Some of us sorrow because we have failed Jesus. Some of us don't want to have anything to do with Jesus, because the demands are too difficult. But most people, even Christians, misunderstand what Jesus calls us to.
When we agree to follow Jesus, we commit to become a student. When Jesus called his disciples to follow him, he was in a centuries-old tradition of calling students to learn and then follow his way.
Jesus' final exam was his arrest in the garden, which all his students failed, because they did not study (pray).
Yet all of his students but one passed the class. This is because Jesus knew that his class continues on for an entire life. The only students who fail are those who drop out.
Following Jesus isn't a commitment to be perfect, or a commitment to reach a certain standard. It is a commitment to learn from Jesus, every day, how to draw on God's resources to love better. As long as we remain on the path, we will still be able to learn.
And we can't look at another student in the class, demanding that they measure up to our standard. They are just in a different place in the curriculum.
Let us determine not to judge the other students in the class. Let us not judge ourselves because we haven't learned enough.
But most of all, let us renew our commitment to draw on God's resources
Religion is the arena of popular, especially traditional, philosophy and ethics. Courtroom dramas push the envelope of ethics, displaying where law fails ethics, or the law can uphold ethics, depending on the story. Gett is the intersection of traditional and modern ethics in the midst of a curious courtroom drama.
The set up sounds like the Iranian drama from a couple years ago, A Separation, in which a woman desires a divorce from her husband, but obtaining that divorce isn’t at all clear cut. In Gett (which is the Hebrew term for “divorce”) it is clear that the husband is a righteous man, a scholar of Torah, who neither abuses nor cheats on his wife, and although it is clear that their marriage is far from a happy one, he refuses to give her a divorce. And he has the right to refuse her.
In a secular court, divorce, especially since the 1950’s, has been much easier to get. The trickiest part is if money or children are involved. In a religious court, such as Orthodox Jews or Catholics might have, a divorce is much more restrictive, and a level of unfaithfulness must be proven. Of course, one could always obtain a divorce through the secular court, but not if you want to remarry a Catholic or an Orthodox Jew. Then the right to remarry a religious must be obtained through religious permission. Vivian Amsalem is a religious woman, and wants to live her life at peace with a religious man. Thus, she must have a gett.
The ethical principle primarily being challenged in this film is patriarchy. Ancient Jewish culture is the oldest patriarchy based on a rule of law that considers all in the society, still in existence. Many Jewish cultures have set aside patriarchy, but many have not. Certainly, a strict reading of ancient Jewish law says that a divorce may only be obtained if the husband hands a written divorce to his wife. Thus, the husband has all the control of a divorce. A woman might sue for divorce, like Vivian, but she does not have the right to speak for herself, and if the husband refuses to give a divorce, then the judge’s hands are tied.
As a narrative, the great mystery is the marriage itself. All we see is the speech offered in court and in the anteroom. We have no idea how they lived or why Viviane is so desperate to get a divorce. And the courtroom proceedings, for the most part, carefully steps around the marriage, speaking of reputation and the public face of the marriage, only giving us small glimpses of the marriage itself. So we, along with the judges, are piecing together the truth and the motivations behind Viviane’s desperation and Elisha’s refusal.
While the hesitantly granted details are interesting, what is really on trial is the process itself. The greatest benefit of modern justice, in the instances when it is allowed, is the ability to speak one’s own perspective. An older male can never understand what it means to live as a woman. A wealthy person will never really appreciate the difficulties of being poor. The sane will never understand the way a mentally ill person undermines themselves without knowing. The white person won’t understand the limitations of being a black American. We can intellectualize the situations, even appreciate the difficulties, but the life of an oppressed person is much more difficult than any of us realize until we have experienced it ourselves. The life of a person of power is all the same, but each life of oppression is uniquely different. Thus, the oppressed must have the opportunity to speak, to explain, to give windows to the difficulties. And if there is a system in which the weak are not allowed to speak their peace, then no one can say it for them. No one will give them justice, because no one other than they even know what justice looks like for them.
Everyone must be given an opportunity to speak for themselves, to explain who they are and the difficulties they face. And people of power must be forced to listen to them or else justice will be thrown out the window.
The film is sparsely decorated, simply scripted, but the cinematography is interesting. Each scene is uniquely set up, with cameras seeking out different details. So we look at each time frame with different eyes, even though we are in the same rooms. It is clever and powerful and strongly reminiscent of 12 Angry Men in it's simplicity and power.
Horatio Spafford, the author of this most famous hymn, had incurred huge financial losses in the Great Chicago Fire. He sent his four daughters and wife across the Atlantic, and the ship sank, his wife alone of his family surviving. In his great sorrow, he wrote this hymn, to encourage himself and all of us to consider that our souls are worth more than our sorrows, and retaining a generally optimistic view of life.
Although I appreciate the poetry and the lulling verses, leading to a powerfully climatic chorus, I dislike this song, and refuse to sing it.
It seems to me to stand against the sorrows of Scripture. Yes, it is true that Jesus told us to "rejoice" in our persecutions, but it is because we are in the place of the prophets who were also persecuted for standing with God.
But Spafford is not speaking about persecution. He is speaking of the everyday, if terrible, tragic circumstances of life we all must face. God did not give us these circumstances, or orchestrate them, neither for our understanding, nor for our punishment. Rather, we obtain assurance of our standing with the prophets because we have stood for God's love and mercy and people have hated us for it.
