Dark Brightness

I want to reflect on two parts of today’s readings.

Mark 3:7-19a

7Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; 8hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. 9He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; 10for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. 11Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” 12But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

via PC(USA) – Devotions – Daily readings for Monday, March 1, 2010.

One of my sons has been playing Civilisation and Grepolis. He commented that you wanted one culture, one set of morals to win in the game. Neal Ferguson, in his history of the long war (or short century, 1914 — 1990)  pointed out that the areas of greatest ethnic conflict were those where the groups were admixed.

The Boederlands were mistrusted. They had limited education. There was no prestige. Jesus was from there, and he is moving in power. But when the spirits opposing hims have to admit this, he silences them. He has been to the desert and he will not allow the cheap and spectacular to be the hallmark of his ministry. (To my Pentecostal friends, he heals. Thank G_d. However, he does not bang thr drum about it.

1 Corinthians 4:8-10

8Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! 9For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. 10We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.

Paul was a Roman Citizen. He knew the protocol of the triuph. After the General, the slaves, the booty, the army… came the leaders. In shackles. They were led, from the froum, to the strangler. Paul is putting himself in the position of maximal shame. He is identifing himself with rubbish.

The world’s fashion is to say we should have self esteem and be at the front. (Interestingly, those with high self esteem do less weel than those without high self esteem).

And we preach triumph and prosperity. Here and now. Have we become fashionable, instead of faithful?

For many years I lived with being told that each time I fell that I was some form of secondary (and Katholic) Christian because I could not be holy. The implication was that Good Christians should not sin, and I was a Bad Christian.

So let’s look at today’s reading

Romans 6:3-14

3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.

via PCUSA – Devotions – Daily readings for Sunday, February 28, 2010.

Paul has a pattern. He starts with elaborating the reasons behind a point. He appeals to our heads: he is the first theologian (and has been beaten up for this for ever: the critics ignore his discussions of tears…).

Then he says “do not let sin exercise dominion”. This does not make immediate sense because he has just said we “is dead” and thus are not compelled into sin.

But we can choose to do it. And we do. The text is about becoming holy. It is not about being perfect. In fact, to state we are perfect is to be in a state of sin: for in our position “above” others we can easily class those who are not as udermenschen — to be ignored, patronised or destroyed. (The German word is the best I know for this, but since I can barely speak it, my spelling is off).

And in this we are all Catholic. We accept that the Church is full of fallen, imperfect people. Some of whom are not interested in moving towards Righteousness. Some of whom are not of God. But we cannot tell who will told they were a good and faithful servant. We hold the balance of accepting we are poor, weak and inconsistent and also striving for the best. And in this, Reformed people can state “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church…”

Most people don’t think that Jesus was confrontational. This is unbiblical

Jesus overtly claimed to  forgive sins. This is the perogative of G_d. He is either mad, blaspheming, or what he said he is.

5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7″Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? 9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'? 10But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he said to the paralytic – 11″I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” 12And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

via PCUSA – Devotions – Daily readings for Thursday, February 25, 2010.

Some small thoughts.

• Jesus told this man to do what the Law commanded and get his cure for leprosy ritrually cleansed so he could rejoin society and corporate worship.
• Jesus said no publicity. This is unlike a lot of modern people, who proclaim the miraculous. Jesus, who was miraculous, at this point wanted to be able to go into villages.
• But he got too big. He had to stay in the country. People flocked to hear him

40A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

via PC(USA) – Devotions – Daily readings for Wednesday, February 24, 2010.

And doing good is a command. Doing good at times causes hassles in our lives. We should still do good.

We are chosen because we are weak, broken, foolish, without power, and our reclamation brings God glory.

1 Corinthians 1:20-31

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.26Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

via PCUSA – Devotions – Daily readings for Today.

It is not about righeteousness, it is about mercy.

Matthew Flannigan rips into the high temple of liberalism in Auckland. Progressive (read liberal) Christians are offended by belief. They are puizzled as to why there are so many trained thinkers in orthodox churches and so few in theirs. As Matthew says:

Note two things here, first Cardy clearly caricatures the “literal conception story” yet mainstream Christendom, who believes this story, do not hold that God is literally a man and that he had sex with Mary. God in traditional theology is immaterial, he has no sex organs and the story of a virginal conception is just that, a virginal conception. Cardy, of course, being theologically trained, knows this. Second, Cardy on calling for “debate” means that people who hold orthodox Christian views “needs to be laughed at.” So Cardy’s understanding of theological debate apparently involves deliberately distorting and caricaturing the views of other people and then responding, not with reasoned argument, but ridicule.

St Matthews on the Terrace: Progressive Irrationality.

If God is a God worth worshiping, his care for us is shown by his intervention in our situation. This required three miracles — that he would be a man, that he would die, and that he would be resurrected. We celebrate the first of these on Saturday.

The incarnation is offensive. It goes against the grain. A woman does not get pregnant without intercourse — of some nature (I guess nowdays we have to include artificial insemination).

In this, no babe is a mistake, for by having intercourse one chooses to accept that a babe may be born (contraceptives markedly decrease the risk. They do not remove it).

Mary’s first comment — how can this be? only makes sense if she HAS not had intercourse. She was planning to marry — and probably have children — after that. To be pregnant unwed was more than a scandal — the local fanatics could (as still occurs in some Muslim areas) execute you.

Mary is not condemned for using reason, and asking questions. Our assent is not blind to the will of God. She coose to take this risk in obedience to what had been said. For this, she is honoured. The incarnation is a miracle, and the church fathers wisely chose to discuss this for four weeks before Christmas.

Luke 1:26-3826

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

via PCUSA – Devotions – Daily readings for Sunday, December 20, 2009.

So what is the offense? Is it that the idea of an interventionist God scares us? For if God intervenes — if he cares — then we will be held to account. If he chooses not to intervene, then we have to work out why.

But if God does not intervene, there is not means to obtain mercy: there is no hope when evil triumphs, and there is no meaning in the practice of holiness. We are left in the dark, blind. And we are making up myths so we have meaning.

Let us honour Mary, for her courage allowed there to be incarnation, and let us celebrate Christmas.

The Death cult madment have been at it again. They have attacked a place of worship, indiscriminately killing people, because a local general and his staff were there.

Aslam Tarin, a senior district official, said at least 40 worshipers, including 10 children, were killed and more than 80 others injured, many of them seriously. A part of the mosque was completely destroyed

via Mosque Attack Targets Pakistan’s Military – WSJ.com.

Now, 20 years ago the good province of Ulster was marred by the troubles. The Prods and the Cats. Not the true worshippers of God: religion was the mask. When the people got together in mass — the fighting stupped.

But many had dies in anti insurgency attacks. And most were at pubs, or barracks. The Churches were left, for they were a place of sanctuary, a place where people were safe. To talk.

Pakistan is set up as a Muslim country: religion is the main differentiation point between them and the Raj (although it means there are four good cricket teams now from the subcontinent, which is a good thing). If the Mosque cannot be a place of sanctuary, how can the fighting stop?

We need to pray for those who have fallen, and their families, but we also need to pray that there will be some non political leadership here.

We need to consider this world as a place we camp in.

1Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

14Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

via PC(USA) – Devotions – Daily readings for Thursday, December 3, 2009.

This does not mean, however, that we are to ignore this world. nor rejoice and mourn for what happens.

Psalm 126

1When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

2Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then it was said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

3The LORD has done great things for us,

and we rejoiced.

4Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like the watercourses in the Negeb.

5May those who sow in tears

reap with shouts of joy.

6Those who go out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

carrying their sheaves.