Compassion is the only appropriate response.

You likely have read that Rick Warren's 27 year old son recently committed suicide.  I have read wonderful, compassionate responses to the Warren family's loss.  Len Sweet, for example, posted "I believe every suicide victim will be met by Jesus personally, who will embrace him/her at the gate & say, 'Son/Daughter, you found it a little too much for you, didn’t you? Welcome home.'”

The part I'm ashamed of is the other side.  Many "Christians" have condemned the Warrens, saying that if they had been better parents this would not have happened.  Others have said that Matthew Warren clearly is languishing in hell as no real follower of Jesus would ever commit suicide... and anyone who isn't a born again Christian automatically goes to hell.  Even the responses to Len Sweet's post were mixed with some responding, "maybe..."  I have to say that I wasn't really surprised to see these statements online.  I am ashamed and appalled to be affiliated with folk, even if only by name, who would even think such things, let alone say them.  

And it doesn't end there.  This morning I saw a facebook post from a Unitarian Universalist pastor who was collecting signatures for a sympathy card for the Warrens and read a number of comments that essentially said "the hater got what he deserved."  Again, I am appalled.

A young man struggled with more pain than he could bear.  A family is immersed in grief, the likes of which I don't even want to imagine.  The only appropriate response is compassion.  Regardless of how one feels about Rick Warren's ministry, views, or whatever... compassion is the only appropriate response.  And frankly, to expect less from Jesus than I expect from you is just silly.

Ah Ha!

Ah Ha!  That is pretty much what Epiphany means.  The dictionary says that an epiphany is a sudden realization.  The English word comes from a Greek word that means striking manifestation or appearance.

In the Church calendar, Epiphany is January 6, the first day following the 12 days of Christmas.  In the lectionary, the scripture passage most tied to that day is the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.  Some cultures celebrate Epiphany as the day when gifts are given rather than on Christmas and in some places, the children leave hay out to feed the camels rather than cookies for Santa.

I've been thinking a lot about the Church Year this year and have paid careful attention to the season of Advent, a penitential season of preparation, prior to Christmas, then the full 12 days of Christmas beginning on December 25, and now, Epiphany.  Here's the question I've been wrestling with for Epiphany... just what was/is the Ah Ha?  What is the sudden realization?

Tradition says that the Epiphany was for the Gentiles, the Magi who realized that the Messiah had come and traveled to see him and bring gifts.  An interesting interpretation... the Magi were likely Zoroastrian priests from what is now Iran.  The Zoroastrian religion is a highly dualistic religion that sees an ongoing battle between the transcendent and all good god and the force of evil, between creation and chaos.  In their eschatology, at the end time there will come a savior who will remake the world and even the dead who had been banished into darkness would be restored into full life in the presence of the all good god.   Ok... so we can easily see how they may have understood Jesus as this savior figure and come to worship him.  Here's the part that catches my attention this year, nowhere are they told to repent of their "heathen" faith and turn to Judaism or some form of proto-Christianity.   They leave their gifts, worship Jesus, and return home.  There is no reason to believe they have interpreted their experience in any way except as Zoroastrian priests.

One cannot reliably argue from silence but whenever we read scripture we must remember that the scripture writers included what they felt their readers needed to hear and didn't include what they felt their readers did not need to hear.  Only Matthew tells us the story of the Magi and he gives us precious few details.  So how do we make sense of this odd little passage?  He doesn't tell us of the conversion of the Magi.  They don't stay to become followers of Jesus and, as far as we can tell, none of them return thirty years later to follow him.  Is the story just a set-up for Herod's slaughter of the innocents and a rather complicated narrative to get Jesus to Nazareth?  Maybe, the real epiphany is not meant for the Magi, but for Matthew's readers (first the church he wrote for and ultimately for us).  Maybe the real epiphany is that the gospel is inclusive even of those so far beyond the margins as to be completely invisible.  Maybe the good news includes not only the Jews and the direct believers but also those of foreign religions who may encounter Jesus but continue to practice their own faith in an authentic manner.  Even Zoroastrian priests are included in God's kindom.  Maybe the Ah Ha of this little passage is a nascent universalism, still yet to be fully realized or understood. 

Wouldn't that be an epiphany?

It's all about Jesus

I am involved in an interfaith group and have a great deal of respect for most other religions. I believe in my heart of hearts that virtually all religions have some truth in them (and none, including my own, have all) and so have something to teach me. I also realize how much of what one believes is a result of culture and setting. Had I been born in Pakistan, I would likely be a good Muslim boy, in Tibet, a good Buddhist... you get the picture. I know at least a little abut a lot of religions and have good friends who are believers in a variety of faiths.

I marvel at the way my Muslim friends live their faith in their daily lives. I wish I had the centeredness of my Buddhist friends. I have a Hindu friend who has such an incredible sense of the Holy all around her... she sees God where I see weeds. I'm jealous of the deep roots my Jewish friends have. Even within the Christian tradition, there are very different streams - the seriousness of many conservatives, the dedication of many Anabaptists, the commitment to liberation in many minority traditions, the rootedness of the Orthodox... you get the picture. There are also religious traditions in which I don't have friends but I've still learned a little about them - the care the Jain have for all living things, the commitment to standing up for the oppressed that is central to Sikhism, the close community of the Mormons. Yes, I may misunderstand some of the traditions, oversimplify or give in to stereotypes, but I haven't run into a religious tradition that didn't have something I needed to hear.

