More musings on an alternative story.

What might an alternative story look like?

“The circus is among the few coherent images of the eschatological realm to which people still have ready access and ... the circus thereby affords some elementary insights into the idea of society as a consummate event. This principality, this art, this veritable liturgy, this common enterprise of multifarious creatures called the circus enacts a hope, in an immediate and historic sense, and simultaneously embodies an ecumenical foresight of radical and wondrous splendor, encompassing, as it does both empirically and symbolically, the scope and diversity of creation. I suppose some ... may deem the association of the circus and the Kingdom scandalous or facetious or bizarre, and scoff quickly at the thought that the circus is relevant to the ethics of society.... To [these people] I only respond that the connection seems to me to be at once suggested when one recalls that biblical people, like circus folk, live typically as sojourners, interrupting time, with few possessions, and in tents, in this world. The church would likely be more faithful if the church were similarly nomadic.”
—William Stringfellow, A Keeper of the Word: Selected Writings of William Stringfellow

I like the image.

More on an alternate story - 2

What is a Christian, and what do we think she/he might look like ?

“To become and to be a Christian is not at all an escape from the world as it is, nor is it a wistful longing for a “better” world, nor a commitment to generous charity, nor fondness for “moral and spiritual values” (whatever that may mean), nor self- serving positive thoughts, nor persuasion to splendid abstractions about God. It is, instead, the knowledge that there is no pain or privation, no humiliation or disaster, no scourge or distress or destitution or hunger, no striving or temptation, no wile or sickness or suffering or poverty which God has not known and borne for [humanity] in Jesus Christ. He has borne death itself on behalf of [humanity], and in that event he has broken the power of death once and for all.
To become to be a Christian is, therefore, to have the extraordinary freedom to share the burdens of the daily, common, ambiguous, transient, perishing existence of [humans beings], even to the point of actually taking the place of another [person], whether he be powerful or weak, in health or in sickness, clothed or naked, educated or illiterate, secure or persecuted, complacent or despondent, proud or forgotten, housed or homeless, fed or hungry, at liberty or in prison, young or old, white or Negro, rich or poor.
For a Christian to be poor and to work among the poor is not a conventional charity, but a use of the freedom for which Christ has set [humanity] free.”
~~ William Stringfellow, My People is the Enemy

Beautiful answer. 

More on an alternate story

“The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. 

Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.
Isaiah 58:6-7 GNT

What do disciples do ?

What would it look like in our church if we did this stuff ?

What is an Alternative Story?

“Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a new powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story, one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and our present into a coherent whole, one that even shines some light into our future so that we can take the next step…If you want to change a society, then you have to tell an alternative story.”

--Ivan Illich

 

An alternative story

What does an alternative story for the church look like? I think it encompasses three concepts:

1. Jesus said “Seek first the kingdom of God” (-- Why do you call me Lord?)

 

Our entry and journey to the father through the son by the power of the spirit is summed up in this phrase: "Seek first the kingdom of God." God desires us to join in fellowship with him, to experience the trinity in fellowship with him as well as with each other.

What does it mean to seek?

What is the kingdom of God?

How do we find it in the noise and bluster of life? How did we make something so great and grand so oblivious to others?

And how do we allow the seed and the leaven to grow and overtake the world?

We can't make it grow, we can't force it to grow, we have to do what we are called to do and let it do what it is designed to do on its own.

The caveat is the question Jesus asked in Luke 6:46:

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

The first part is important. What does it mean to call Jesus "Lord"? What does that look like in our day to day lives?

What does Jesus mean when he asks:

"...and not do what I say?"

What are the implications for us. For Grenoble, for the Romani, and so on? How do we speak, live and incarnate the message to others?

 

2. Jesus said “go into all the world and make disciples of everyone” We tend to think that this means "go and share the four spiritual laws" with everyone.

 

According to the parallel passages Matthew, Mark, John and Luke, this is the beginning of our task. Following McKnight and Wright, we see that growing disciples is the "rest of the story," the part we miss. It is more than getting our ticket validated and waiting for our train or flight. This refers us to the next point: "follow me."

 

3. Jesus said “follow me”

 

What did this call mean for Simon, John, Matthew, et. al. to follow Jesus? It seems to mean more than "follow Jesus" in your spare time, or, as a supplement to your everyday life so that you can fill in the blanks where stuff is missing.

