So What?
Does our God punish? Does our God afflict
with suffering the unrighteous? Can we infer that anyone suffering is being
punished and therefore must be unrighteous? Are these not presuppositions of
many traditions within Christianity? Is the contemporary church so different
in it’s thinking than the religious of Jesus’ day or the authorities
encountered by the Johannine community? Our preaching, if we are bearing witness
to Jesus, will come as enlightenment to the blind and blasphemy to the religious.
The demystification of the vindictive God, the revelation of the healing God,
this is the stuff of the Gospels.
Since Lent is about repentance and since
repentance is changing our way of thinking, is it fair to say that now is
the time for us to change our way of thinking? A lot has changed in the last
four years. A new world is being born, it remains yet to be seen though, who
is the birth father.
We have a chance, an opportunity, a calling
and an obligation to let ourselves be healed of our darkness, our blindness,
our ignorance. Jesus heals today, heals us, heals of infirmities, heals our
spirits, heals even our theologies. The question is will we let him?
Anthropological Reading
Positive mimesis will profane the sacred.
This, according to the authorities (vs 16), is what Jesus did when he healed
the man born blind. He profaned the sacred. Not for nothing but the number
1 charge brought against the early Christians was that they were atheists.
True Christianity is profane in the eyes
of the world. It declares the sacred places, customs, practices and dogmas
of religion profane. True Christianity desacralizes and deconstructs false
Christianity. True Christianity is about healing, about insight and enlightenment;
at least it was for the man born blind. It certainly is for the Johannine
community. This is a community for whom ‘God is light’, God enlightens.
This is a community for whom God is also ‘love’, a love shown
in the character and person of Jesus. The Johannine God is benevolent. God
loves the kosmos. There is no dualism in the FG, so it must also be said that
there is no malevolence in God either. This is important for it explains the
Johannine restructuring of apocalyptic which as a genre taught a vindictive
God.
As we have suggested, the gospels all
reflect the rejection of the benevolent, healing, life-giving God spoken of,
borne witness to and acted out in Jesus. The same also occurred for the Johannine
community. When it comes to our religion, we seek always to retain the ingredients
of our mimetic making. In the case of the Pharisees in John 9, it is their
interpretation of Torah and the Sabbath commandment. We would note that never
in the New Testament is Torah thrown out; it is radically reinterpreted though.
As Andre LaCocque (Ruth) has shown, Jesus and the New Testament writers engage
the hermeneutic of hesed or agape when they interpret Torah. Not only can
this be found in the book of Ruth but in his bible studies on Isaiah, Tony
Bartlett clearly evinces this hermeneutic. (See Tony’s Bible Studies
on Preaching Peace.) Girard has found proto-stages of the deconstruction of
a non-hesed approach to Torah in the book of Job. Jesus also found it in the
Psalter.
There is an interesting irony that happens
in our text for both the man born blind and Jesus are presumed to be sinners.
The disciples still retain their sacralizing mentality reflected in their
belief that God rewards good and punishes sin. (Indeed, in his response to
his questioners, the man born blind suggests that he too subscribes to a sacralizing
understanding of God. “We know that God does not listen to sinners…”
Among other things, this undermines any notion that we must be delivered of
all our mimetic misconceptions before God’s power can be manifest in
us.) Jesus rejects this view and transcends it. Jesus’ acts of healing
went right to the heart of Torah interpretation. God was either a healing
God or he was a god of “religion” (of law, ritual and myth). Like
the people excoriated by the Hebrew Prophets, Jesus’ contemporaries
did not want to accept the kind of God Jesus was preaching.
This is a theological battle that is
occurring between Jesus (and the Johannine community) and the authorities.
It has to do with the character of God. Are sinners to be defined as the ancient
Pharisees and modern Christians do? Or rather, in seeing God differently do
we in fact begin to see one another differently, in the light of agape instead,
as Jesus did?
Can we find the Jesus of the Gospels
in the Church today? Where shall we look?
We know where to look for the Jesus of
the “religion” (in Girard’s sense) called Christianity.
We know that we are dealing with the Jesus of religion when we hear folks
say, “It doesn’t matter how much healing that person brings to
her/his ministry. S/he is a sinner. It can’t be of God.” We know
that we are dealing with the Jesus of religion when we hear it suggested,
as we have heard recently, that there is a relationship between the deaths
of hundreds of thousands in Asia and Africa from a terrible tidal wave, and
the sin of child prostitution for which the West creates the most lucrative
market. We know that we are dealing with the Jesus of religion when we hear
it said that the obscene wealth concentrated in the United States is somehow
a reward for our “Christian” heritage.
Where, then, shall we look for the Jesus
of the Gospel? Where God’s work is recognized by the compassion demonstrated,
not the correctness of the doctrine involved. We can find the Jesus of the
Gospels where compassion drives humans to care for others whose “righteousness”
is not apparent to them. We can find the Jesus of the Gospels when the Church
rejects the work of “sinners” to bring the kingdom into being.
