Theology for the Masses

The Closing Prayer at my BSU talk:

Father, we come to you tonight asking you to help us see your will through that which you have reveal to us in the Bible and to help us listen to the promptings and direction of THE SPIRIT.

You value justice. You ask, no, demand that your citizens seek justice for the oppressed. You have blessed us corporately beyond belief. You have blessed us individually according to your purposes. You have done this so that we might in turn bless others. Lord, OUR God, guide us.

Lord, God of Isaiah, we have seen that dumping does not work. You reveal to us in your Wisdom Literature that toil is valuable. Work is a good. It is not good for a [hu]man to be alone and it is not good that she does not work.

So, LORD, God of James, be a light unto our minds. Help us seek out the ways in which justice is being served. Help us to creatively close the gaps between those that horde and those that suffer because of it.

LORD, God of the Poor, we bring another request. Please help us see that your gift of grace is not just a get out of hell free card.

LORD, God over Boone County, help us to see that you are Lord of All.

LORD, God over Missouri, help us to respond to your grace in accordance with your will.

LORD, God over India, help us to submit our entire lives to your will, not just the parts that are easy.

LORD, God of Time, thank you for the blessings you bestow upon us.

LORD God of the Universe, help us to bless others as you have blessed us.

In our LORD Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

I was asked to give a short talk concerning the Rich Young Ruler at the BSU.  The following is the first part of the talk:

(You can listen to the audio here)

Good evening everyone! Welcome to the first night of the “Jesus said WHAT?!” series. Tonight’s topic is Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler. I was kinda scared when the topic was assigned to me because I have not heard a interpretation of the passage that sounded good to me. Either they seemed naïve and unrealistic or they seemed to gloss over Jesus’ challenge. Maybe because this is because I am a rich white male and I like my stuff and don’t like to be challenged OR Maybe this is because I am a snobby seminary student who colors all of Jesus’ sayings with early Christian witness. To tell you the truth, it is really probably a mix of both.

Before we start, let’s get to the text of the matter. I’m gonna start a bit earlier in the passage than usual discussions on the rich young ruler (I’ll tell you why in a second).

Text: Luke 18 (NLT)

So, our passage has three major sections. First, we have Jesus reprimanding the disciples for shooing away the children, culminating with the charge that

“[T]he Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

Woah, what does that even mean? Entering like a child? That could be our Jesus Said What moment right there!

Then, enter the rich young ruler. He comes up and wants to be in the kingdom too. He says that he is fully living within the Abrahamic/Mosaic covenants, living by all of the laws that God revealed to Moses.

Jesus issues the rich young ruler a challenge. He says if you wanna be in my kingdom, you have to do two things. First, give away all your possessions. Second, Follow me.

Confronted with the action-oriented challenge, the Rich Young RULER sulks away – it was too great of a commitment. Jesus, loving the guy, gives us our second “JESUS SAID WHAT!” moment. He says:

“How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵ In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

This blows the disciples minds.

They start freaking out. They start to worry, they gotta be saying to themselves, “We gotta come like children, and he rejected this guy? What chance do we have? What did he mean, children? And what about that rich guy? He followed the whole law. Jesus did not deny that. And still he was not worthy enough.”

Peter asks who then can be saved, saying that they have given up everything for Jesus. Jesus responds with our last candidate of “WHAT?!” sayings. Jesus says:

and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, ³⁰ will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.

So, what do we make of all of this?

First, the story about the Children sets the stage. This is about entrance and behavior within the kingdom. Children can’t do anything. One of the Gospels even talks about infants. I got one. Lemme tell you, infants are completely dependent upon their parents for life.

So, Jesus was talking about how you have to come to the kingdom of god like a child – completely dependent upon God. Then this guy comes up and asks to be in it! (The Gospel writers were good at writing Gospels – eh?) He has everything that people of that time (and our time) think is valuable. He was rich. He was young. He has political power – oh how we worship political power in this country! Thus, , the rich man is thematically contrasted with children/kingdom.

As a person with such external security, the Rich Young Ruler already had a savior. His name was Caesar. The Roman Emperors set themselves up as saviors of the world. . It was Caesar that created and sustained the Pax Romana. The Rich were Rich because of Rome’s stability. The Rulers were Rulers because of Rome’s security. He was savior.

