So What?
I’m encouraged, by these parables,
to relax my grip a bit on "my" work, "my" ministry as
an agent of the Gospel. As a preacher of peace, I find myself called to be
content with the spreading of the Word of God as it has been revealed in Jesus.
I am not responsible for the cellular mitosis that will lead to its growth.
I am not even responsible for the seed my neighbor tosses out. I have on job,
to spread abroad the seed that is the Good News of God in Jesus Christ and
to trust in its own power to produce fruit.
I am always tempted to look forward,
beyond today, toward the kingdom whose image shines so brightly for me. This
vision sometimes makes me impatient, leads me to despair as the Gospel does
its own work while I rise night and day unable to do more than watch. It leads
me to want to shake the branches of the bush that is my kingdom, to drive
away the birds who have taken nest there.
But the only task these parables offer
me is the spreading of seed. The fruit will come, and with it, the sickle.
The growth will come, and with it the birds. I am only to preach Gospel.
Anthropological Reading
For the victimage mechanism to operate effectively, it must operate below
the level of consciousness. For the Pillars of Culture (see the introductory
articles on the same if that’s a foreign phrase) to work as preservers
of order, their roots in death must remain hidden. Once the scapegoat becomes
visible, once myth is eroded, the power to bring peace through the death of
the innocent begins to crumble.
This is the background to today’s
parables of the kingdom. We have two parables of seed, both of which promise
fruit/growth beyond the skill or imagining of the sowers. What they promise
is the effective working of Gospel on "culture" (as founded in murder)
almost in spite of us.
In one parable, we have the image of
the growth of the wheat, "though we know not how." I am taken by
the parallel way in which Gospel has slowly but surely brought down the great
towers of power and control, the way that it has dissolved the power of the
Pillars in every culture it has touched, even though the connection between
Gospel and this dissolution has generally been hidden from our eyes.
The operation of Gospel on culture happens
on its own. The seed is merely cast on the ground and left to do its work.
Such is the effect of Gospel on us. We hear the Gospel of the non-violent,
non-retaliatory God, the God to whom all are drawn as he is lifted on the
Cross, and even if we don’t accept it, it exposes our own duplicity
to us, because on a deep level, we know that we are murderers, and that we
are forgiven. And this forgivenness begins to work.
At first, it may make us more rigid and
violent. We will do whatever we are able to do to cover up what has been exposed,
to restore the foundations of the only order we’ve ever known. But the
imposition of greater violence only heightens our awareness of its futility.
The spiral to greater and greater violence in an attempt to extinguish the
light brought in by the seeding of the Gospel leads to collapse and, ultimately,
freedom.
This is the way that Gospel works, quite
without the knowledge of its process. It makes me wonder sometimes at the
wisdom of my project. Am I spending so much time on the molecular physics
of the growth of the seed, now that Rene has shown them to us, that I have
lost the joy of seeing the seed grow (whether we know how it happens or not)?
And then, we have the image of the mustard seed. Surely this can cause us
to take a new look at the man hanging from the cross on Calvary. A single
man, abandoned by his friends, crucified in a backwater of the Empire. His
death would have been, on the scale of empire, even smaller than a mustard
seed.
Everything that we are about grows from
that seed. Now it is the greatest of all shrubs, this movement grounded in
the Gospel.
Or, perhaps it is not yet. The Church
may not yet be the shrub of which Jesus spoke. There may yet (I surely hope
so) be another movement of followers of Jesus that will be more like the kingdom
of which the parable speaks. I am taken by an observation from one of my parishioners,
that the most immediate antecedent to the "birds of the air" who
take shelter in the mustard bush in this parable are the birds who gobbled
up the seed in the parable of the sower earlier in the chapter. I think that
there is something to this.
In both parables, there is a hint of
the conflict that is to ensue as the fruit of the Gospel grows on earth. In
one there is the mention of the sickle that will be put in when the fruit
has reached maturity, a clear reference to the judgment of Joel 3:13. Reading
this anthropologically, we understand that the violence represented by the
sickle is human, not divine, but its effects are not mitigated just because
they aren’t from God. The maturing of the Gospel will bring violence
at its conclusion.
And in the second parable, the maturing
of the Gospel will bring in those who sought to consume it, to defeat it.
If it were not so closely aligned to both the parable of the sower and this
reference to the violence that follows the growth of the Gospel, I would be
inclined to read these birds in some more neutral context. After all, Jesus
does make positive reference to God’s care for the sparrows elsewhere.
But in this context, I am inclined to agree with my parishioner, that a parallel
is intended. The growth of the kingdom will attract even those whose purpose
initially was to thwart it.
Is this not a fair illustration of the
way that the institution of Church draws not only those who seek to follow
Jesus, but also those who seek to exercise power and dominion, even if they
think they do it in his name? Is it not also an indication of the great breadth
and generosity of the Gospel that room is made in its branches even for those
who do not understand it? I think so.
Michael adds:
The parables of the Kingdom thrust into our awareness a new reality, a new
way of looking at process, of growth and of history. It is no mistake that
the parables discourse begins with this expression of seeds, for seeds are
THE metaphor of growth, life and potential.
Historical/Cultural
We don't find any Historical/Cultural
issues here that prompt comment.
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) |
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. Samuel
did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over
Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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.
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will take a sprig
from the lofty top of a cedar;
I will set it out.
I will break off a tender one
from the topmost of its young twigs;
I myself will plant it
on a high and lofty mountain.
On the mountain height of Israel
I will plant it,
in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit,
and become a noble cedar.
Under it every kind of bird will live;
in the shade of its branches will nest
winged creatures of every kind.
All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the LORD.
I bring low the high tree,
I make high the low tree;
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I the LORD have spoken;
I will accomplish it.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10,[11-13],14-17
We are always confident; even though
we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord--
for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would
rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are
at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for
what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.
[Therefore, knowing the fear of the
Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and
I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. We are not commending
ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so
that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not
in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in
our right mind, it is for you.] For the love of Christ urges us on, because
we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he
died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves,
but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard
no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a
human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in
Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything
has become new!
Mark 4:26-34
Jesus said, "The kingdom of God
is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise
night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The
earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain
in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle,
because the harvest has come."
He also said, "With what can we
compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like
a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the
seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of
all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can
make nests in its shade."
With many such parables he spoke the
word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except
in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
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