Scripture gives us example after example of people who suffered terribly in sorrow. Job, of course, suffering deep depression, but many others as well. Aaron, who had to hide his sorrow over the loss of his sons for the sake of the community. David, who wept aloud and fasted over the loss of his children. Even Jesus, who wept for his own sorrow and for the sorrows of women yet to come.
To set aside horrible circumstance and say, "Well my soul is in good shape" lessens the tragedies of life. We should weep with those who weep, not tell them, "Buck up! Your spiritual life is great!" We must allow sorrows, and even encourage them, for it says in Ecclesiastes, "A sad face is good for the heart."
I also question the level of assurance of the man's soul. I do not know much about Spafford, but I know about myself. I know that if I assured myself of my own standing before God at all times, then that assurance easily moves toward arrogance and spiritual laziness. I must be challenged to be a better person, or else I won't be that better person.
If I am constantly assured, "It is well with my soul," then I will do no work on my soul. My soul is in good shape, why mess with perfection?
I believe that our spiritual lives are a process that we work on with the Holy Spirit. A receiving and dispensing of God's grace that we are constantly striving toward. My soul is not well. It is sick and weak and must improve, with God's help. I am but an amateur at love, a beginner at obtaining peace for my fellow human beings. I will not give myself any false back patting. I will continue to strive for my soul's health.
I have a friend who asks that if the Bible is God’s word, God’s communication to humanity, then why is it so hard to understand?
The simple answer is that it was written thousands of years ago, to people who don’t exists, giving words to thoughts that rarely anyone thinks anymore. It was written in genres we don’t read anymore, except in the Bible. It gives a style of history scholars don’t trust. A style of storytelling that doesn’t communicate. It is communicating to people who lived in cultures we just don’t understand most of the time. Times have changed, people have changed. The Bible is part of that change, and many of the changes have been for the good. I am glad, for one, that we don’t stone or crucify people anymore. I am glad that gentleness can be an acceptable way of life for some. I am glad that we no longer live in a paternalistic culture (even if the dregs of it still remain)—and the Bible has been significant in helping to make these changes, even as it had been significant in keeping the older cultures alive. But there have been so many changes in 2000 years, it is difficult to understand the original contexts and cultures that wrote the Bible in the first place.
But his question is less practical and more theological. If the Bible is the primary mode of communicating to humanity, then why hide that communication in genres and language we cannot understand? Why not give us a sign, like neon? Why not send out an update every once in a while?
Of course many believe that God did exactly that. Some believe that God continues to write books and give messages: through His Spirit, through creation, through His church, through visions, through the imaginations of men. I cannot deny this, nor can anyone. If God is alive, and personal, and loves us, then He must communicate to us still. I think there is clear indication that He does. Not only through these means, but also through life experiences, through human education, through personal insights… heck, even through blogs.
But the massive number of texts and ideas are like the internet—the truth is out there, but how are we to know what is the true truth? How can we pick and choose? If it is science, we can experiment, we can go through a rigorous process of understanding. But we cannot use science for an individual personality. What evidence is there that my friend Bill exists? Or that my wife exists? There are documents, or you can interview them personally, but science can’t do much for you in that regard, other than give you a picture of their DNA.
The Bible, through Jesus’ understanding, doesn’t give us a whole picture of God. Nor does it tell us who to marry or whether we should quit our job, specifically. But the Bible, through Jesus, gives us the basic principles. It doesn’t tell us whether this latest prophecy is from God, but if the prophecy is opposed to Jesus’ principles, then we can say clearly that it isn’t from God. And knowing what is not from God, gives us a much better shot at trying to determine what IS from God. Jesus’ Bible is a foundation on which we can build all other communication that we receive from God.
But how do we use the Bible? How can we get past the shell of thousands of pages and ancient society to get across a real truth? What about that the Bible says one thing at one time and another at another time? How can we obtain any meaning from the Bible?
Well, it isn’t easy. It takes work. We can do this task ourselves, or we can let others do it for us. But even if others tell us what the Bible says, that doesn’t mean that we can’t ourselves go back and see if it is true. This is why I will try my best to give verses and links so you can check what I say for yourselves. I’m just a guy who’s done his own studies and wants to share his thoughts. It’s up to you to decide what is true.
But this is what I’ve found to be the best ways to understand the Bible:
1. Discover themes that develop through the Bible
A graph of connections between Bible books
This is easier than it sounds. It requires one first step—read the whole book. Not something you can do in one sitting, but it is a fair thing for every literate person to do. We should all have a reading of the Bible, even if we don’t believe in it, because the Bible is a foundation for much of our society and thought. Once you’ve read it through, you will see similar themes, or perhaps contrary ideas or the development of ideas. Spend a little bit of time thinking about these things, write them down. The Bible is all about themes and how they develop, ideas that begin as a seed and grow. They may be communicated in different ways, but the same ideas are there, and that is where the power of the Bible really is.
2. Apply Jesus’ principles and actions to the whole of the Bible
If you are only reading through the Bible once, I’m going to give you a strange idea: begin at the middle. The Bible is not a novel that must be read from beginning to end. Rather it is a collection of stories and books that have a purpose in its order, but can be read out of order. My suggestion is this: begin with the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then go to the beginning and start again. If, as I hypothesize, the entire Bible is about Jesus, then it will only make sense if Jesus is kept in mind from the very beginning. You will see that Jesus’ ideas and actions are right there in the first chapter of the Bible, and it only grows from there. You will see actions and ideas that Jesus seems to oppose, and that he approves. But the Bible will make more sense if you keep him in mind as you read it.