Rather, it is a radical call, and he calls for a radical change in the direction and the way they lives their lives. It is a call to vocation (a vocation is about the gifts and talents that God gives us to orient us toward specific purposes and a way of life; not what we do for a living). What was involved in "follow me"? They had on the job training --on the fly. They watched him, he gave them tasks, learning experiences, etc. If that is the case, then what does that mean for us? As my friend Max shared, it's about inviting people to participate in the kingdom (following Christ is not a spectator sport). We need to put them to work in the kingdom, help them (and us) to figure out their gifts, throw them in the lake if necessary, and see what happens.

Pietà

Okay, so I've been away, distracted, or otherwise enjoying an inexcusable absence. In a memorial to Good Friday, I've decided to post some of the art I've encountered for the Art and the Bible class I've been leading at the FEU.

 Pietà as a theme in Christian art, depiction of the Virgin Mary supporting the body of the dead Christ. The Pietà was widely represented in both painting and sculpture, being one of the most poignant visual expressions of popular concern with the emotional aspects of the lives of Christ and the Virgin.

Pietà by Michaelangelo, 1499

The theme, which has no literary source but grew out of the theme of the lamentation over Christ’s body, first appeared in the early 14th century in Germany. It soon spread to France and enjoyed great popularity in northern Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. Although the Pietà remained mostly a Franco-German theme, its supreme representation is that completed by Michelangelo in 1499 and housed in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Influenced by the northern style, Michelangelo draped the figure of Christ across Mary’s lap. Through this pyramidal design and the details of his figures, Michelangelo created a scene that displayed at once agony, solemnity, and heroic resignation.

The format of the Virgin bearing the body of Christ on her knees was standard until the 16th century, when, influenced by the Renaissance concern with logic and proportions, artists usually depicted Christ lying at the Virgin’s feet, with only his head propped against her knees. This form was adopted by Italian Baroque art and was passed on to Spain, Flanders, and Holland.

Most religious art suffered a decline after the 17th century, but, because of its special emotional appeal, the Pietà continued to be a vital theme through the 19th century.

Giovanni BELLINI, Pietà 1470-1479

 Enguerrand CHARONTON, Pietà de Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (detail), 1457

Edouard Manet, The Dead Christ With Angels 1864

Giovanni Bellini, Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels Pietà c. 1460

Massimo Stanzione, Pietà 1621-25

Vincent Van Gogh Pietà, after Eugene Delacroix (c. 1890)

William Adolphe Bouguereau, Pietà (1876)

El Greco Pietà 1587-97

Paula Rego Pietà 2002

Marc Chagall Red Pietà 1956

Why a Victory Dance?

Matt 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
How do we square this verse with the victory celebration that has poured out over the news of the death of Osama bin Laden? I shed no tears for the death of this man; he sowed much evil in his life.

Should we not ask if it was right to use violence to end a person’s reign of violence? After all, if you live by the sword,  will you not die by the sword?

I do think there are times when we are to sell our cloak and buy a sword:

Luke 22 ³⁶ He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.

It still remains that I am troubled by the hatred I’ve seen displayed at the news of his death.  People dancing and waving a flag is one thing, but to rejoice and shout “rot in hell” or something like this, I find no justification for it.

Some will say, “well, they would do the same if it had been George Bush or Barak Obama.” My response to this is, “well, we are not them.” Where is our moral high ground if we react as we say they would? And, if we purport to be a follower of Christ, how can we justify this reaction?

I suppose a little good news is welcomed when the world seems rather dark, but I still am troubled over the response I have seen. 

I would like to ask the question, Is there any time or place where when it is okay to react like? Seriously.

These are the thoughts that I am giving daylight to as I ponder this situation. It is a complicated issue, and there are no easy answers, but I think that we need to pull back from an emotional response and look seriously at the impact of this event, and consider carefully what our response should be.

Any thoughts?

Jacques Ellul on Social Justice

...Jesus Christ has not come to establish social justice any more than he has come to establish the power of the state or the reign of money or art. Jesus Christ has come to save men, and all that matters is that men may come to know him. We are adept at finding reasons-good theological, political, or practical reasons, for camouflaging this. But the real reason is that we let ourselves be impressed and dominated by the forces of the world, by the press, by public opinion, by the political game, by appeals to justice, liberty, peace, the poverty of the third world, and the Christian civilization of the west, all of which play on our inclinations and weaknesses. Modern protestants are in the main prepared to be all things to all men, like St. Paul, but unfortunately this is not in order that they may save some but in order that they may be like all men.  The Ethics of Freedom (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), 254-255