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Monthly Archives: June 2010
Equality or hyperbole?
Let’s consider the text.
Matthew 21:23-32
23When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.28″What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
This is a public discourse. To a certain extent, Jesus is challenging the people who challenge him. When they do not know if John was a prophet — Jesus tells a story. He argues that it is not what you say but what you do that matters.
Then he reminds the priests and theologians that the very people they despise — quislings and whores — believed John. As they did repent, they were better than those who condemned them.
This is only in part rhetoric. What Jesus is doing in the application is reminding the priests that they are, in G_d’s sight, not more or less valuable than another person. He is reminding them that they also are fallen, and need to change.
I don’t think this is hyperbole. I think it is one of many texts that speak of our equality in need before Jesus.
Concentrate in the important.
The Times has an interesting set of comments. In New Zealand, we have, until recently, kept private things private. For we are fully aware that our politicians are not saints. But things changed… slowly. Having the PM and Leader of the Opposition have to play happy families — Paul Holmes visiting — has not helped. It affects the children. There have been suicides.
But… there are standards. I support the Whale in exposing rorts of credit cards for private meals, flowers, underpants and other things.
Like McCrystal, I have been at times scathing about my employers. I have had confrontations with the suits. I have advocated for staff. That is part of my job. However, if a reporter was present… I would turn into a jargon spouting eunuch. It’s called survival.
Then, after Vietnam, an ethos of exposure swept the culture. The assumption among many journalists was that the establishment may seem upstanding, but there is a secret corruption deep down. It became the task of journalism to expose the underbelly of public life, to hunt for impurity, assuming that the dark hidden lives of public officials were more important than the official performances…
In other words, over the course of 50 years, what had once been considered the least important part of government became the most important. These days, the inner soap opera is the most discussed and the most fraught arena of political life.
And into this world walks Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
General McChrystal was excellent at his job. He had outstanding relations with the White House and entirely proper relationships with his various civilian partners in the State Department and beyond. He set up a superb decision-making apparatus that deftly used military and civilian expertise.
But McChrystal, like everyone else, kvetched. And having apparently missed the last 50 years of cultural history, he did so on the record, in front of a reporter. And this reporter, being a product of the culture of exposure, made the kvetching the center of his magazine profile.
By putting the kvetching in the magazine, the reporter essentially took run-of-the-mill complaining and turned it into a direct challenge to presidential authority. He took a successful general and made it impossible for President Obama to retain him.The reticent ethos had its flaws. But the exposure ethos, with its relentless emphasis on destroying privacy and exposing impurities, has chased good people from public life, undermined public faith in institutions and elevated the trivial over the important.
via Op-Ed Columnist – General McChrystal and the Culture of Exposure – NYTimes.com.
It may be that McCrystal has more honour that I, or any other Kiwi, has.
Dedication and call.
This Sunday there were two significant events for any Church. A young babe was dedicated. And a new minister — in the old kirk terms a teaching elder — preached.
He did not preach on this, but instead “they devoted themselves to prayer”. God inhabits prayer. We need to be there, but we devote ourselves to God. It is not a duty but a conversation.
Be aware though, the conversation can be confronting.
Luke 13:10-17
10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” 13When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. 14But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” 15But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? 16And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” 17When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
What was not said is that being in this conversation, to make time, is hard…
And we avoid it. We make prayer a duty, a ritual. We count the minutes. We lose the joy.
via PCUSA – Devotions – Daily readings for Sunday, June 27, 2010.
Pell in good form
My theology is Reformed. But like Calvin, I can see wisdom in the other branches of the church. (Again, like Calvin, I see all the branches of Christianity as having errors and a continuous need to reflect, repent and return to the basics of faith).
Pell is one of those who has not gone liberal. As a good Aussie, he is blunt. And plain, blunt language is of use.
You seem very impressed by the Fatherhood of God in Christianity. Does that give it an edge on Islam?
Christianity, Catholicism in particular, has an edge on Islam. I am tempted to say: in every way. Islam is a regression, culturally as well as religiously. I do not think it compares in any significant way with Christianity. I say that because there is much less about love in the Koran than there is in the writings about Christ in the Gospels and the New Testament.
