Monday, March 29, 2010

PLAYER IN THE WAY

(written July 1984)

touch their eyes, player

let them see the truth

watch their mouths

to see they understand

stand up there and wave

draw their full attention


be jealous, player

grab them 'til they have no choice

they want to pay for pain or pleasure

make them wait in line

tell them what they think they want

then give them what you have


stand in front now, player

they're already watching you

they would chase you if you ran

you lead them either way

you die at either end


player, tell the people what you know

what they don't yet understand

what words have made seem obvious

as though the truth was simple

yet when the time comes to decide

all the choices trip them up and so a player acts it out

showing how its done but not quite why


player, you are different

what you say and do is new

people are surprised to hear this news

and shocked to watch you act it out

the others never bled before

the others never died like that

but that was then, not now

not after one man died and lived like God.


you're the player now

they're watching you

words are not enough for them

there's too much noise to hear them

not that they matter

you have a new priority

its in the script

this new play starts with death

what you play has been done before

but always by somebody else

this time, the act is yours

your play starts with death ...


that's where life comes in.

ARE YOU WILLING TO SUFFER EVIL RATHER THAN DO IT?

Jesus "suffered evil rather than do it" (as William Mays comments in the chapter on VERITATIS SPLENDOR in his book AN INTRODUCTION TO MORAL THEOLOGY). The emphasis is on how one's moral act, what one actually chooses to do, defines one's moral being, who one really is. Deciding to suffer evil is morally superior to deciding to avoid suffering. One who enjoy's doing God's will is always conscientiously willing to do ONLY what is good given one's hope to remain in the joy of the Lord on the Day of Judgment (cf. Hebrews 12:1-29). Such joy is evident in how Jesus overcame ANY temptation to not go through with the crucifixion by consistently praying to his Father God, "Not my will, but Thy will be done" (see the Passion Narratives in the Gospels).

We read in Acts 17:16-34 how Paul preached Jesus and the Resurrection among the idolatrous Athenians. It is especially interesting to note that Paul quoted a pagan philosopher to make his point that "In him [God] we live and move and have our being." This God is unknown apart from the person and work of the resurrected Christ (cf. Acts 17:22-23, 30-31).

Given who we are in God ("created ... in his image," Genesis 1:27), we ought to do what is consistent with such a character. Christians consider the character of Christ to be the perfect example to which we can conform by faith enacted through each thing we decide to do. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to enjoy God's grace, being and doing that which is pleasing to God.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

CHRISTIAN ATHEISTS? or rather "IGNOSTICS"?

Recent discussion has considered the phenomenon of "Christian Atheists," described as those whose professed belief has little or no bearing on how they actually live.

Belief always has a bearing on one's life. What one believes is not determined by adjectives but actions. Calling someone/something "Christian" is merely nominalism. The proof of piety is in the performance - what one actually does defines what one really believes. If one examines one's conscience, one will be confronted with any discrepancy between alleged belief and actual behavior. The Holy Spirit cooperates with such self-examination to lead one to repentance and on to perfection in Christ.

Rather than labeling them "Christian Atheists," perhaps one might call those who profess to be Christian yet ignore this leading of the Spirit "Ignostics."

Monday, March 22, 2010

SURELY NOT I?

RATHER THAN BEING FOUND FULL OF FICKLE FOLLY,

LET US BE FORTIFIED BY THE FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT

TO FOCUS ON BECOMING

A FAITHFUL FOOL FOR CHRIST


Maundy Thursday

April 1st, 2010


[Narrator tells what is taking place,

quoting the account of the Last Supper in Matthew’s Gospel (26:20-25)]

NARRATOR: Now … [Several robed figures enter to take places around altar table.]

when evening came, [Last figure enters, hooded in white, centered before the table with back to congregation.]

Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.

As they were eating, He said, [HOODED FIGURE gestures toward others.]

HOODED FIGURE: "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me."

NARRATOR: Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him,

"Surely not I, Lord?" [This same line is spoken by each one in turn.

Figures on stage then exit, except hooded figure. ]

HOODED FIGURE: [Turns to face congregation to reveal MINISTER wearing red nose.]

"Surely not I?" [MINISTER removes red nose before continuing.]

What a strange form of question!

A negative answer seems not only hopefully expected, but fervently requested.

The disciples each appear to plea, “Please, Lord, assure me of my faithfulness!”

Such sad disbelief!

The deep sense of vulnerability surrounding this question was tragically exposed as true in the last hours of Jesus’ life.