How hard it is for the secure to give up their security!

Behavior within the Kingdom of God is no light matter. The gospel is not about liking someone (Jesus) a whole bunch and then getting a get out of Hell free card. No, instead, the Gospel is the proclamation that the Kingdom of God has come! Repent! JESUS IS LORD. (Opening of Mark on the Screen)

What does this mean, Jesus is lord? When we enter into the Kingdom of God, we acknowledge that everything is HIS. We live to serve the King who serves others.

Living in the Kingdom of God means submitting everything to Him. This means everything. All facets of your life. The Rich Young Ruler was Rich and a Ruler.

As I said before, he already had a savior, Caesar.Thus, the Rich Young Ruler would have to give up his allegiance to Caesar and the two things that allegiance provided him – Money and Power. And yet, He. Could. Not. Can we?

The Disciples freaked out when they saw Jesus’ challenge –

²⁶ Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?”

²⁷ He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”

²⁸ Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.”

²⁹ “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, ³⁰ will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”

And then Jesus reassures them – they have left their allegiance to this world and given it to Jesus. They are living kingdom lives.

Notice that in response to their freaking out, Jesus tells them not to worry about their own efforts to enter the kingdom but to worry about our response to God’s salvation.

And our response should be to place JESUS AS LORD above our

- Families – do you realize how hard this is – if it comes down to Jesus or your brother – you pick Jesus.

- Wealth

- Governmental allegiance – do you worry about politics more than you worry about the Goals of the Kingdom of God?!

- But most importantly – Self.

Examine your life – what are you holding back from the king?

Let us pray….

WAIT A SECOND! LETS NOT KID OURSELVES

Jesus said WHAT? “Sell all that you have and give it to the poor.” And “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! ²⁵ In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!

Wait – lets not kid ourselves the secondary theme in this passage is the place of money in the Kingdom of God. Yes, the main theme is attitudes in the kingdom but the theme of MONEY IN THE KINGDOM is not far behind.

As a rich man, the Young Ruler was hoarding his wealth. In a day and age where 95% of the population was living hand-to-mouth, this man was hoarding his wealth.

Today we are taught from birth to hoard wealth. You can’t escape the messages we receive from the media, from advertisements, from our governments, from our Churches, from our families, from our friends, from our selves.

A study was released not long ago which found that the average urban person views an average of 5,000 ads a day. Each one of these ads promise the buyer spiritual, material, and emotional satisfaction though their products.

So, what the world is saying is that [point to screen]

All you need is more.

But God says that: [point to screen]

I AM all that you need.

We are a nation, a people who have been blessed with a wealth that is beyond comprehension.

So how do we react to this ridiculous blessing? Look at the history of Israel as remembered in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, few things upset God more than people hoarding wealth. Listen to the words of Isaiah: [Show Isaiah 3:13-15]

¹³ The Lord takes his place in court
      and presents his case against his people!
¹⁴ The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment
      on the elders and rulers of his people:
   “You have ruined Israel, my vineyard.
      Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor.
¹⁵ How dare you crush my people,
      grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?”
      demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

When Israel would turn away from the LORD they started to oppress the poor. This would always lead to judgment and foreign rule for Israel. Latter on in Isaiah: [3:16-26]

¹⁶ The Lord says, “Beautiful Zion is haughty:
   craning her elegant neck,
      flirting with her eyes,
   walking with dainty steps,
      tinkling her ankle bracelets.
¹⁷ So the Lord will send scabs on her head;
      the Lord will make beautiful Zion bald.”

¹⁸ On that day of judgment
      the Lord will strip away everything that makes her beautiful…

²⁴ Instead of smelling of sweet perfume, she will stink.
      She will wear a rope for a sash,
      and her elegant hair will fall out.
   She will wear rough burlap instead of rich robes.
      Shame will replace her beauty.
²⁵ The men of the city will be killed with the sword,
      and her warriors will die in battle.
²⁶ The gates of Zion will weep and mourn.
      The city will be like a ravaged woman,
      huddled on the ground.

