There is a fairly oft-repeated perspective that in many countries where symbols of Christianity were once prominent that we are now facing in those places Christianity being marginalised, and to such an extent that the suggestion is that those who profess Christian faith are even being persecuted. Along the same line great positivity is expressed when a writing comes out that outlines how the West has been shaped by the Christian faith.
There could well be some truth in the above, but…
The early Centuries after the death of Jesus those who lived by their confession that ‘Jesus is Lord’ were truly marginalised. Embedded in the Imperial world always living with the threat that they would not be able to buy and sell. So maybe if there is truth in the marginalisation / persecution narrative perhaps it will serve to bring us closer to the context (and faith?) of the New Testament. [A story: when back in the day and Gayle and I were travelling we had just finished a conference with a couple who are fairly well-known in the Christian world (many who read this post probably have a copy of one of their books on their shelves). We were told to get guns and be armed… initially I thought this is a joke with a punch line. However no punch line but the explanation that Muslims have a vision for Europe so we need to be ready to kill them! My reply – maybe for the sake of the Gospel ‘they’ might have to kill us… That story illustrates two different world-views.]
I read recently that 1) there is no God other than the Jesus-looking God, who is 2) looking for a Jesus-looking people who 3) are seeking to engage with the wider world in a Jesus-looking way. All views of engaging with the world need to be shaped in that way. Turning the other cheek (not a pacifist act but something much deeper), or expressed in summary ‘following the Lamb wherever he goes’… or as summarised ‘loving the enemy’, has to be present.
If we insist on Christianity not being marginalised we need to be sure it is the genuine article… we could end up (and I have a perspective so would use the verb ‘will’ rather than ‘could’) with Christianity re-established and Jesus marginalised. Let us not confuse Christianity with faith in Jesus. As I have oft-written no-one assumed that Paul was calling for those to pray a ‘sinners prayer’ and then attend Bible study sessions. The call was considerably deeper and one that motivated him to get to the ‘centre for the propagation for the gospel’ so that he could declare what he was convinced was the true Gospel in that place (Rome and the letter to the ‘Romans’).
I might be considered weird by some but I am not so weird that I am asking for all aspects of the Christian faith to be marginalised(!) but I am suggesting that we are at a very intense time of reset when either there will be ‘success’ in the traction to make Christianity central again, or… I like the ‘or’.
The central body of faith in Jesus’ time classified people as ‘sinners’. It was not as simple as ‘they broke the commandments’ but that they did not follow our tradition. One cannot come up with a one view as to why Jesus died but one aspect concerning his death was that he ate with the wrong people. Part of the ‘or’ alternative will be that a Jesus-looking people will be guilty of eating with the wrong people… of refusing to have arms and accepting the injustice of marginalisation.
If the restoration of Christianity means the marginalisation of Jesus and the marginalisation of Christianity means that Jesus can be witnessed to… I choose the latter. It is probably not a binary choice – but I deeply suspect that the Jesus-way is closer to the latter option than the former.
[W]ho through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground (Heb. 11:33-38).
I am writing this post a few days after the total power outage in Spain, Portugal and Andorra. There was some impact on other nations but the power outage was total here. We still do not have our internet back, hence replying to emails and putting a post here has been delayed. At a practical level a wonderful reminder to how so many people in our world live. We were in total darkness so had the wonder of seeing the stars in a way we have never seen them in Spain before; we had no water and had the privilege of being by the sea to use sea water to ‘flush’ the toilets… all that lasted around 12 hours, minus the internet (now 72+ hours). Many in the world have no access to clean water… we remain so privileged.
Our context
Gayle had a birthday with a number of guests who were here for 3-7 days and in the middle of that time we had a session to consider where we were at vis-a-vis Europe. The global scene is in major flux with global shifts taking place. The USA, China are currently the ‘big’ powers and other players will have to find fresh alignments. Some while back as I was praying I had an image of a world map and ‘Latin’ America shifted and positioned itself under Europe; the African continent simultaneously moved under China, while India remained in position. There is an obvious interpretation and I am sure it will not be as neat as that but there was a direction of movement of the south dislocating from the north and moving eastward.
Europe will have to make some choices in the coming years as to her alignment and into that the UK will need to make choices.
Prior to Brexit, some months prior, a person we highly respect and love, LA, had a vision and in it a hand took the UK out of Europe, the result being that the colour drained out of Europe down into the earth somewhere located in the Pyrenees. Later a hand put the UK back in. Against all expectations the UK left the EU; our response was to travel with a number of others (our ‘tribe’?) to the Pyrenees to pray. Now the UK – partly catalysed by the issue of the Ukraine – is having to determine her relationship to Europe. Coming back in (not necessarily to the EU) on a military and trade basis would be totally insufficient, but we watch and wait. We call for something more.
Biblical signs
They serve two purposes. They point to what they are signing and they draw to themselves the reality of what they signify.
