Current Newsletter article, June 2011

CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. (Gal 4:4-5)

A priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar…I’m sure you’ve heard that one before. But in reality, there is no one joke that begins that way; there’s about a million. What follows determines everything, including whether or not the thing can be repeated in polite company. What follows is the necessary context.

Context is everything. Without it, we’re left on our own to make things up as we go. When right-wing Christian fanatics go astray, it is almost always because they take an unwaveringly literalistic approach to the ancient text of the Bible without a proper context. The lack of a context allows for self-interpretation and self-determination of the meaning of a given text or action. In short, it becomes possible to show that the Bible “says” whatever they want it to say. Context is everything.

With that in mind, I’d like to draw your attention to the chief action of the Church in worship, the celebration of the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, as it’s also known. We in the Lutheran Church inherited the way we worship from the big pale of liturgical forms known as the Western Rite, with Rome being the obvious gatekeeper of that rite. In other words, when first-timers attend a Lutheran service and remark, “it looks so catholic,” there’s a reason for that. The proper response is: “yes, of course it does, Lutherans are Western Rite catholics in their worship.” This is not to say that our liturgies are identical, but they are from the same family tree.

One of the areas where this has become more evident in recent years is in the area of the Eucharistic Prayer. It’s a long story, but Luther’s original reform of the Mass completely eradicated the Eucharistic Prayer from the liturgy, opting instead for a form that starkly emphasized the words of institution (Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which he was betrayed, etc). In other words, Luther’s original reform emphasized the Gospel beauty of the words of institution, but deleted the context of those words. In truth, he felt he had good reason for this. The particular Eucharistic Prayer he had inherited was, he felt, completely laden with the medieval theology of the priest and sacrifice. This was, however, as later Lutherans would lament, a case of throwing the liturgical baby out with the bathwater.

Thankfully the ongoing reform of the liturgy has brought back the fullness of the Eucharistic Prayer in a fully evangelical framework. We now no longer speak those Gospel words apart from their Gospel context. Liturgically speaking, every time we celebrate the Eucharist we are collectively reminiscing about the whole Gospel STORY that produced those words. That’s why the prayer usually talks about salvation history. It says things like “Long ago you called the Patriarch Abraham…you worked among your chosen people Israel…you sent your prophets…etc. etc., but in the fullness of time you sent your Son to be the Savior of the world…etc.” The point is that the words “take eat this is my body; drink of it all of you, this is my blood” were not spoken in a vacuum. They ARE, and are to be UNDERSTOOD as words that belong to God’s story of salvation. It is within the CONTEXT of that story of salvation that those words have meaning.

And here’s the most important part: It is in HEARING…again and again…that objective story of salvation, that we are able to subjectively connect it to our own stories. Yes, long ago God called Abraham. So what? We’ve never met him. Yet, [not so] long ago God also called **us….personally. God came to **us in the waters of holy baptism and the words of the Gospel; God separated **us from the life of unbelief; God claimed **us as part of his own particular people; God rescued **us from sin and death. In the fullness of time, God sent his only son to redeem **us…you, and me, personally. In other words, the POINT of the Eucharistic prayer is not to have a weekly liturgical ‘history lesson.’ It’s to give us and show us THE CONTEXT of where our own salvation history plugs into the big picture of ALL of God’s mighty acts of salvation. That God called the patriarchs, and Israel, and sent prophets and sages, and eventually his own Son is wonderful news. But it becomes wonderful news to you personally when you understand that this story of salvation that you hear retold and reminisced about in the Eucharistic Prayer, INCLUDES YOU! You hear the context, and you understand and believe that you are included in the context. Context is everything.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thoughts going in, Sunday June 5th

Acts 1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." 12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Transition is in the air...
This week—whether the Sunday readings are taken from Ascension Day (Thurs the 2nd, 40 days after Easter) or the 7th Sunday of Easter, it is obvious that we’re almost done with the Easter Season and preparing to go somewhere else.

Like many congregations, we will spend this Sunday contemplating the Ascension of Jesus. It would be easy to turn this into a dogma lesson. The Ascension is fairly important to the creedal tradition of the Church. The Nicene Creed states:

On the third day he rose again 
in accordance with the Scriptures; 
he ascended into heaven 
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, 
and his kingdom will have no end.

In the Apostle’s Creed we find the words:

He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come again to judge the living and the dead...

