Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Hitler, Sucide Bomber and God
Last week I had mentioned the idea Marcia McFee writes about, Metaphor-aging. I firmly believe followers of Christ need to be creative thinkers in this world in order to make the gospel alive for people.
In an exercise with the youth the last time we did this as a group, I was asked to fill in the blank:
"God is like Hitler and/or a suicide bomber because ___________."
The only thing I could think of is this:
"God is like Hitler and/or a suicide bomber because they are all three in heaven."
This is not to say that I approve of the the actions of Hitler and/or a suicide bomber. Not at all! Rather, I think that it is not our job to condemn or send people to hell.
I note this example because, I think, this is the sort of thinking we need in the church in order to get people to wake up. I can talk theology, Jesus, and the Bible all day long, but I have come to find this is not the case for many people. There are many reasons for this but perhaps one of the reasons is because we all assume we all know what each other believes or, more likely, we are afraid we might offend someone. But I think being offended results in some of the most important change.
Hitler offended people.
Gandhi offended people.
Jesus offended people.
The question I think becomes, what is offensive to us? How are we responding to the offense?
In an exercise with the youth the last time we did this as a group, I was asked to fill in the blank:
"God is like Hitler and/or a suicide bomber because ___________."
The only thing I could think of is this:
"God is like Hitler and/or a suicide bomber because they are all three in heaven."
This is not to say that I approve of the the actions of Hitler and/or a suicide bomber. Not at all! Rather, I think that it is not our job to condemn or send people to hell.
I note this example because, I think, this is the sort of thinking we need in the church in order to get people to wake up. I can talk theology, Jesus, and the Bible all day long, but I have come to find this is not the case for many people. There are many reasons for this but perhaps one of the reasons is because we all assume we all know what each other believes or, more likely, we are afraid we might offend someone. But I think being offended results in some of the most important change.
Hitler offended people.
Gandhi offended people.
Jesus offended people.
The question I think becomes, what is offensive to us? How are we responding to the offense?
Mark 1:40-45
The scripture for worship yesterday was Mark 1:40-45. I was intrigued by one of the footnotes which noted the word "pity" which Jesus felt for this man is orgistheis which means angry. Jesus was moved by anger, not pity. What was Jesus angry about?
As I have been influenced by Ched Myers' reading of Mark, I can only think Jesus' anger is at the purity codes of the day (which he attacks throughout Mark) and not the leper.
Think for a second, if you were unclean you would go to the temple priests to be made clean first. But the temple did not declare the man clean for whatever reason. (Maybe the man still had his skin disease and could not be ritually 'clean', or maybe the man could not afford the hefty offering which was required under the law in Leviticus 14?) The man seeks out Jesus and asks to be made clean (which according to the law of Moses is illegal for anyone but a priest to declare things clean). When he asks Jesus to be made clean, Jesus becomes angry at the temple authorities who have denied this man's request, and Jesus declares the man clean.
Perhaps this is why Jesus gives this man stern orders (the word embrinesamenos is translated "sternly", but it is better understood as "snorting with indignation") to go straight to the temple and give an offering as a testimony to them (the priests)!
Jesus snorts with indignation, "Go back to the temple, and give an offering as a way of showing the temple they do not have authority to declare people unclean and make a group of second class citizens. Go back to the temple and show them you are in fact clean regardless what they say!"
But the man instead tells everyone what happened. Thus Jesus becomes a marked man, which forces him to go underground for a few days.
Jesus is angry this man was denied at the temple.
Jesus snort with indignation at the temple.
Jesus wants this man to non-violently resist the temple.
The man rejects Jesus' call to non-violent resistance and raises the "threat level" against Jesus.
As I have been influenced by Ched Myers' reading of Mark, I can only think Jesus' anger is at the purity codes of the day (which he attacks throughout Mark) and not the leper.
Think for a second, if you were unclean you would go to the temple priests to be made clean first. But the temple did not declare the man clean for whatever reason. (Maybe the man still had his skin disease and could not be ritually 'clean', or maybe the man could not afford the hefty offering which was required under the law in Leviticus 14?) The man seeks out Jesus and asks to be made clean (which according to the law of Moses is illegal for anyone but a priest to declare things clean). When he asks Jesus to be made clean, Jesus becomes angry at the temple authorities who have denied this man's request, and Jesus declares the man clean.
Perhaps this is why Jesus gives this man stern orders (the word embrinesamenos is translated "sternly", but it is better understood as "snorting with indignation") to go straight to the temple and give an offering as a testimony to them (the priests)!
Jesus snorts with indignation, "Go back to the temple, and give an offering as a way of showing the temple they do not have authority to declare people unclean and make a group of second class citizens. Go back to the temple and show them you are in fact clean regardless what they say!"
But the man instead tells everyone what happened. Thus Jesus becomes a marked man, which forces him to go underground for a few days.
Jesus is angry this man was denied at the temple.
Jesus snort with indignation at the temple.
Jesus wants this man to non-violently resist the temple.
The man rejects Jesus' call to non-violent resistance and raises the "threat level" against Jesus.
Fishing for men???
Taken from one of my favorite books, “Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus” by Ched Myers
There is perhaps no expression more traditionally misunderstood than Jesus’ invitation to these workers to become ‘fishers of men’ (Mark 1:17). This metaphor, despite the grand old tradition of missionary interpretation, does not refer to the “saving of souls,” as if Jesus were conferring upon these men instant evangelist status. Rather, the image is carefully chosen from Jeremiah 16:16, where it is used as a symbol of Yahweh’s censure of Israel. Elsewhere the “hooking of fish” is a euphemism for judgment upon the rich (Amos 4:2) and powerful (Ezekiel 29:4). Taking this mandate for his own, Jesus is inviting common fold to join him in his struggle to overturn the existing order of power and privilege.
I would add two things to this. Matthew 17:27 Jesus asks his disciples to pull a fish out of the water and remove the riches in its mouth. Secondly, In light of this interpretation it is highly ironic that James Avery would make an gold and silver “fishers of men” bracelet.
There is perhaps no expression more traditionally misunderstood than Jesus’ invitation to these workers to become ‘fishers of men’ (Mark 1:17). This metaphor, despite the grand old tradition of missionary interpretation, does not refer to the “saving of souls,” as if Jesus were conferring upon these men instant evangelist status. Rather, the image is carefully chosen from Jeremiah 16:16, where it is used as a symbol of Yahweh’s censure of Israel. Elsewhere the “hooking of fish” is a euphemism for judgment upon the rich (Amos 4:2) and powerful (Ezekiel 29:4). Taking this mandate for his own, Jesus is inviting common fold to join him in his struggle to overturn the existing order of power and privilege.
I would add two things to this. Matthew 17:27 Jesus asks his disciples to pull a fish out of the water and remove the riches in its mouth. Secondly, In light of this interpretation it is highly ironic that James Avery would make an gold and silver “fishers of men” bracelet.