3. Create cultural bridges from Bible themes to our lives
The Bible will use similar ideas that we use, but communicate them differently. For instance, the Bible speaks about widows and orphans as objects of pity. But what is the reason for this pity? Because in the firmly patriarchal society, those who were not citizens nor without connection to citizens had no legal standing, and so could not worship, go to court, or have justice in any way. They were vulnerable and dependent on mercy. So we apply such ideas to today: who are the ones who have no legal standing today, who cannot get justice, have a fair standing in court or be welcome at church? Perhaps the extremely poor, the illegal immigrant, the “sinner”? We take the ancient ideas and apply them today and thus give the Bible a place in our lives.
4. Interpret the Bible as a Third World Refugee
Almost every part of the Bible was written to people who were poor, were vulnerable and who often were not in their homeland. Those desperate to follow God's will aren't the secure, the settled, or the satisfied. The Bible was written to those desperate to have their needs met, and who daily face danger and loss. When we read it, we need to understand it from the perspective of those in need, and apply it in our lives that way.
The purpose of the Bible isn’t to give us a bunch of stories. Nor is it to give us theology. It is there to change our lives, to help us consider a better way to live, and a better way to connect with God.
I'm not afraid of refugees from the middle east. I'm not afraid of white men. I'm not afraid of the homeless. I'm not afraid of Muslims.
They are all people.
And, generally, if you treat them with love, then they'll be kind to you in return. Sure, there are always the exceptions, but who wants to live afraid that this one person might be the exception to the rule?
I don't because if I live out of fear of the exceptions, the violent, the thief, the liar
then I lose out on the chance to love.
There are two ways to make the world more secure: Be kind. Build community. Nothing else really works.
Without exception, everyone has done wrong before God and become offensive
to Him. But we all have been given the
opportunity to be right before God through the deliverance from the slavery to
sin and death which can be found in the Messiah Jesus. When the Father raised Jesus from an official
execution, he showed him to be the path to be forgiven of our sins and to have
a relationship with God. God proved his
justice—which was called into question by him overlooking sins in the past and
because of his patience—by making acceptable the one who enters into the
devotion of Jesus, and so He proved his actions just….Jesus was given to the authorities to be punished because
of our wrongs before God and Jesus was raised from his execution so that we
could be made acceptable before God.
Therefore, since we have been made acceptable by committed devotion, we
have the shalom of God through our King, Messiah Jesus. It is because of Him that we have the right
to speak to God and receive the blessings of God, on which we depend on for our
very well-being. We boast in our
confidence in being a part of God’s glory.
You see, we can boast in the sufferings we receive—even as Jesus
did—because we know that our suffering gives us the opportunity to stick with
God. And sticking with God in the midst
of suffering—even as Jesus did— is the test of our true devotion to God. And if our devotion is tested, then we have
confidence—because if Jesus was raised by His enduring devotion, so will
we. And this confidence will never be
dashed because God’s love fills us through the Holy Spirit, given by God, to
help us endure in the midst of our struggles. (Romans 3:23-26; 4:25-5:5)
Got World Peace?
Peace, according to the Bible
is not just an absence of violence or a peaceful, easy feeling, but it is
well-being in a community. When the
Bible promises “peace on earth to those obtaining grace”, it is not speaking of
a lack of war, but of a ruling principle and nation who would provide for all
in need and offer justice and peace to everyone, without exclusion. This well-being and justice is called
“shalom” in the Bible.
Stuck With Whirled Peas?
If there is one thing the
world lacks, it is peace, meaning shalom.
If shalom is a world-wide community in which everyone experiences
well-being, acceptance, mutual assistance, and equal justice for all, then we
have never experienced it. In every
nation, in every era, the poor have been oppressed. The outcast have been
thrown out because of arbitrary cultural mores.
The religious have judged and rejected all people who did not accept
their narrow guidelines. The
non-religious have judged and rejected the religious because of their devotion
to God. And all people purpose to harm
all people who stand in the way of their culture controlling and manipulating
all others.
Life on earth is not
shalom. It is anti-peace.
Everyone wants peace. Most of us in the world recognize that we are
all in trouble, that we don’t have peace, and all of us want to obtain it. Or create it.
Or force it on others. To create
shalom where there is no shalom is what the Bible calls “salvation.” Frankly, it is a utopian ideal, just like
democracy is, just like capitalism is, just like communism. The difference is that the Bible claims that
salvation—the creation of shalom in the world—is something that only God can
do. Peace and justice cannot come simply
from human effort or from anarchy. It
must be a work of God that humans join with.
But it is initiated by God.
Getting Better All The Time
The first step of God’s
shalom-making was creation. God saw the
chaos, the pointlessness of the world and made it again. And, according to Scripture, after God’s
peace-making, He established humanity to rule over His creation and to keep it
in shalom. This plan failed when
humanity chose rebellion and chaos instead of God’s shalom.
Another step in God’s
shalom-making was choosing Abraham.
Abraham was not a perfect man, but he was a person who sought God alone,
being faithful to Him, and trusting in Him when all else seemed chaotic. God chose Abraham because of his trust in God
and said that whoever would obtain shalom, in all the world, they must be like
Abraham and choose his path of trust.
This plan failed because people thought that following the ritual of
Abraham or being born into the family of Abraham obtained this shalom.
Another step in God’s
shalom-making was to create a community of shalom with very specific
rules. He chose for His people a nation
in slavery—the outcast—so they would know how to treat those who were
outcast. And He taught them His ways of
love and shalom for all his people. This
experiment failed in different ways, over the years. First, the people didn’t believe that God
could really give them shalom. Then,
they sought out other spiritual powers to grant them shalom. Then, they oppressed the poor, forgetting
that they were once poor themselves. And
finally, they took God’s rules and make them so burdensome that it became
impossible to live them out.
