Patience with Enemies

We live in a reactionary society.  We are quick to denounce, ridicule, and condemn anyone whose view we don't like or whose identity threatens our own.

Edwin Friedman named this two decades ago in his book Failure of Nerve.  

From a Christian perspective living in a reactionary society is problematic.  If we succumb to reactionary impulses, it undercuts spiritual growth which takes time, patience, endurance, and discernment. 

Two things (at least) stand out to me from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount regarding the reactionary world that we live in.

One is that Jesus calls us to love our enemies (5:43-48).  Loving enemies is the patient counterpoint to our visceral reaction against them.

Second, one of the most quoted texts that Christians use in reactionary ways toward their enemies comes just soon after in Matthew chapter 7:15-20 - the wolf in sheep's clothing.  Christians often use this passage to denounce false prophets and heretics.  They use it especially toward other Christians.  I've lost track of the number of times I've experienced one Christian accusing another Christian of being a wolf in sheep's clothing because they disagree over a certain theology or church practice.

But more and more it's happening as a reactionary, preemptive strike against another person.  If I'm quick to apply the label of a "wolf in sheep's clothing" then I don't have to listen to you, or struggle with the challenge that you present to me.  I simply cut you off.  And I gain spiritual brownie points if I cut you off in such a way that I chase you out the door while doing so.

But if you read Matthew 7:15-20, and not just 7:15, it doesn't seem like we have license to use the text in reactionary ways.  The ways Jesus says we will know a wolf in sheep's clothing is by their fruit, not by our immediate reaction to them.

Last time I checked, fruit takes time to ripen and mature.  Fruit is how we know a false prophet, either good or bad fruit.  And good or bad fruit takes time to show itself as good or bad.

Someone might appear to be genuine, faithful, and wise.  But overtime we see that their fruit is rotten.  I'm thinking of the tragic examples of clergy sexual abuse scandals.  Often it takes a long time to discover.

Other times, a person might bother us immediately.  They seem to go against scripture, they cut against what we hold to be true and valuable.  They seem to impede progress toward a goal we want to reach.  We are quick to denounce these people as wolves in sheep's clothing.  We would prefer it this way.  I'm thinking of a progressive Christian in a traditional context, or a traditional Christian in a progressive context.  Rather than sitting with the uncomfortable tension that exists, we cut the person off or cast them out, or call them names even worse than a "wolf in sheep's clothing."  Unfortunately, this undercuts the maturation process.  We may not ultimately agree with the person, but faith must undergo testing, trials, and patient endurance to mature.

Maybe, just maybe, that person we are quick to call a wolf in sheep's clothing might actually bear good fruit in us.

Jesus had a home

In Matthew 8:20, Jesus says, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

For me (and I would guess many people), Matthew 8:20 is more well known than Matthew 4:13 which says, "(Jesus) left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea..."

Because 8:20 is more well known, there is a tendency to think o Jesus as an amorphous being who sort of floats through this world as a homeless wanderer.  He has no context, no place, not interest in this world.  He doesn't have the everyday, practical cares that you and I have.  He's just passing through.

That's the impression, anyway.

But 4:13 tells us that Jesus had a home.  Not only was Jesus born in Bethlehem, not only was Jesus raised in Nazareth, he eventually grew up, moved out of mom and dad's house, and got a place of his own.  In Capernaum.  Jesus had a home in Capernaum.

We often skip over 4:13.  But soon after 4:13, Jesus calls his first disciples.  He calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and we modern-day church-goers are beside ourselves to imagine how these poor fishermen left everything - their boats, their nets, their families, and their homes - to follow Jesus.  It's unimaginable.  We attribute this fact to Jesus' presence.  We imagine (implicitly of course) that Jesus' presence just radiated divinity so of course they were in awe and left everything to follow him.  Maybe Jesus is like hypnotist or maybe he's performing a Jedi mind trick.

Jesus' mere presence may have radiated divinity, but this just further perpetuates the view of Jesus as an amorphous, context-less being just passing through this world.

Except for 4:13.

Jesus had a home.

The reason I think this matters is that it also means that Jesus also left everything.  By the time he called his first disciples, he had already left his home behind.  He knew what he was asking them to do.  He knew what he was asking them to give up.

Eventually, yes, 8:20 says Jesus has no place to lay his head.  But first, 4:13 tells us he left everything behind for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

And if we truly believe that Jesus is God incarnate, then that's an amazing thing.  Whether it's leaving his home, or picking up his cross, God does not ask us to do anything that God has not already done.

Matthew 2 and Exodus 1

There are a lot of parallels between the passage called "the slaughter of innocents" in Matthew 2 and Pharaoh's orders to kill all the male children in Exodus chapter 1.  Here's a reading we did in worship a few years back that connects the dots:

Exodus 1:8-2:6, Matthew 2:1-23

Narrator:  In the time of King Herod... (Gesturing toward Reader 1)

Reader 1:  ... after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to 

Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star 

at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, 

and all Jerusalem with him;

Narrator:  Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph (Gesturing toward Reader 2)

Reader 2: Pharaoh said to his people, “look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more 

powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of 

war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore, they set taskmasters 

over them to oppress them with forced labor.

