So What?
When we approach this text as preachers
of peace, our first question needs to be, “Where does my congregation
find honor?” Though it probably isn’t the motivation for many
of them, we all know the person who runs the ushers or leads the worship team
for the sake of the recognition. On the other hand, we also know the person
who peppers the leadership with questions at the annual meeting, who raises
all the tough questions in Bible study also for the honor, even if it is the
counter-cultural form. Both of these quests for honor are called into question
by today’s text.
Is your congregation one that gives honor
to the financially successful? Or to the one who does lots of community service?
Do your teenagers deal with the dangerous issue of “respect” in
their daily lives? (This is perhaps the most violently manifested kind of
“honor” in American society.)
One we’ve determined where “honor”
lies for our congregations, we can translate Jesus’ teaching into their
world view. The “lowest place” Jesus calls us to is the Cross.
It is the only place from which we can view our brothers and sisters without
being a part of the mimetic trap. The “honor” version of the trap
takes so many forms. If we are to find the “lowest place” for
our congregations, we need to know which ladder we’re on!
Anthropological Reading
Honor. We value it highly in our society,
but in Jesus’ world, it was far more important. Anthropologists describe
the society of Jesus’ day as an “honor/shame” society. In
this kind of society, battles for honor are life-and-death affairs. Shame,
the absence of honor, is considered to be a worse fate than death.
Honor is a complicated commodity. It
is bestowed for a variety of different reasons, according to the rules of
the society in which you find it. It is always, however, a source of mimetic
conflict. It is a limited commodity in any society, one for which models and
rivals must compete. Having honor, though, makes you a model, sets you up
as a potential victim. It differentiates you from the masses, makes you a
likely scapegoat (the original functional origin of kingship!).
As a commodity, we were warned by Jesus,
just a few weeks ago, to be wary of all kinds of greed, for one’s life
does not consist in a wealth of possessions. To seek honor is to place ones
confidence in them, and not in God. It is to act idolatrously.
In today’s reading, Jesus critiques
the problem of honor explicitly, and offers a solution to the problem with
an example of positive mimesis. First, he suggests that, when summoned to
a social function, we renounce “place” as a value. He is not suggesting
that we take a place lower than that which we deserve, that we act out some
false modesty in order to avoid the risk of being embarrassed (shamed!). He
is saying that we do well to take seats for which there will be no mimetic
squabbling. Do not seek things that will put us inevitably in a position of
model or rival. Take the very lowest place, the one no one will want. There
is no honor in underestimating your value in the eyes of your host. There
is honor in avoiding conflict over honor.
In the same way, Jesus tells his listeners
to use their dinners not to bestow honor, but to deconstruct the honor system,
the system that shames those who cannot “return the honor of your invitation.”
Preachers will be tempted to use this passage to promise a delayed reward
for inviting the dirty to dinner, something to be had at the resurrection.
Jesus doesn’t mean that at all. Rather, what he promises is that those
who learn to do as the Father does (practicing positive mimesis) in this life
will find the coming kingdom far more “homey.”
In our society, honor continues to play
an important role, but we have so lionized the “anti-hero” in
popular culture (Die Hard, Mad Max, etc.) that the ways of accruing honor
are as variegated as the spider plant growing outside my window. We’ll
explore that reality and its preaching implications in “So What.”
Historical/Cultural
We highly recommend the Social-Science
Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels by Bruce J. Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh.
It is an excellent reference work and clearly articulates the honor/shame
binary of the process of sacralization (where victims are deemed guilty prior
to the ‘mob’ execution but subsequently have attributed to them
‘transcendent’ qualities for having taken away the mimetic wrath
and reconciling the community).
Also helpful to us has been Jerome Neyrey’s
The
Social World of Luke-Acts. This volume, edited by Neyrey also contains
essays by Malina and Rohrbaugh as well as other distinguished scholars.
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: (Hover your mouse over to pause cycling)
New Things!
Now on this and other current lectionary
pages, you'll see at the top, "Check
What's New," with a few hints about what you'll find by clicking.
Currently, the "What's New" page contains a wonderful piece on the
best book in our experience on Christian atonement theory (Cross Purposes)
as well as a new review of the site from Sandor Goodhart, and links to several
pieces created by Michael and Jeff in response to the disaster of September
11th, 2001.
Jer 2:4-13 or * Sir 10:12-18 or Prv 25:6-7
Ps 81:1,10-16 * Ps 112
Heb 13:1-8,15-16
Lk 14:1,7-14
(Jeremiah 2:4-13)
Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house
of Israel. Thus says the LORD: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that
they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless
themselves? They did not say, "Where is the LORD who brought us up from
the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and
pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes
through, where no one lives?" I brought you into a plentiful land to
eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, "Where
is the LORD?" Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed
against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do
not profit. Therefore once more I accuse you, says the LORD, and I accuse
your children's children. Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to
Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. Has
a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have
changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens,
at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the LORD, for my people have
committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water,
and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
* (Sirach 10:12-18)
The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord; the heart has withdrawn
from its Maker. For the beginning of pride is sin, and the one who clings
to it pours out abominations. Therefore the Lord brings upon them unheard-of
calamities, and destroys them completely. The Lord overthrows the thrones
of rulers, and enthrones the lowly in their place. The Lord plucks up the
roots of the nations, and plants the humble in their place. The Lord lays
waste the lands of the nations, and destroys them to the foundations of the
earth. He removes some of them and destroys them, and erases the memory of
them from the earth. Pride was not created for human beings, or violent anger
for those born of women.
(Hebrews 13:1-8)
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember
those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who
are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage
be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God
will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love
of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will
never leave you or forsake you. " So we can say with confidence, "The
Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?" Remember
your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome
of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever.
(Hebrews 13:15-16)
Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good
and to share what you have, for such
sacrifices are pleasing to God.
(Luke 14:1)
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees
to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.
(Luke 14:7-14)
When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.
"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down
at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been
invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say
to you, 'Give this person your place,' and then in disgrace you would start
to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the
lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move
up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the
table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted." He said also to the one who had invited
him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends
or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite
you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite
the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed,
because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection
of the righteous."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright
1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches
of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Rene Girard and the Recovery of Early Christian Perspectives (Brethren Life and Thought)
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
