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Lessons: March 16, 2003, 2 Lent
Genesis 22: 1-14
Romans 8: 31-39
Mark 8: 31-38
"Lo! He is here! Lo! He is there!"
Jesus (given name, Yeshua) underscored a lesson with this phrase.
He said, if anyone tells you that Christ (or Messiah) is over in that particular
place or in another particular place (and, by inference, thing, object,
routine, etc.), don't believe such statement.
"For as the lightning shines from east to west, so shall the coming
of the son of man be." (basically a paraphrase)
The operative object of this statement is "son of man". When
this phrase is read in the Gospels, it is generally assumed that "son of
man" is referring to Yeshua himself, as the Christ. If we were to
assume that this is strictly what "son of man" means, then if we were to
read the Old Testament, we would encounter confusion, especially when we
read such statements as, "What is Man, that thou art mindful of him, or
the son of man, that thou considerest him . . . thou has made him a little
lower than the angels . . . " There is little doubt that the phrase, "son
of man", in this passage if a metaphor for a regular, mortal human being.
It is used several times as such. Prophets are referred to as "son
of man", also. Is this a title of importance, or is it really a "bringing
down to earth" of the human who has an important position, saying to him
that, "You are human like all those whom you serve"? It would more
likely be the latter, considering that the phrase refers to mortal human
beings elsewhere.
With this in mind, why not, when the phrase, "son of man" is encountered
in the Gospels, look at it as what could be termed, "multi-use"; i.e.,
it has multiple meanings, all interrelated. I think once we look
at it in this manner and when we encounter "son of man" in the Gospels,
we think, not only of Yeshua as Christ as important, but of any human being
and also of the whole of humankind, then we enter an entirely new perception
of the narrative of the Gospels.
So, what shall we make of "For as the lightning shines from east to
west, so shall the coming of the son of man be."? Should we equate
it to Yeshua's statement to the temple priests and scribes at his trial,
"You shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of glory." (again, somewhat
of a paraphrase), at which the high priest tore his robes and said, "Do
you see what blasphemy this is?" (Paraphrase)? And if we equate "son
of man" to the common human individual, with what image are we left?
So what does this mean? Let's explain this later.
Let's work through an image of Christ for now. First, let's check
our terms. "Christ", "Jesus", "James", "Mary" -- these are all names
given to biblical characters, of Greek or Roman or other lingual origin
later than the First Century geographical setting, which is Jewish-Syrian.
Jewish-Syrian names are Yeshua, Jacobus, Miriam, we particularly find this
in the recently publicized (but not newly discovered) ossuary whose inscription
reads, in the Arabic script of the day, "Jacobus, son of Yosuf, brother
of Yeshua", translated into our lingual understanding, "James, the son
of Joseph, brother of Jesus".
(ASIDE) An interesting thing about ossuaries -- they are bone
boxes. The custom at that time was to lay the body of the deceased
in a tomb (like those found around Jerusalem and of which one or more are
supposed to be that of Jesus {Yeshua}), on a shelf of sorts and, a year
later, after the body has decomposed, the bones are placed in a bone box,
called an ossuary, for more or less permanent keeping. The interesting
thing about this particular bone box is that this is supposed to be that
of one of the earliest "Christians". One aspect of Christian belief
is the "resurrection", and bodies are buried as they are, in a casket and
preserved in some way, in belief of such. This bone box, in a manner
of speaking, flies in the face of this tradition of preserving the entire
body in a casket. Also, James' bones are not with the bone box.
They must be scattered somewhere, who knows how far apart. So, will
James' body not take part in the Resurrection? He was certainly buried
after Yeshua's death and rising from the grave. Yet, the body was
buried in the earlier Jewish tradition, rather than present Christian tradition.
It should be becoming more and more obvious to thinking people that
classical, traditional Christian perceptions and concepts regarding this
Yeshua need to be reconsidered, and a totally new perception arrived at
which resembles the original person of Yeshua, although not nearly perfectly,
at least more so than classical traditional. This can add to a new perception
of what "Christ" really is, which is the question asked in the title.
