Morning Coffee with Jesus

 Now, I appreciate that my humour and imagination might be offensive to some... but for me, they are tools to get me to deeper truth.  So, I apologize in advance to any that I might offend...  I stand befuddled by the Zimmerman verdict, not because the law was improperly applied; not because the jury failed to do their duty, but perhaps because the law was obeyed and the jury did its job... and still a 17 year old boy is dead.   

Sitting in my backyard early this morning… enjoying the cool morning before the humidity takes over… rising sun bestowing a sense of calm hope: A whole new day waiting for me to begin… sipping a nice hot cup of green tea and talking to Jesus.

Well, of course I’m talking to Jesus, it would rude to ignore him.

There he is sitting on my faux wicker couch, cup of black coffee in his hand.  I've often wondered if coffee is really the best way for the Son of Man to begin his day… but as he has explained to me, “You want irrefutable proof of the existence of a Loving God?  It’s that first sip of coffee in the morning…  it tastes like angels singing.  Tea is just a bunch of leaves in water”

This morning He’s still pretty shook up over the George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin verdict. 

You know, for a guy who spent so much time in the first century under oppressive military rule, surrounded by intolerance and racism, he can sure be naive.   

“The jury did its job, Jesus… they listened to the facts, applied the law and recognized that George Zimmerman acted in self-defense”

“Against, what?  A 17 year old boy with some Skittles?”

“No, an aggressive young man, who, apparently, would not back down”

“So, for being 17 and full of assertive energy, a young boy is dead…. I suppose that I’m lucky we didn't have guns or self-defense laws in the first century, none of my Apostles would have lasted long…”

I let that one hang in the air for a while…

“Jesus, you have to understand the necessity for a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law… people’s right to defend property must be supported, or those who bully and take our stuff will win… and if we’re going to have the right to protect your stuff, we have to be allowed to use lethal force, or the bad guys are simply going to call our bluff.”

Jesus looked at me with those big brown eyes  (they are sooo big) and told me about the first time he met Paul, James and John; how he invited them to leave their nets and their stuff behind to follow him… and they did. Matthew left his job... Andrew left his teacher... everybody who followed Jesus left all their stuff behind.

 “Yeah,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable,  “but they didn’t have great stuff like I have… I’ve got a convertible and have you seen my new Blackberry?  I mean, it fits right in my pocket and it’s not going to slow me down if I’m following you… and think of the great pictures I could take for FaceBook and Pinterest”

“Well,” Jesus said, “it is a nice phone, although I prefer a real keyboard… but if you want to follow me,  you need to let go of your attachment to goods and property.”  He noticed my jaw drop, “Seriously, give it all up and follow me.  The added bonus is that if you follow me, you  won’t need a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, will you?” (Mark 10:17ff) 

“Well, sure… but still people can be pretty mean.  Surely we need some kind of law to protect us from muggers and those who would take the shirt off our back… is it so much that I want to keep my shirt on?  I burn so easily in the sun”

Jesus reached over to hold my hand… slipped a little bottle of sunscreen into it and said, “From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again…”  (Luke 6:29.30)

“Come on, that’s crazy!  It’s my shirt!!  It’s my colour!! I worked hard for it!!!”

Jesus gave me the look that parents give a three year old that just doesn't seem to grasp the idea of nap time… and then he asked  me “Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”   (Matthew 6:28ff)

I could feel my face burning… “I think that ‘You of little faith’ is a bit harsh.  I mean, I’m here talking to you, obviously, I believe in you..”

Again with that patient smile, “I didn't say ‘you of little belief’ – I know that you believe in me, but I’m not sure about your faith.  Faith is about living as if you believe in me… faith should change the way that you live… perhaps not worrying about a shirt that brings out the colour of your eyes, or believing that property is more important than human life, or having hope even when everything seems to be falling apart…”

“Sure, I get it… but if someone is threatening me… if they even lay hands on  me…”

Jesus cuts me off… “If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also” ( Luke 6:29a)

Silence.

I had nothing to say…

Silence.

Probably the kind of silence that Pilate heard.

Finally, I ventured… “It sure would be easier to do this if you were around.  If you could remind us”

“What do you talk about in church?” Jesus asked.

