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Mark A. Lewis,
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MLewis@secaucus.org
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Jun 01
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The
Christian Paradox
Reflections on the
lessons
for the Third Sunday after Pentecost, 24 June 2001
By The Rev. Mark A. Lewis, Vicar
Zechariah 12:8-10;13:1 / Psalm
63:1-8
Galatians 3:23-29 / Luke
9:18-24
Some of my most important formative years coincided with the tremendous popularity of that old TV show "All in the Family". And so I was sad to hear about Carroll O'Connor's death -- or Archie Bunker's, if you will -- this week. Being a card-carrying left-winger and a public-spirited intellectual, the real O'Connor was the polar opposite of his most famous character. So it 's fitting, I think, that today's readings are a little memorial to him: Taking the form of an exploration of the Christian religion's fascination with paradox, the way opposites have of attracting and even coming together in mystical ways.
Today's reading from Paul, for example, would probably be among Archie Bunker's least favorite passages in the Bible. He was a real "US vs. THEM" kind of guy. "For you are all one in Christ Jesus" was probably a song, sung by the Christians in Galatia during their baptismal liturgy. Paul cites a few lines from it here -- and in a few other spots in his letters -- to remind his readers of what they already knew. The argument in the letter is all about Jews and non-Jews, and he does not, here, address any of his remarks to unpacking what "neither slave nor free, neither male nor female" means in the context of daily community life.
Yet naturally this verse, the lines intended to express baptismal union with Christ and "oneness" with all other Christians, was to be a source of extended debates over slavery and the role of gender in the church and in society. And they still are today as we enter our third millennium of trying to apply the radical things Jesus said about opposites and classes and status with the way Jesus' followers have tried to live our lives in generation after generation.
There's also lots of room for discussion in the gospel for today. The two high points of the gospel reading are also about paradox. About how sharply contrasting images can blend to make an arresting new picture. We've got Peter's confession. "Some say you're this and some say you're that," Peter says to Jesus, "how do we pin you down?" And we've got Jesus' puzzling teaching about bearing a cross. "Take it up yourself." And, if you could call it that, he clarifies his point saying, "If you try to save your life, you'll lose it. Losing is really getting it," he says. What does that mean???
Let's start with the cross part. Luke wrote his gospel when the Christians in Rome were being persecuted viciously. The Emperor, Nero at the time, was always regarded as semi-divine, part of the Roman pantheon of gods. But Nero was insecure and decided to push the point much further than usual. Everyone in Rome was required to swear a loyalty oath by declaring "Caesar is Lord" and throwing a small offering of incense on an altar to Nero in front of a state official.
It was no big deal for most people. Either you believed, so fine. Or you didn't, but most religions were very casual about things like that, so no harm done. Not so for the tiny, new Christian society. They refused to worship the Emperor and rallied around their new motto "JESUS is Lord". And for their trouble they were tortured and killed. Period. The words Jesus speaks about taking up the cross, losing your life, were put in his mouth by Luke to be read by people who daily really did face the choice of saving their lives at the expense of their integrity, their souls . or dying horribly while sticking to principle.
The same problem just keeps on facing people. We probably won't face the federal death penalty over theological fine points. But Luke's use of the word "daily" here tells us we're not being literal. "Take up your cross daily and follow me" opens the discussion to include more kinds of death and defeat than just the kinds that come with a death certificate and a funeral service. Jesus is talking about all kinds of opportunities people have to sell out, to let go, to lose our souls while trying to save our necks.
Taking up your daily cross doesn't mean putting up with nagging annoyances and disappointments. It means keeping faith with who you are and what you believe in the face of real trouble. In the face of things that can make the bottom drop out of life as we know it. It means reaching for a point where abandoning the strong, true, honest kind of life Jesus led and laid out for us is simply not an option. Focus on that, Jesus says, and life and death stand side-by-side, kind of merge together, because people who know who they really are can face anything that comes their way.
For Christians, the giver of this gift of personal integrity, harmony, and purpose is Jesus. And the essence of the gift is a relationship of our own with God, very much like the one Jesus himself had. "Who do you say I am?" Jesus asked Peter. But, most importantly, "Who do YOU say I am?" Before you can say who others are -- with any meaning -- you must know who you are yourself.
Up until this point in the gospel, every time Peter or some other apostle tried to gush all over Jesus by calling him "Son of God" or "Lord" or "Messiah" Jesus would more or less tell them to clam up and get back to business. But not this time. In the big scope of this gospel, this scene comes just after Peter and the others have come back from a tour of other parts of the countryside without Jesus. For the first time, here, the disciples have gone out to tell others the message of God's love they learned from Jesus without having Jesus himself along to carry the show. They have had a chance to take the message into themselves and tell it to others in their own ways. So now, when Peter calls Jesus the Messiah, Jesus lets it stand since there is now reason to believe that Peter knows something about what he's saying and is not just tossing words around
In Jewish tradition, the Messiah (means "Chosen One") -- when he came along -- was going to be a swashbuckling new king that would put Israel on the map as a superpower and put all their enemies in their place. Jesus knew that would never be the case. It was self-deception and wishful thinking on a national scale. And it was hurting people. Jesus seems to have figured out that God had a different plan. Jesus was particularly chosen to show that plan to the world. So Jesus WAS a Messiah. A chosen one.
But the story was going to play out in a different way. The people who were going to come to God in a newer, more authentic way than before were going to do it by giving, not getting. With humility, not pride. By losing, not by clinging to old, safe fantasies. There were going to be crosses. There would be loss. But in spite of the scary reversals, there would be life abundant in the middle of the whirlwind. And now Peter knew it for himself.
Peter had learned to see a clear picture of Jesus in the midst of all the things others were saying. He had started to comprehend how losing can be gaining and how taking up a burden lets you lay down another one -- often a much bigger one. Peter knew Paul later in life. I wonder if they ever they stood together, remembering what Jesus said about how seeming opposites can come together into magical new visions. Maybe it was when they were presiding at some baptism service, when they joined the congregation singing "In Christ there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
-- Mark Lewis
Your comments or questions are welcome MLewis@secaucus.org.
Links to additional "Reflections on Lessons" may be found at the bottom of the Sunday web page.
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