Fleeing Exile
Life just ain’t simple. We live in world rich in symbolism; deeds hard to articulate; words and stories that grind resonance into abstract thought; art subverted into created worlds we do not wish on our children. And until we lift our eyes from our culture and examine the landscape, we will never take the first step on our journey: we remain in exile.
Jesus, to those that know him: the name above all names; more popular than the Beatles; 3 Billion people declare his name each day! To another world: a sage, a teacher of wisdom, a cynic wordsmith, a prophet, a blazon of the lingering awaited Kingdom?
Our task is to rehearse the equivalent of the Kingdom within our culture. Forward into God’s sorted world, forward with symbols, the humble praxis of the gospel, our task as Christians is to be in the front row of the world. However, what is missing from the equation is, of course, love; and this solicitude is our vocation: to tell the story, to live by the symbols, to act out the praxis, and to flee from exile.
Like Jonah fleeing God for Tarsus we can flee from exile. However, our flight is not like Jonah’s. Enslavement to sin, a life of servitude, languishing in prison, means at some point we will hope to escape. And Jesus rightly argues forgiveness. He says it is time to go home...find you way on the crooked path and should you stumble, he is there, yolked, easing the burdens.
Gabriel visited Daniel, Ezekiel saw the earth shake and a people materialize from dry bones, Jeremiah shouting from mountains into the inmost parts of the earth, John shouting out loud, “ behold the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” They all share the same: forgiveness.
So Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom and his offerings of forgiveness is how God returns to Zion. His forcefulness in the temple, a new covenant in the upper room, riding on a donkey, silent lips when accused, forgiveness on the cross all show how God works. Not in one fell swoop of Roman invasion, but with humility and passion.
Forgiveness, of course, is not easy to master. It is a journey, and it starts when we risk pain, disappointment, let go of defensiveness; it means being able to accept our human situation by refusing evil to continue, refusing to participate in injustice, and to reveal sin our lives.
Jesus, to those that know him: the name above all names; more popular than the Beatles; 3 Billion people declare his name each day! To another world: a sage, a teacher of wisdom, a cynic wordsmith, a prophet, a blazon of the lingering awaited Kingdom?
Our task is to rehearse the equivalent of the Kingdom within our culture. Forward into God’s sorted world, forward with symbols, the humble praxis of the gospel, our task as Christians is to be in the front row of the world. However, what is missing from the equation is, of course, love; and this solicitude is our vocation: to tell the story, to live by the symbols, to act out the praxis, and to flee from exile.
Like Jonah fleeing God for Tarsus we can flee from exile. However, our flight is not like Jonah’s. Enslavement to sin, a life of servitude, languishing in prison, means at some point we will hope to escape. And Jesus rightly argues forgiveness. He says it is time to go home...find you way on the crooked path and should you stumble, he is there, yolked, easing the burdens.
Gabriel visited Daniel, Ezekiel saw the earth shake and a people materialize from dry bones, Jeremiah shouting from mountains into the inmost parts of the earth, John shouting out loud, “ behold the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” They all share the same: forgiveness.
So Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom and his offerings of forgiveness is how God returns to Zion. His forcefulness in the temple, a new covenant in the upper room, riding on a donkey, silent lips when accused, forgiveness on the cross all show how God works. Not in one fell swoop of Roman invasion, but with humility and passion.
Forgiveness, of course, is not easy to master. It is a journey, and it starts when we risk pain, disappointment, let go of defensiveness; it means being able to accept our human situation by refusing evil to continue, refusing to participate in injustice, and to reveal sin our lives.
posted by qtip at 6:49 p.m.
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