Spain seems to carry a ‘gifting’ of being the canary in the mine (a recently published history book used this analogy to interpret Spain in the context of Europe). Something happens to the canary and it provides a warning of what is to come. I have been convinced for some time that with we saw in the Pandemic is one of a number of chaos-producing events to come. (I have no idea on timing but I have seen that we will face something catastrophic where the global population will be reduced significantly…)
Europe
Europe has to find a new unity and learn how to travel in the flawed Chinese / far east vehicle. We were privileged to have 3 Chinese people with us when we came to the session on Europe and their presence kept us reminded of the direction for our future. (I say the ‘flawed’ Chinese vehicle – the European and Western vehicle has some terminal issues that we have learnt how to patch over – time to abandon it!).
LA some years back sent us an old map of Europe showing Europe as a queen (Europa Regina) with the head being Spain, the neck being the Pyrenees. The map comes from an era to illustrate a unity and a euro-centric view of the world. (The Queen is standing up – the head is ‘hispania’ and our maps of course would have the head to the west. The heart is Bohemia.)
Europe as we have it today:
was laid by the Greeks
strengthened by the Romans
stabilised by Christianity
reformed and modernised by the Renaissance and the Reformation (15th abd 16th centuries)
globalised by successive European empires (16th and subsequent centuries).
We prayed… or rather focused on the map at two levels – this was a past scenario, though currently pulling on this past power flow, and this was a projection, so simply rolled it up from the feet to the head, rolling it up in Spain.
The power outage – and it will be months before anything definitive is released as to the cause – almost certainly took place at the ‘neck’ of the ‘queen’, at the Pyrenees, the connecting point of the Iberian peninsula to Europe. (And connecting with the Brexit vision.)
Other aspects
In this recent period of time a major earthquake in Turkey with tectonic plates shifting. Turkey is the meeting point of East and West (and the context for much of the book of Revelation in terms of the seven churches).
Pope Francis has passed away. With regard to his appointment and the previous one I was very agitated and pulled heavily for an African pope and was disappointed that a conservative one was appointed – Pope Benedict. Pope Francis has come in and has to a significant level emptied the seat of power (marked by many staunch Catholic politicians refusing to give him the title of ‘pope’!). I have no agitation over this appointment at all – whoever comes in is coming to a seat where the power has gone.
These events mark a significant break from the past and we have entered a time of ‘silence’ waiting for what is to come. The power outage marks this period. We wait (not a passive word… in many languages wait and expect/actively hope are the same word).
Back to Europe
A new unity
A new alignment where the far east has to figure
A new generation in the foundation (not standing on the foundation) as a new foundation is being laid
This latter point is important – the language of ‘again’; books on my shelf eulogising over Europe’s ‘Christian’ past as being the guide to the future are (my opinion) seriously misguided.
The path to the future is a new one… there is a movement from ‘church’ through ‘church in the city / region’ to a grain of wheat falling in the ground and transformation rising… rising as something comes down from above and something from below comes down.
Jerusalem, Rome and Far East
There is a NT movement that seems very clear. Jesus dies in Jerusalem and declares that no prophet can die outside Jerusalem. That death in Jerusalem has been understood (righty) for our sins – though not in a penal substitutionary transactional way; but that death carries so much more into the grave – kingship, hierarchy, all human / societal categorisational divides etc… That death was essential to take place in Jerusalem (the ‘religious’ centre) where religious power pulled on political imperial power in order to kill the incarnation of the divine. This releases Paul to go to the ends of the earth – to the oikoumene of the Imperial (and one-world government) of the then world. Constantine and Christendom is then where political power pulled on religious power to – as noted above – to stabilise (turn the world upside down… NOT) imperial rule. This is why the emphasis on ‘rolling up the Roman road’ from the early 2000s was so important.
Jerusalem to Rome – for me so clear in the NT. Founded on the Abrahamic vision of his seed being promised the world (hence I do not see a ‘promised land’ in Scripture, although it is present in some texts)… now we enter a new stage. Where is China / Far East within this? There equally was an Imperial (different order) in China in the time of the NT even though Jesus came at the ‘fullness of time’. Now we are arriving there. Uncharted territory. The Gospel cannot be altered but the application and expression of it will be.
Babylon’s peace
There is a major piece of instruction from Jeremiah to pray for the peace of Babylon (using the Hebrew word shalom). There is an old order being disrupted. Jerusalem is destined to have peace and reconciliation, but not through domination. In Jerusalem all that went into the grave… The new Jerusalem that is coming down that John saw was nothing other than the transformation of the whole world order. He did not see a temple with a city (the Temple occupied around 20% of the entire city of Jerusalem) but he saw a city without a temple. Babylon is in view, not Christendom. A challenge to all that has been the focus.
Big days are here!!!
Power gives way to presence
For some months I have been focused on a shift I see. The charismatic / pentecostal paradigm has been power with the ‘we will demonstrate the power of God to convince’. Of course that is present in Scripture, but I have been seeing a deeper call to live the presence of God. I am not reducing this to a style of worship where we ‘feel’ the presence, but something far beyond that. It is moving from activity ‘to’ someone / a situation and beyond something ‘for’ someone / a situation to being ‘with’ and ‘in’ the situation / circumstances. Then miracles happen for that is the incarnational presence. As I wrote above religious and political power combined to kill the incarnational presence of the divine.