No disciple of Jesus was much of a model for faithfulness.

Each disciple failed in some way to follow faithfully.

Judas betrayed Jesus.

Peter, having boldly boasted with such bravado about his fervent faithfulness, denied knowing his Lord three times.

Not one of the Twelve even attended to Jesus’ body after the crucifixion!

All of them had fled from the Garden of Gethsamane, finding out just how foolish it was to base their faith on the false foundation of their own fickle fortitude.

These fallen followers had yet to realize their utter need for the fullness of the Spirit.

"Surely not I?" Was this a faithful question … or a foolish boast?

[Suddenly someone wearing a jester’s cap appears in the back of the sanctuary.]

CLOWN: "Surely not I, Lord?"

[CLOWN continues, sometimes humming on kazoo, marching about energetically.

MINISTER responds at will.]

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”

He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

There you have it. Plans were made to kill me as well as Jesus.

[Throughout the following, there will be interplay between CLOWN & MINISTER]

You may call me Laz, or even Lazzi, if you like. My given name is Lazarus – yes, the same Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. Ever since that day, it seems to me that God has put me on theatrical display. I have been made a spectacle to the whole universe!

MINISTER: Why?

LAZ: Because I was foolish enough to give a true account of what Jesus did for me. People were going over to Jesus because I told them that he had raised me from the dead. You may think I am a fool and so I am. I am a fool for Christ! Whose fool are you?

[MINISTER may respond.]

LAZ: I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness.

MINISTER: But, we are already doing that.

LAZ: You, however, are looking only on the surface of things.

MINISTER:* Some here are saying, as wordy as you are, you really are unimpressive in person; even if you are Lazarus, all your talk doesn’t amount to much.

LAZ: I may not be a trained speaker, but I do know what is what.

Don’t deceive yourselves: If anyone of you think you are wise, by what standard are you making such judgment? If by the standards of this age, then you, too, should become a “fool” so that you may become wise!

The wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.

MINISTER: So what are you doing here? It surely looks like some boastful masquerade.

LAZ: What I am doing here is not intended to be some boastful masquerade. I make no deceitful claims; this is no mere act. Let no one take me for a fool.

MINISTER:* It’s way too later for that.

LAZ: But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting myself.

MINISTER: You’re starting to sound a bit worldly as well as wordy.

LAZ: Since so many out there are boasting in the way the world does, I’ll boast, too.

MINISTER: You expect us to put up with that?

LAZ: You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!

In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face.

To my shame I admit that I am too weak for that!

MINISTER: Point well taken.

LAZ: Yet, what anyone else dares to boast about – I am speaking as a fool – I also dare to boast about.

MINISTER: Do you know what you are up against?

LAZ: Whatever they say they are, I am more.

MINISTER:* You’re out of your mind!

LAZ: I am out of my mind to talk like this.

MINISTER: But look what they have going for them.

LAZ: Are they servants of Christ? Are they “Christ’s ambassadors”? I am.

[CLOWN breaks into song.]

We are Christ’s ambassadors, and our colors we will unfurl.

We all wear a spotless robe, clean and righteous before the world.

We know we’ve been cleansed from sin, and that Jesus dwells within.

Proving duly that we’re truly, Christ’s ambassadors!

Proving duly (slap knees, snap fingers, clap hands) that we’re truly (repeat slap, snap, clap),

Christ’s ambassa -, Christ’s ambassa-, Chri-i-i-i-st’s am-bas-sa-do-o-o-o-rs!

[Pause for applause … or not.]

MINISTER: So, what else can we expect from a true ambassador of Christ?

LAZ: You can expect me to be BOLD, … especially toward those people who think it’s fine to live by the standards of this world.

MINISTER: Don’t forget that you still live in this world.

LAZ: However, just because I live in this world, I don’t go about waging war as the world does. No, the “weapons” with which I fight are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, I have the power to demolish strongholds! I demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God; I take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

In this self-confident boasting, I know I don’t sound like one following the true way …

MINISTER: You sound like a fool.

LAZ: If I sound like a fool, so be it. And do you know why?

MINISTER: Because you are a fool?

LAZ: No! Because of the Gospel message! The message of the cross!

MINISTER: So that’s your excuse?

LAZ: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God. God was pleased through the foolishness of the gospel to save those who believe, since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom cannot know him.

MINISTER: You are beginning to sound a bit ant-intellectual.

LAZ: Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? Did not God say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent will I frustrate”?

MINISTER:* What about those who came here expecting to be shown something?