Love Reign O’er Me
Finally, after all of these
temporary experiments, God began his final plan for shalom. He sent his Son to be emperor of the world,
ruler of his people. First, Jesus
displayed shalom by setting people free from spiritual judgment, offering them
freedom from diseases and mental illnesses and offering them a new life in
God. Then he told the people the life of
shalom in God, living by the principles of shalom. Then, finally, he allowed the rulers of God’s
people—the priests and elders—to kill him, treating him as an outcast of God’s
people. But God vindicated his Son as
the only way to God’s shalom, the great Truth-teller. And a new people was created under Jesus,
living Jesus’ shalom-principles and testing the world with their message of
destruction of the anti-shalom and the establishment of God’s shalom.
Underground Revolution
Through Jesus, God is
continually creating communities of shalom—some big and some small. These communities are made up of those who
were rejected by the world and who are baptized in Jesus—namely, those who have
committed themselves to being citizens of Jesus’ new nation of shalom. These baptized are committed to Jesus’ principles
of peace and justice. But these
principles are not enough in and of themselves, because we all are too weak, as
humans, to maintain shalom. So the
Emperor has allowed us to receive the Holy Spirit, who helps us in our weakness
to maintain shalom, even when we do not have the strength to live it out.
Then God sent these Jesus communities out into the
world. They preached the kingdom— the
nation of shalom—and displayed the power of the Spirit. Communities were in this way tested—would
they accept the good proclamation of shalom through Jesus, or would they reject
God’s shalom? Would they practice shalom
with the needy of Jesus, or would they reject them?
This time of testing
continues on even today. Many
communities of the world—even many who claim Jesus to be Lord—reject Jesus’
principles of shalom. Many in Jesus’
name harm and kill others. Many in
Jesus’ name refuse to help the needy.
Many in Jesus’ name even reject the true God and seek a distant Spirit
who is unobtrusive and will never give anything, let alone shalom.
When you host a feast this Thanksgiving or Christmas, don't
invite your friends or family. They will expect to do the dishes, or to bring
something, or invite you back to their place next year. Instead, invite the
homeless, the refugees, those in nursing homes, the mentally ill, because the
only reward you could expect then would be from God.
And when you go to a feast, don't boast about all the things
you did this last year, your great accomplishments, and don't expect to be
honored. If you insist upon yourself, you will be a boor, and everyone will
ignore you and try to interrupt you. Instead, sit in the corner and say
nothing. Then your host will note your silence and ask you, "What do you
have to be thankful for this year?" and you will be given honor.
Don't demand respect, or else you will be rejected. Be
humble and you will be given greater respect.
Because of God’s tremendous compassion for everyone, I beg you, my dear
family, to put your congregations on the altar, as a still living but holy
sacrifice to God. This is what is
acceptable to God, your sincere act of loving devotion among your congregation. Don’t be formed by the thinking of this
era—that of stereotypes and judgment— but be re-created, having your minds
rebooted to the will of God, and so proving by your actions what the good and
pleasing and complete will of God is. I
was given a message from the Lord to share with all of you: Don’t consider
yourself to be better than others in everything. Be sensible, and admit that each one of you
has granted each one of you a measure of faith, even if that faith looks
differently….Our congregations are to be characterized by sincere love for one
another. We are all to be rid of the
evil in our congregations, but to grasp onto the good. We are to have affectionate love for each
other. We are to be diligent without
procrastination. We are to be enthusiastic
in character. We serve the Lord. We rejoice in hope. We endure in suffering. We persist in prayer. We are to give to the needs of the
saints. We are to practice
hospitality. As the representatives of
Jesus, you know already that we are to bless those who persecute us—we speak
well of them and do not verbally destroy them.
As Jesus, we rejoice with the joyful and mourn with the weeping. Well, this is how we should behave to other
groups of Christians, as well as those outside the faith. We aren’t to be arrogant over other
Christians, but we are to associate with the lowly and the weak among us. Don’t be self-important. Just because you’ve got the money, don’t
think that you can tell the others what to do.
Just because you’ve got the word of God, that doesn’t mean that you can
order others around. Just because you’ve
proven your faith, it doesn’t mean that everyone has to listen to your
opinions. Nor does it give anyone the
right to attack others, no matter what they’ve done to you. If someone does something evil to you, don’t
act immorally back to them. Instead,
spend time thinking ahead of time about how you can do good to everyone. With all of your ability, live in peace and
community with ALL people—even fellow Christians who disagree with you.
We Got to Start Somewhere, But There’s Just So Far To
Go
What can we do? We live in a world rejecting shalom, pursuing
materialism, sexual gratification and false philosophies and calling it
happiness. In the midst of their self-
authentication, self-actualization and self-gratification, the people of the
world has destroyed well-being for others around them. The world ignores the needs of those around
them, they avoid thinking of the harm they have caused others and they do all
they can to shore up their hope that someday, somehow, their lives will be
okay.
This
wouldn’t be so bad if the church was really any different. Instead, we live in a church that has bought
what the world had to say about truth and joy for 1800 years. The church flies on a pendulum which swings
from a drive to punish all those irresponsible and filled with self-interest to
being wholly accepting and supporting people even in their drive to destroy
themselves and others.
The
answer to this is the shalom of Jesus.
Jesus calls us to communities of shalom—a disciplined grace which leads
to peace on earth. But how can we—when
all the governments and churches and non-profits in the world have
failed—succeed in creating peace where only chaos and hatred has reigned?