Not wanting to brag about our latest fundraiser, I decided to retreat into the silence.

My tea was cold.

Jesus took my hand and  looked me in the eyes… not in judgment, not in scorn, but with a deep understanding and love and He said, “Norm, I know that you try.  But do remember when I said that no one can serve two masters? You will either hate one and love the other or be devoted  to one and despise the other?  Well, here it is… you cannot love property over life, or you will find yourself shooting people over a car… you cannot love your “rights” over your desire for service and justice, or you will soon be taking care only of yourself…. you cannot pursue power over love or you will find yourself killing all those things that challenge you… remember Herod?  AND you cannot follow me and shoot me at the same time…”

“But, nobody shot you!  Not this time… it was in Florida…”

“…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…. I came into your neighbourhood and you shot me….   just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. …” (Matthew 25)

“But, Jesus… it’s the law.... it's fair… aren't you listening?”

“Norm…I'm Jesus... aren't you listening?”

He left shortly after that... 

Thoughts while watching "The Bible"

So, I watched the Bible last night 

   (actually, this morning – thank you PVR). 

As I watched, I had thoughts: some deep, some not so deep.  I kept calling Ms. Downey, "Roma Downey Jr.", then I would picture her as Iron Man or Sherlock Holmes and chuckle to myself....  (told you, some thoughts not so deep)

Two hours of TV (less with PVR and fast forward)

I was hoping to like it.  I’m a minister… kinda partial to the material.  I also love Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and now, Vikings.  The promise was that this show would be like that, only based on the Bible.  History Chanel, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey promised a powerful, visually engaging story to our home screens, which is great because most people have lost the over-arching narrative of the Bible.  Where we once knew the story as an epic tale; movie or miniseries, we now know the Bible as a series of FaceBook posts: Short, often out of order, and kinda manipulative.  (Wow! Look at that Jesus hates fig trees!  If you agree, share…)

So, I’m up for a narrative.

And I got one

    … except that a lot of it was missing.

God’s need to cleanse the world was all about humans making bad choices?  What about the giant babies that humans were producing after being raped by angels?  (Genesis 6) I thought that was one of reasons we needed a new start…?
Where was the image of Noah lying drunk on the ground after the Ark settled on dry land… naked and open to the ridicule of his sons?

Where was Abraham’s depression – the deep terrifying darkness that fell over him?

What was with the Ninja angel and the swords?

How come Lot didn’t offer the crowd his young un-wed daughters when they came knocking for the angel strangers?   Was Lot’s wife really so bad that she had to be turned to salt just for looking back at the city that she had called home?  And shouldn’t the daughters have been just a little older…. As much as the narrator said that Lot and his daughter disappeared into the mountains, never to be seen again, we Bible nerds know that the sisters got Dad drunk, and had sex with him in an effort to repopulate the world they assumed destroyed.   I get why we didn’t need to see that, but at least make the girls a little older.

And Moses… don’t get me started.  And keep me away from how “fair” the colour of our heroes and how wonderfully right they always were in the face of the foolish who would block the way, slow progress, or disbelieve God.   My Bible is full of “heroes” making mistakes, misunderstanding and screwing up!  I always loved Madeliene L’Engle’s assertion that the Bible is a collection of stories of people singularly un-qualified for the tasks assigned.  (or something like… pretty sure it was Madeliene… maybe Marty Ingels?)

But… I did actually like the crazy ninja angel.  And the Ark… that was cool (although I would have done more to control the giraffes – one of those  big tippy creatures falls over, the partner is going to pretty sad watching everybody else making out while he/she waits for extinction.)

And I know that you can’t fit it all in… not in 10 hours.

Maybe not it 100 hours.

The big problem is not what’s left out or kept it… For me,  the problem is that any kind of movie is going to be “literal”.  By virtue of the medium, we are stuck with a single layered event:  This happened and it caused that to happen; and then another thing happened and here we are.  That’s a movie.  Meant to be believed; followed to its conclusion.

