Author: Jonnyfun.E

Now retired, and enjoying making music and writing. Living in Gloucester, historically an important port on the river Severn, and situated with The Forest of Dean and the Brecon Beacons to the west, and the beautiful Cotswolds to the east.
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Redemptive Violence

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I read thrillers for entertainment.  I like reading them, but I don’t like that I read them.  I’m watching ’24’ for entertainment.  I enjoy watching it, but I don’t like that I watch it.

The hero stands up for ordinary people, for freedom, for security.  But the hero uses exactly the same means as the villain in order to bring the freedom and the security.  Robert Crais writes thrillers that feature two such heroes: Elvis Cole (private detective) and Joe Pike (ex marine, ex L.A. police officer, killer).  They are on the side of the good.  But they use the same methods as the ‘evil’ criminals and terrorists whom they oppose. 
Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in ’24’ does the same job.  He’s intrinsically a nice guy.  You trust him.  But he is willing to torture and kill in order to expose the oppressor and the terrorist. However, in series 7, I’m not sure what 24 is saying, because there are now voices that are challenging Jack’s methods.  An anti Jack Bauer US senator (unsympathetic character) and President Taylor’s Chief of Staff both express their disdain for his methods.  Even Bill Buchanan, Jack’s ex colleague from CTU (the counter terrorist unit) baulks at torture.
Are we meant to go along with Jack in the end ?  And am I still going to watch ’24’ and read Robert Crais, knowing that they shape the way we think about how to deal with evil.  Knowing that they perpetuate the myth that ‘good men’ can use violence to defeat evil ?
A quote from Ched Myers –  “As René Girard and his followers have long argued, the myth of redemptive violence empowers not redemption, but only more violence”

Perhaps the most chilling example of this in recent years has been the whole Iraq thing; the invasion, the subsequent violence, both anti the West and sectarian between Shiite and Sunni; Guantanamo …  
Going back now (here it comes!) to the cross and the atonement theory of Penal Substitution.  I fear that this is just another face of redemptive violence.  The idea that punishing Jesus (who although innocent, actually stands for the guilty) achieves anything.
If we see God punishing the innocent Jesus, we’re back to cosmic child abuse (see earlier post).
If we see God punishing the guilty through Jesus, we’re accepting that violence is an acceptable way to deal with evil.  (Which it isn’t)
As long as Christians hold on to this theory of the cross, any commitment to non violence will be contradictory and empty.
And, conversely, as long as Christians support the methods of redemptive violence in the world’s affairs, it will be impossible to regain a true understanding of the cross.
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Informed or Uninformed ?

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I’m back on how we read stuff.  I’ve already written about how I need to remind myself that reading scripture, for me as a Christian is a potentially dangerous thing, and something I need to do carefully.

I’ve read a couple of things in the last week about bloggers and journalists and particularly the future of news reporting.
In the Church Times (8th May 2009) Andrew Brown writes in his column that none of our national papers has a reporter at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Jamaica.  He makes the point that if there are no journalists there, the only reports that we will get are heavily biased.  Maybe some of us would say that no news reporting is unbiased, nothing is truly objective, but we do hope that our media reporters are at least attempting to give us a fair account.
In a piece on the radio yesterday, I was listening to a conversation about the future of newspapers in the internet age, and the down turn in advertising revenue for newspapers.  If the cover price does not make for a profitable business, and advertising revenue continues to fall, does the printed press have a future ?
In his piece on 1st May, Andrew Brown writes about informed and uninformed opinion.  Brown comments on another columnist, Timothy Garton Ash: He is well informed.  “His views are worth having because he knows more than  his readers about the subjects on which he writes.  There will be of course, some readers who know more than he does, but they won’t think he’s writing from another planet”
Garton Ash – “I can look through a hundred comments, and only two will tell me anything I don’t know;  that’s because they will have links”
Some blogs are well informed and worth reading.  I have a couple that I look at.  But uninformed opinion is pretty worthless.  I pray that I will be able to tell the difference between the two, and that informed opinion continues to have a place.
 
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Compassion and Change

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Mark 1:40-45


A man with leprosy comes to Jesus and is healed.  But the end of the incident is just as striking.  Jesus warns the man not to tell anyone what has happened, but the man can’t keep quiet and as a result Jesus goes into hiding.  Why does Jesus say this ?  Was it because he didn’t want all the attention from the people who needed him ? Was it because he was already aware of how the authorities viewed him, and didn’t want to draw attention to himself for that reason ? 

