March 26, 2006: FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

Readings
II Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23
Ephesians 2:4-10
John 3:14-21

Two people can experience the same event, yet come up with two different interpretations of it. I realized this when, as a child, I was sitting high up in the stands watching an automobile race with my father and his brother, my uncle Ray. An old ice cream vendor was carefully making his way up the rickety wooden steps selling Fiddlesticks. I who am afraid of heights looked at him, wondering why someone that old was forced to make a living by selling ice cream in such a stressful situation.

In the midst of my reflection, my realistic uncle nudged me, pointed to the man, and said, "Roger, unless that guy's got ice between his fingers, I wouldn't buy his ice cream. He's been holding that same Fiddlestick in his hand for a least five minutes." Ray had seen something I hadn't noticed.

I often remind my students that when one opens the Bible, one isn't dealing with a book of history or science or biology; one's opening a book of faith: a book whose authors aren't concerned as much with passing on facts as they are with giving theological interpretations of those facts, how their belief in God and their relationship with God influence whatever happens in their lives, an interpretation which often differs author to author.

The author of our II Chronicles passage, for instance, interprets Cyrus' decree permitting exiled Jews in Babylon to return to Israel and rebuild their temple as fulfilling a direct command of Yahweh. Some historians interpret it from a different perspective, pointing out that Cyrus was obsessive compulsive about the after-life, fearing one day, on the brink of eternity, he'd come face to face with a god or goddess whose people he'd stopped from worshipping him or her. To overcome this fear, the Persian emperor granted religious freedom to any people he conquered - Jews and non-Jews alike - simply requesting "Say one for me!" in return for the favor.

Did Cyrus carry out Yahweh's direct command, or was he just a victim of his own psyche? It doesn't make a big difference. If we share the faith of the sacred author, we're invited to share his or her interpretation.

As Christians, we buy into the faith-interpretation of Jesus' death which both Paul and John offer in today's second and third readings. Each explains the discovery of the empty tomb on Easter Sunday morning as a sign that Jesus of Nazareth had risen from a death which had cut short his life and ministry. That the tomb was empty is a "fact;" that the empty tomb means its former occupant has risen from the dead is a faith interpretation of the fact.

Yet it's not quite that simple. Even the interpretation has interpretations. What does Jesus' resurrection mean for us?

Fortunately in today's two passages, Paul and John seem to agree on the meaning they offer. Each looks at the life which the risen Jesus provides as something we could never earn by our own "works." Paul believes such life is a sign of the "great love God had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions." In the same way, John states, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life."

Instead of just taking a few steps back and thanking God for the favor, each author gives us some of the implications of living that new life. For Paul, "We are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them." For John, "Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that their works may be clearly seen as done in God."

For each of these first century Christian theologians, faith is more than just believing in the "things" God has done. They also interpret it as demanding we live our lives in a different way because of those things.

March 19, 2006: THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

Readings
Exodus 20:1-17
I Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25

Paul faces the same problem with his community in Corinth that the four evangelists later will experience with their communities in other parts of the biblical world. Lots of people want to get the "goodies" which faith in Jesus promises, but few want to acquire them the way Jesus did. "Jews demand signs," the Apostle writes, "and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

No matter the example of Jesus, the death, weakness and foolishness he demands are simply too much for some who regard themselves to be other Christs. Yet all our Christian sacred authors agree: the life Jesus achieved and proclaimed can only be entered through a gate which leads to crucifixion.

This fact made such an impression on John that he retells the story of Jesus' cleansing of the temple, which he found in the writings of the other three evangelists, from the perspective of Jesus' death. Here, it's Jesus' zeal for Judaism's real faith which brings about his crucifixion. Jesus' prophetic ministry of calling his fellow-Israelites back to the roots of their faith will cause his demise. Irate with the non-religious, but commonly accepted clutter in the Jerusalem temple, he symbolically cleanses its precincts. "Take these out of here," he commands, "and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."

Such prophetic actions directed against the status quo of "non-suffering" Judaism will eventually cause the destruction of the "temple" of Jesus' body. Yet as difficult as it is to imitate, Jesus' followers know that only this destruction will bring about his resurrection.

This concept of life through death didn't start with the historical Jesus. As a good Jew he frequently would have reflected on today's Exodus pericope.

I recently asked a rabbi friend for his opinion about the recent furor over 10 Commandment displays in government buildings. He agreed with my reading of the situation. It's somewhat amusing that people who haven't entered into a covenant with Yahweh want to publicly display and "push" some of the terms of that covenant.

Our Jewish sacred authors never conceived of these commandments as "generic" laws, binding everyone on earth. They're part of a covenant - a contract - between Yahweh and a specific group of people. Only those who freely enter into that agreement are responsible for carrying out its obligations. You, for instance, aren't bound by the contract I signed with the community college at which I teach. Nor am I bound by your contracts.

It's clear that many non-Jews would like to emphasize and adhere to some of the laws of the Jewish covenant, while at the same time ignore the relationship which gave rise to those laws. Anyone who has ever entered into the covenant of marriage will testify that such a relationship always entails a death on the part of both parties. Marriage is more than just observing certain specific rules and regulations. A committed relationship both surfaces our weaknesses and demands that we engage in foolishness. It's a real "crucifixion." But, on the other hand, only committed relationships can make life fulfilling for us.

The Israelite covenant with Yahweh was the most life-giving element they experienced, even if they knew nothing of an after-life. The Christian's covenant with Jesus extends that fulfilling life into eternity. Once we enter into the death of a covenant commitment as Jesus did, life will come naturally.