Reader 1:  And Herod, calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of 

them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been 

written by the prophet:

Narrator: “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

                  are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

                  for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

Reader 2:   Then the king of Egypt called for the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named 

Shiphrah and the other Puah…”

Reader 1: Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when 

the star had appeared.

Reader 2: Then Pharaoh said, “when you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on 

the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.”

Reader 1: Then Herod sent the wise men to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the 

child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." 

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had 

seen at its rising until it stopped over the place where the child was.

Reader 2:  But the midwives feared God…

Reader 1:  And when the wise men saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him 

homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Reader 2:  …the midwives let the boys live

Reader 1:  And the wise men having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for 

their own country by another road.

Narrator: Now after the wise men had left, (gesturing toward reader 1)

Reader 1: An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and 

his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the 

child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to 

Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the 

Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."

Narrator:  Back in Egypt (Gesturing toward reader 2)

Reader 2: God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 

And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

Narrator:  But Pharaoh feared the Israelites, and Herod feared Jesus.

Reader 2: So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “why have you done this 

and allowed the boys to live?” Then Pharaoh commanded all the people, “Every boy that is born to 

the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile.”

Reader 1: When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men he was infuriated, and he sent 

and killed all the children in and around Bethany who were two years old or under, according to the 

time that he had learned from the wise men.

Narrator: A voice was heard in Ramah

                  Wailing and Loud Lamentations

                   Rachel is weeping for her children

                   She refuses to be consoled because they are no more.

Narrator:  Now in Egypt a man from the House of Levi married a Levite Woman.  (Gesturing toward Reader 2)

Reader 2: The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid 

him three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and 

plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank 

of the river. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked 

beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it.

When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, and said "This must

be one of the Hebrews' children.”

And she named him Moses, because, she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Narrator:  When Herod Died (Gesturing toward Reader 1)

Reader 1:  An angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up,take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.  But 

when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go

there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.

All:  The Word of the LORD! Amen

Righteous?

In the second half of chapter one in the Gospel According to Matthew, the angel appears to Joseph, who is addressed as "Son of David" (see post below on genealogy).  The Angel tells Joseph that his fiance Mary is pregnant, but that this is of the Holy Spirit and the child shall be Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

Before the angel appeared, Joseph was planning to break off the marriage quietly.  He had thought Mary slept with another man, so he wasn't going to go through with the marriage.  But he didn't want to ruin her life, so he planned to break off the engagement quietly.  For this reason, the text calls Joseph a "righteous man."

To be righteous was linked to observing Torah.  Joseph is called righteous.  Which is interesting because he is called righteous even though wasn't literally following the teaching of Torah.

The Torah stipulated that if an engaged woman has sex with another man, then both she and the other man should be stoned (at least it includes both the woman and the man and not just the woman, cf. Deut 22:22-27).   In this circumstance, Torah stipulates a very public and a very harsh penalty.  Joseph neither inflicts the harm for such offense nor goes public with the accusations.  He goes against Torah, yet is still considered righteous.  How so?

Yes, righteousness was linked to Torah obedience, but it was also linked to justice and ethics.  Another way of saying righteous would be to say "doing right by another person."  Or "acting toward another person in a just way."

Joseph may not have been legalistically righteous.  But he was righteous on a higher level.  He was trying to do right by Mary by not ending her life or ruining her life through public shame (remember at this point Joseph still thought she slept with another man.  I don't care who you are or what culture you live in, that hurts).

Perhaps this early lesson in righteousness by Jesus' earthly father Joseph, Son of David, foreshadows the teaching of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham to come in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

Matthew 5:7 - "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy."

Matthew 5:20 - "For unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." 

Matthew 5:22 - "... but I say to you, do not be angry with a brother or sister..."

Matthew 7:1 - "For the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Matthew 7:12 - "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets."

Indefinite Genealogy

Tree of Jesus Harrad of Landsberg
(12th century)

I'm a transplant to Ohio.  But one thing that is very important to Ohioans is the Ohio State Buckeyes.  It's not "Ohio State."  It's "THE Ohio State."  Not even "the" with a short e, but "THEEEEE" with a long e.  THEEE Ohio State.

It makes a big difference.  The University of Toledo is "a" university in Ohio, but "THEEE" is reserved only for THEEE Ohio State University.

In Matthew chapter one, right off the bat, we come to "an account" of the genealogy of Jesus.  Not "the" account; not "THEEE" account; "an account."

This is important because the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 3 don't match.  For one, Matthew's genealogy goes back to David and Abraham while Luke's goes all the way back to Adam.  For two, even the parts that do over lap don't match.

This freaks some people out, as if the bible and therefore the entire gospel are somehow compromised.  But it really shouldn't concern us too much.  Remember, this is "an account" not "THEEE account."

This is not meant to be a scientific, ancestry.com approach to Jesus' lineage.  Matthew is telling a story.  And Matthew is speaking to a primarily Jewish audience.  In Matthew's story, the indefinite article "an" is not as important as the definite article that follows...

Jesus is "the" messiah... "the" son of David... "the" son of Abraham.