There are new foci for us all. Realignements on the global scale are imminent, and deeply pressing at the personal level.
As one world order dies so another comes to life… I wholeheartedly believe we have a ‘vote’ on what comes. ‘Embracing tomorrow’ has always been the response of the prophetic and since Pentecost it is not simply the priesthood of all believers but the prophethood of all believers.
My reading this morning took me to 2 Samuel 7… and a little insight into God’s attitude to the Temple. Of course you are about to get my reflections on what I read – that is the power of Scripture and the danger of it too. Down to how do I read it… and that might be different to how you read it. That’s why I am looking forward to the day of assessment, looking forward to it with a little nervousness. Did I really live out my life authentically? Here is the bit that stood out for me,
Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ (2 Sam. 7:5-7).
There are those who hope and believe for a third Temple to be built in Jerusalem as some sort of fulfilment of prophecy. I do not read prophecy that way and the chapters in Ezekiel that are taken that way do not describe a temple location, just the Lord will be there (then we can jump over to Revelation in a short while). I loved the phrase that I have emboldened above, ‘I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle’. Mobility. Where the people go God goes; where God goes the people are to go. Hence the people who are born of the Spirit are like the wind – movement. Yes we can use the ‘wind’ as a description of the Spirit but Jesus applied that description to those who have been born from above. (That would make ‘evangelism’ interesting… not ‘who is going to raise their hand and pray this prayer’ but who will make a commitment to the God of the universe and live unpredictably from this time on in the power of the Spirit!!!)
Tabernacled – the same verb used of Jesus who ‘tabernacled among us’. The same thought at the end of Matthew’s account of the great commission to go into all the world and (here I reflect the OT parallel in 2 Chronicles) and establish a temple there. The same imagery as in Revelation – a city with no distinct, separate temple.
We get another insight to God in this passage. The compromising God. OK then ‘let him (Solomon) build a temple’. I am 100% convinced that this was not what God would have chosen, any more than he chose a king. But this is the God who walks and moves about with us. Jesus became of no reputation, not simply because he was human but because he was God in the flesh. I think we could add ‘and God has become of no reputation’ or at least ‘God’s reputation has been greatly tarnished’ because he has always moved about and not centred him-(her-, their-) self in some impressive way.
Here we are the other side of the resurrection. I totally believe in a historic resurrection of Jesus but what is vital is that there is a follow on to be part of the God who has never requested a building but to move in a tent and tabernacle in and through the whole ‘city’. That city that was the size of the then known world and the shape of the holy of holies.
Individual and corporate tabernacle(s).
Once we go down the route of ‘give us a king’ Temple building seems to follow. So I guess we need to make sure we do not go in the king making direction. Pentecost is to follow in our ‘calendar’ – the democratisation of the Spirit. We have probably gone down the route of domesticating the Spirit… and yet God, the Spirit, also becomes of no reputation.
In this time of global disruption could we who believe that heaven has touched us break out of some constraints and ‘move about’?
There are various quotes about history repeating itself. Here are two such quotes:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (George Santayana). Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. (Winston Churchill).
And Mark Twain added a nice little nuance:
History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
Not sure where this post will go but here are a few background elements that provoked me to write this morning.
I have been agitated over the various ‘again’ messages these past few years. ‘Again’ that looks back is not based in the eschatological vision of the New Testament. ‘I press on’ was one of my readings this very morning. Hence my seeking to understand how to align (chronological) time with heaven’s (‘kairotic’) time.
Late 1990s / early 2000s a major emphasis was the rolling up of the Roman way which culminated in Steve Lowton initiating a walk from Whitby (UK, where the Celtic church effectively submitted to the pattern and teaching of Rome in 664 AD/CE) to St Peter’s Square, Rome to bring that focus to a conclusion.
The strong belief that the Gospel is not from this world but is for this world. It is not political in the sense of ‘capitalism vs socialism’, or any other such supposed polarities but is deeply and essentially political with the language used being both explicitly and implicitly political.
Jesus was offered to become the Caesar of the then Roman world – he was offered the oikoumene, the term that was used of the Imperial territory.
Paul’s great desire, and understanding of ‘the gospel to the nations and then the end shall come’ was that of the Gospel from Jerusalem to Spain.
And of course my understanding of the book that shapes us is that we do not have within it ‘history written in advance’ (popularised as ‘the bible predicts…’) but as a provocative call to shape the future through our actions, relationships, prayer in the power of the Spirit.
There are other aspects I might wish to add, but the above will give a something of a window into any bias I carry!