We note that the blind man puts the pointed question “Do you want to
become his disciples too?” which only succeeds in really angering his
interrogators. The ‘Pharisees’ argue from their theological presuppositions,
the blind man from his experience. It has always disturbed the religious when
they find God acting outside their little boxes.
Historical/Cultural
There are no significant issues that
occupy us today.
Either
this page has not yet been completed, or we have not found any significant textual
issues in the lectionary texts for this Sunday.
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1 Samuel 16:1-13
The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected
him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will
send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among
his sons." Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will
kill me." And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, `I
have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will
show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name
to you." Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The
elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?"
He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves
and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons
and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he looked on Eliab and
thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the Lord." But
the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height
of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as
mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the
heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel.
He said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." Then Jesse made
Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one."
Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse,
"The Lord has not chosen any of these." Samuel said to Jesse, "Are
all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest,
but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and
bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent and
brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.
The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." Then
Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers;
and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.
Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
Ephesians 5:8-14
Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children
of light-- for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right
and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the
unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful
even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the
light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore
it says,
"Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you."
John 9:1-41
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him,
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born
blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works
of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had
said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the
mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam"
(which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The
neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is
this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It
is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him."
He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then
how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made
mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, `Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I
went and washed and received my sight." They said to him, "Where
is he?" He said, "I do not know."
They brought to the Pharisees the man
who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the
mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had
received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed,
and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from
God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How
can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided.
So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was
your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."
The Jews did not believe that he had
been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the
man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who
you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" His parents answered,
"We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do
not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask
him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." His parents said this
because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that
anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.
Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
So for the second time they called the
man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We
know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "I do not know whether
he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."
They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen.
Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?"
Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples
of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do
not know where he comes from." The man answered, "Here is an astonishing
thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We
know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships
him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that
anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God,
he could do nothing." They answered him, "You were born entirely
in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.
Jesus heard that they had driven him
out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him."
Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you
is he." He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him. Jesus
said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see
may see, and those who do see may become blind." Some of the Pharisees
near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?"
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now
that you say, `We see,' your sin remains."
Occasional Articles
As with the Introductory Articles, we
will add other articles as time permits or as our readers request. If you
have a suggestion for anything, please let us know.
Michael Hardin
Michael's Essay for a Celebration Volume honoring Rene Girard
Michael's Response to Willard Swartley's Covenent of Peace at the November Colloquium and Violence Meeting
Does
Peace Make A Difference? - Michael's essay in response to Rick
Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan (which somehow never mentions peace).
An Analysis of Rick Warren - Michael's response to "The Purpose Driven Life."
"The
God of Pat Robertson" - a response to Pat Robertson's words
to the people of Dover, PA.
"A
response to Charles Stanley's "A Nation at War"
"Must
God be violent? A Diagnosis and Prescription for Modern Christianity"
The
Scapegoat: Christologies in Conflict - A Study in Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Biblical
Testaments as a Marriage of Convenience: Rene Girard and Biblical Interpretation
Finding
Our Way Home: A Brief Note On The Authority and Interpretation of Scripture
"Does
The Passion of the Christ Preach the Gospel?"
A
sermon for the holiday devoted to Dr. Martin Luther King. (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
GRASPING
GOD: Philippians 2: 1-11 in the Light of Mimetic Theory
Essay on Brethren Life & Thought
Essay on Mimesis and Dominion
"EcoSpirituality"
Or What Happens When You Sit Down With A French Literary Critic
Jeff Krantz
Mighty
One or Crucified Messiah? Competing Christologies and the Chiastic
Structure of Mark's Gospel
There's
No Such Thing as the Rapture - A sermon preached at the Church
of the Advent, Westbury (requires Acrobat Reader)
Holy
Scripture and the Consecration of Gene Robinson - a response
to the request of the Windsor Report for a Scriptural rationale. (requires
Adobe's Acrobat Reader)
Worship - The Redemption of Desire by Jeff Krantz
Myth
and Film - a piece written for the City of Angels Film Festival
The Stations of the Cross - Rewritten by Jeff Krantz
A Dramatic Presentation of the Stations of the Cross for Youth by Barb Fabijan-Waddell
Escaping
the Power of "My" - A NonViolent Approach to Stewardship
Preaching
Peace in Hollywood: The Theologies of Terminator, Lord of the Rings, and the
Matrix
V
for Vendetta - The Name Says It All A review of the movie.
Essays, Sermons and Liturgical Pieces by Friends of Preaching Peace
"The Wisdom of God's Peace" a sermon by Jim Amstutz, co-pastor of Michael's church.
Girard's Christology - Per Bjornar Grande
Violence, Anarchy and Scripture: Jacques Ellul and Rene Girard - Matthew Patillo
Comparing
Plato's Understanding of Mimesis to Girard's - Per Bjorner Grande
C. Frank Terhune, an Easter Sermon: "God's Big But" (no kidding!)
Gerald Biesecker-Mast's paper from Theologia Pacis on Pacifist Gospel Epstimology.
An essay by the Rev. John Hill on Mimetic Theory and Catechesis