Whereupon we learn that at Christ’s Ascension he was given all power, dominion and authority by the Father (sitting at God’s “right hand” is not a ‘place,’ but rather a ‘status’). This power, dominion & authority doesn’t mean that it’s the ascended Jesus causing tornadoes in Missouri, but rather that HIS GOSPEL KINGDOM will be established—literally, come hell or high water. Nothing can stop it. It will happen.

It is also from this passage of the creed (and the day’s reading from Acts, specifically vs 11) that we get the dogma of the RETURN of Christ. Harold Camping of Familyradio.org has been wrong about MANY things. The words of Jesus in the Acts passage: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority” apply equally to Mr. Camping. One thing that he is *not wrong about, however, is the fact that Jesus really will come again.

But beyond the dogma, what are we to take from this passage?
One of my favorite Charlie Brown clips shows him sitting slouched in front of the tv. On the tv, the voice of a little boy is saying, "Shane! Come back, come back!!" Charlie Brown glumly responds: "I've seen this movie a dozen times... and he *never comes back." It would be easy for the disciples that day, and US today, to have the same glum attitude about the Ascension. Jesus is gone and we're on our own. Forever. But that's not it at all. Jesus is *ascended--not gone. There's a huge difference. And, when the work of the Gospel is complete--unlike the scenario with 'Shane'--He **will return. In the meantime, it's our turn. The mission of one man has been handed on to us: men, women, boys, girls, rich, poor, young & old.

Cheers,

TM

Sunday, May 29th

I'll be in Michigan this Sunday for a mini family reunion, so not much in the way of "thoughts going in" for this week.
Please give retired pastor Rev'd Tom Noll a warm LCHS welcome as he ministers in word and sacrament in my place this weekend.

Having said that, the regularly scheduled Thursday evening casual service will take place tonight, May 26th, at 7:30pm, where we will continue our study in 1Peter.


cheers,


TM

Current newsletter article, May 2011

For God so loved the COSMOS that he gave his only begotten son...(Jn 3:16a)

You may think that the above quote is an odd rendering of everyone’s favorite memory verse—perhaps coming from the “Carl Sagan version of the Bible” (there’s no such thing), but actually this is one of several verses from John’s gospel that mention the cosmos (in Greek)—a word that is generally translated as world in our English Bibles.

The cosmic problem of sin followed by God’s cosmic solution of giving his son, and the Eucharistic connection with us, was a topic of recent discussion in my adult Sunday morning class. It’s a topic still swirling around in my mind.

We seem to live in a day and age when the very people elected or appointed to serve the public interest are letting us down. We learned, for instance, during the Gulf oil spill that the very government agency that’s supposed to look out for the public interest was, in fact, largely in bed with the oil industry. From the Savings & Loan crisis of the late 80s one would’ve thought that elected and appointed watchdogs would’ve been hyper vigilant to ensure that such a thing would never happen again. Yet, the banking crisis of our current national nightmare seems like, in the immortal words of Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, “deja-vu all over again.” The very ones who are supposed to be looking out for us...the very ones who are supposed to have the public interest in mind...the very ones who have been commissioned to ‘stand in the breach’ have, many times, proven themselves either too selfish or too careless to make a difference. Well, this isn’t intended to be a political rant; and I suppose that to a certain extent it’s always been this way....which brings me back to my current topic....God, the cosmos, and the Eucharist.

Most Christians who’ve had a smattering of Biblical training know that the life of the world to come that we talk about in the Creeds is somehow hooked to the new heaven and new earth teaching found in the book of Revelation. We don’t fully understand it, and scholars like to debate it, but the Christian Faith teaches that somehow...some way...the final reality will be different, changed, new, fixed, and redeemed by God. It’s a wonderful promise.

And yet, as wonderful of a promise as it is, wouldn’t you know it, it’s often been distorted and neutered by the very people who believe it. The eventual new heaven and new earth teaching has been often used, BY CHRISTIANS, as an excuse for in-action, complacency, and in some cases even hostility toward our present environmental issues. The fundamentalist tradition I was raised in had a quaint way of putting it: “Why polish brass on a sinking ship?” This unfortunate global perspective views the whole cosmos as one big disposable ‘paper plate’ that God has given humanity to use up and throw away. It’s an odd perspective to say the least when one is reminded that it is THIS COSMOS that God so loved so much in the first place, that he sent his only son. It’s an odd perspective that views the ultimate renewal of Creation as a job that is entirely future oriented when, in fact, Revelation 21:5 says He who sits on the throne said: ‘behold, I am making (present tense) all things new. It is, furthermore, an odd perspective that sees renewal of Creation as a task undertaken entirely by God alone, when, our “good solid Lutheran theology” teaches us that God works “through means” (aka indirectly, through people, things or stuff).