Creating Shalom
Understand
our baptism
First, we must understand
what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
To be baptized is to die, to have our old life, with its philosophies
and materialism cast aside, no longer living in it. And we must live the principles of
Jesus. Jesus is faithful, and we can
live in that faithfulness. We must
realize that being a follower of Jesus isn’t a matter of belief, but of
lifestyle. So we must pursue Jesus—the
real Jesus as presented in the gospels—surrender our lives and live for Him.
Live
the principles of shalom
Then, as Jesus teaches us, we
understand more and more the principles of peace that he taught us. We will learn his principles of purity, of
faithfulness, of devotion to God and love of others. In all this, we will become more like the
people who can create shalom in the world because we will embody shalom.
Accept
the Anawim
As we learn Jesus’ way, we
find that so many of the world’s categories no longer apply. Those which the world rejects—even for good reason!—we
will welcome and offer God’s love and peace.
Those who are blamed because of their poverty we will receive and share
with. Those who are hated we will love
and offer hope and community through Jesus.
Join a
community of shalom
It is not enough for us to
enact shalom as individuals, we must be in a community of shalom. This means participating in a group of
baptized faithful in Jesus who are allowing God to transform them into
shalom-makers. This must be a community
welcoming to the outcast and a community ready to participate in koinonia.
Speak
prophetically
As we live out Jesus’ life
and community of shalom, then we must share with others the principles of
shalom as we live them out. We cannot
speak them if we do not live them, but we must share what Jesus has taught us
and we do live out. We do not speak this
in order to judge others, but in reality to warn them of Jesus’ judgment
against those who oppose shalom.
Live in
trust and patience
It is easy to get
discouraged. We can look at the world
and see what a big task it is to transform it.
We can look at the church and see how faithless and fear-peddling it
is. We can look at our failures to live
out shalom, and throw up our hands in despair.
But this is where the faith of Abraham (and of Jesus) comes in. Abraham, despite his own failures and
weaknesses, despite the impossibilities of the promise God gave him, Abraham
trusted that God could and would do it.
He never forsook God, but continued in patience, even as he suffered for
those who suffered due to their rejection of shalom. Even so, when it looks like all has failed
and God is no where to be found, we need to be patient, and give room for God
to work in His own time.
Pray
for God’s shalom
Finally, Jesus tells us to
pray for God’s kingdom to come, for the shalom to happen on earth. Ultimately, if peace and justice are to rule
the earth, if shalom is to break into anyone’s life, it must be done by God’s
work. If that is the case, then our main
task is that of asking God to cause shalom to come. Pray for others, that they may experience
God’s full shalom. Pray for the church,
that they may understand and live out God’s full shalom. And pray for the world that it might be
transformed into God’s kingdom.
So if there’s anyone listening, let me say this to you: Have compassion on the bad guys of your
life. Be nice to the mean ones. Answer well those who cuss you out. Pray blessings on those who insult and abuse
you. If a cop pushes you, give him the
opportunity to beat you up. If a
creditor steals money from you, offer him the rest of your account. If the government demands something from you,
give it freely. And if a cop steals what
is yours, don’t demand it back. In
whatever good way you want people to treat you, treat them that way, no matter
how badly treat you.
Look, if you only feel
good about those who feel good about you, do you think God will bless you for
that? Everyone, no matter how bad they
are, love those who love them. If you do
good things only to those who do good to you, do you think God will bless you
for that? Everyone, no matter how evil,
does the same. If you loan out money
only to people who will pay you back, do you think God will bless you for
that? Evil people loan out money for a
return, plus interest.
You can do better than
that. Love the people you find most
unlovable. Act with compassion toward
them and lend them money—yes, I know you won’t get the money back. Just do it, knowing that you won’t get
anything back for it, not even a thanks.
But you will get more back than you would ever expect, but that from
God. If you do this, you will be acting
like God, the Lord of the Universe—because He, too, does compassionate acts for
those who never thank Him and who do the very worst acts on earth. So be compassionate to the same extent God
is.
Don’t condemn others and
you won’t be condemned by God. Don’t
punish for punishment’s sake and you won’t be punished by God, either. If you release someone from a grudge, God
will release you. Give freely to those
in need—no matter who they are—and God will give freely to you. It’s kinda like a keg party. Take, let’s say a third of keg of beer and
give it to your friends. They will take
it, shake it up until it fills the keg and then pour it all over you—much more
than you gave them! Even so, the amount
of compassion you give to those who don’t deserve it will be poured right back
on you!
Luke 6:25-38, SKV
Jesus is the Prince of shalom, the emperor through which
peace and justice comes. Not only does
he bring it physically, among his people, but Jesus also has given some
principles upon which shalom can be built among his people.
Community
Jesus didn’t come to deliver individuals into shalom, but to
create a nation of shalom. We cannot see
the grace of God as only visiting individuals, but God is creating a community
through Jesus who will be able to make a community of peace and justice among
themselves.
Be ready
The people of God are to keep one eye on this world and one
eye on the world that is to come. The
meeting point between these two worlds is the judgment of God. Those who showed themselves faithful to Jesus
and God will be delivered into God’s kingdom of shalom. So to be ready, we must follow the other principles
of shalom to show that we are ready to be a part of God’s shalom.
Faithfulness
The first principle of life is faithfulness to God. If we live with our eyes on God, always
concerned with our faithfulness and devotion to Him in all aspects of our lives,
then we will be ready to experience God’s shalom, instead of the shalom of the
world. We also maintain faithfulness to
others—our spouses, friends, family and all others. Whatever promises or commitments we have made
to them, in our relationship with them, we keep.