Or was it more to do with a tension in Jesus himself ? We already had a similar scenario when Jesus is pressured to stay with the people of Capernaum.  Jesus’ response to that pressure was to move on, saying that he needed to ‘proclaim the message … for that is what I came to do’

It seems as though there are two things going on in Jesus.  On the one hand there is his awareness that his mission is to ‘proclaim the message’ and on the other hand we see his compassion for those in need.

Maybe Jesus knew that however many people he healed, his core mission was to do with transforming lives.  Earlier in Chapter one, Jesus says “The time has come.  The kingdom of God is is near.  Repent (change) and believe the good news.”

At the Greenbelt Arts Festival a few years ago, I remember Rowan Williams, who had just been announced as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, being asked what for him was at the heart of the Christian faith.  His answer was – ‘Change’.  The possibility that individuals and situations can change.

Jesus is moved with compassion, but he is also concerned with change.  I think we are also learning that it’s not enough to put on a bandage, or give water to the thirsty, but we must also address the reasons why people are sick and thirsty, and give attention to changing the structures that cause poverty in the first place.


The Collect for the Second Sunday of Epiphany:

   

Almighty God,
in Christ you make all things new:
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.  Amen

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Be Careful

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We must take care how we read … whether it’s a news report, or a blog, or the scriptures.

Before I go back into Mark’s Gospel, I remind myself that it is important how I read these words.   I come to these words believing that they speak with authority.  I pray that through God’s Spirit, the words of the scriptures will shape my life.
When we come with our agenda to much to the fore, it can easily distort, or obscure what the scriptures are saying to us.  We can easily then make the scripture say just what we want it to.  For example, christians have often made the mistake of reading the scriptures asking only what it says to me as an individual, about salvation for example.  The result is a very individualised form of religion that in the end is human centred, and not God centred, and is only concerned with whether we go to heaven or not.
I am trying to read Mark’s Gospel with issues of injustice, oppression etc in mind.  And that’s fine.  We can’t read the Bible in a vacuum.  But I must be careful to let God’s word speak to me on its own terms, and not on mine.
I use this prayer a lot, because it makes God the centre of action in shaping our lives and our worship.
Faithful One, whose word is life, come to free our praise, inspire our prayers and shape our lives, according to the kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
(From Common Worship in the Church of England)
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Jesus Prays

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Mark 1:35-39

Even Jesus needed to get away from it all.  After all the activity in Capernaum, he gets up in the middle of the night, and finds a deserted place to pray.  It doesn’t last long!  Simon and the others soon find him.
I suppose this is what I am trying to do in these nine and a bit weeks.  Refreshment of body, mind and spirit is what it’s all about.  Maybe regaining things that have been lost in the busyness of life and ministry.  Maybe discovering new things about myself, the world and God.
These verses about Jesus going off the pray and get some spiritual refreshment are very appropriate for today (Sunday), and in a few minutes, I’m heading off to St Columba’s in Hull, where I was a curate for three years.  It’ll be good to be sitting in the pew, receiving.
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After Sunset

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Mark 1:29-43

Here it is again – (euthus – immediately) – Immediately they left the synagogue, and go to Simon and Andrew’s home, where Simon’s mother in law is sick with a fever. Jesus heals her and then heals many who are brought to the house.
So – all this happens on the same day. A healing in the synagogue, a very personal healing in the home, and then the healing of a whole crowd of people.  And it’s the sabbath.
So is it significant that the large crowd only come to the house ‘after sunset’ ?  That is, when the sabbath is over.
Jesus sabbath activity would quickly become a cause for conflict between himself and the religious leaders.  We have the seeds of that conflict already, and in those two words ‘after sunset’, an idea of how much influence the religious laws had on the people, so that they wait until the sabbath is over and it is safe to come to Jesus.
As I ask how this gospel might speak into situations of oppression, it makes me think of situations where there are obstacles that prevent people from accessing health care, and other basic necessities.  
For Palestinians, the many regulations and checkpoints mean that people cannot live normal lives.  Every morning from 3 am, hundreds of Palestinian men will come to the Gilo checkpoint in Bethlehem to go through to work in Jerusalem.  They have to arrive this early to be sure of getting work.  They leave their homes while their families are asleep, and arrive back when they are once more asleep.  The checkpoints open at dawn, and they must wait in line, directed to move by red and green lights.  They can be turned back after waiting several hours even though they have been security checked.  It is a life without dignity and respect.
Next week, Pope Benedict will visit Jerusalem.  He will pass through the same checkpoint. But he will arrive at 8 am, when the authorities have dictated that he will arrive, and it will be quiet. 
So I have two pictures in my mind.  The first is a crowd of people in Capernaum, waiting for sunset, when it will be safe to come to Jesus.
The second is a crowd of people in Bethlehem waiting for sunrise, and eventually passing through to work, and an hour or so later the Pope arriving.
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7 Days