I do not find it a great surprise that in our historical setting we have conflict within the Western world currently, as the conflict area is over the ‘offer of the oikoumene‘ – the offer to shape the territory that can express the Roman order with a ‘God-order’. Hence I respect those who are writing about how Judeo-Christian values are what has shaped European / Western culture but the conclusive appeal is normally that we need to revert to Christendom. ‘My kingdom is not of this world….’ The sword does not belong in that kingdom but as Paul points out (with great irony) in Romans 13 to the world of Imperial authority. Today the Italian PM (Giorgia Meloni) heads to Washington to represent the EU… I am not suggesting this is sinister but I do read it as a sign. Will the West be held together as ‘Christianised’ or will there be a division that will allow space for the radical followers of Jesus who are to be like the wind to manifest? (I have said for decades that the strength of Islamic ‘sharia’ law is that of Christendom. The very thing that is thought needs to be brought in place to hold the ground is the very thing that tills the ground for all levels of terrorism.)
At this critical point of history, in the shift from the West to the East, we have much work to do if we are going to find an increase of pace in the right direction. Jesus died in Jerusalem so that the Gospel could go West and bring down the Roman order – surely it is significant that Paul’s Gospel is best outlined in some detail in the letter to the ‘Romans’? – but there is nothing in the NT about the work to the East. Unfinished work.
I am no great student of history but the shift from Republic to Empire in Rome seems to carry a lens through which we can see what is happening currently. Rome was effectively an Empire before it became an Empire, but the shift came in a defined way through Julius Caesar and solidified with Augustus (in power 27BC/BCE – 14AD/CE). Jesus appeared at the ‘fullness of times’ into that era, hence what was happening in the world at that time is highly significant.
Augustus… The early signs in his reign was of the Senate allowing him to bend the rules without pushing back; of he introducing unelected people (including those of his own family) into decision-making roles, and the move was made effective through the support of the ultra-rich of Rome. (A simplified summary but one that can be expanded on should one choose to read a history on Rome.)
Through his actions Rome became what it always was – an empire in disguise. Honour was given to the god of peace (Pax) with the phrase the Pax Romana being held up as something awesome, but visit Rome and you would have seen that the temple to Pax was built on Mars field (Mars the god of war).
History repeats / rhymes.
We are in this critical period. My prayer is ‘Europe do not concede’, or better… come on those of you born from above and act like the wind. No one really knowing where you came from, or where you are going but influencing the future through helping to hold a shape for all kinds of wholesome aspects to come through.
My reading this morning was in Philippians… a city that Rome had named as being Imperial. Those who lived there were to work to make sure that Rome’s values prevailed. Into that Paul wrote that their citizenship was in heaven (nothing to do with going to heaven when we die) and therefore in that context to ‘stand firm’ in a way that was consistent with those who were waiting for a Saviour to come from heaven to earth.
Many aspects are converging. Global crises. History rhymes. Fullness of times. West and East. Christendom or Jesus.
I am currently reading the desire of Israel for a king (1 Sam. 8), and clearly something so deeply disturbing going on. The request is so that they might become as one of the nations (ta ethne – the Gentiles) and that the king might go before them and fight their battles for them. Even if we removed ‘God’ from our world view the alternative to there being a monarch (or dictator) is an awesome vision. (I think there are some keys in the ‘meals’ of the New Testament where they take place at so many different levels – another post, another day.)
Jump forward to the NT and we have the ‘we have no king but Caesar’ proclamation in that first Easter week; on the cross is nailed ‘king of the Jews’; Paul seeks to release in city after city an ekklesia when there already was an ekklesia present there. The city ekklesia being more than a city council as it had more powers than any current council and was mandated to implement Roman values and Roman culture into the territory where it held jurisdiction. To suggest that the Gospel at heart is not political is surely to miss how Paul’s proclamation was heard – ‘these people are proclaiming another Caesar’!
I am deeply troubled by our global crisis and without something that arrests its direction we will in a few short years be living in a world that has a few kings that seek to subjugate other lands.
Europe. Those who have been touched by heaven’s grace within this continent. I guess for some 25+ years many of us have been calling for something fresh in Europe, for something to appear that knows that we can learn a lot from the past but that the past cannot shape us as we move forward. I am deeply grateful for the advancements of the Gospel within this continent in the past, but we also need to understand that those were contextualised. The Reformation was not the final word! Theology and practice has to be revised; what it means to be Christian community and what it means to be community likewise has to be revisited.
We do not need a king; truth is no country needs a king / dictator, the result of such a move will only be oppression and we should not be surprised when such a person exhibits demonic behaviour… the story of Saul. We should not look (in the body of Christ) to where there are great claims of success (though there is much we have to learn). What can we do? Where will we go?
The history books will tell us what we chose when we look back post-2040. I sincerely hope that it will not be a few political voices that seek to call for a new order within Europe. Let the body of Christ in Europe stop following the kings we anoint (when we do we come under that ‘anointing’) and be brave enough to dream, pray, and eat our meals that demonstrate the Roman way has indeed been rolled up.
The future of the globe as is means that Europe will be sidelined. The globe will be carved up 3-way and those who centre on technology will at some levels transcend the carve-up. On both counts Europe will be sidelined and become irrelevant. Seems like a wonderful context for those who want to live out their lives for something this world needs.
