So What?
Before we prepare to preach on this lesson,
perhaps we’d do well to consider the cost. If we preach it well enough,
our communities will either change so much that they may not need “professional”
ministers any more, or else they’ll so thoroughly reject the message
that they may desire to hear a different preacher in the pulpit! Are we preachers
called to “hate” (that is, prefer other than) our jobs? Can we
get into the pulpit before we’ve answered these questions for ourselves?
Michael suggested earlier that we view
this following of Jesus as a “way” not a “state.”
That is to say, we don’t need to castigate ourselves or our congregations
for where we are. We do, instead, hear a call to join Jesus on the “way”
of the Cross. We set a direction rather than lock onto a location.
Honestly, I don’t’ think
we can preach this passage authentically until we’ve come to grips with
our own fear as pastors of an ekklesia in which the members have such a sense
of their own spiritual authority that they have no need of a “stipendiary”
ministry. Not that there won’t be shepherds, just not professional ones.
This is the first thing that most of us have to die to before we can preach
this text with authority.
Anthropological Reading
A text like this stimulates many different
facets of thought. First and foremost is the humbling that takes place when
Jesus describes his ‘mathetes’, his learners or ‘apprentices’
(following T.W. Manson). He articulates the paradigm of what life with him
is like, that paradigm we have called a ‘theology of the cross.’
It is a paradigm that is articulated textually in the Four Gospels and Paul.
Jesus’ death at the hands of humans revealing….forgiveness!
Second, a text like this can clearly
make one feel like a failure, especially those of us who ‘have not resisted
to the shedding of blood’ as the author to the Hebrews puts it. But
if we hear it right, this text challenges us forward, to move ahead no matter
where we find ourselves, just move ahead, move forward, advance toward God.
For each of us, the challenges and the journey will be different, but for
all of us, it is a following in his steps.
When it comes to the cost of discipleship,
has anyone really said it better than Dietrich Bonhoeffer? “When Christ
calls a person, he bids them come and die.” If Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship
is in your library (and it really is a great one to read) then what we might
say here would be a pale shadow of what Bonhoeffer says. Far better to read
the first chapters of his book on the cost of following Jesus.
In Discipleship, Bonhoeffer immediately
notes that the problem of Christianity could be summed up with the metaphor
of grace sold in the marketplace, and people, as good consumers, preferred
cheap grace, something that didn’t ask too much of them, didn’t
cost too much. Costly grace, Bonhoeffer avers, is of another kind altogether.
Well, it is almost 70 years since that was written (1936-37) and it rings
as true today as it did then. We have been through some radical theological
evolutions and revolutions this past century but, at the core of all of our
theological sub-thinking, we have not changed.
When we insist on a Jesus who dispenses
justice when we have been wronged, so that we don’t have to forgive,
we choose cheap grace. When we love “in order that” we might be
loved in return (do ut des), we choose cheap grace. When we insist on a life
of reciprocity, we choose cheap grace. When we remember another’s sin,
while asking God to forget our own, we choose cheap grace. When we choose
cheap grace, we choose a cheap Jesus, one who validates us and our beliefs.
This cheap Jesus is not the one who invites us to count the cost. Look at
Him. He is a healer, a herald of the biblical jubilee, a conqueror of Satan,
a creative thinker who manifests a deep spirituality. To follow in his footsteps,
to renounce all negative mimesis, to desire only the will of the abba, is
to sacrifice my life. The language of sacrifice may be a little tricky here.
Truly Christian sacrifice is '‘mimed’ for us in the cross of Jesus.
He, like Stephen in Acts, dies with forgiveness on his lips. As his blood
is being spilled it speaks a better word than that of Abel. Being invited
to ‘take up a cross’ is an invitation to humiliation, to degradation,
to affliction and suffering. But it is salvific because it reveals. It reveals
our human condition as persecutors, sacrificers even as it reveals the depth
and breadth of God’s love and forgiveness of us, and through us, of
others. This is the Jesus who invites us to count the cost.
So, accepting an invitation to follow
Him, may we do so knowing this: Not all crosses are literal, not everyone
is a martyr. We may ask ourselves where in our lives we have carried a cross,
where we have loved someone so much that we carried the burden of their sin
and forgave them? Where it felt like we were dying, like life was over, all
meaning had been washed out? Once we’ve done that, we might also think
of where we have been the burden of sin to others, crucifying them?
Historical/Cultural
Jeremias has somewhere pointed out that
the use of ‘hate’ in this text is because Aramaic has no verb
‘to prefer.’ I am no Aramaist, but if so, then we can certainly
eliminate the notion that Jesus calls us to actually despise our kin. How
utterly mimetic and so misused by sectarian leaders!
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)
Don't forget to check our "What's
New" page (it comes up without losing your place here) with links
to a few 9-11 specific pieces, as well as a link to an astounding book on
the history of Christian Atonement. (and some great suggestions for going
forward!)
Jer 18:1-11 or * Dt 30:15-20
Ps 139:1-6,13-18 * Ps 1
Phlm 1-21
Lk 14:25-33
(Jeremiah 18:1-11)
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Come, go down to the potter's
house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the
potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making
of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another
vessel, as seemed good to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I
not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the
LORD. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house
of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that
I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning
which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the
disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare
concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it
does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind
about the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the
people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD: Look,
I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn
now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
* (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you
today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his
commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous,
and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to
possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray
to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you
shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the
Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you
today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose
life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God,
obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length
of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your
ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
(Philemon 1:1-21)
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our
dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier,
and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank
my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward
the Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective
when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I have indeed received
much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints
have been refreshed through you, my brother. For this reason, though I am
bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal
to you on the basis of love--and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also
as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus,
whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless
to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending him,
that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep him with me, so that
he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the
gospel; but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that
your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is
the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him
back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother--
especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If
he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account.
I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing
about your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit
from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience,
I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
(Luke 14:25-33)
Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever
does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of
you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the
cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has
laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to
ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down
first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one
who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the
other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.
So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all
your possessions.
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