If it is truly the business of God to renew Creation; if this truly is a present tense activity being undertaken in some mystical way even today; if as St. Paul says in 2Cor 5:17 if anyone is in Christ there is new creation; everything old has passed away; see everything has become new; and if according to John 6:51 Jesus said: the bread which I will give for the life of the COSMOS is my flesh, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN for the Christian?

The flow of this thought process leads unmistakably to the thought that the Eucharistic gathering....those gathered around the table of God sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ are the very ones empowered, energized, and commissioned to be agents of New Creation; agents of COSMIC good, cosmic change, and cosmic renewal. They (we) are the very ones called to be EVIDENCE that God truly is at work in the COSMOS NOW. This line of thought is completely consistent with other sayings of Jesus, for instance, that his followers are to be “light...and salt” to the world. It’s also very consistent with Luther’s view that every believer has a ‘vocation,’ a special call from God to the world for service. This is a message I’m convinced we need to hear more often, as we are so typically tempted to reduce the Christian Life down to “doctrines that are believed,” as opposed to a “life that is lived.”

Am I saying this means you have to buy an electric car and stop using deodorant? Hopefully you know me well enough by now that you know I don’t go in for those “Shell Answer-man” type of responses. The Christian life isn’t a list of ‘do’s & don’ts.’ It’s an ongoing relationship lived with integrity and purpose toward God. But certainly, part of what it means to live with integrity and purpose toward God is to challenge ourselves **NOT** to be like those mentioned earlier; not to be like those who, though appointed to ‘stand in the breach,’ have shown themselves either too selfish or too careless to make a difference. Never forget, the believer has an advantage; for the believer it’s not simply a matter of the will or making “good decisions.” The believer, is a member of the Eucharistic gathering; the bread which is given for the life of the cosmos is *received; *taken in by the believer at Holy Communion. God’s cosmic renewal is a present work in progress... happening one believer at a time. It is most especially true in the case of the believer that you ARE.... and ARE TO BE..... what you eat! So, who benefits? You? Most certainly. But may we never forget that the bread which Christ gives, ...the bread that we eat...is for more than just us at the individual level. It’s for the life of the cosmos!
In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thoughts going in, Sunday May 22nd

1Peter 2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by human beings but chosen by God and precious to him-- 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," 8 and, "A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (TNIV)

This week we continue looking at 1Peter in a sermon series entitled, “Easter, don’t just celebrate it, LIVE IT.” The emphasis now turns to one of the more well-known passages of the New Testament—particularly among Lutherans (and Protestants in general), as this is the passage that led to the great Lutheran emphasis on the “priesthood of believers.” This week’s emphasis will be all about “living as God’s PRIESTLY PEOPLE.

As one would expect, over the centuries following the Lutheran reformation, the fallout from the renewed emphasis on the priesthood of all believers has been both positive AND negative. The upshot has been that **when people have been motivated to practice their religion, they have been able to do so with the same deep sense of ‘vocation’ that, heretofore, was limited to those of the special ‘religious class.’ The downside, however, has been that **many people have used this teaching as an excuse to view themselves as ‘spiritual admirals’ of their own ship. There’s no need to come to a ‘formal church service,’ I’m my own priest; Luther said it, I believe it, and that’s good enough for me. Of course this isn’t AT ALL what Luther (or Peter in the text) meant, but when it comes to absenting one’s self from the worship life of the community, it’s a proven fact that any ol’ excuse will do. It bears mentioning, however, that the passage should be read at least once either in the KJV or old ASV—if for no other reason, so as to grasp the multiple appearances of the little word “ye.” The text is **not addressing us as individuals; it is addressing the ‘ye’....the whole big group of people. If Peter were a southerner, he’d be saying “all y’all...” In short, these instructions are not intended to teach INDIVIDUALS how to be individually priestly people in a vacuum, but rather for the WHOLE GROUP to function as God’s priestly people TOGETHER.

What does that look like at ground level? What happens when God’s priestly people function together in their vocation? These thoughts come to mind.