Christ, or "Messiah", is, to many people's minds, the Jewish concept
of Messiah from the time of the Second Temple onward; that is, a warrior-king
after the pattern of King David, who would lead those on His side to victory
over their enemies. Let's call this the "Messiah Complex", only on
the part of those waiting for the coming of the Messiah, whether His first
coming, as many Jews expect, or His second coming, as many Christians expect.
This form of Messiah Complex has its roots, if one will be honest and
open to this suggestion, in the "biology of the human animal". Let's
call this basic human animal, "The Beast". In this context of the
Human Animal, we should be able to recognize the Messiah as the "Dominant
Male". In this context, we follow those who lead us to victory militarily.
From the dawn of history, this was so: the Pharaohs of Egypt, Babylonian
rulers, Darius of Persia, Alexander the Great, the Caesars of Rome.
History is studded with those who led their countrymen to military victory,
with the accompanying loss of life and disruption of life's routines and
like disasters. These are recognized as our great leaders.
The United States of America was born electing a military leader as
its first president. George Washington was never more than mediocre
in military skill. A blunder of his during the French and Indian
War helped to increase the war. His victory at Trenton on Christmas
Eve was a matter of timing and attacking an enemy that could scarcely defend
itself. Were these Hessians sober and fully alert and in possession
of their faculties, Washington probably would not have won that battle.
The Revolution was won by victories in the southern colonies, not by George
Washington. From his emergence as Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary
Army through his presidency, it was a false image that brought him to prominence
and popularity.
This is part of the Messiah Complex. We create an image larger
than the real person and then we deify the crafted creation of our imaginations
that this image is. There is a process here. We create a Messiah
(or idol) out of another person, an object of deification that is placed
on a pedestal, given an appearance of perfection that shines down upon
us imperfect mortals, then we lay our sinful selves at its perfect feet
and think that by its being in existence and our having SOME thing to do
with it -- ANY thing -- buy music records, clothing associated with it
-- even to the point of touching it, our sins somehow are expiated, our
unwholeness made whole, our infirmities healed. We feel that if we
"touch the hem of his garment", we'll be made whole again. The idea
here is that we see too well our own imperfections, and we set up a figure
as being closer to perfect than we are in order that we might find salvation
through that figure.\
Then there are those who thrive off of exposing the imperfections in
the Messiah Figure we have set up. And there are those who hunger
for that exposure. This is all part of this "Messiah Complex".
We craft a Messiah unto ourselves; then we crucify.
There is, in the book of Leviticus, a high holy day, called The Day
of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. The idea here
is for Humankind to be reconciled to God. As a part of this day,
the congregation brings forth two goats, on which lots are cast.
The result is that one goat stays with the congregation to be sacrificed;
the other is driven away into the wilderness, this being the "scapegoat"
or Azazel.
A typical explanation is that the one remaining with the congregation
to be sacrifices stands for Messiah, and the one driven away into the wilderness,
Azazel, stands for the Devil. Let's look at this differently.
They are both goats; they both are sacrificed although in different ways.
One stays with the congregation and is killed; one is driven away and it
is supposed that this Azazel also meets an untimely demise. I contend
they are two aspects of the same concept. The sins of the congregation
are expiated through both of these goats. The congregation kills
one and exiles the other.
Let's return to our "beast', shall we? I want to equate this
with the "Beast" of Revelation. It was explained to me once that
the "Mark of the Beast" -- besides the six, six, six -- which is set in
the right hand and forehead of its followers is like this: it is action
and thought, action being in the hand and thought being in the forehead,
of course. Beastly action and thought.
We then come to a delineating: between Beast and Messiah. We
need to understand a distinction, here, between the "Beastly" messiah (small
"m") and the Messiah (Capitalized) as explained from the Beginning.
Messiah Capitalized can be found in Isaiah 53 " . . . no beauty that
we should desire him . . . "despised, and rejected of men . . . " and in
the "Sermon on the Mount of Matthew chapters 5 through 7 and in First Corinthians
13, the "Love Chapter" and the First Epistle of John, chapter 4, vers 20.
Messiah Capitalized must be learned through studying these scriptures,
The Golden Rule, and letting them make connections in our lives.
The understanding of these is not in the reading, but in the living --
seeing our lives through the "glass of these precepts.