Do not harm
We make a point not to do anything hateful to another, with
a purpose to harm them. No matter what
they have done to us, we do not do harm in return. This may put us in a position of
vulnerability, but we must trust that God will care for us and avenge us when
necessary, not taking such actions on ourselves.
Treating others with
respect
Some we are obligated to respect—our betters, our
leaders. But we are also to respect
those whom the world does not respect, the outcast and shamed. If we provide respect to all, then all will
receive welcome and hope and shalom.
Meeting other’s needs
We are not just to not give harm, but to offer respect to
others, but we must also give compassion to others when they are in need. We need to feel their pain and seek to do
what we can to help. Then, we should
share what resources we have to help others.
This empathy and open handedness is summarized in the Greek word, koinonia.
Equality of justice
Finally, Jesus emphasizes that these community
principles—faithfulness, no harm, respect and koinonia—are not just for those like us, but for everyone, even if
some fail, even if some are irritating, act hatefully occasionally and are
occasionally faithless. Respect and
assistance is to be granted to everyone without exception.
If we are in Jesus, we are to live out these principles,
create communities that live these principles out and teach it to others. In this way, we are to accomplish God’s
shalom for ourselves, our communities and, eventually, the entire world
Why do terrorists keep terrorizing? Because it works.
The 9/11 attack was utterly successful. It horrified the world to such a degree that they were ready to attack innocent parties to sate their lust of vengeance. This caused many to shift their ideals, to become more revolutionary, and so more suicide bombers were recruited. The ideal revolutionary act is to create a world in which violent revolution thrives.
If we want peace, we need to create peaceful solutions to terrorists acts, because violence only breeds violence.
This is, in the end, spiritual warfare.
Satan is a liar and a murderer. The evil spirits tell lies to humans so that they would fear the innocent and kill them. As many as participate in the system of violence and judgment are judged by that same system. Thus does Satan kill all humanity. By our own hands.
Muslims are not the enemy. Nor are immigrants or refugees.
The enemy is the violence we force down the throat of other nations.
It is not enough for us to stop
bringing violence against the good guys. All violence must stop.
It is not enough to give human
rights to those who deserve it. We must give human rights to everyone, without
exception.
It is not enough to give peace to
the peaceful. We must give peace to everyone to teach them how to live in
peace.
At the birth of Jesus, the angels sang this to the shepherds:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.
This sounds like a promise to me, especially at the coming
of Jesus. A promise we can expect to
unfold and be revealed by God, and soon at that. A peace that the poor will be given what they
need, oppression is not known, conflict is resolved in hope, and we all live in
communities that comfort our sorrows.
But if there is one thing we can be guaranteed: there is no
peace on earth. And we have no real hope
that there will be peace.
Billions live with hunger every day
In the wealthiest nation on earth, one percent of their population live on the
street.
War will never end, and with it the famine and horrors that the oppressed live
with daily.
Even those who have riches live with sorrow and dissatisfaction daily.
Why no shalom?
Why is the greatest desire of humanity thwarted? Why can we
not find peace?
The common Christian answer is sin. Sin has so warped the
world that we cannot even recognize the peace that God originally created. If that is the case, which sin? The “Pat Robertson” sins of homosexuality and
public lust? Are they the sins that cause wars and hatred? What about the sins of not going to church or
tithing? Are they the causes of poverty
and homelessness?
It is interesting that there is a book in the Bible whose
main subject is just this: why is there no peace on earth, why can we not
achieve shalom? It is the little-read book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes is a short book, full of pithy, but depressing
wisdom. It’s main theme is the
pointlessness of existence on earth, how it achieves nothing. In the middle of a canon of scripture which
has as its main theme the salvation of God, this seems like a strange inclusion.
On the other hand, those who preach the Bible seem strangely optimistic in the
midst of a world that does not reach its goals.
There should be a firm text in this huge variety of books that explains
exactly why the salvation we seek is so far from our grasp.
There are many smaller lessons, but I want to expound on
four in particular that explain why we do not have peace on earth:
1.We seek the wrong answers
The teacher of Ecclesiastes said that he tested himself,
giving himself over to the extremes of different pursuits of humanity. For a time, he pursued drink to overcome his
depression. The gave himself over to sex and lust. He worked and toiled hard. He sought entertainment and pleasures. And in none of these things did he find any
hope or peace. Drunkenness leads to
depression, lust leads to heartache, work ultimately leads to futility, and a
life of laughter is just empty. All the
things we do to fill our lives, to make them less pointless, to bring us peace
in our hearts, all end up causing no peace.
And which of these things brings peace to the world, assists the hungry
and homeless? The common ways of seeking
a life of joy ends up with us on our heads.
2.Society works against peace
In considering the plight of the poor, the teacher tells us:
“If you see the poor oppressed, the rights of the needy denied, don’t be shocked. Every minor leader has their supervisor and a
lord is over them. And the man at top will demand his profit, and everyone in
between.” Every person wants to profit
from what they do, and if they can’t profit from their own work, they will take
advantage of those under them.
Our whole society is a pyramid scheme, and the poor are at
the bottom, whom everyone takes advantage of. And even when the poor do something amazing… “There
was a poor man who delivered the city with his wisdom. But when the task was
finished, no one remembered him.” The poor and needy, even when they could help
society, because of the nature of their position, they will not be
remembered. While the powerful and
foolish will be remembered and listened to for centuries, despite their idiocy.
3.Greed
Yes, says the teacher, sin is the cause of our lack of
peace. But is sexual lust our main problem?
