of Love.  Jesus used parables to teach about how the Kingdom is different from empire.  Jesus taught by example as He modeled the agaph of which He spoke and which was at the center of His message.  Jesus acted.  Jesus did not just sit and talk or offer thoughts and prayers alone.  Jesus addressed the evils all around and acted to counter the devastating effects of those evils, while teaching people how to live differently and be there for one another, resist empire and usher in the Kingdom of God. 

 “obey/recognize…”

  Imperatives were given.  They were commanded.  Do not judge.  Forgive.  Love God and Love Neighbor.  Give them something to eat.  Heal them, share the Good News with them.  Do not live as the purveyors of empire live or adopt their values.  Do not imitate those in power, with wealth or those with great status.  Be humble, give of yourself to others and share power so that all have agency in their lives. 

 “everything that I have commanded you…”

  All authority had been given to Him, so Jesus OWNED the commandments.  His fulfillment of Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 took on very active, direct applications in repairing the world of empire to be reflective of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus made agaph THE COMMANDMENT.  We are to actively commit our words and actions to the well-being, completeness and wholeness of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable among us. 

 This is OUR mission in the world.  Empire still exists, in America.  People are still suffering under it.  The Good News of Jesus is living Word because it addresses this.  It is relevant because it offers Jesus’ Way of Life as an alternative to the way of empire, which leads to destruction and death.

 As YOU are going along in life, teach by example the Way of Jesus in the living of agaph, including everyone without judgment, and making sure they know they belong to Christ within the Body.  Recognize and obey what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as examples of agaph, everything that Jesus commanded as we have witness in the Gospels.  

And remember, Jesus is WITH US to the end of the age.  That is meant to represent both comfort and accountability to us.

All about the Word

 Acts 2:1-21

Tbere were adult male Jews from all over the world in Jerusalem because of Shavuot, which happens on Pentecost (50 days from the first day of Passover) and is one of three pilgrimage obligations for adult Jewish males.  Shavuot is the remembrance of God giving the Torah to Moses, one of the central events that mark the identity of God's people.

We all need a code.  Jesus offered His Good News of Agape Love as a code for living in God's Kingdom, even under empire.  The Torah code of loving God and loving Neighbor as self is fulfilled in Jesus' great commandment of the same, but with Agape Love.  If you have read anything of mine in the past twenty-three years, you know what Agape is.

So, the Holy Spirit joins the observance in very apparent ways, and the miracle is that whatever language is uttered, they all understood what was being said.  It is all about the Word and the importance of knowing it and applying it to how we live in God's Kingdom here and now.  That is why Paul would later write about speaking in tongues only being valid if there is an interpreter present.  It is not a show.  It is not a litmus test for one's faith.  It is about communication.  It is about God's Will being communicated to us so that we will live it.

What I know about the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit is advocate on our behalf in faith.  There is a certain accountability in that with the comfort in it.

I know that the Holy Spirit is guiding us, pointing us, driving us to the Agape of Jesus, always.  It is not about some pietistic practices or superficial measures of devotion, but about the application of committed action on behalf of stranger, enemy and the most vulnerable among us, that they may have Shalom (completeness, wholeness and well-being).  

I know that the Holy Spirit of God is relentless, whispering in our ear, the nagging feeling, the inspired thought, the peace that we cannot explain and the driving us always to The Christ and His message of Agape as the central principle and value of our lives.  Conscience, dedication, intuition, inspiration, creativity, depth of thought and receptivity are all tools of the Holy Spirit in my life that drive me to the Way of Jesus, but the greatest of these is the relationship of those human capacities with the Word, the Gospel, the Good News of Agape Love that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us.

It is all about the Word - in John's terms, the Word made flesh - that we would be flesh made Word - and the Word is Agape Love.

But is it our prayer, too?

 

John 17:1-11

 Jesus had all but finished His mission on earth, in the flesh.  He asks the Father to be glorified in His work.  He advocates on behalf of humanity.  His final prayer is that we may be one, as Jesus and the Father are one.

 We live in a divided world.  This prayer for unity by Jesus came also in a time of deep divisions under empire.

We are divided by race, ethnicity, economic class, spiritual practice, gender, age, sexuality and by political ideology.  We have made division and divisiveness an artform.

 Has Jesus’ prayer fallen on deaf ears?  God’s deaf ears?  Our deaf ears?

 If we who claim to love Jesus and follow Jesus do not see the vital importance of this prayer for unity, then who will see it in the world?  If we turn a blind eye to this desire of Jesus, then who will perceive its importance and pursue it?