March 12, 2006: SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Readings
Genesis 22:1-2, 9a,10-13,15-18
Romans 8:31b-34
Mark 9:2-10

Our sacred authors often warn us that not everything done in the name of God is something God wants. The prophets whom God places in our midst are supposed to point out that distinction. No passage of Scripture teaches this better than today's well-known, disturbing narrative from Genesis.

How can God command people to kill their children? It goes against everything Scripture tells us about a loving God. Why would Abraham willingly carry out such an absurd command? And even if Yahweh knows Isaac's "execution" will be stopped at the last second, the passage still paints a picture of an unacceptable, sadistic God.

The first step in understanding this pericope is to know when, where, by and for whom it was written. This story was composed in the 8th century, BCE, in the northern part of the Holy Land, a place where, due to pagan fertility influence, even some Jews sacrificed their children. The prophetic author is directing this narrative to those Jews who believe Yahweh demands such sacrifices.

Though prophets had constantly condemned these barbaric practices, those who disagreed with these specially inspired people argued that Jews who refused to kill their children were less dedicated to Yahweh than those who did. It's an argument similar to that which proponents of the death penalty employ against someone who doesn't want the murderer of a loved one or family member executed: "You must not have loved that person very much if you don't want his or her killer killed."

The sacred author constructs the Isaac story in such a way that no one can question Abraham's commitment to Yahweh. If God had demanded such an action, Abraham would have carried it out. Yet, the prophetic writer believes that those whose faith is actually rooted in their relationship with God will eventually rid their formal religion of the pagan elements which infiltrate all religions. If something in our religion hurts people, it can't be from God.

That's why our Romans 8 pericope fits so well into this context. Paul is here encouraging his readers to give themselves over to God as God really is, not as they, at times, falsely conceive of God. If God is at the center of our lives, of what are we afraid? "If God is for us," Paul asks, "who can be against us?" The answer is, "No one!" As long as we're both trying to do what God wants us to do, and we recognize how the risen Jesus is continually interceding for us, we have nothing to worry about, no matter our opposition. The extraneous elements which have crept into the practice of our faith should cause us no problems.

Mark tells us that even before Jesus' death and resurrection, his immediate disciples were able to glimpse the force he was becoming in their lives. On certain occasions they experienced him "transfigured," recognizing how different he was from other people around them. He was actually the fulfillment of all the dreams which the authors of Scripture had planted in their hearts. No one ever surfaced and focused those aspirations better than this carpenter from Nazareth. Yet, it was only when they made Jesus the center of their lives that they were able to achieve this insight into his personality and his uniqueness.

Our sacred authors give us no other choice. According to them, the only way to discover what God really wants us to do in life is to surface those God-sent individuals in our midst who consistently cut through the demands and practices of our culture and tell us what God actually expects of us. These are people whose lives are completely centered in God. If we don't listen to them, 2,700 years from now someone will compose a narrative describing how we "sacrificed" our children.

March 5, 2006: FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Readings
Genesis 9:8-15
I Peter 3:188-22
Mark 1:12-15

Watching part of an "old" 50s movie on television the other day, I heard one of the characters remark, "Mr. Anthony doesn't live in my neighborhood." Almost no one under 60 knows what that comment means. It refers to a popular TV show of the era - The Millionaire - in which a mysterious "Mr. Anthony" gifts certain people with million dollar checks. To really appreciate some movies, play and writing, one must even know what TV shows people were watching when the movie, play or writing was created.

In the same way, to understand writings from the last half of the first Christian century, one must know what books were popular during that period. The Hebrew Scriptures immediately come to mind. Almost all Christians were familiar with them. But another book, not found in the Hebrew Scriptures was also very popular: I Enoch. It's an apocalyptic writing, concerned with this planet's "last days." One part of it describes the rebellious spirits whose successful tempting of humans had brought about the great flood.

The early church heard today's first reading about Yahweh's post-flood covenant with Noah and his descendants from a different perspective than we hear it today. They regarded this covenant as a victory over the sinfulness which caused the flood.

This seems to be what the author of I Peter is speaking about when he mentions, "Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water."

These particular "spirits" represented evil. By having Jesus "preach to them, the writer is teaching his community that Jesus, the force of good, is far superior to the forces of evil: the spirits.

This reading has been chosen for the First Sunday of Lent - the ideal preparation period for baptism - because it's through baptism that we participate in Jesus' victory over evil. Comparing the water of the flood to the water of baptism, the letter writer reminds his readers, "This prefigures baptism which saves you now."

The struggle between good and evil is a frequent theme in early Christian literature, a theme we often miss. In today's pericope from Mark, for instance, nothing is mentioned about something we frequently associate with Lent: fasting. Jesus spends his 40 days in the desert not abstaining from food, but in being "tempted by Satan." He struggles not with his human appetite for food, but with his human appetite for evil.

As we heard a few weeks ago, one of the reasons Mark writes his gospel springs from his belief that Jesus' followers are constantly expected to get rid of evil in their lives, no matter when, where, or under what form it's encountered.

The evangelist tells us that once Jesus, in his baptism discovers the God-given forces which enable him to defeat Satan, he immediately shares that insight with his disciples. "This is the time of fulfillment," he proclaims. The victory over evil which his fellow Jews had for centuries longed for was now an essential part of their lives. To take part in this victory they simply had to repent: to change their entire value system enough to recognize God powerfully working among them. They had to acknowledge that God's kingdom wasn't just a future dream; it was already in their midst.

If we're often beaten down by evil in our lives, maybe we're not repenting enough to change our frame of mind, to experience a God in our midst who has already conquered evil; the very evil crushing us. Though baptism can't be repeated, the victory over evil which it affects and symbolizes is a battle in which we can engage and triumph every day of our lives.