The Beastly Messiah does not need to be learned. It is already
in us. Beast Messiah is an automatic reaction to whatever we encounter
every day. We can understand the Beast Messiah by looking back over
our childhood and in the schoolyard settings we grew up in. Little
tribes of human beings (we call them cliques) either ostracizing or browbeating
those who are different in one way or another -- with usually one or more
prominent, dominant girls or boys around which the clique forms and you
see the hierarchy of people forming around those dominant. Locally,
nationally, this "dominant-male tribal system" dominates. From this
come wars and racism and strivings which you can see particularly in our
political life. Look around you . . . see where this Beastly Messiah
is, both without and within yourself.
The Beastly Messiah is a seed that was born in us and was nourished
in us through all of our lives to grow in us and is deeply rooted within
us. Yet also within us is another seed. In the First chapter
of Colossians, the Apostle Paul describes, "Christ in you, the hope of
glory." It is in every Human Being, nesting there along with the
other seed. Jesus said as much when he told the Pharisees, "The Kingdom
of Heaven is within you." We all have the beastly messiah seed and
the Spiritual, Messiah Capitalized seed. Jesus said, "The Kingdom
of Heaven is like a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds, but which becomes
a plant as large as a tree." I've grown mustard and the plants are
not large like a tree or a bush as we might imagine -- yet of the garden
plants, they do become larger than the others, branching out like a tree.
Each Sunday, we intone, "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ
WILL come again." With each Eucharist, we understand that we are
partaking of the body and blood of Christ. This Easter Season, we
are again reminded of Yeshua's crucifixion and death and the subsequent
resurrection of the Christ, and his promise that he will come again.
And yet, I contend, we might not recognize the risen Christ.
Paul in First Corinthians, the eleventh chapter, after the famous verses
describing the Last Supper, which we use in our Eucharist Liturgy, warns
against "not discerning the Lord's body." and further states, "For this
cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."
We fail to recognize where Christ is.
WE fail to realize that it is no enough merely to "know" Jesus, or
love "Jesus", but we must also BE Jesus.
Being Jesus means recognizing Jesus in others. This is obvious.
It also means recognizing the Jesus in ourselves. Not only is it
recognizing the Church as the Body of Christ, not only as an institution,
but those in the church next to us as being just as much members of the
body as we are and just as important. Read the rest of First Corinthians,
from that eleventh chapter on.
We are asked "What would Jesus do?" In this and that situation
in which we find ourselves, this stemming from First Peter which admonishes
that we should "follow in his steps", which was the source of a very interesting
book, "In His Steps".
We have to take on the attitude of Jesus. We absorb the glory
of His resurrection and then we discover that we have to take on the life
of Jesus. This is what today's gospel teaches. We not only
exult in the glory of the promise of Jesus, but we have to live a life
like his. We have to "take up our cross."
There are different types of crucifixions and martyrdoms. I think
we all understand that. The one that comes to mind most comes from
the very first time I attended St. John's, participating in the adult education
class before church. I've forgotten what the subject was. What
I remember is that I asked a question. Recalling my Dad's tales of
the Great Depression and knowing that American Society has come a long
way in just a few decades, from lives of hardships and struggle through
the affluence of the Fifties and Sixties and all the modern appliances
and conveniences, I asked, "Who among us has not seen their lives improve
over the years?" One of our parishioners brought her mother to church,
introducing her to the group. It was her mother who replied, "Me!
Now that we have a nice home, I have this marble windowsill that I have
to clean every day!"
This lady had forgotten all the improved aspects of her life -- she
had to have gone through the Depression and rough times of the Forties
and early Fifties and certainly she had more now than she had ever had
in her life -- yet -- having to clean that marble windowsill made her life
worse than it had ever been.
That was her crucifixion -- her martyrdom. You see, there's the
martyrdom we inflict on ourselves, a constant cross that we take up.
We are the whole schmiel in the Passion -- we are the group that condemns
Jesus, the Roman soldier that flagellates him, those that drive the nails
into his hands and feet and lift that cross up to let him die there.
And we are Jesus. We martyr and crucify ourselves every day.
We find some way we can make a martyr of ourselves even in the best circumstances.
That's not what the gospel is talking about . . .
Is it?
The epistle for today says, "For your sake . . . " WHOSE sake?"
The Gospel tells us that Christ's followers must "DENY THEMSELVES".