 The powers and principalities benefit from dividing us.  We are so used to be divided along the lines mentioned above that we now come to encounters with others looking at and for our differences, rather than our commonalities.  When we see those differences, we immediately perceive our personhood to be the superior and the other the inferior in the encounter, and then we try to prove it to everyone who will listen.  Thus, we do not see the other for who they are, value the other for who they are and we fail to understand that together, when unified, our differences are a source of strength in life.

 We have lost the art of hospitality.  We are not gracious hosts who go to great lengths to make those who join us to feel welcomed, seen and valued by experiencing them and their ways with receptivity and thankfulness for who they are as different persons from ourselves.  We are not gracious guests who experience our hosts for who they are in wonder and appreciation, expecting them not to conform to our ways, but rather to be themselves so that we may truly get to know them.  We have lost graciousness, receptivity, openness and appreciation for the other.

 Some who see people from other countries who are visiting here or who have moved here, and expect them to know English immediately and assimilate into American society.  They fail to remember that their ancestors were immigrants here, too, many of whom took a while to learn English and who lived in areas where they could be around people just like them, buy the foods that they were used to, hear the music that they were accustomed to hearing and speak and see written their native language.  Folks forget they we too were immigrants, unless we were brought here on slave ships or were displaced from our ancestral lands as the First nations here.  It is arrogant and ugly how we treat the strangers in our land that our Lord commands to welcome and for whom we are commanded to care.

 Some who go to other countries come back and complain that the people who live there did not bother to know English, in their own land, as if Americans are entitled to travel anywhere in the world and hear American English spoken to them.  Folks come back and complain that the food was different, the music different, the customs different and their accommodations different from America, in a foreign country.  Or what I consider to be worst of all – they go to nations and only eat at Applebees or Chilis or the Hard Rock Café, stay in American-style resorts and never see the real people who live there, experience their customs or sample their cuisine.  It is the height of arrogance and ugliness to me. 

 Unity takes effort.  Looking beyond our differences and starting at our commonalities helps.  Knowing with compassion and empathy that every human being has needs and has value, that every race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, occupation and spiritual practice is a gift to the whole of who we are together, is a must.  Seeing one another as sisters and brothers because we see one another as children of God is a necessity.  It is a necessity of our very survival in this world.  The only sustainable way in the world for humanity is NOT the way of intolerance, false superiority, abuse of power and greed that divide us now.  It is that we strive to fulfill the will of Jesus when He prayed that we should be one, even as He and the Father are one.

 We will never fulfill that prayer of Jesus until we live the agaph that Jesus commanded us to live.  Until we actively commit to the well-being of stranger, enemy and the most vulnerable in the world, we will never have the unity that Jesus craved and prayed for to the Father.  Until we let go of the greed, lust for power over others, desire for status above others and the hatreds that they breed, we will never be unified as is the Will of God for us.  Until we see others for who they are and value them for who they are, especially those different from us, we in the world together will never have the completeness, wholeness, well-being and Peace that is Shalom for all, which is the Will of God.

 Jesus prayed to the Father that we would be one, even as He and the Father are one.  Jesus answers our prayers.  Are we to be a hindrance to Jesus’ prayer being answered?  Are we as people who claim to love and follow Jesus, going to oppose the prayer of Jesus for unity?  Are we going to continue to turn a blind eye to the Will of God in Jesus, or are we going to come together in compassion and empathy, not in spite of our differences, but rather celebrating our differences and commonalities in Jesus’ name?

 When will Jesus’ prayer be our prayer and Jesus’ mission be our mission in the world as those who claim to love Jesus?

 

Well, this is significant.

 

John 14:15-24

 If you agapate me, said Jesus, you will keep MY commandments.  agaph, as in God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength.  If we love God with agaph - committed action on behalf of God – we will keep JESUS’ commandments.  Indeed, if we faithfully fulfill that commandment to agaph God, then we will keep Jesus’ commandments to agaph neighbor as self.

 Jesus OWNS the commandments.  They are HIS.  Loving God and loving Neighbor is what it is all about – life with God, faithfulness to God and faithfulness to Neighbor as self.  All else is commentary. 

 Jesus repeated this again, that the ones who have His commandments and keep them are those who agapwn Him.  He adds that they are the ones the Father will love.  Faithfulness to Jesus’ Way of agaph is faithfulness to God.

 Again, Jesus offered that those who agapa Him keep HIS WORD.  His Word is the Gospel of agaph. His Word is the Good News of life, life abundant and life forever in John’s Gospel.  If we keep His Word, Jesus and the Father will dwell with us. 