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In just 7 short days, we will be in Washington. (D.C. that is)  Can’t wait!  Just planned the itinerary and booked some motels.  The theme of conflict will be well served by a visit to civil war battle sites at Manassas. (Which made me think of an album by Stephen Stills ‘Manassas’ which I am now listening to on Spotify)!

I’m trying to decide whether to take the laptop … it’ll make blogging easier …
Proposed itinerary:
Day 1 – 3 Washington … the sights, including Smithsonian Institute, Native American Museum
Day 4 – 6 Shenandoah National Park – including white water rafting, a hike and a drive down the Skyline Drive
Day 7 Charlottesville
Day 8 Williamsburg
Day 9 ??
Day 10 Manassas Battle Site and home for Bev and Joel, while I head off to Eastern Mennonite University at Harrisonburg for my course.
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Authority

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Mark 1:21-28

Jesus rebukes an evil spirit.  Those around Jesus soon learn that he speaks and acts with authority.  The root of authority is author.  If I’m the author of a book, then I speak with authority.  Jesus is described elsewhere in the Bible as ‘The author of life’.  (Acts 3:15).  Who better to speak and act with authority?
The way that Jesus influences situations is to do with who he is, and not the power that he has.  Contrast that with the comment about the scribes -the religious leaders-  who do not speak with authority.
Power is about position, and strength, and being able to make people do things even if they do not want to.  Authority comes from who you are as a person.
I discovered early on in my teaching career that although I had a limited amount of power, in the end, what I needed was to have authority. That authority needed to be a part of who I was as a person, and what I said and did needed to be fair, if the students were to respect me.
I’m reminded again of EAPPI, (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Israel and Palestine), which is based on acting not with power but with the authority that comes from resistance to evil in a non violent manner.
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Consuming Passion

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I’m reading a book of essays about the cross – about why the death of Jesus really matters.

If you’re a Christian you’ll have thought, prayed, sung about the cross.  If you’re not – (a Christian that is) – you may have never given it a second thought.
I think about it a lot.  And because I believe it’s at the heart of what it means to be a Christian, I want to be able to talk about it intelligently and accurately.  (As far as that is possible).  Because it is SO important a part of Christian faith, it’s important not to get it wrong.
There’s a school of thought that says it something like this.  People are sinful. Sin needs punishing.  We can’t be in relationship with God because sin has created a barrier between us and God.  We deserve to take the punishment, but God has provided another way.  Jesus, the sinless one, is punished for our sin.  God punished Jesus instead of us.  If we accept this, then we can be saved.
It’s what I grew up with, and I accepted it completely.  (Although there was always something at the back of my mind that didn’t really like it as a good solution to the problem).  The roots of this way of seeing the cross go back a long time, but it was only really expressed as ‘God punished Jesus instead of us’ in the 19th century.  Increasingly over the last 10 years or so I’ve changed my view on this.  In its pure form, this ‘Penal Substitutionary Atonement’ theory of the cross is based on some pretty dodgy ideas.  
1.  That God is violent.  (Well, you have to be violent to punish someone by crucifying them)
2. That violence can solve things. (Might is right).
3. That broken relationships can only be restored by punishment
There may be more … but I’m going to come back to this, don’t worry.
By the way, leading evangelical and social activist Steve Chalke got himself a lot of hate mail when he called this theory of the cross ‘Cosmic child abuse’
I’m hoping that one of the things I’ll be able to do in the next two months is give this some more careful thought – watch this space.
see here for some more http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_050726consumingpassion.shtml