Islam is fundamentally handicapped because it does not recognise the divinity of Christ. The Incarnation is an immense advantage. In Christ, God came down to our level. So when we see Christ teaching and acting, we have an insight into God himself. Another point is that while Christians certainly endorse and explain and emphasise the differences between men and women, we believe in a fundamental equality between men and women in God’s eyes according to the teachings of Christianity. That is very different in Islam.
Mercy and healing.
A simple text. Or not. Firstly, you had to beleive that Jesus could heal. By now, he was well known. His ability to heal was well known. Secondly, the blind men had no shame left. They did not see this as an entitlement — they wanted help.
And Jesus asked what they wanted. When they said they wanted healing, then he was moved. The blind men had to get his attention and ask.
It does not come automatically. We beleive God exists, God can heal, and we can appeal to him. But that is not sufficient. We have to realise we have nothing, we are poor, and we are dependant.
And we have to ask for mercy, and healing.
Matthew 20:29-34
29As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!” 32Jesus stood still and called them, saying, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.
via PCUSA – Devotions – Daily readings for Friday, June 25, 2010.
Funeral of Mgr. Padovese. Murderer, “I killed the great Satan!”
The Catholic Bishop to Turkey was murdered by his driver. Interestingly, this does not make the news in NZ. Is this because the Church — Catholic and Protestant — is full of udermenschen? Or is it another bias.
And yes, the Gay panic card has been played.
Establishing the truth is necessary for the Turkish State, because it shows its modernity and ability to guarantee rights, but it is also necessary for the Church. According to police sources, it seems that Murat is offering a new justification for his action: Mgr. Padovese was a homosexual, Murat, 26, was the victim, “forced to suffer abuse.”
The killing of the bishop was not martyrdom, but an act of “legitimate defence”.
But according to experts of the Turkish world, the killing of Mgr. Padovese shows an evolution of organizations of the “Deep State” being the first time they aim so high. So far they had targeted ordinary priests, but now they have attacked the head of the Turkish Church (Mgr Padovese was president of the Episcopal Conference of Turkey).
At the same time, their actions are becoming more sophisticated, less crude than before.
via Clerical Whispers: Funeral of Mgr. Padovese. Murderer, “I killed the great Satan!”.
This is an ancient libel. And it seems to be resurrected.
5 minute university
Countercultural or compliant?
These verses describe this age, for we worship the young, the perverse. We reward the irresponsbile.
And the casuaties are decent men — and the wmen who reject them. It behooves the churhcch to be countercultural: to rewrite and subvert our family law for the sake of our children: to encourage people to seek wisdom and righteousness, and to care for those in the church and outside the church.
For thr king is far to remote and his servant must please the king’s ministers (which is why there are limits on the number of operations in local hospitals — the hospital is doing what the paymaster wants).
The Psalmist gives us a clue here. He is doing good for the joy it brings.
Romans 1
28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die – yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.
Psalm 1
1Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
2but their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and night.
3They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
via PCUSA – Devotions – Daily readings for Wednesday, June 16, 2010.
Sovereign Junk?
Many in the world are distracted by a certain soccer tournament. But the warnings are there. All Greek debt is below investor grade. The conequences to those raising money in Greece will be disasterous.
It may be that corporate debt will, with the current socail policies in the Eurozone, be less risky than sovereign debt. Because there are limits to the amount once can tax. Or borrow. And, after two generations of social engineering, we may have reached them,
Moody’s Investors Service on Monday slashed Greece’s credit rating to junk status, as a delegation from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union started an interim review of the country's efforts to pull itself out of a major debt crisis.A Moody’s statement said it was cutting Greece’s government bond ratings by four notches to Ba1 from A3, with a stable outlook for the next 12-18 months. It was the second of the three major agencies to accord Greek bonds junk status since Standard & Poor’s did the same in late April.The downgrades reflects concern that the country could fail to meet its obligations to cut its deficit and pay down its debt.After amassing a vast public debt and overspending that sent its budget deficit spiraling to 13.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, Greece was saved from defaulting on its loans in May by the first installment of a joint EU and IMF euro110 billion bailout. It is to receive the second in September.
via The Associated Press: Moody’s downgrades Greece’s debt to junk status.