 Finally, if we do NOT agapwn Jesus, we will NOT keep HIS WORDS, words that have come from the Father.  Faithfulness to Jesus’ Way, Will and Word is faithfulness to the Father.

 There is no third way.  If we love Jesus we will live the agaph that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us to live. If we do not love Jesus, we will not.  If we make the living of agaph our way of life, we are faithful to God.  If we do not, we cannot be right with God.

 Jesus is the Lord of my life.  Jesus is my authority on how to live in this part of God’s Kingdom, here and now, faithful to God.  Jesus’ Way is my way.  The agaph taught, commanded and modeled by Jesus, as we have witness in the Gospels, is THE WAY to be faithful to God and Neighbor.  This is deeply personal to Jesus, and it is deeply personal to me.  All else is commentary.  Jesus did not say that we should Worship Him.  Jesus did not say that we should Praise Him.  Jesus did not say that we should Tithe Him.  Jesus did not say that we should defend Him or judge others on whether or not they profess His name.  Jesus commanded us to live agaph and to make disciples (student followers) of His Way of transforming the world in that agaph.

 So, you can choose to follow the IDOL Jesus of self-righteous judgment, American patriotism, prosperity, churchmanship and power, status and wealth above others that some have re-created in the image of empire, or you can get with the Jesus who wants us to actively commit our lives to the Shalom of all in the world through the living of His agaph.  These are two, VERY DIFFERENT propositions.  We must choose one to whom we will give our devotion.  With the one comes more of the same empire way that has attempted to own, control and destroy the world since the first empire.  With the other comes the Way of agaph which leads us to Tikkun Olam, the repair of the world by the transformation of lives, the church, communities and the world.

 God so loves the world to make this all about agaph in Jesus.  We are commanded to love the world AS love for God. We either will or we will not love Jesus by loving Neighbor as self. 

 

The Way

 

John 14:1-14

 God does not want our hearts to be troubled.  We are to believe in God’s love and grace, so that we trust God’s intention and promise that we be with God forever.  Collectively, WE are not to be troubled, for there are MANY rooms with God.

 Jesus was confident that we know the way.  Thomas did not know.  Jesus made it clear.  Jesus IS the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and gives the world salvation.  Jesus is the Way of Faithfulness to God through the living of agaph, which Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have witness in the Gospels.  Jesus is the Truth that LOVE transforms the world, even under empire, so that all of God’s children may have Shalom.  Jesus IS the Father to us.  Jesus reveals the Kingdom values that God has commanded from the beginning and that Rabbi Jesus fulfilled through the living of agaph with God and Neighbor.

 Jesus is the Way.  Though Philip did not understand, John’s Jesus points out how we are to believe in Him, if not for His Words, then for His actions.  agaph, after all, is committed ACTION on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable among us.  We are called to ACTION in transforming the world in love by living those Kingdom values in this part of God’s Kingdom, here and now.  That is faithfulness to the Father, as witnessed by the Son.

 Jesus also promised that we would do the works that He did and even greater ones.  Jesus taught us how to resist empire, how to take back power from empire and how to live in God’s Kingdom even under empire.  Jesus taught us how to transform individual lives, communities and the world through the living of agaph.  Jesus called His disciples to be apostles and put that love out in the world, and they did so.  The accounts in the book of ACTS bear testimony to their changing the world through radical love in radical inclusion, generosity, availability, advocacy and service.  They did incredible things while living in the movement of agaph that Jesus founded.  It was not until 312CE that empire subsumed the movement and made it an institution of empire.  Before that, the movement of agaph transformed lives, communities, the faith practices and much of the world.

 That can happen again.  It must happen again.  We who claim the name of Jesus must walk in His Way, for He IS the Way, the Truth and the Life.  His Grace through the redemptive act on the Cross has brought all people to the Father, given us access, for that is His Way.  When we understand that Jesus’ Way is the way to be faithful to God and Neighbor in love, we will know the Truth and lives, even life itself, will be changed for all of God’s children.  It will not happen through the church until the church makes Jesus’ Way its Way.  When the church stops making it all about serving itself as institution instead of the movement of love to transform the world, making it all about personal salvation instead of Shalom for the whole world, and making it all about prosperity, power and status – the values of empire – THEN the church will be instrumental in fulfilling the mission that Jesus has given her.  When we live in Jesus’ Way of agaph in the world, we will be faithful to God and we will know beloved community in the world.

 Jesus is the Way to repair the world.  Jesus’ agaph is the Truth that can save the world.  Jesus is the Life of all people, here and now in God’s Kingdom and for eternity with God.  No one else has or could do that.  We cannot know faithfulness to the Father but through the living of Jesus’ Way of agaph.