So What?
We have seen the escalation of the conjunction
of church (read “religion”) and state in the United States. We
are aware that every American President since Gerald Ford has been influenced
to some degree by the sacrificial theology of American Evangelicalism. We
know we live in times of unrest, almost every day brings some new crisis even
as the old crises are starting to overlap. It is therefore crucial to appreciate
the ways in which Christological paradigms that Jesus himself rejected are
selected as moral justifications for our decision making. Jesus rebuked his
own disciples for thinking of him the very things many preachers attributed
to him today.
Gil Bailie has written brilliantly on
this in Violence
Unveiled. His chapter 10 “Repenting of the Violence of Our Justice”
is essential reading particularly in the light of the current global crisis.
In this chapter he interprets the apocryphal story of Susanna (added to the
Book of Daniel). As an apocryphal story, it is marginalized in the canonical
sense and plays an illuminating role of a ‘text in travail.’ The
value of the Hebrew Scriptures’ insights into violence and the development
away from myth is priceless. But it is completed and fulfilled in the Gospel
of Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus is pure 100% Good News, it reveals everything
completely and with utter clarity. Bailie’s work has helped me to understand
just what is occurring today as the world comes to terms with the limits of
retribution as well as the limits of good violence. And the danger of both.
The Church is called to stand up today
and announce that we do not follow a warrior Jesus; Jesus is no Maccabee,
Phineas is not his model. We must seek the courage to stand for peace with
God, each other, and all things, whether on earth or in heaven. This is the
path of Christian discipleship. This is the path of surrender, the path of
the Suffering Servant. This path is blazed by the Prince of Peace. His feet
are shod with the Gospel of Peace. The angels announce Peace at his coming,
but it is not peace through strength, power, might or right. It is not peace
gained at the end of a sword or a threat. It is not the victorious peace of
a militant messiah. It is a peace so different, so out of this world, so far
out, that it can really be termed...revelation! “In the world you will
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.'
Some Sermon thoughts…
The Church is called to speak peace to
powers bent on violence, but does that translate directly to the pulpit? Probably
not.
To preach these larger political issues
in the congregation is to miss the opportunity to facilitate the change of
heart that might actually produce results.
In discussing this passage, Michael and
I agreed that, in the preaching of the early church, the modern division between
the personal and the political, the spiritual and the social, didn’t
exist. Indeed, we agree that it still does not, except as a false distinction.
This does not, however, mean that preaching
politically is effective. In fact, it rarely is, unless you’re standing
on the National Mall, in the shadow of the Washington Monument, and you have
a dream to share. Instead the unity of personal and political, spiritual and
social means that every preaching act is already a political act. To teach
our congregations that Jesus is Lord, that God’s reign is all the matters,
is an infinitely political act.
If we preach the Prince of Peace effectively,
then the repercussions for our congregations’ lives in society, and
as political entities, will be earth shaking. It is much more important to
show them how Jesus has victory over the Powers and Principalities in their
own experiences than it is to point them to the (seemingly) distant situations
that occur in Washington and the Middle East. If we teach them to see the
way that Peace works as a way of life in their own situations, they’ll
see, and speak to, the way that it can work in the larger arenas of life.
Anthropological Reading
One of the delights of applying insights
from mimetic theory to the Gospels and thus, the life of Jesus, is that no
matter where you turn, no matter which text you turn to, a consistent pattern
emerges in the way Jesus thinks, interacts and lives. It manifests itself
in many ways, but every scene, every parable, every discourse, every miracle,
every exorcism follows a general pattern, a pattern that exhibits choice.
This choice that Jesus makes is called “positive mimesis.” This
is the mimetic posture of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.
A basic tenet of the Gospels is that
the posture of the people of God is the posture of the servant. This posture
was intentionally taken up in one life, that of Jesus of Nazareth, but he
had a difficult time getting his disciples to understand this. It is signally
important that the opening of the Lukan Central Section begins with this theme
of the disciples’ incomprehension. What was it though, that they were
not comprehending?
So far in Luke, Jesus has announced the
biblical jubilee and performed its miracles (Lk 4). He has shown people the
path of the mercy code in the Sermon on the Plain (Lk 6). He has been an effective
healer and exorcist (Lk 7-9). He can, they surmise, do anything, including
starting a holy war, “fire from heaven.” They have confessed that
he is the Messiah, but Jesus has tried to correct that impression by juxtaposing
the Son of Man with the Suffering Servant. Even so, the book of Acts begins
with a similar question, demonstrating that they still don’t get it.
In today’s text Jesus rebukes them
because they do not yet accept his identity as the suffering servant. He bears
no resemblance to their violent theology and messianology. They continued
to think that the coming of the messiah meant the coming of justice, of vengeance.
