This sermon has been posted here, but really is great ... so it is being posted again.
I am posting more than 4 paragraphs, but not nearly all of it.
it is a sermon - it was meant to be shared - to be repeated - to be lived
http://networkedblogs.com/p30397811####
Why are we so obsessed with this man's death?
Dying was his reason for living.
Really? The belief that Jesus died for us or died for our sins or died to save us has been Christianity's theological centerpiece. His death and resurrection are two parts of this mythology.
That mythology has little to do with the historical person of Jesus.
####
Jesus had a life before he died. The things he did and the things he said were provocative enough to put him on the wrong side of the authorities. From the things people remembered that he did and said, he was critical of the authorities. He was critical of the religious authorities and of the political authorities. That is what got him killed.
He challenged systems of authority that took advantage of widows, of the poor, and of the outcast. He created a movement. And it was threatening enough that those in power felt the need to stop him. Perhaps to make of him an example. That is what got him killed.
There were many people tortured and killed on Roman crosses. Jesus was one of many.
####
He was on the side of people who were oppressed by the economic policies of the temple. That is what got him killed. He was on the side of people considered unclean and sinners by the religious.
He is remembered for telling parables and stories that upset people. He used a phrase "kingdom of God." That phrase means little to us because we have tamed it. Most folks thanks to the theologians think it is another phrase for heaven, a place the true believers go when they die.
It is likely that it was a political statement. As opposed to the kingdom of Caesar, this is what the kingdom of God is like. It wasn't just a fantasy, a story. It was a movement. This the kingdom to live for, to work for, perhaps even to die for. It is a kingdom of justice and compassion. In this kingdom, in this political economy the hungry are filled with good things. Now let's make it so.
Jesus was about making changes in this world. That is what got him killed.
He talked about compassion. He talked about moving beyond ethnic boundaries and divisions. He talked about forgiveness. Not something you go to the priest for or even to God for, but your neighbor. That is the one we hurt. That is the one from whom we need forgiveness. We get it as we give it. He worked to bring people together: Samaritan and Jew, Greek and Roman. He practiced an open table, rich and poor, male and female. He challenged unjust boundaries and rules. That is what got him killed.
Dying was not his reason for living.
Living was his reason for dying.
For life, he died. For integrity, he died. For compassion, he died. For justice, he died. For change, he died.
He was in the way. He was in the way of progress. He was in the way of Rome. He was in the way of the religious authorities who had sold out their people to Rome. He was killed as were many just like him.
The only difference is that while those others are unknown to us, we know some of Jesus' story. We know about what he lived for.
I think it is a sham and a shame that the religious establishment distorted his story. They took his story and turned into a caricature.
######
That story is supposedly better than what really happened?
And the crazy thing is that we just take it. We accept it.
Hardly anyone raises an objection. No one says,
"Wait a second! Jesus had to die this bloody torturous death because I am so bad? Even though I wasn't even born when he died?"
It is actually rather sick. Seriously. It is pathological theology. We simply take it.
#####
Jesus' life was fast. Like Martin Luther King, they both died before reaching forty. But their lives burned with passion and fire. They burned out for compassion and justice.
Apparently, they believed that it is better to have burned out than never to have burned at all.
Whenever any of us stands up for those who are abused or put down or who suffer injustice from bullies big and small, we practice true religion.
No need for a lot of theological hocus pocus.
Do justice.
Love kindness.
Walk humbly.
Amen.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