Not a king to be like the other nations; but let us move away from our dictators (king) and learn from Europe where the old way of dividing people has diminished. I do see a ‘new Europe’.
Well they actually asked for Barabbas but there is a strong narratival echo in the story that pushes us back to think about Cain and Abel.
Although I am not one who follows the ‘church’ calendar I am aware that the two festivals of Christmas and Easter come round every year (don’t think I will earn any brownie points for that!). I have posted, in a previous ‘holy week’ about the contrast of Pilate’s entry to Jerusalem with full military show each year and Jesus’ entry on a donkey (thanks to Crossan and Borg). I don’t know if others see the parallel between Jesus and Barabbas and Cain and Abel but I do believe there is a deliberate echoing in the biblical narrative.
In some manuscripts (for Matthew’s Gospel) we have the name ‘Jesus’ added to Barabbas – original or not it seemingly underlies that there are 2 possible ‘Jesus-es’ we can choose to follow, and if we tie it to John 19 Pilate is persuaded that he cannot release Jesus the Messiah and continue to be a friend of Caesar. So here we have yet another time when the Imperial aspect comes through again in the Gospels, and for sure it is there with Pilate describing Jesus as ‘the king of the Jews’ (cynical or otherwise).
Cain and Abel. Two brothers, two sons of the same father. Jesus and Barabbas, two sons of the father (the meaning of Barabbas is son of the father). Do they have the same father? One in submission to the Father, one not dealing with ‘sin that crouches at the door’ and thus being controlled by it (Gen. 4:7).
Abel’s blood crying out for a justice that punishes, God hearing the ‘blood’ but in spite of his own law that there was to be the death penalty for those who murdered he covered Cain; there is no reciprocal penalty. Redemption does not demand payment; redemption is not even as the result of someone else being punished; redemption offers forgiveness for a sin that there is no sacrifice to cover (‘You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.’ (Num. 35:33)) . In the light of our choice Barabbas goes free; in the light of our God Barabbas goes free. The Gospel’s real offence is not in who is excluded but with respect to who is included.
How strong is that prayer for forgiveness for ‘them’ (us) who have no idea what we are doing!
I ponder many times as to the cosmic significance of what unfolded in that first Easter week. I don’t think I will ever get it because I still have a ‘god’ that is too much in my image. Little wonder Paul in summarising ‘sin’ says it is to fall short of the glory of God. Glory is revealed in the cross with a wonderful invitation to enter new life the other side. An invitation that extends to Barabbas, Cain and to Martin. For that I am very grateful for the reminder.
During Passover for the Jews of the Diaspora there would be a toast ‘next year Jerusalem’. What about us in a year’s time? Tough decisions are made by politicians and from the arm chair they can be easy to critique. My focus (and not necessarily one for everyone) is of a new Europe that might point a way toward the future. We await a Saviour from heaven (not we wait to go to heaven!) and not till then will there be the end of death, destruction, sin etc; not till then will the powers (sin, death and mammon?) be finally defeated but as we align ourselves with that eschaton we pray, work and hope (give an answer for the hope that is in you) for manifestations in the here and now of what will take place universally then. I don’t think I am being melodramatic to suggest that we are seeing an increase in pace of a new global matrix.
Around 2 years ago I was praying, looking at a map of the world and suddenly the American southern hemisphere (what we term ‘Latin America’) moved eastward and was located under Europe replacing where Africa is currently, and at the same time the African continent moved east and relocated under China. India did not move. All three aspects struck me and I suspect that in some way we are about to see re-alignments play out over the next – who knows – 2-3 years.
There is a move to the East with some kind of new world order coming into play. All the attempts to ‘go back’ or to redefine our futures simply along the ‘Christianity got us here’ so we must resist all change does not carry the weight to bring in a good future… reason being is it is more dependent on Christianity than on Christ.
Understanding ‘trade wars’ is beyond me, but for sure trade is no small theme in Scripture so I am not surprised that for now conflict over trade is central.
So what are you looking for? We have got to see way beyond ‘my investments are decreasing’. Please!!! John said he ‘saw a new heaven and a new earth’; Martin Luther King said ‘I have a dream’. Both spoke into situations that were not looking too promising. One locked up on the Island of Patmos; the other soon to be assassinated. But eyes that saw. The powers were not in agreement with them – how things were was going to be what was maintained… but those two saw.
As those Jews outside the land raised their glass at Passover with ‘Next year Jerusalem’ we are about to come to our ‘Passover’ where we focus on proclaiming his death (victory over all powers that resist the future) until he comes.
The hope that is within me is so key. Not a hope that is outside but within, that cannot be squashed.
This is why I am focusing on ‘reconciliation’ in every aspect of life. And if we focus on life for sure Jesus will be present at some level. His death is probably better understood from the ‘other side’ – it is a presentation of a perfect human life to heaven… representative life, for me, for you, for the world.
