So What?
The portraits of Jesus and the relationship
of Jesus to God that abound in the church are frequently flawed. Far too often
and in far too many ways, the insidious mimetic scapegoating mechanism has
taken an aspect of the gospel and covered it up in our worship, in our theology
and most dangerously, in our spirituality. We become confused and unclear
in our following of Jesus.
Today’s text is an invitation into
the divine life as it is fully experienced in the Christian community. It
is found by following the path of the cross. The unity spoken of here includes
our self-giving, as Jesus had given himself. This is not a doctrinal unity
although there is a clear christology in the Fourth Gospel that is virtually
ignored in the churches today. This unity is grounded in the knowledge, the
experienced patterning of realia, of God, as Father, as Son and as Holy Spirit.
For the author of the Fourth Gospel as well as for us, real following of God
is possible because it is Jesus who comes to us to guide us and Jesus followed
God to the bitter end and God put THE stamp of approval on Jesus “when
he raised him from the dead and gave him a name above all names.”
This unity given us in our ‘naming
Jesus together’ (worship) is really to acknowledge the name of the Living
God. Not the god of our personal theologies, or the god of our denominational
traditions, nor the god of our linguistic capabilities, but the Creator, who
gives life and breath to every creature. We mean the God of sparrows, and
lilies of the field. Why not? Jesus did. This is the One of the Unpronounceable
Name (Ha Shem), the Creator, the Covenant Maker, the Living God. If John 17
demonstrates anything it is this: Jesus’ spirituality is tied intimately
to his belief that he has known this God. This being so, if Jesus was all
about peace, then so was the Creator. And with this statement we are light
years from most modern theology and getting closer to that of the early church.
2006:
It is my belief that a congregation can
be a part of any church tradition or affiliation and so live the life of Jesus
that communities are shaped by their presence. Every tradition has a measure
of witness to Jesus. The unity of the Church may be attempted on a bureaucratic
or institutional scale. Sometimes the unity of the Church is grounded in theological
discussions of Scripture and the Symbols of the faith (creeds and confessions).
Maybe it is time to begin to ask about the unity of the Church in Christ.
Perhaps it is time for Christians to
reach across ecclesial and theological grounds and begin to fellowship with
other congregations who seek to live closely the Life of Jesus. Surely we
could gain from each other’s insights on a grass roots level. It is
not so much working out the minutiae of theology as it is discerning how to
live the life of the Sermon on the Mount. Some congregations’ bear marvelous
witness to Jesus, thanks be to God for their love of God and neighbor. As
Eastertide ends and our rejoicing in the feast of the Risen Jesus makes way
for his ascension and the Coming of the Spirit, may we seek to affirm the
good work that God is doing in our world in those whose lives are molded by
and look like Jesus. May we begin to bear witness to Him in each other and
encourage, love and cherish one another, even as the Father and the Son love
one another.
Some Sermon Thoughts:
One of my seminary professors was fond
of saying that we waste too much time in church “building community.”
Community, oneness already exists. We may not see it, may not act like it,
but it pre-exists our recognition of it. This is the hope I take away from
John 17, the hope I preach.
You and your worst enemy are one. Jesus
asked it of the Father. It’s done. Now, what shall we do about it?
It makes me want to avoid any behavior,
any speech that sets someone else “outside the circle.” I may
disagree with them, but I don’t shun them. I may say that their thoughts
don’t reflect what I know about Jesus, but I do not call them “unchristian.”
I may correct them in love, but I do not punish or shame them.
Like the experience of Christ in our
lives, the experience of oneness often hides from us until we trust that reality
without any good reason. We aren’t prone to do that sort of thing until
all other options have failed us, and the “Balkanization” of human
society may just be bringing us to that point of giving up on the “old
ways.” Maybe we’ll be willing, as a people, as a nation, to trust
a oneness we cannot see when it becomes clear that acting as though we are
different peoples just doesn’t work.
Anthropological Reading
Jesus’ final prayer in the Fourth
Gospel can be read in several ways. It has been called a ‘high-priestly’
prayer and rightfully so, for there is a specific consecration in this prayer.