Vs 2 crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow
--They give & receive NOURISHMENT (grace/spirituality)

vs 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices
--They SACRIFICE **together (aka in the cultic/worship sense) be active pt 1; Christianity isn’t a spectator sport

vs 6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.
--They’re GROUNDED; (in sound doctrine) be rooted in Christ, our cornerstone

vs 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession
--They SPREAD; mission-minded/mission oriented; being God’s outpost there. Be active pt 2

Cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday May 15th

For it is a grace when someone, because he is mindful of God, bears up under the pain of undeserved punishment. 20 For what credit is there in bearing up under a beating you deserve for doing something wrong? But if you bear up under punishment, even though you have done what is right, God looks on it with favor. 21 Indeed, this is what you were called to; because the Messiah too suffered, on your behalf, leaving an example so that you should follow in his steps. 22 "He committed no sin, nor was any deceit found on his lips." 23 When he was insulted, he didn't retaliate with insults; when he suffered, he didn't threaten, but handed them over to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the stake, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness - by his wounds you were healed.25 For you used to be like sheep gone astray, but now you have turned to the Shepherd, who watches over you. (CJB)

Longtime followers of my 'thoughts' probably know that I typically use the TNIV translation. It is my translation of choice for being gender inclusive, and a good up to date 'thought-for-thought' rendering of the text. This week, however, I've found the somewhat obscure Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) to be of more interest. This is primarily because in looking at the Greek & some other translations this a.m, I saw something I've never seen before.The wording of v 19 uses the word "chari"....a word that almost everywhere else in the bible is translated as "grace," yet most English translations prefer not to do so here in this passage. They usually translate it as "a credit" or something like that. Well, the CJB....I think.....gives us a really neat nuanced understanding of this passage by letting 'chari' be 'grace.' And so regardless of the question of whether or not Peter is using chari in exactly the same way Paul did (which has a lot to do with why the other translations don't use that term)......it seems some what 'broadening' to our topic to read this verse this way.

This is a fascinating little passage.
The gist seems to be that ..... in the eyes of God, the suffering--even/especially unjust suffering--that his servants go through is not empty or pointless. That in itself is HUGE. How many times have we thought....."if this only just MEANT something, .....if this had SOME redeeming quality.......if this was ACCOMPLISHING something..... then it wouldn't be so bad."
Well, Peter says.....GOOD NEWS.....your unjust suffering DOES mean something; it DOES have some redeeming quality....it IS accomplishing something---- it is a grace in the eyes of God.
Why?
Cuz we're so good & righteous & holy?

Of course not.
But rather because our suffering is an 'example' of THE SUFFERING of the Messiah. Ours is reflective of his.....and his MEANT EVERYTHING. His was REDEMPTIVE.

At this point, most exegetes, I think, stop.....and consider the interpretive task to be complete. Christ's suffering is redemptive & exemplary; Our suffering reflects his (btw, ONLY if we bear up under it as he did). End of story. Our suffering is like a visual aid that points others to consider the ultimate Suffering One. Or, you might say.....our suffering is merely *symbolic......devoid of substantial meaning in & of itself, but pointing to the real thing in Christ.....sorta like the bread & wine of Holy Communion point to the real body & blood of the Savior.
OH WAIT!!!!
Don't we have some kind of theological understanding that symbols USED BY GOD to point to ultimate reality **participate in that reality themselves???

In that sense, the Christian who bears his/her suffering AS CHRIST did ....MUST be not only involved in following Christ's example, but also in some *real sense participating in Christ's redemptive act for the world. (a) Suffering *like Christ makes them more *like Christ to those they come into contact with. In this sense, the actual event of the suffering need not be publicly visible at the time it happens in order to have this effect. (b) but certainly the public display of Christ-like bearing up under suffering is another way the Christian's actions are redemptive. When the Roman soldier saw Christ's act of suffering, IT ALONE was enough to cause him to exclaim: "Surely this man was the son of God (Mt 27:54)." In the life of the Christian, hence, we may assume that Christ-like bearing up under suffering causes others (whether we see it or not) to exclaim: "Surely, this person.....is a child of God....surely, they have been given a grace to endure....that I do not have; surely, they have a Savior I need."

Of course the text a traditional Good Shepherd Sunday text, as the last verse of the passage brings out.
Yet, I think we need to remember not to bracket off that last verse. It's not that Peter had been going on & on about suffering & then threw some Good Shepherd material in at the end. Indeed, he's already told us about the fact that Our Shepherd is a suffering shepherd. Ergo, to paraphrase Henri Nouwen, ......we wounded sheep follow a wounded Shepherd. But this isn't a bad thing. WE HAVE A SHEPHERD. Wounded/suffering tho we all may be, he is leading us to the green pastures where woundedness & suffering will be no more. That we suffer now, a little, for a little while, can be endured because (a) Christ our Shepherd endured it & he empowers us and (b) because it draws others into the flock. As sheep of the Good Shepherd, may we learn from him that giving up something of ourselves in this manner.....FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS......is a very GOOD THING. It is a grace.


Cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday May 8th

Second Week of Easter………….. 1Peter 1:17-23 [24-25]
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed (aka ransomed) from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, "All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

Series Title: EASTER—don’t just celebrate it, live it!


Key passage: “LIVING FREE”
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed (aka ransomed) from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ…

Freedom is a word we hear so much about in our country ("living in the land of the 'free' & home of the brave), but freedom is very misunderstood. For most, especially THESE DAYS… freedom means the ability to do whatever we want whenever we want, and never having to answer to any authority—even our elected government. In other words, what most people consider to be ‘freedom’ is actually ANARCHY….the complete absence or non-recognition of authority.

Biblically speaking, that is *not freedom at all. Peter tells us that we have been "redeemed (literally ransomed) from **OUR** empty way of living," (vs 18).

In our common language, the concept of ‘ransom’ is limited to the idea of money illegally extorted by a group of evil individuals from an innocent party, in payment for the life of a hostage. This is an OK beginning for trying to understand the biblical concept of ransom/redeeming, but there are other nuances that need to be mentioned. For one, in the biblical sense it is often not just an *individual, but a whole *group of people who are in need of redemption (Israel in bondage in Egypt is the typical example that comes to mind). Within the biblical ideal, there is also a sense of *DUTY on the part of a ‘kinsman’ to redeem/ransom his kin if they are enslaved. Love is a great motivator and it certainly comes into play, but in this sense it is a dutiful self-sacrificing, looking out for the NEEDS OF OTHERS sort of love. Hence, looking once again to Israel in Egyptian bondage, God ACTED on behalf of his people as kinsman/redeemer, out of duty, self-sacrificing love, and with the needs of others in mind…LIBERATING THEM…and leading them to FREEDOM; **not anarchy where they could do whatever they wanted, but FREEDOM to live under Him as His people.

Fast Forward…
In Peter’s thought process something very similar is occurring, although it’s more **nuanced. Peter doesn’t say that his readers have been physically enslaved in the Egyptian (or any other) labor camps. He talks about “the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,” which could mean a variety of things. If he has primarily Messianic Jews in mind, then he means the “Tradition of the Elders” that added SO MANY rules, regulations & restrictions to the Torah that only the religious professionals could begin to obey them; and in short, only the religious professionals could comfort themselves as being in a state of grace. If, on the other hand, Peter had former pagans in mind, then the “empty way of life” would equate to meaningless pagan idol worship & immorality.

The most fascinating aspect of the text is to try to SEARCH OUT what “empty ways of life” might mean to the average Chicago suburbanite, as surely few if any of us have been redeemed either from trying to adhere to the Jewish Tradition of the Elders, **OR pagan idol worship.

This is a good place to insert a remark or two about “Liberation Theology.”
Wiki isn’t always the most reliable place to start, but it’s definition of Liberation Theology is pretty good. In a nutshell: it “is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions. It has been described by proponents as "an interpretation of Christian faith through the poor's suffering, their struggle and hope, and a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor", and by detractors as Christianized Marxism.”

Regardless of the *formal definition, aims and goals of Liberation Theology as a discrete movement within the wider church, it MUST ALWAYS BE SAID that LIBERATION is a core purpose of the life, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He came to FREE SINNERS, of all races, creeds, and class. But free us from WHAT? That’s still the question. And as we’ve already seen, the LIBERATION Christ offers is both *objective (freeing all from sin) and *subjective (freeing individuals from their specific former ‘empty ways’).

Sadly, too often what masquerades as today’s “gospel” message is that Jesus has ‘freed’ the Christian from the yoke of civic duty/morality/responsibility so as to be able to live in the anarchy of ‘freedom’ to pursue his/her own private selfish quest for The American Dream. WRONG! If the former “empty ways of life” of the 1st century Messianic Jew were adhering to the Traditions of the Elders; if the former “empty ways of life” of the 1st century pagan included ritual idol worship & immorality, then it stands to reason that the “empty ways of life” of 21st century Chicago suburbanites are comprised of the “get all you can, & Can all you get” selfish consumerism, “me first, to heck with others” mutation of the so-called American Dream, which, these days sees both people and things as DISPOSABLE.

We have been RANSOMED from THAT. We have been REDEEMED from THAT. We have been LIBERATED from THAT. In other words, we have been liberated from *ourselves (horrible and selfish taskmasters that we are) and joined to God through Christ. This is TRUE FREEDOM. Easter: don't just celebrate it, LIVE IT! Live Free in Christ!

Cheers,

TM