In this time of global flux and resultant change we learn not to simply hold on to what has brought us thus far (and probably served us well) but to embrace uncertainty of what we hold / held firm to (what not who). I know since the beginning of this year Gayle and I have been raising many issues as we know transition is here. ‘Next year…’ might be a change of location, maybe not, but each year we proclaim ‘next year more of the kingdom of heaven’ not a greater meeting but greater shalom in our streets.
Seek the shalom of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its shalom you will find your shalom.
Next year then is not ‘next year Jerusalem’ but ‘next year here’.
Simon Swift’s latest guest post. A bit of heaven here, and in the wider scheme a challenge to any views as to the value of ‘good’. If we leave ‘final destinies’ to God we can then get on with, endorse, support all genuinely good works… and surely they are kingdom activities. Simon lets the article speak for itself.
Last night I was at an event celebrating ten years of a local charity: *WORTH, helping Women On the Road To Healing. They provide help to women who are recovering from being in an abusive relationship. We heard stories from victims of abuse who are being helped by this charity. They where stories both harrowing and inspiring as we heard their journey to recovery and healing. Interestingly the methods used to help them in the process were all creative ones. Things like gardening and flower arranging, nature and mindfulness, writing including poetry and reflection, painting and creative crafts, and dance. All enabling the women to find self expression.
It’s not surprising that the woman who started it all is a christian, because what she is doing for these women is bring down a little bit of heaven to earth. Helping to plant a seed into women who lost their self worth and even their identity in an abusive and controlling relationship. By creatively giving them a sense of self worth and identity, they begin to recover, getting their life back and a hope for the future.
At the heart of abuse is control. It can be found anywhere, not just in marriage, relationships and family, but in the work place, in religions and other institutions including governments. At its worse, it strips the victims of their identity and they loose their self worth because they are often blamed for all the abuse they receive; it’s always the victims fault.
When a victim of such an abusive situation escapes, they need to recover from the trauma of they experience. They need to be able to leave it behind and start to find a new life. That is where charities like WORTH can help. Using creativity to give them a vehicle to rediscover their own self expression. Creativity helps to develop their own sense of identity and value which gives them hope.
For me I see that this charity is bringing down heaven to earth whether they realise that or not. Perhaps we can even go as far as to say that this charity expresses, in action, the beatitudes of Jesus.
There is a place in this world for our faith because it should be our lived out expression of the kingdom of heaven. The world tries to convinces us that our faith is only to be expressed in private, behind closed doors. But that is a lie. Our faith is about freedom. Living out our hope expressed in our daily lives as love. Faith that takes delight in seeing life grow in both our selves and in others, and in doing so we discover we are partnering with the one who is love.
In Europe this past weekend the clocks were advanced an hour… personally I like the artificial time with lighter evenings ahead, and in Spain we are actually 2 hours ahead of solar time due to small aspect of Spain being aligned to a certain dictator in Germany’s past! Not a good reason but the outcome sits well with me!
For the past 2 years I have been seeking to understand the relationship of the clock that never lies, tick tock, what we can call chronological time, and the timings of heaven when there is an inbreaking – what we might term ‘kairotic’ time (made up word). Time and space are related both scientifically and also biblically, so I am aware that those two elements – boundaries and time – will always be under threat. And right now they are seriously being threatened at a global scale. Compounded by voices that call for a return to ‘Christian’ values, so often meaning back to christendom, rather than a return to Christ. We do not need nor desire a return to Christianity but a return to Jesus, with many of needing a new birth experience in order to perceive the kingdom.
We see issues of timing in the encounter at the wedding (John 2) with Jesus seemingly needing to adjust his view about it being his hour; we have the classic regarding the Isacchar clan who understood the times (kairos in the LXX) and what Israel should do; we read that Jesus came in the fullness of time…
Without some kind of shift and alignment of the clock / calendar to heaven’s agenda we are into a protracted season of conflict and darkness. We might be headed there anyway, but if there can be an alignment we will get through this time. All goes to say I plan to put out a video in the next days that might take this further – and with all the wisdom I have(!!!!) what more do we need? (Please no answers to that as I am only too aware that my middle name is not ‘wisdom’… but if we all have a little bit of sight we might just see a little more than we did yesterday – maybe).
I have acknowledged that using a single lens through which the fall (I prefer the term ‘falls’: what we read taking place is of successive falls from the ‘good’ in Genesis 3-11) and through redemption will always have a weakness, nevertheless I think that ‘alienation’ and (the converse) ‘reconciliation’ is the central way of viewing those two aspects… thus with the classic ‘creation, fall, redemption (and culmination)’ I am suggesting ‘creation, alienation, reconciliation, new creation’ as injecting content into that helpful framework.
By drawing on alienation and reconciliation I am placing relationship at the centre, not some legal framework. Relational terms are foundational – the term ‘to know’ both in Hebrew and Greek are relational terms. However placing relationships at the centre might be prove challenging so I post here what might prove to be so:
An emphasis on ‘salvation’ as being heavily weighted toward salvation for a purpose – to be part of the movement (of small people) committed to act and behave in the light of new creation, rather than salvation from (e.g.) ‘hell’.