How the LORD is concerned for the poor! These are societal sins – sins that the structures of the society create and are maintained by all the people that participate in the system. Societal sins are notoriously hard to see while they are happening. They are best viewed in hindsight. One of the best examples of a societal sin is the institution of slavery during the first 100 years in the United States.

This is the kind of thing Isaiah is decrying. Slavery, exploitation of the poor – these are societal sins. God above almost everything else, desires justice for his people – and all people are his people.

What out US? The USA? How just of a society are we? I invite you to join us afterwards to talk about this. I don’t think we are as much as we like to think we are. How much are you, your family, your church, your friends participating in these societal sins? How much am I? Just because you can’t see the oppression does not mean that it is not there, that our corporate actions don’t have repercussions that impact real people.

OK, enough talk about the vague and the invisible. Let’s turn this back to our individual lives. Your life. My Life. Your money. My money. The Bible has a lot of interesting, if not complicated things to say about wealth on the individual level. Lets look at a couple of quick passages that deal with individuals and wealth.

[Proverbs 14:31 and Proverbs 29:7 ]

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,

but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

The righteous care about justice for the poor,

but the wicked have no such concern.

James 5

¹ Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. ² Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. ⁴ Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. ⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.^{[a] 6} You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Now, before you say – God hates wealth! Let me say that God does lift up wealth as a blessing to the righteous. God has revealed through the Bible that wealth and blessings do follow from following Him. However, success and prosperity is defined by the created order, not by materieriality.

Wealth is not something to horde, but something to give. The God makes it clear in Proverbs 29:7 that the righteous are to care about the poor.

We are called to live not for the accumulation of wealth and property, but for God and for the flourishing all people. Some of you here came to college to get rich. My advice: Don’t.

Having wealth is not a sin – hoarding it and refusing to help those in need is.

Today billions around the world live hand to mouth. Christians hold most of the world’s wealth.

So… How do we contribute to the solution rather than further the oppression? We have over 75 bright young minds here in this room – I encourage you to seek out a solution – there are many ways that people are helping – seek them out, fill the gap. If you want, join me and a few others downstairs afterwards to talk about how this can be done.

Remember: Our God is a God of Justice. We are his agents in this world. We are stewards of this creation. The poorest among us are of infinite worth. Instead of seeking only our own good – we are commanded to seek theirs as well.

Let us pray.

Father,

we are children who have been given much. You have blessed us with an abundance of all things: food to fill our stomachs, every kind of entertainment to distract and occupy our minds, and every opportunity to adorn our bodies with things

stuff

the trappings of our culture that we think make us beautiful.

Father,

you teach us that the day will come when we are stripped bare of everything we hold dear, everything that we tell ourselves defines who we are, all the things we tell ourselves make us beautiful. And on that day, all you will see are those things that truly define who we are, those things that truly matter because they are the things that matter to you. And you will determine if, in fact, we are truly beautiful.

Father,

may you find on that day children who care really and truly for our brothers and sisters, your beloved creatures crafted so lovingly in your own image. May you find that we were never guilty of stealing from them those things they need to express that image fully.

Teach us to strip ourselves of the finer things of our culture that we may clothe ourselves with the finer things of your kingdom culture. Give us eyes that see the beauty that your eye beholds, that we may learn how to become beautiful in your eyes.

One of the themes in my Sunday school class is justice. We have looked at God’s desire for material justice [1] in the world. We have looked at such verses as Isaiah 61:8, Zech 7:8-10, and James 1:27; all of which make it crystal clear that one of our functions in this world is to work towards material justice as well as the spiritual redemption of humankind.

My question is: “How does this happen?”

I get the small scale application of this issue. Well, I am lying, I kinda get it. I know how to act justly towards the individual people in my life. I might not be overly good at it, but it is something I am working towards.

I μέν see individual Christians working towards peace and material justice in individual lives as the answer to Ivan’s moral problem with God in “Rebellion,” what δέ I can’t see is how this works on a large scale. I am of the firm understanding that throwing money at the problem (and here I am most specifically thinking about aid to Africa here) only at best perpetuates the problem and quite possibly makes things worse.