It has been thought that this text may refer to the unity of the Christian
community in Christ. This too is also explicit in the text (17:21). Even more
so, this theme of Christian unity is grounded in the prior unity of the Jesus
with his abba. His ‘coming to them’ is the implicit promise of
the Spirit. One could therefore argue that deeper still the author of the
Fourth Gospel wants us to see that there is such a complete oneness of Jesus
with his Father that to say ‘Jesus’ is to acknowledge the agent
of the Creator.
But what does this mean? Scholars since
Bultmann are fond of referring to Jesus as the Revealer in the Fourth Gospel.
In its most crass form this simply suggests that Jesus is an intermediary
who brings a ‘secret’ or ‘hidden’ knowledge. In its
more elegant stylings, however, it is recognized that the revelation that
is occurring is that that of agency. And this is important because it gives
context to the christological discussion within the framework of the laws
of Jewish agency and second, it develops the theme of positive mimesis. At
stake is not some metaphysical claim by Jesus but rather our judgment on his
character: was Jesus anything like God? Was he like what God would be like
if God were here?
His story will end as the greatest sign
of all; the love of God displayed as non retaliatory forgiveness in the death
of the Son, Jesus. Yet, even the church is included in this theology of the
cross for it is recognized that ‘the world hates them’ as it hated
Jesus. And so the church, filled with the presence of God, who is love, responds
to the words of Jesus who is echoing what he hears his abba say. Jesus’
perception of God is not a ‘devotional’ rendering of the gospel
texts. If rightly heard, it is a prophetic challenge to all the gods of violent
religion. The Creator (1.1) is coming to claim the creation. He sends forth
his ambassador, his logos. As Girard has reminded us in Things Hidden, a crucial
aspect of the logos of John 1 is its non-violent character.
John 17 takes up virtually all the threads
of the gospel and weaves them together. As we read it we are textually taken
up into its world and so the gospel is all about us as well. It is about our
encounter with Jesus, our discernment of his character, our hearing of his
voice. Anyone who reads the gospels has to make a judgment at the end: were
the authorities right in arresting, trying, convicting and executing Jesus?
If not, why not?
This is the point of the resurrection
in the gospel story. God has trumped humanity’s judgment with his own
in raising Jesus from the dead and sending the Holy Spirit. And this is the
hope by which Jesus offers this prayer found in the Fourth Gospel.
Historical/Cultural
The confidence of the Johannine Jesus
as he prays is quite different from that of the Synoptic tradition. Both are,
of course, crafted in the matrix of Christian worship and so can be rightly
called ‘community creations.’ But, there should be little doubt
that Jesus prayed prior to his arrest.
From a purely historical critical perspective
we know quite a bit about Jesus’ spirituality. The studies of Jeremias
alone on ‘Abba’ give plenty of food for thought. Scholars, however,
have long recognized our propensity to read back our own spirituality onto
the biblical text and that’s why they came to reject both the liberal
and Pietist approaches to the gospel, as though the gospels had something
to say about Jesus’ encounter with God. Pushing this theory to the extreme
would inevitably mean that the gospels were really about the early church
and the early churches’ perceptions of Jesus. Concerning Jesus, Schweitzer
and Bultmann and far too many knowledgeable people have concluded we can know
precious little about Jesus ‘experience.’ Of course we can’t,
especially when we neatly compartmentalize parables from miracles and ethics
from eschatology and theology from spirituality and so on and so forth.
But, when seen as a whole, as the big
picture, a real character emerges from the pages of the gospel texts, one
who is both like us and yet unlike us and like another. We mention all of
this because the author betrays his hand in our prayer in 17:3 where Jesus
is fully ‘named’ Jesus Christ. But as he does so well everywhere,
the author of the Fourth Gospel takes his themes, which, from his perspective,
are Jesus’ themes, and has interwoven them in reflection with this same
risen Jesus. So called ipsissima verba are the more to be appreciated as diamonds
in a beautifully crafted setting. This is how our author handles his ‘tradition.’
It should also be noted (as does Brown)
that there are significant parallels to the Book of Deuteronomy and to the
genre of farewell discourses. The Mosaic parallels are important for two reasons.