As you can guess, I don't believe that everyone who doesn't believe like I believe is going to hell. I don't believe God requires one to be a follower of Jesus to find salvation. That is another discussion that I don't want to get into now - just so you understand what I believe and where I'm coming from.

So why am I a Christian vs. something else or some amalgam of a variety of traditions - a JewBu or ChristLim or whatever? Jesus. It is that simple. I find Jesus revolutionary, compelling, and impossible to ignore. When I think of God, it is always through the lens of Jesus. When I wrestle with truth, it is always through the lens of Jesus. When I struggle with my life and the direction I feel I should go, it is always in the context of the cliche'ed question, "what would Jesus do?" Jesus is the one who challenges me to be more, in whom I am inspired as to what that more might be, the one in whom I experience as close as I can get to the fulness of God.

I don't claim to have all of Jesus sussed out. Indeed, I don't think the Christian tradition has him all sussed out (which is why, even though I do believe that Jesus is the Truth, the Christian tradition doesn't have all the truth. We don't "have" Jesus, but hopefully he has us). And I know that there are lots of interpretations of who he is and was. We each see Jesus through a set of lenses formed by our background and culture and even preconceptions but however colored that picture might be, some of the real Jesus still shines through. So, my task as a follower of Jesus is to work to get better and better lenses until they are transparent and don't distort him at all... probably a never ending task, but one to which I'm committed. For me, it is all about Jesus.

Laughing Jesus

As you enter our church office, the first thing you see is a painting of Jesus in the middle of a deep belly laugh. Virtually everyone comments the first time they see it... "I've never seen a picture of Jesus laughing like that..."

That says something about our theology. We see Jesus in prayer, in tears, dying on a cross, throwing over tables in the Temple, fighting with the religious hierarchy, even with children on his lap or a sheep over his shoulders, but never really laughing, never deeply enjoying anything. If Jesus lives that way, then we think we should too. Life is full of suffering and conflict with little room for joy, wonder, or genuine encounter of the other.

Mt friend Jon, posted this irreverent video the other day. When I saw it on his site, there was only one comment, complaining that a post like this doesn't take Satan seriously enough. I won't go down that path, but I will say the comment missed Jon's point. The folk who made the video obviously have encountered a Christianity in which Jesus never laughs, doesn't enjoy much at all, and interfaith relationships are always framed in terms of violent conflict. What a sad and empty version of the Christian faith that is...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The Words

I have a good friend who is on a spiritual quest. She hungers for something... for faith... for connections. She has lots of friends from various faith traditions and she has shared her hunger with them all. Most have shared their stories in response. She especially struggles with dogma and with any top down kinds of directives.

We were talking one day and she told me that she was very attracted to Judaism but she just can't seem to leave out Jesus. I understand that feeling. Now, I know that I am a product of my culture and my background and all of that colors what I see and how I see it... but I just can't ignore Jesus either. His words, his actions, the movement he began, a view of God's kindom more inclusive and expansive than any other I'm aware of... I just can't ignore Jesus.
At the same time, there are lots of pieces that make me want to ignore those people who call themselves his followers. Since the very beginning we have overlayed Jesus with our interpretations, our dreams, our fears, and our theologies. Some, I think, have clearly represented him well. At other times, we have so skewed his message as to make it unrecognizable. Once, on a plane trip, a young woman with whom I was talking said, "we don't worship the same Jesus." She was correct, I think. Our presuppositions had so colored what we see, that we were not seeing the same thing at all.



Now, I know it is not possible to remove all of those lenses. But it is a good thing to work towards. One step is a new project by Lee Cantelon called The Words where he is publishing a collection of the words of Jesus. Again, I know there are translational issues and I know that scholars debate which statements Jesus actually made and which he didn't but the task is still a worthy and helpful one.

The book has already been translated into a variety of languages, has inspired a number of artists including Rickie Lee Jones and Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets, and is available as a free download in a bunch of languages both as text and as an audio book. You can purchase the printed copy at Amazon.

I'm really looking forward to it. I just can't ignore Jesus.

two quotes about the work... first from Rickie Lee Jones

”The words of Jesus remain a ‘soft dream' that falls night by night, until the soul is ignited with courage. Our hearts, that did not sing until now, are filled with hope that did not yet dare to dream of freedom from poverty and oppression. With faith, what one feels is the Truth, and the truth, while difficult to teach, is immense. It is easy to learn. We have Christ among us, speaking through each of us, if we choose to listen. We have Christ and though there are few words, they are enough, they are enough to last two thousand years. In spite of so much distortion of His will and meaning, they reverberate clearly in the good work of so many Christians who may not even know they are ‘followers.'”

and from Lee Cantelon

The words of Jesus resound with a challenge to a world burdened by greed, self-righteous religion, and pride. The Jesus I discovered spoke a message of humility, one that did not emphasize a vengeful God, but one of love. His words were filled with mercy, compassion, and forgiveness. A new kind of kingdom was being introduced in his words, accessible to all; men, women, Jews, Gentiles, slaves, kings, free, lost, illuminated, and illiterate. All that was required was that we become “like children” and hold fast to this kind message that offers the stern command, “open your hearts!” How this has become so much dogma, who can understand? And understanding, to recognize his invitation to our right to become “children of God.” Is no great feat.