It might be a personal difficulty.
But the sin that destroys societies is greed. “The one who loves wealth never has enough.” Those who accumulate possessions or wealth
finds themselves addicted to a lifestyle of collecting. However, when God established the world, he
set an ample of items that would be shared with all creation—but not enough for
all to have too much. Even as God
provided food in the wilderness, everyone had just enough, but no one had
extra. So those who collect excess wealth
are actually stealing from those who do not have enough. If some have excess, others have less.
And excess wealth doesn’t even help the one who collects
it. The greater number of possessions,
the more one has to spend caring for and securing them. This creates more labor. But the teacher lets us know that the one who
spends all their time collecting and caring for their wealth, then no longer
has time to care for others. He ends up
asking himself, “For whom am I depriving myself pleasure for all this toil?” He
obtains nothing for himself, because he spends so much time on obtaining, and
he has no relationships to give his reward to.
4.We place all our eggs in the future
One of the main points of the teacher of Ecclesiastes is
that we all work for a future that we do not obtain. A person works for a good life, but that life
is passed onto his children, not for him.
Another works hard all her life for justice, but never has peace
herself. In the end, life is full of
striving and it ends in death, which is the end of all we have and accomplished. Death is a sudden, solid, solitary end,
beyond which no one really knows.
We like to think there is justice after death, some measure
of peace, but in reality we don’t know.
All we know for certain is that there is no justice on earth. “The good
receive what the wicked deserve, and the greedy receive what the merciful
deserve.”
If you thought the idea of no peace on earth was hard to
hear, the teacher has a lot of fun facts like these.
He does make some suggestions about how to live in a world
lacking hope or peace. First of all, obey
the government, because that just makes your life easier. Also, serve God, because he has the only hope
for a future beyond this world. But he
also says, take time in your relationships.
Take joy in the people around you—your spouse, your children, your
friends. Enjoy them, appreciate them. Because that is the closest we will ever come
to having peace on earth. Take time with
them now, because we do not know if any other peace will be afforded us.
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a
branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The
spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear
of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by
what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide
with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with
the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt
about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie
down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will
graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the
ox. The nursing child will play by the
hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be
full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for
the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. Then it will happen on
that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The
remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush,
Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. And He will lift up a
standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the
four corners of the earth. Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, And those
who harass Judah will be cut
off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah
will not harass Ephraim. (Isaiah 11:1-13)
A Really BIG Idea
The Hebrew word for “peace” is “shalom”. Shalom is used most
often as a greeting in Hebrew culture, even as its equivalent “salaam” is the
greeting in Arabic. To express “peace”
to someone is to express one’s intent to not do violence and to give peace of
mind to another. However, “shalom” in
the Hebrew sense is much more than what “peace” means in English.
“Shalom” in
the Hebrew Bible is used for the well-being of all of one’s physical needs,
such as having sufficient food, rest, shelter, health, longevity, and even a
good death, without pain. Shalom also reflects
one’s social needs, such as participating in a supportive community and being
accepted by that community. Shalom also
has to do with one’s relationship with God, such as God approving of one’s
actions and of God forgiving our sins.
Shalom also has to do with the well-being of a community, such as
security, justice, a lack of disasters and reconciliation between those
separated by anger. And lastly, shalom
applies to the destruction of all those who want to destroy shalom. So when we speak of “peace” biblically, it
means a complete well-being, physically, mentally, socially and spiritually and
justice within one’s community.
And where
does shalom come from? People can create
some aspects of shalom, but ultimately, shalom comes from God. As it says in Judges 6:24: “Yahweh IS
shalom”. In the New Testament, we find
that the peace and justice of God is found through Jesus alone. God gives this shalom to his people, yet we
must enact this peace in the world through these gifts of God:
through
the faith of Jesus (Romans 5:1)
through
the Spirit (John 14:26-27),
through
the word of Jesus (John 16:33),
through
prayer (Philippians 4:6-7),
and
through his people (I Thessalonians 5:13)
Promise of Shalom
Yet it seems that God has withheld his peace from the
world. The world is filled with disease
and destruction and mental illness and hatred.
If the source of peace is God, why has he withheld it?
First of
all, God did promise shalom very specifically:
Psalm 37:11-- the Anawim will inherit the land and will
delight themselves in abundant shalom
Psalm 119:165-- Those who love the law have great shalom
Isaiah 9:6-7-- The coming king will be the Prince of
Shalom, there will be no end of the shalom he brings
Isaiah 57:19-21--
Peace to him who is far and near, but no shalom for the wicked
Luke 2:14-- Glory
to God in the highest and upon earth peace among men who are favored
From these
verses we can see a few things: First,
that God doesn’t provide peace immediately.
He doesn’t wave a magic wand and amazingly peace appears. Rather, God’s people have to go through a
period of waiting in trials without peace before He gives shalom. Secondly, God, in these promises, say that
his peace will come through one individual—His emperor who will establish
shalom among his people.
And lastly, we see that shalom is
not offered to everyone in the world. We
quote the passage, “Peace on earth” as God’s promise, yet that promise is not
to everyone, but those who are given God’s grace. Frankly, not everyone is ready for God’s
peace. The people who are opposed to
peace for some of the world cannot have peace.
Nor can the people who are opposed to God, since the Lord is central to
God’s shalom. And those who are opposed
to God’s king, the Prince of Shalom—Jesus— will also not be able to experience
God’s peace, for they reject God’s means of bringing shalom.