First, they underscore the necessity to read this gospel in a Jewish framework
and second, they form part of the argument for the influence of the prophet
like Moses theme in certain traditions of early Christianity. We mention here
David Moessner’s demonstration of Deuteronomic influence on the Lukan
travel narrative (Lord of the Banquet). Aspects of Paul’s theology carry
elements of this as well. The Prophet Like Moses theme develops in two distinct
ways in early Christianity. On the one hand we find Jesus being presented
like Moses the Torah giver (as in Matthew’s gospel; some aspects of
Paul). On the other hand, we find Jesus presented as Moses the one who is
rejected by the people who refuse to listen to God, thus, e.g., Luke and the
Fourth Gospel. Both are sides of each other depending upon the perspective
taken.
Finally, we make a hermeneutical observation.
Like many other places in the New Testament John 17 has been seen as an early
Christian hymn. If so, it has been completely integrated into the prayer and
is no longer able to separated from it (like the Logos hymn of John 1). We
are reminded of the dictum that ‘the one who sings prays twice.’
The early church was a singing community and that joy is reflected all over
the New Testament. This element is robbed of its liveliness when it is subsumed
under the rubrics of liturgical development. Scholars need a bit more imagination
when they reconstruct the early church. The early Christians, for all of their
warts and flaws, saw far more clearly than we the implications of the life
and story of Jesus. And they believed that he was truly present with them
by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And they lived and they wrote inside of that
reality. They knew and understood that in the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead a threshold had been crossed and nothing would stop them from announcing
his name. Song or not, if the text is spoken aloud its rhythm can be felt.
Either this page has not yet been completed, or we have not found any significant textual issues in the lectionary texts for this Sunday.
Introductory Articles
We will add articles as we are able,
or as users of the site request them, so if you have suggestions for additional
pieces, please write to us!
"Introduction
to Mimetic Theory"
"Mimesis"
"The
Scapegoat"
"The
Pillars of Culture"
"Jesus"
"The
Four Gospels"
A Brief Introduction
to Luke
What's New:
What's New? on Preaching Peace. (Hover your mouse over to pause cycling) |
Seventh Sunday After Easter
Acts 1:15-17,21-26
Ps 1
1 Jn 5:9-13
Jn 17:6-19
(Acts 1:15-17)
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered
about one hundred twenty persons) and said, "Friends, the scripture had
to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas,
who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus-- for he was numbered among
us and was allotted his share in this ministry."
(Acts 1:21-26)
So one of the men who have accompanied
us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning
from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of
these must become a witness with us to his resurrection." So they proposed
two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us
which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry
and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place."
And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added
to the eleven apostles.
(1 John 5:9-21)
If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is
the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in
the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe
in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has
given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not
have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe
in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal
life. And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according
to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask,
we know that we have obtained the requests made of him. If you see your brother
or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will
give life to such a one--to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that
is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is
sin, but there is sin that is not mortal. We know that those who are born
of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the
evil one does not touch them. We know that we are God's children, and that
the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. And we know that the
Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him
who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is
the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
(John 17:6-19)
"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.
They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now
they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that
you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know
in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I
am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on
behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours,
and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer
in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father,
protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one,
as we areone. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you
have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one
destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am
coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have
my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world
has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong
to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask
you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just
as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is
truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified
in truth.
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
Is the Apocalypse Inevitable?: Native American Prophecy and the Mimetic Theory presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
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 to Rene Girard and the Recovery of Early Christian Perspectives (Brethren Life and Thought)
Essay on Mimesis and Dominion to The Dynamics of Violence and the Imitation of Christ in maximus Confessor (St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly)
"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
"Jesus and the Gibeonites: Reading the Bible from the Perspective of the Hidden Victim" by James Warren.
Mark Heim's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement
Kate Layzer's "No More of This" - A hymn on Nonviolent Atonement (and inspiration for Mark Heim's hymn!)
Alan Cork, "Transformation" in L'Arche: A Mimetic Account presented to the Colloquium on Violence and Religion 2008
"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