That those who participate in the age to come (‘new creation’) will be determined by God. Personally, I am not a universalist, but believe in a wideness in the mercy of God, based upon the character of the God revealed in Jesus. The cross is universally cosmic in effect but calls for a response.
That the cross is not presented as the means by which God can forgive (‘the wrath of God was satisfied’) but the means by which God can bring in a new era that is not subject to death nor sin (both described as powers in Paul). The resurrection then is vital as if Jesus is not raised from the dead there is no legitimate claim that the new age has been inaugurated – we would still be, as Paul says, ‘ in our sins’. (Jesus has poured out this Spirit from on high – an eschatological Isaiahanic promise.)
Old Testament sacrifice is within the context of those who are already within the covenant, not presented as a means to enter the covenant – this is an aspect that should be recognised when coming to the Easter story, and seems often to be forgotten.
That Scripture presents us with the governing story line, but we need to be aware of two aspects – so much of what we read is contingent on a given situation and that the end parts of the story are not pre-written. Contingent in that so much of OT law is focused on Israel as a people, the Gospels as a record of a renewal movement among Israel (or maybe better Judeans – that requires another post to draw out the distinction between ‘Jew’ and ‘Israel’); the Pauline letters being the application of the Gospel into the Gentile (those who are not of Israel) world. And the guideline is present where those who claim a God-inbreathed authority for the Scriptures need to stay within the story frame but have to also develop the God-unfolding story into their situation.
Each of the above needs considerable expansion, so I only flag them up here to alert some of the deeply held presuppositions that have been brought centre-stage through the Reformation.
We enter the world of tensions when we engage with things theological and in presenting the four aspects of alienation (and the four aspects therefore of reconciliation) the first tension that we come to is that of reconciliation to God. One of four aspects and the ultimate ground for the reconciliation in the other three areas. God is the source, the ‘space’ within which reconciliation takes place, thus more than one aspect among four. Stating reconciliation to God as an aspect is therefore somewhat limiting. Likewise when we begin ‘from below’ we can marginalise the transcendent. However…
I place humanity at the centre of this discussion, not because we are the centre of the universe but the problems are centred on and came through humanity. I consider such theories of the cross as described in ‘penal substitution’ contain a major flaw as they can present a God who needs to be reconciled. The ‘problems’ are not on the God-side, but on the human and cosmic power side. Reconciliation has never been an issue to God, thus the story of Adam and Eve leaving the Garden (‘temple’) is the story of two parties leaving – the human and the divine. God also leaves the Garden to carry the consequences of what took place there, thus the Psalmist writes ‘where can I go… even if I make my bed in Sheol you are there’. God was in Christ, not separate to Christ, but in Christ reconciling the world to himself.
Alienation from / reconciliation to God
There is alienation from God expressed in multiple ways, but shame, exalted ego, and an inability to ‘see’ God are certainly some of the symptoms. The prototypical humans’ eyes were open and saw they were naked, whereas it takes the revelation of God in Jesus to enable us to see God; in that passage that is the reversal of that first recorded fall involving the couple (the story of Emmaus read as the ‘incarnated new Adam and Eve’) who were on the road is that their eyes were open… open not to see their nakedness but to see Jesus.
The promise of Jesus is that he is the way to the Father, not that he is a way to God, and not even that he is the way to God, but in using a relational term the reconciliation is familiar – the way to the Father. Thus ‘brother, sister, mother’ becomes a term for all those who are aligned to the will of God.
One of the great dangers – one which we do not totally avoid – is that of the extent to which my relationship with God is ‘make believe’! By that I do not simply mean fantasy but I / we all relate to the God of my / our creation, and it is not until he comes that we will be like him, for then we will see him as he is:
What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is (1 John 3:2).
That first letter of John hits hard. If I claim to be in relationship with God but do not walk in the light or hate a fellow-believer then I am deceived:
All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? (1 John 3:14-17).
Here is a foundational principle. Reconciliation to God is not based on a law court decision but is deeply practical (hence I think we err if we insist on orthodoxy as being the measure or heresy, we at least have to add orthopraxy). Perhaps we have a ‘hierarchy’ of reconciliation – to God and then to those who carry genuine faith in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus. Perhaps a hierarchy, perhaps better thought of as concentric circles going out, and perhaps this is why Jesus said the law was summed up in the two commands to love God and to love the neighbour.
Alienation from / reconciliation to ‘others’
There has to be a reconciliation to ‘the other’, and ultimately the ‘neighbour’ is widened to include all. ‘Who is my neighbour?’ and ‘am I my brother’s keeper?’ are questions that receive elevated answers. Eve was the other to Adam and also the same as Adam being ‘bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh’. All others are distinct from me, but I have to see them with the same eyes as I see myself, or even stronger to ‘no longer see them after the flesh’ (all categories relating to this age).