For Matthew it is more important to help his Jewish audience to see that Jesus not only descends from Abraham and David, but that he is also the fulfillment of God's messiah.  Yes, Jesus is the son of Abraham, but as the Messiah God is calling forth a new family.  Yes, Jesus is the son of David's, but as the Messiah God is establishing a kingdom that will last forever as promised to David.

The articles matter.  Don't turn "an account" into "the account" of Jesus' genealogy.  But at the same time, don't turn Jesus into just another messiah or just another Son of David or Son of Abraham.

Scribing

An image of Baruch
Jeremiah's scribe (Jer 36:4)
by Gustave Doré

"Every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven

is like the master of a household

who brings out of his treasure

what is old and what is new."

Jesus, Matthew 13:51

I've begun a new discipline of scribing.  Scribing is just a nerdy word to say I've begun the task of writing all four gospels and the book of Acts by hand.  It's also a good excuse to buy well-designed pens, notebooks, and other nerdy paraphernalia.

This discipline was introduced to me by a friend, and it has already been a helpful way to immerse myself in the text, slow down, and get to know scripture better.

Today is November 1st, and I've started scribing the Gospel According to Matthew.  The plan is to scribe one chapter per sitting, and then blog a main reflection from my time in the text.  These thoughts and reflections will be just that; they will be unrefined, unpolished thought and reflections.
They won't be definitive answers, and they won't even be things I will necessarily preach.

But that's a good thing.  I approach the discipline of scribing in a lectio divina kind of way.  In the prayer of lectio divina the goal isn't to write systematic theology but to allow God to speak through the text guided by the Spirit.  It's a way to deepen one's reflection and love for the biblical scriptures.  Sometimes God Spirit does this through following rabbit holes, asking weird questions, and even pushing the boundaries of what is considered right and acceptable.  \

So for the next 6-8 months, or however long it takes me, I'll be scribing and reflecting.

"Let not Moses nor any of the prophets speak to me:

Speak Thou, rather, O Lord God,

the inspirer and enlightener

of all the prophets.

For thou alone without them can perfectly instruct me.

But they without Thee will avail me nothing."

Thomas a Kempis

Of the Imitation of Christ

Book 3, Chapter 2

What does it take to make mission missional?

Not everything the church does in the name of mission or outreach is missional. A group of friends and I recently brainstormed a top-ten list of things churches think are missional but actually aren't:

10 - Outdoor worship services

9 – Ecumenical worship services

8 – Prayer walks

7 – Serving a meal to the homeless

6 – MCC school kits and relief kits

5 – Community fundraisers

4 - Small groups

3 – Contemporary worship

2 – Handing out tracts

1 – Inviting people to church.

“What!?!,” you may ask. “How is inviting someone to church not missional? And what do you have against small groups?” I in no way mean to suggest these aren't good or important things. I for one love the way our congregation collects school kits for MCC every year. I further agree that many of the things on this list are ways of offering care to those in need. Many of these things represent a service to others. Many of these things show Christ-like love and compassion. Some of these things are even done in public. It doesn't mean they are missional.

To be missional is about recognizing what God is up to in our lives and in our communities, and then responding in faith to the movement of God's Spirit. To be missional requires that in order for our light to shine our hearts and habits must be transformed more and more to be like Jesus. In its very essence, to be missional is to intentionally make disciples of ourselves and our neighbors.

In the book The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, the late Mennonite missiologist and seminary professor Alan Kreider paints a picture of the early church that is virtually the exact opposite of many churches today. Kreider documents how the early church's mission focused on making disciples. New believers attracted to Jesus or to the church went through a lengthy multi-year process of chatechesis and character formation. The goal of this process was for candidates to undergo a transformation that resulted in new habits and dispositions. Only then was a person baptized and admitted into the worship life of the church. The effect of this approach was that it cultivated a culture of discipleship that ensured robust witness to the reign of God in Christ. That's missional.

My, how times have changed. Many churches today are concerned primarily and sometimes solely with how to get more people to attend worship. They think about ways to make their worship services attractional, seeker-sensitive, family friendly, contemporary, relevant, or any other of a host of buzz words. I don't think any of those words could be used to describe the early church, and yet its growth and witness was phenomenal.

Many churches today simply want to get people in the doors, or get more young people to serve on committees, in the hopes that they will develop into mature disciples of Jesus. But as Alan Hirsch warns, “If you start with mission, you get the church. But if you start with the church you don't always get mission.”

It's not that the top ten things I listed at the beginning are bad, or that they can't be missional. But often it requires some important shifts in how we approach them. Are your small groups really deepening discipleship and drawing others in? Or are they a platform for friends to eat and pray together? (again, not a bad thing, just not missional.) Does your volunteering at the local food pantry or homeless shelter result in the spiritual transformation of both served and server? If so, praise God! If not, then we should acknowledge that it is an important act of charity, but not missional. Does your worship form patient, loving, kind, and joyful people in a world of outrage and hostility? Or does your worship merely cater to the consumeristic patterns of empire?

Taking a hard and honest look at those questions is one of the first necessary steps on the road to becoming missional.