LAZ: Some of you may demand something spectacular, some demand a witty show of wise words. But what I have to say is simply this:

death is overcome through Jesus Christ.

MINISTER: That sounds simple enough.

LAZ: This simple message is a stumbling block to those demanding miracles, foolishness to those wanting wisdom.

MINISTER:* But what is it to us?

LAZ: To those of us whom God has called, just as Jesus called me from the grave, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

MINISTER: That’s not fooling around!

LAZ: Indeed – for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

MINISTER:* So we go around looking like weak fools and that’s supposed to be good news?

LAZ: It is good news, because in our weakness God is strong.

MINISTER:* And we end up troubled on every side!

LAZ: Yet not distressed.

MINISTER:* We become perplexed!

LAZ: But not in despair.

MINISTER:* We’ll be persecuted!

LAZ: But not forsaken.

MINISTER:* Cast down!

LAZ: But not destroyed.

No, while we live we can expect to always face death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in our own mortality. I know that, just as the Lord Jesus raised me from the dead, God raised Jesus after dying on the cross, and so shall all who receive His Spirit, as my sister Martha confessed, be raised up in the Resurrection.

MINISTER:* So folly and death becomes a daily part of life?

LAZ: It already has. Now, however, because of the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, instead of expecting deadly folly, everyone of us can fully experience His Resurrection as a Way of Life.

[singing] I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me though he were dead,

Yet shall he live, yet shall he live; For whosoever liveth and believeth in me

Shall never, never die!

Do you believe this? [CLOWN exits. Further remarks per speaker’s discretion.]

MINISTER: Paul wrote to the church in Corinth [1 Corinthians 1:18-31]:

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. …

…consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

Surely not I, Lord? [Pause.]

“Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.”(Isaiah 12:2)

Amen.


REMARKS:

The presentation should be playfully performed with serious intent. The theme is FOLLY & FOLLOWING JESUS.

The presiding MINISTER plays the part of the HOODED FIGURE. It is up to the discretion of the MINISTER as to how many others are to participate in the performance. It may be preferable to have others speak lines of the MINISTER (marked by *) from the congregation. The presentation requires a minimum of two people, including the MINISTER. With only two, the beginning can be modified to have only the HOODED FIGURE present on stage while lines of the NARRATOR are spoken by the CLOWN off-stage.

The CLOWN claims to be Lazarus, the same person raised from the dead by Jesus. Prior to his death recorded in the Bible, Lazarus may well have been quite a serious person. After being raised, however, might his perspective have been greatly tempered by a hilarious sense of humor? Though he seriously reveres the truth of what he proclaims, the hilarity of his proclamation may seem irreverent to those who hear and see him.

Imagine that, after Jesus called him out of the grave, Lazarus never died, but lived on and on through century after century. Adjusting to changing times, Laz’s way of survival may have been to play the part of the fool, associating with other clowns, jesters, and troupes of traveling actors in every period of history since the time of Christ. This would imitate the reputation Jesus had himself, who was said to eat with publicans and sinners, just the type of folk reputed to fool around in theatre!

ZanniTAVANI, stands above all for truth

and the right to laugh

in the foolish face of failure.

a prating fool

… a prating fool shall fall.

Pr 10:8

Is there one who talks idly at length,

chattering on and on to little or no purpose,

uttering empty trivialities,

excessive babble bubbling forth

like froth on the ebb and flow of ocean tides,

talking, talking, talking,

with no consideration for common courtesy nor prudent perspective,

ignoring any signals of objection from those doomed to audit

this endless stream of vapid consciousness,

each clacking word crowding into the next bit of twaddling palaver

which happens to gab nonsensically from one’s ever-moving mouth

making jabbering sounds of gibberish,

blab, blab, blab,

naught but gabble, chat and twaddle?

That one is a fool.

Monday, March 15, 2010

What is Just War Theory?

What is Just War Theory?

By Kenneth Richard Samples

Through the centuries Christian thinkers have taken different positions on the controversial subject of war. Three broad theories concerning the morality of war for the Christian can be identified: activism, pacifism, and selectivism. Activism asserts that it is virtually always right to participate in war. Strict pacifism insists that it is never morally right to partake in war. Selectivism argues that it is sometimes right to take part in war.

Just war theory is a type of selectivism contending that while war is always tragic and often evil, it is sometimes morally right, just, and practically necessary. Some leading Christian advocates of just war theory have included Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), and Francisco Suarez (1548-1617). Just war theory involves two main moral categories of evaluation.

