How Can We Fulfill a Law We Break?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says,

‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Then, if you know the rest of the story, Jesus goes on to break all sorts of laws (healing on the Sabbath, claiming to be divine, turning tables over in the Temple, ignoring his mother’s requests, etc.). How can someone say they came to fulfill the law while simultaneously break it?

To obey the law means actions are directed by an outside or external things that forces compliance. For instance, if I do not pay my taxes the government will fine me. There is force that is outside or external to me that I am really responding to. If the external force was not present, then there is a likelihood that I would not obey the law. This is also why I all slow down when I drive by a police officer, but will speed up once I feel I am “at a safe distance.”

Fulfilling the law is different. Fulfilling the law comes by indirectly obeying the law.

Take the above examples, if I were to pay my taxes out of my internal delight, I am not paying them out of fear that I will be punished by some outside force. Rather, when I pay my taxes out of a personal choice, I am fulfilling the law, but not considering (thinking about the consequences) the law. If I were a person who loves to go the speed limit because I think don’t want to rush or if I think that driving slower is just more pleasurable, then I will not go over the speed limit. I am indirectly following the law.

Sometimes what looks like obeying the law, is really fulfillment of the law. And sometimes what looks like breaking the law is also fulfilling the law.

Jesus fulfilled the law, even as he breaks them.

For instance, not working on the Sabbath was a law. There was punishment if you did not obey the law. But this law was put into place in order to keep people from being abused and overworked. It was a law meant to protect people from being treated as objects. So when Jesus healed on the sabbath, yes he broke the law but in doing so the law was fulfilled. The law was intended to humanize people but was used to objectify people. As Jesus humanizes those he healed on the Sabbath, he broke the popular interpretation of the law, but fulfilled the law in full.

As you can see, It is much easier to obey than it is to fulfill the law. Because sometimes obeying the law means breaking it, and breaking the law often comes with consequences. The question Jesus poses to us is do we desire to fulfill the law or only obey it?

Praying the UMC is Broken Into

The UMC is facing a break up in the coming months. There is a Protocol of Reconciliation Through Separation which outlines a way the UMC might separate (break up). There are a number of groups and people who are hopeful this protocol might provide a way for us to split rather than splinter. It reads something like a “controlled break” a doctor might do to reset an previously broken arm that has healed incorrectly.

There are some who find the Protocol less than ideal and even unjust, I am not one of these persons. I am aware that anything generated will be unjust in someway(s). I am aware that the Protocol is not my desire, but it is the best option that is before us. I am aware that all the options we believe we have are all insufficient. I support this Protocol.

That being said, it is clear to me that in all the talk of the break up there is not much talk about being broken into.

Inward/Outward shared a line from Gordon Cosby

Prayer is learning the art of the connection… We believe, if we continue to be faithful, the time will come when our lives will be broken into by another order and we will be transformed and as transformed, will become transformers.

The Protocol is helpful to get us to break up, but it does more than that. We have arrived at that moment “when our lives will be broken into by another order”. May we learn the connection we have with one another and how it is we need one another, even in the break up.

My prayer is that the UMC will be broken into. Because if we just break up, we will never be broken like Christ who for the sake of the world broke into the world for the salvation of all.

So, let us pray.

Spiritual Hypothermia

There continues to be a conversation within the UMC about the need for or the emphasis on different metrics. More often than not, the conversation about metrics and numbers is quickly tampered with the need for accompanying narratives. That is to say, that it is not just numbers but the stories in tandem that are important.

However noble the goal of marrying metrics and narrative, in practice the metrics win out. In part because they are easier to capture and they are easier to read and digest. It is why the USA Today has those little numbers on the bottom of each section highlighting something newsworthy. It is also why the internet is full of “top ten” lists and perhaps is the only reason that “10 weird things kids do at communion I wish more adults would do” is my most popular post - ever.

Numbers are easily digestible and give us a sense that we understand something about that which is measured. Stories are even more powerful than numbers, but that power is a slow build. It takes time to read the story and it takes imagination to understand the power within the story. Thus stories are often lost in the effort to marry metrics and narratives.

Recently I was in a conversation with a District Superintendent from New Mexico, Dr. Eduardo Rivera, who used the phrase “spiritual hypothermia” to describe the state of the UMC. Here is what he said:

Spiritual hypothermia: the gradual decline of vitality and of resources given to the extremities of the church that keep its witness and presence in the world (we often speak of the church being the hands and feet of Jesus - In spiritual hypothermia those are the first to go). What happens next is a church that enters a survivalist mode that only keeps its vital functions alive (sadly, only for a reduced time).

There is much to consider in what Dr. Rivera says for us as a denomination. How do we know if we are in a state of spiritual hypothermia? What one might call an extremity of the Church another might call that same thing vitally core? How do we know the difference?

Those suffering from hypothermia highly privilege knowing the number of heartbeats in a minute and know their core temperature. In a state of hypothermia there is a hyper focus on the vital signs of your body: heart beat, breaths per minute, temperature, etc. It is much less important in such a state to take a stock of the inner life of your soul or even how your actions affect the lives of others. The narratives take a back seat to the numbers when in suffering from hypothermia.

As the UMC considers her future structure and make up, pay attention to what information is privileged in the conversation. Is the conversation focused on the numbers of people in worship or the amount of money the denomination is loosing? Does the conversation focus on the numbers of churches or people that might leave? Or even who gets what amount of money?

Or will the narratives and stories be what we privilege as we consider the future of the UMC? Will we focus on the what God might be doing in and through us? Will we focus on the reality that the UMC is on the precipice of discovering a different way to live together that is different from other denominations that have only found the way to the courtroom? Can we privilege the knowing of how the UMC is being used by God to draw people closer into relationship and converting hearts?

When you visit a doctor, they look over your vital signs. However, when we are healthy, the doctor only looks at these signs once or twice a year. It is only when we are sick that we need a doctor to look at these signs every day or week. It is not that these metrics are unimportant it is only the degree of privilege given to them that is a symptom of possible spiritual hypothermia.