It works great for Game of Thrones.  It looks like it’s going to work for Vikings… but the actual Bible is meant to be read with many layers.  As much as there is a grand narrative, it is also an ever-changing; always evolving metaphor and collections of metaphors.  We can argue about whether the metaphor is the creation of a human author or a divine creator.. but in the end, we not meant to read the Bible as an historical narrative.    The historical accuracy of Lot and his family  is not nearly as valuable to me as the inspiration to wonder what happens when we look back and not forward; not nearly as instructive to me as the consequences for women when men make decisions; the price we pay for hospitality; the foolishness of believing that you or your family are the only ones in the world…  so much to be taken from such a tawdry little tale.  Last night’s TV gave me none of that, instead it gave me a ninja angel and a moment of relief when Lot’s whiney wife finally got what was coming to her.   Good TV? Maybe… but not the Good Book.

I will keep watching.  I will likely go to see the Noah and Moses movies slated for release in the next year or so, but I suspect that I will enjoy them all a little bit more, if I lower my expectations and just let it be a media event instead of a motivating truth. 

Struggles with an Omni god

I struggle with an Omni-god.

Not a god that reads a defunct Sci-Fi magazine; or one that drives around in a vintage 70s Dodge automobile.   My problem is with a god who is Omnipotent.  I think that I can embrace a god who embraces all possibility and novelty; who is “already there” in the reality that my decisions create (already there in the alternatives, too)-  but still leaves the decisions to me, making me a co-creator in reality.  Perhaps that is a kind of Omniscience – all knowing… but it is in my choices; and choices of the others that the knowledge becomes evident and/or relevant.  God simply knows everything, because that is God’s nature.  Big Deal.

I suppose that’s more of an Omnipresence.  God is already “there”; always “there”… there is no “there” without God.   Again, it would seem to be a feature of God’s nature; or the nature of reality… so, again: Big Deal.

But, when I get to Omnipotent, I get into trouble.  Not simply because I am become very disappointed in a god who hasn’t fixed the things that vex me; hurt the world; make lives tragic.   But because the construct creates an untenable reality.

In trying to come to grips with the God that inspires “awe” and wanting this “awe” to be extreme, we decided that God was the smartest, lovingest, bestest, fastest, strongest thing in reality  (for brevity let’s go with the acronym SLBFS).  In fact, God is not a thing (as a thing exist within something else), but God IS reality.  And we live in God.  Except that we don’t, because we can sin and wander away from God… so, how can we wander away from that in which we live…   so, as a working hypothesis, God is IN reality, but is the smartest, lovingest, bestest, fastest, strongest for all time  (which doesn’t exist for God either).  Cross our hearts and hope to die.  (which can’t happen to God either).  Do you see how hard this all becomes??? So we settle for an Onmipotent God.  At least that we can understand.  The strongest that there can ever be!  No matter what you think the ultimate power may be – God is bigger and more powerful.

So, living with this God who is so powerful and all-knowing… when bad things happen, it must be part of God’s plan.   When thousands die in an earthquake, it must be God’s plan.  Surely, God could have save them… but as God did not, there must be a reason.  God is not cruel… (refer back to the SLBFS god), God knows it all, sees it all, controls it all… So, those that perished did so because they either deserved to die or because their deaths provided a greater benefit to the rest of us.   Sucks to be an object lesson.

With this god, there is no chaos in the universe; no random occurrence; no “real” novelty (already known by God)… but, instead, a whole lot of seemingly wanton and capricious acts of cruelty.  

And along comes Jesus and reminds his disciples that the blind man is not the result of his parents’ sin; that those who died when the towers fell were no different than those who survived or lived nowhere near… in other words, Jesus would seem to indicate that there is a random element in the universe: Shit does happen.   And there is God.

God who is revealed in Love, not in power.  The great thing about Love is that it will out… love always find a way.   Strength and power fade, it is in their nature; but Love need never fade… We can be distracted from love, waylaid and pre-occupied, but when we return, when we discover the limits of power, love comes back to life.  Again and again… and will do so always. 

I don’t know… my thoughts are half baked, as I emerge from the cocoon of my bed… there may be an Easter sermon here… at the very least there is a sense, for me, that Jesus struggled with an Omnipotent god, too – which is why he always seems to point to a different God, one of compassion and love.