Reconciliation to others, reconciliation within community to the level that ultimately all competition (such as trade wars), aggression and conflict (all and every level of war) disappear. Political decisions are not easy but we cannot rejoice when language and activity is used that is so opposing the eschatological hope of Scripture. We could add terms such as ‘scapegoating’ and ‘suspicion’…. and every other aspect that we engage with that pushes us away from others. Perhaps a big one for those of us who carry faith is that of objectivising others or of relativising the contribution of those who do not share our faith.
Alienation from / reconciliation to self
I was not sure what order to bring in the aspect of ‘others’ or ‘self’. We are told to love others as we love ourselves and we could push that toward understanding that if we do not come to terms with who we are that we will not be able to extend that same understanding to how we see others. If the centrality of sin is to fail to discover the reason for which I am alive (‘to fall short of the glory of God’) then true self-discovery is a vital part of our growth toward becoming truly human.
Selfish pursuit with a self-centred focus on self-achievement is fraught with danger but to become the ‘best’ version of who we are so that we can become the best resource to others is important. It is said of Jesus that he became mature (through what he suffered / experienced) so that the result was he became ‘the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him’ (Heb. 5:9).
In reconciliation to oneself issues of shame, guilt, self-forgiveness, and of developing a right perspective so that we become a life source.
I presume it now becomes clear that the ripples go in all directions. If reconciliation with God is at the centre and that is the starting point the ripples should flow from there in every direction though sadly the ripples can stop. Once they stop religion replaces something genuine (relational) with something false.
Alienation from / reconciliation to creation
And the final area of reconciliation is with the wider material world that we are intrinsically part of. ‘Mother earth’ as a term carries the danger of either we are nothing more than material or that all is divine, and yet there is a sense in which Genesis pushes us in that direction for the witness is that humanity is made of the dust of the earth. The relationship of people and land is so explicit in Scripture (if we read Scripture with no pre-knowledge of the book and then was asked to give the connecting word to ‘heaven’ we would reply with ‘and earth’, not ‘and hell’). With over 1200 references to land in Scripture it is not a small theme, and in the record of the ‘falls’ we have that ‘the earth will be cursed because of you’. Alienation results, with the only way for fruit now to come is through the sweat of the brow and engaging with the thorns and thistles.
There is an eschatological hope for the liberation of creation, not its destruction – and there is even a judgement in Revelation on those who destroy the earth:
the time [has come]… for destroying those who destroy the earth (Rev. 11:18).
[A slightly aside note: There is also a judgement in Paul on those who destroy the ‘Temple’ of God, the people within whom God has placed the Spirit. We have in 1 Cor. 3: 17 ‘If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple’; I highlight the Greek verb in use here in Paul: εἴ τις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φθείρει, φθερεῖ τοῦτον ὁ θεός… (ftheiro); in Revelation we have the same verb with an augment added (diaftheiro) – augments are often added to make the verb stronger! καὶ διαφθεῖραι τοὺς διαφθείροντας τὴν γῆν (Rev 11:18).]
In Romans 8 where Paul writes about the groan of creation it seems that he is drawing from the experience of bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh. Then Israel cried out; now creation cries out in bondage; now we are the new Pharaoh, humanity being a hard taskmaster ever commanding for more resources to be brought for what we are building.
The four areas above deserve much more development, and one day I might do that, but for now a few observations / challenges.
Observations
The four above areas are not necessarily on the same level but they are deeply interrelated.
Wholistic reconciliation would be evidenced by a development in all four directions and certainly where there is no development beyond ‘reconciliation with God’ there is ever the potential and danger to draw us into deception or even to living a lie. There is a line that can be crossed from relational reconciliation to religious entrenchment.
The ‘best’ is when there is a continual back and forth of ripples of reconciliation that flow between all four aspects.
We should affirm wherever we encounter works of reconciliation that take place in any of the above four areas – and writing as one with faith in ‘God’ – wherever we encounter any such works, including where it is expressed by someone who does not carry faith, and might even be in opposition to faith. We have to get beyond the fear of ‘salvation by works’ and let such critical verses be set in their context: that of religious activity!
And pushing it further, there is a wideness in the mercy of God, we do not need to claim that someone is ‘saved’ provided they are working for (e.g.) an ecologically-healthy future, but neither do we need to write them off in the here and now nor in the ultimate future (none of our business… that is a God-task!). Some might come to faith who begin in one of the other aspects of reconciliation; some might not. Our task is not to narrowly evangelise but to widely evangelise – to spread ‘good news’ for the hope that is in us at every level, which includes our hope for this world’s future. (Beyond, and in contrast to what we have reduced evangelism to, ‘witness’ is the requirement on us… life-style, words, and in the light of this post, how we work toward reconciliation in every area. Maybe even to borrow a concept from elsewhere – we are as reconciled to the extent that we are promoting reconciliation.)
I am not happy with terms (sorry to get technical) with regard to pre-, post-, or even a-, millennialism. I am agnostic as to what we will experience this side of the parousia but I am clear we are to work, pray and relate so that our contribution is pulling toward ‘new creation’ realities.