Jus ad bellum (Justness of War)

Concerning the moral justness of waging war, a just war must conform to the following moral considerations:

A Just War will:

* Be waged by a legitimate authority (government or state, not private individuals)
* Reflect moral deliberation (last resort after sincere diplomacy)
* Have probability of success (reasonable belief that victory can be achieved)
* Have a just cause (e.g., defense of innocents and freedom against direct aggression)
* Be just in intent (establish peace, freedom, justice; not unlimited destruction of the enemy)

Jus in bello (Justice in war)

Concerning the conduct of war, strategy and tactics must be just:

A Just War will be conducted:

* With proper proportionality (sufficient, but not excessive force will be used; good should outweigh evil)
* With proper discrimination (noncombatants [civilians or innocents] should not be targeted)

Just war theory has been criticized for various reasons through the years (e.g., by failing to appreciate the benefits of a preemptive strike, being unrealistic in its moral expectations, being practically unworkable), yet it nevertheless remains the most commonly accepted position among Christian thinkers when it comes to evaluating the moral considerations of waging war.

For further study on the ethics of war, see John Jefferson Davis, Evangelical Ethics, 3rd ed. (P&R Publishing, 2004) and J. P. Moreland and Norman L. Geisler, The Life and Death Debate (Praeger, 1990).

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

DEEP DESIRE RIGHTLY ORDERED TO GOD

Disordered desire becomes the seed of sin. It is when by one’s own deep desire [epithumia] one is carried away and enticed, that one is then tempted (see James 1:14-15). The deep desire is not the sin; even Jesus had such desire. We read in Luke 22:14-20, "With desire I have desired [epithumia epithumāsa] to eat this Passover with you before I suffer ..." Jesus was not, however, driven by such desire; he, the ever-obedient Son, rather ordered his desire toward doing the will of God the Father.


This right ordering of desire is put in particular perspective in Luke 22:39-46, where we read:

Jesus …proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him.
When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."
And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."
...And being in agony He was praying very fervently ... .
When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow,and said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation."


Jesus gives us the perfect example of
"One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). We read in Hebrews 5:7-8, "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered."

Fervent Prayer was the life-long practice of piety by which Jesus became able to suffer temptation without yielding to temptation. Essentially what Jesus simply said was this,
"Father in Heaven, not my will, but Yours be done."

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

ONLY US, KEPT ALIVE BY GRACE

Diverse as we may be, there ought be no division. We must be careful not to let whatever we may think we know excuse our stubborn separation, but rather let the way we love overcome our enmity towards one another. There is no "us" and "them" - only us, kept alive by grace. God keeps us in this world together until the Day of Judgment, when our destiny thereafter will fully be revealed. Until then, life remains darkly mysterious except for what light may be revealed to us through the word and work of Christ. That word is spoken as the Holy Spirit gives utterance, and the work is done as that same Spirit enables our cooperation.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Becoming more mature by wisely willing to do what is good

Wisdom functions as a matter of maturity. The wise person is one who conscientiously chooses well continuously for this is what will make one more mature (cf. Hebrews 5:14). Maturity comes with time and experience. Over time, one’s experience is accumulative – choice after choice is made with certain consequences following. The immature fool chooses poorly, resisting wisdom’s discerning drive for doing good. Thus is doing what is good related to being wise. One hopes that age will fix the folly of youth, but one need not wait on age to begin acting wisely now. It is the way of wisdom to be determined to discover and remember what is good so that one may rightly choose to do only that which is good.

Consider Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden: the Tree of the Knowledge of good and bad/evil appeared desirable for gaining wisdom. Appearances can be deceiving if one’s attention is fixed on the wrong thing. It would have been good to keep attending to the Lord's quite explicit word regarding to do. Yet, the serpent slyly focused attention elsewhere so that they acted in contradiction to conscience - in how they hid in shame when the LORD came looking for them!

The attempt to know the thoughts of another person is merely speculative without the other’s cooperation. One must depend on what the other reveals, trusting the other’s word to be sincere. It is impossible to judge the intentions of another person, for we can only observe one’s actions, not one’s thoughts. The function of one’s conscience is to observe one’s own thinking so that it can be compared with one’s actions. We cannot make any claim for another person’s conscience.

The Word of God is the measure for what good means. What is good is good because God declares it to be good. To see things from God’s perspective requires that such perspective be revealed by God. This is the function of the Word of God, given so that we can know the mind of God (cf. 1 Cor 2).