Jesus rebukes them because they have not yet accepted his identification with
the Suffering Servant.
We reject Jesus self-identification too
when our Christology sacrifices Jesus on the altar of the violent God. Some
espouse a Christology in which God has a wrathful (if temporal) relationship
with Jesus; a Christology that demands propitiation; a Christology wherein
Jesus is scapegoated by God as well as by us. This Jesus gets even in the
end, brings justice through violence, “his terrible swift sword.”
To the extent that we claim all or part of this Christology, we stand rebuked
as well. The Central Section begins by calling us to humility.
The text then turns to an extraordinary if brief conversation about what following
Jesus entails. To follow Jesus means a complete break with culture and brings
a wandering lifestyle, a homelessness. The ways of Jesus and the ways of the
mimetic system have nothing to do with one another, we choose one or we choose
the other. Pretty intense stuff. The way of life that Jesus models he calls
us to model too. We are called to positive mimesis, an imitatio Christi and
thus, an imitatio Dei. It is the path of the servant of God, the path of surrender.
“Was Jesus a pacifist?” can
be a good question wrongly asked. It often begins with the assumption that
pacifism and passive-ism are essentially the same. When it does, it assumes
that refusing to respond with violence is the same as doing nothing at all.
This is not what Jesus did, nor what he calls us to do. Jesus did respond
to violence, but with love.
We assume correctly that God would not
be passive in the face of human violence, we are led astray by our inability
to imagine any other response. The only thing left to us is the God who is
violent in the end. Call it righteous wrath, call it what you want, it is
violence, no matter how you slice it or dice it or try to mask it with talk
of love and mercy. This is the failure of imagination that trapped James and
John, the hidden thinking behind their incomprehension of who Jesus was and
what he was about.
Historical/Cultural
Our text today begins the Lukan Central
Section, that section of material where Luke departs entirely from the Gospel
of Mark. Most scholars see this section as a compilation of Q with special
L (Lukan material). As noted in the Introductory essay on Luke, we do not
feel compelled to see it as such. We are comfortable with the hypothesis that
suggests this section is a reworking of Matthean material combined with Lukan
material for the purpose of delineating Jesus’ mission and his call
to discipleship. As such it is a crucial section for the church today.
There are three works we encourage you
to consult in your exegesis. First and foremost is David Moessner’s
important Lord
of the Banquet which we believe has the most cogent understanding of what
Luke is doing in this section. Second, is Martin Hengel’s The
Charasmatic Leader and His Followers which not only is able to demonstrate
the authenticity of the sayings in this text but is also goes to on to discern
the prophetic character of Jesus’ charisma or the work of the Holy Spirit
in Jesus’ life (and thus our own as his disciples). Finally we have
found support for the mimetic theoretical reading of the text in Kenneth Bailey's
Poet
and Peasant. Bailey sees a chiastic structure to the entire central section
which has had its fair share of critics but his overall schema, we feel, offers
a window into the essential Lukan themes that are developed. These three works
dovetail quite nicely into one another.
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) |
2 Kgs 2:1-2,6-14 or * 1 Kgs 19:15-16,19-21
Ps 77:1-2,11-20 * Ps 16
Gal 5:1,13-25
Lk 9:51-62
(2 Kings 2:1-2)
Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah
and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay
here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As
the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they
went down to Bethel.
(2 Kings 2:6-14)
Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here;
for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD
lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of
them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at
some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah
took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted
to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do
for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me
inherit a double share of your spirit." He responded, "You have
asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will
be granted you; if not, it will not." As they continued walking and talking,
a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah
ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out,
"Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" But when
he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two
pieces. He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went
back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that
had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD,
the God of Elijah?" When he had struck the water, the water was parted
to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
* (1 Kings 19:15-16)
Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness
of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also
you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint
Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.
* (1 Kings 19:19-21)
So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing.
There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth.
Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran
after Elijah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then
I will follow you." Then Elijah said to him, "Go back again; for
what have I done to you?" He returned from following him, took the yoke
of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled
their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and
followed Elijah, and became his servant.
(Galatians 5:1)
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit
again to a yoke of slavery.
(Galatians 5:13-25)
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your
freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves
to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You
shall love your neighbor as yourself." If, however, you bite and devour
one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. Live by the
Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh
desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to
the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing
what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the
law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions,
factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning
you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the
Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
(Luke 9:51-62)
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of
the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because
his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it,
they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven
and consume them?" But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on
to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes
have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere
to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said,
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him,
"Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the
kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let
me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No
one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
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
