A Stick Of Dynamite, Covered By A Story

I learn a lot from listening to other preachers.   

This week was no exception, as I  'took in' the Sunday sermon of Amy Butler, via video, at Riverside Church, in New York City.  Amy shared a quote from Clarence Jordan, I'd never 'heard before, regarding the approach of Jesus:  “Whenever Jesus told a parable, he lit a stick of dynamite and covered it with a story.”  http://www.patheos.com/blogs/talkwiththepreacher/2017/09/24/what-belongs-to-me/#oGuLMGuhdV7J76TT.9 

Translated:  the teachings of Jesus are no meek, mild-mannered tale.  They are 'explosive,' full of energy, able to shake up and rearrange our lives. 

Yet, we seem to let everything else shake up and rearrange or lives.   

Right now narratives, stories not of Jesus, rattle and stir our days.  I think of the rhetoric currently flying 'back and forth' between the United States (U.S.) and North Korea (N.K.), for example.  Why it sounds like we are on the verge of nuclear war, largely because no one will break the current 'hot' 'narrative.  

The current 'hot' narrative? Let me parse it, in part. N.K -- 'Hear me, I'm important, too.' 'U.S. -- 'Yes, but we're more important.' N.K. -- 'No, hear me, we're equally important.' U.S. -- 'You hear me, we're more important.  In fact, we're the best; to be precise we're the greatest.' N.K. - 'That sounds arrogant.  I'll show you.  We'll launch a rocket.' U.S. -- 'I'll show you, 'Rocket Man.' We'll fly jets along your coastline, closer than at other time in the 21st Century.' N.K -- 'I'll show you, Dotard.  We'll label your actions a declaration of war!' U.S. -- 'Really?  We'll label your accusation absurd!'

And so it goes.

But Jesus teaches there are things even more 'explosive' than a nuclear rocket.  It's the paradox of The Gospel.

And the best part:  The Gospel shakes things up -- without destroying anything -- except -- our ego....our pride...our self-interest...our competition...our arrogance...our conventional weapons...our need to win, at any cost.

Jesus details this Gospel Revolution in the opening words of the greatest sermon ever preached:

“…God blesses those people who are humble. The earth will belong to them!...God blesses those people who are merciful. They will be treated with mercy!  God blesses those people whose hearts are pure. They will see him! God blesses those people who make peace They will be called his children!...” (Matthew 5:5; 7-9, Contemporary English Version)

Pretty disruptive, 'explosive' stuff.

But a 'deep dive' into any of the words of Jesus and you'll uncover a similar seismic shift in thinking, feeling -- and most importantly - living.

And so we have a choice, in the words of Bill Lane Doulos:  "...put these [words of Jesus] on a shelf and return to your 'civilized' existence -- or -- prepare as best you can, for a rough ride..."

I'd suggest we prepare as best we can for a rough ride.

For life contrary to Jesus, in actuality, is not civilized.  In fact, life is rougher and more explosive if we fail to navigate the wake caused by Christ.  For the whole aim of the Savior and His new way of life (e.g. His Kingdom) is to indeed 'shake things up', but in an abundant way.

One of the overlooked passages in the book of Acts, is the dragging of Jason, an early Christian leader and some of his brothers, also Believers, before the city officials in Thessalonica.  As they did, the Jews shouted:

“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things..." (emphaiss added, Acts 17:6-8, English Standard Version) .

People are still disturbed.  But that's OK.  For, really, you can't avoid it.  For there is a stick of dynamite, under every word and life-pattern, attached to The Savior.

But not to explode things -- but to 'implode' things, back to the center of it all -- the very soul of life.   For Jesus cautions:  "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:36).  Or in the robust rendering of Eugene Peterson in The Message:  "What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? (Mark 8:36, The Message, emphasis added).

So that's what's really at stake.  Losing the real you -- me -- or America -- or any other nation-state.

For the real soul of you -- me -- America -- or -- even North Korea -- is not the assumed 'gain' of the current competitive, ego-saturated, arrogant, 'saber-rattling.'   The real soul of any of us -- or any nation -- is the authentic gain of a sacrificial posture and a servant's heart -- saturated not with 'me first' -- but 'us first' -- as we allow modesty to set the tone, and become our drumbeat.  For as Thomas Merton once mused:  "It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility."

In her sermon on Sunday, Amy Butler reflected on her growing-up years in Hawaii:   

"...My father taught us that there is no word in the Hawaiian language for “right,” as in “this is my right,” or “this is what I deserve.”  The only word in the Hawaiian language for talking about what belongs to me is “kuleana,” which means “responsibility.” The island community was driven by a sense of responsibility to each other, because when we start thinking about our “rights,” about personal acquisition over the sustainability and flourishing of the whole, that always, always leads to the death of the community.  The ancient Hawaiians knew that they lived in a fragile environment that only could prosper if they paid attention to our “kuleana,” our responsibility...". http://www.patheos.com/blogs/talkwiththepreacher/2017/09/24/what-belongs-to-me/#oGuLMGuhdV7J76TT.99

And so we must pivot and start thinking about the sustainability and flourishing of the whole.  For that is the only way to form community, either individually, in a larger sphere, including as a nation state.

Bottom line: there is no future in ratcheting up our rights -- but only -- as we ante-up our responsibility to serve one another.

For as the 'hot' narrative around North Korea reminds us -- ours is a fragile environment only prospering, as we allow Jesus to rattle and stir our days.  'Destroying' our ego....our pride...our self-interest...our competition...our arrogance...our conventional weapons...our need to win -- at any cost.

And then shaking up and rearranging life through the power of The Gospel.

For if we're attentive, the Jesus Story is no meek, mild-mannered tale -- but a narrative written to 'turn the world upside down' -- in a dynamic -- dynamite way -- imploding our being -- back to what really matters: the very soul of life.