At the same time we feel this deity of ourselves and all whom we encounter
in whatever manner, we must also "deny" the "self". That "self" is
the human, beastly self, that boosts the self at the expense of others,
that feels sorry for some imagined inconvenience to the self.
The spiritual deity of the self "loses their life for my sake."
The rich young man shows something of this. He came to Jesus,
asking "What good thing might I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus
answered "Keep the Commandments.", not abrogating the Ten Commandments
to a lesser position in relation to this Christ or Messiah Capitalized
that we're talking about. The young man answered that did keep those
Commandments. Jesus in returned admonished him, "You lack one thing.
Sell all that you have and give it to the poor; then follow me."
What did this young man lack? Sacrifice. He had possessions
that he did not want to relinquish. We all have possessions that
we do not want to relinquish, whether it be wealth or other material possessions,
or the possession of the self -- that is, parts of our own psyche that
we are unwilling to let go of. That is why Jesus' disciples asked
"How, then can ANYONE be saved?"
But we are saved. If we accept the Christ -- the Messiah.
Jesus Christ, or what one friend of mine called, "The Saving-Anointing".
The name Jesus comes from Joshua, which means basically, "one who delivers
or saves". Christ is the Anointed One. This is Jesus in us
again. We are very special -- we are saved, we are the Lord's Anointed
-- Kings, as the book of Hebrews ascribes to us, as well as priests, both
being anointed to a purpose -- a HIGH purpose.
The Anointed Messiah sees all as equal messiahs, from the lowliest,
from the most rejected. Remember, Jesus said, "inasmuch as you have
done it to the least, . . . you have done it to me . . " The least
are to be regarded as Christs. Jesus himself was certainly not recognized
as anywhere near the Son of God or Christ by many around him. The
temple priests, when he was twelve and questioning them after Passover
-- the people of his own home town, who tried to throw him off a cliff
for even hinting that prophecies about Messiah were fulfilled in him --
his own mother and siblings, who, at the same time of the incident of the
paralyzed man who was healed by having his sins forgiven, and at the urging
of relatives, wanted to talk to him about the relatives wanting to "put
him away" because he "was mad" -- to which he replied, "who is my mother
and who are my brethren . . " -- not to the hundreds who left him
when he stated, "I am the bread of life . . ." And certainly not
to the priests and scribes who put him on trial and urged his crucifixion
on Pilate. He was an outcast -- Azazel -- the finally the goat of
sacrifice for atonement.
Being Christ means seeing Christ. In ourselves and in everyone
whom we encounter.
Being Christ means really BEING Christ. We live His birth, life,
sacrifice, death and resurrection daily in our lives.
Especially his sacrifice, for it was a LIVING sacrifice; that is, a
sacrificing of the self while he was alive. We also must sacrifice
day by day and live as the scriptures urge us to live, not returning harm
for harm. We "bear all things" -- that is, we carry on in spite of
others' perception of us as not being the aggressive, solid, leader type
that they seek -- the Dominant Male type. When others treat us spitefully
and such because of our passive attitude, we back off and let it all go
by -- we remain true to the precepts of the scriptures.
Maybe every day we should review these -- have a place where these
are written down, ask, "How can I be this way today?" When situations
arise, ask, "How can I be this way in this situation?" or "Have I been
like this in this situation?" It's part of the process of Salvation.
A preacher once suggested that in First Corinthians 13, instead of the
word, "Love", use your name -- like "Joe is patient, Joe is kind, etc .
. . " -- not Joe is impatient impulsive contradictory overbearing -- you
don't see that In the Love Chapter.
Love IS sacrifice. God is Love. God sacrificed -- see John
3:16. Jesus sacrificed. Sacrifice is joy.
It was up at Calvary Baptist Church on the North Side that I got saved
(to "Just as I am"). A little later there was a new preacher.
I didn't like him as well as I liked the one that inspired my altar call.
But his wife would come down to vacation bible school and give little talks
and there was one little talk that I remember out of all those times at
vacation bible school (except for playing the DRAGNET theme on the organ).
She said, "The recipe for JOY is this : Jesus first, Others second,
and Yourself last."
Now we know. And of course we also know that when we put others
before ourselves, we are putting Jesus first.
Let's go forth into the world, then, with JOY.