Is there any reason for good person to die young? Why should someone be sentenced to death when they were declared innocent? Why should one dedicated to doing good suddenly have their life cut short? And how can it be declared God’s will for such to happen?
And yet, this is exactly the scenario that the New Testament proposes. Jesus was a man who did good, who healed many and taught thousands to change from doing evil to doing good. He claimed as a basic principle never to harm another. But the authorities of Jerusalem branded him a rebel whose goal was to overturn their authority. And because of his rebellion, he was killed. And yet, all of this was, according to the New Testament, God’s plan and desire—the God of mercy and justice. How could this be?
We need to understand the underlying reasons for Jesus’ death—which from our perspective is insanity and injustice, but for the purposes of God it is right and good.
I. Historic Reasons for Jesus’ death
Jesus died because he threatened the temple of God.
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) Jesus made this statement publicly, right after he cleansed the temple of the impurity of buying and selling. Jesus never said that he would destroy the temple himself, but he did declare it impure, and he said that it would be destroyed by God (Mark 11:11-20; Mark 13:1-2). But the temple was the center of Jewish religion in that day, and the leaders of Jerusalem needed it to remain that way. The temple was the center of the authority of the priesthood and the ruling Council of the Jews. If it was destroyed, then their power would be wiped away immediately. Jesus seemed to threaten the temple (Mark 14:55-58), and so, in the mind of the Jewish authorities of Jerusalem, he must be stopped (John 11:47-57).
Jesus died because he claimed to replace the government of God’s people.
Jesus entered into Jerusalem as a great ruler, which was questioned by the Jewish authorities of Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9, 23-27). When they questioned him directly about his claims to authority, he agreed that he was the one whom God established as king over God’s people and that he would reign over the priesthood and the ruling Council. That a borderline heretic could rule over them was unacceptable to the Council and they made a final determination that he should die. (Mark 14:55-61).
Jesus died because justice was replaced by mob rule.
Because the Council was under the thumb of the Roman government, they had to ask permission to kill Jesus. They presented Jesus to the Roman governor of Jerusalem as a rebel wanting to replace Caesar as lord of the earth. Pilate questioned Jesus, and while Jesus declared himself to be king, it was clear that he was not king as Caesar was (John 18:29-38). Because he had done nothing rebellious, the governor declared him innocent. But the Jerusalemites listening to this trial demanded that Jesus be killed for sedition. Finally, Pilate was swayed by the crowds, and allowed Jesus to be killed. (Mark 15:12-15).
II. Jesus’ Own Reasons for Dying
Jesus died because he chose to.
But Jesus did not die simply because of the injustice of the Jewish and Roman governments. Jesus declared many times ahead of time that it was God’s plan for him to die at the hands of these governments (Matthew 20:18-19) and he accepted the will of God in this (Mark 14:36). He could have escaped at his arrest, but chose not to (Matthew 26:50-56). He could have phrased his answers to be more acceptable to the Council or to Pilate, but he was being deliberately unhelpful toward his release (John 19:9-10). Jesus was prepared for his death and he did what he could to make sure it happened, even though the final decision was Pilate’s.
Jesus died to make himself king over God’s people.
Why did Jesus make that choice? Why did he act in agreement with his own death? Because he saw his death as a means to an end. He determined that he needed to rule over God’s people. But to be a ruler under God, he couldn’t just be at the head of an army or gain the acclamation of the people. Rather, he had to be appointed by God. To do this, Jesus had to prove to be a perfectly righteous ruler, one who would do God’s will rather than act for his own benefit. Also, Jesus needed to be oppressed by the ruling governments, to prove that they were unworthy to rule. This would cause God himself to act, to put down the unrighteous who raise themselves to power and to raise up the righteous who lowered their own desires (Luke 14:11). In this way, Jesus allowed himself to die to allow God to act for his ambition to rule.
Jesus died to free people from oppressive rule.
But Jesus didn’t want to rule from his own ambition alone. Rather, he desired to rule, because he saw God’s people as being without decent leadership (Mark 6:34). Jesus saw the people as under Satan, needing deliverance from his rule of misery and death (Matthew 12:43-45). Jesus saw the teachers of God’s people as being too ready to judge, and unlearned in the ways of God’s mercy (Matthew 12:7). And Jesus saw the whole priesthood and temple system as impure and idolatrous (Mark 11:15-17). Jesus desired to sacrifice himself for the sake of all those who truly desired to worship and follow God, but had no way to do it (Mark 10:45).
III. What Jesus’ death shows us
Jesus died to display the way of faith.
Jesus knew that the one whom God was pleased with is the one who is so faithful to God that he is willing to sacrifice everything he is and everything he has for him (Luke 14:33). Jesus determined to be a man so wholly devoted to God that he would die. And he also said that anyone who would gain the life that God has to offer must be so completely devoted (Mark 8:31-38). And so Jesus showed—not just taught—that the one who loves God most is the one who would obey God to the very end (Mark 13:13).
Jesus died to demonstrate the result of faith.
Jesus knew that if he died that God would act in certain ways. Whoever, in God’s name, destroyed God’s obedient servant, would be destroyed by God (Mark 12:1-9). Whoever lowered themselves for God’s sake and God’s people would be raised by God to rule (Luke 14:11). And whoever died because of their devotion to God, would be raised from the dead (Mark 8:35). Three days after Jesus’ death, God raised him from the dead to prove the third principle. After showing himself to the disciples for many days, God rose Jesus up to political authority over heaven, under the Father. And in 70AD, the temple and the priesthood and the ruling Council of the Jews were destroyed, even as Jesus predicted.