Also, I am not a big fan of certain statistics used in showing the gap in material possessions between our world and the developing world. Statistics such as “X people only make $1 a day” assume that the base model for human life is a capitalistic, consumeristic model, as if to say the problem won’t be fixed until They make as much money as Us. Now, at the same time, I see the usefulness of these stats, they help shatter certain conceptions about the material conditions in which these peoples find themselves and help to highlight the need for justice in their lives. What I don’t want to do is bring the God of materialism along with the God of Christianity to the Other.

Whenever I go a thinking about a widespread, “big picture” plan of action, I keep coming the conclusion that a political solution is needed. Given the nature of certain countries’ leaders, a political solution must be predicated by a military solution. Yet, all of this seems to go against my “Kingdom of God” theology. As such, I am at a loss. I know how I would go about trying to fix the problem apart from Christian values, but when I factor those in, I am left with a myriad of contradictions.

And yet, God still demands that we help those in need, and I am to do what God demands. What I need here in an infusion of creativity and ideas. How can we help those in need in the concrete?

I get the need, I need a plan.

1. By material justice, I don’t mean equal possessions. I am talking about real and tangible justice in this world, as contrasted with waiting around for the just situation we will find in the next. [↩]

One of the more disconcerting passages in all the Bible is the rape of Tamar, David’s daughter, by her half-brother Amnon (2 Samuel 13). As the narrative goes, Tamar is “loved” by her brother because he was tormented by her beauty. He feigns an illness to be alone with Tamar. When she brings him food to eat, he seizes her and rapes her despite her fervent resistance. After the rape, Amnon loathes his sister more than he ever “loved” her. He thrusts her away as a slave, a piece of property which was expended and now retains no value. To Amnon, she is no longer “Tamar,” she is now “this woman.” She is no longer a person who is “loved,” she is chattel to be discharged. [1]

Amnon learned this behavior from his father – that is, he learned to treat people, especially women, as property instead of humans created in God’s image. Just in the previous chapter David is finally confronted about his rape of Bathsheba and his clandestine execution of Uriah. People and their lives were mere objects to be consumed to David. He cared little for love, for family, for holiness. He cared only for consumption, and people are just another thing to be procured, retain, owned, and conquered.

What I find interesting in this whole matter is how intercourse and economics relate. As the narrative advances, we find Solomon, in the climax of his rule, with infinite wealth and thousands of sex-slaves. Women are objects to be owned – he too learned this from his father. Relationships, love, or devotion have no place in his world. Only objects exist, objects which are bought and sold, owned and operated, controlled and dominated. [2]

When economics and power become the chief agenda of a people, the objectification of others comes to dictate the landscape. This is particularly the case with sex. Sex becomes nothing more than, in our world, two consumers devouring one another, envision the other as an item whose individual purpose is to satisfy my desires without regards to the consequences of this behavior. That’s what consumerism is at its nastiest – a inexhaustible sport of stockpiling objects for one’s own agenda without considering the consequences of that consumption either for the earth, the other person, the community, or the world. It’s all about the ego.

Intercourse and economics – isn’t staggering how a person’s view on one stimulates certain assumptions about the other? When one views economics as merely a means of consumption and gaining wealth, power, and property, one will perceive sex the same way. But if economics is principally about honoring God through the giving away of one’s possessions, one will see sex differently as well. It is not about my desires, it is not about my consumption; it is about the other person, their will, their enjoyment, their desire. People are no longer objects to be owned and dominated (such as in pornography), they are people made in the Image of God! The denial of the ego in economic areas translates into the denial of the ego in the bedroom. This is why Paul lists greed right along side a bunch of sexual sins in Colossians 3. He realized the connection!

Its seems, then, that if we yearn for holiness, maybe our deity of covetousness and wealth ought to go first. If economics is linked to intercourse, imagine what else it is relates to – violence, anger, division, quarreling, pride! Maybe dispossession isn’t only about abnegation, [3] but about sanctification in all areas of life.

1. there is some credence to the thought that this objectification of women is inherent within the Torah. After all, women are listed among the property not to be coveted in the 10 Commandments. [↩]
2. Solomon’s disregard for others in favor of his own economic advancement is well documented among biblical scholars. This actually ends up splitting the kingdom after he dies, if you remember. [↩]
3. Thanks Theotica! [↩]