3. Why “Do this?” (Part 2)Last week, the necessity of using metaphor was discussed. Metaphor was applied to the Creation story in Genesis. When this is done, then one sees the Christian concept of God – as distinct from the prevailing American idea of God – in a totally different manner. Many who loudly call themselves Christian have an inadequate, if not downright wrong, idea of God.
The Christian God of the Bible – including both Old and New Testaments – is not part of Creation. This God created everything that exists, including all the laws of physics and mathematics, from nothing other than what we call – using metaphor – thought or imagination. Continuing the metaphor, the mere thinking made it real, and it came into actual existence through the – metaphor – power, or Spirit, or soul, of God. (Stephen Hawking indicates that we lack the knowledge of math to fully be able to comprehend much more than we now know of the moment of the “big bang.”)
The Christian God of the Bible is, however, not just the Creator who did it and then (metaphor) stands back and watches it go. The Christian God of the Bible is intimately and actively involved in the process of Creation – for creation is an on-going process. Again, this is something we can only learn by observation, by reflection, and by faith. Then the observations, reflections and faith express themselves in story. “Story” is a combination of observation and reflection, told in a manner that includes the observation and the reflection in support of the faith of the community. That is what the Bible does for us. It tells us how the observation of events – history – illustrate the action of God in creation. (The clearest illustration of this is: The 6 PM Evening News TV on the day the Israelites went through the Red Sea, both in Egypt and in Israel, had the same lead story, a reporting of the same event: but the story in Egypt was quite different from the one in Israel.)
When one begins to understand the Bible in this manner, then real faith can commence, and the direct relationship of God to the ordinary events of daily living can be seen. When that happens, then it becomes possible to perceive the action of God in the redemption of humans – the restoration of relationships with God, with Creation and with Each Other. When that happens, then the Bible becomes a paradigm of restored relationships, rather than a book of laws to be obeyed. It comes quite clear that it is impossible for humans ever to earn God’s love. There is absolutely nothing at all that humans can do that will ever destroy God’s love – not even the murder of God’s only Son. (metaphor) God’s love is consistent and constant. When humans believe (have faith) this, then they can take their full part in the procreation and completion of Creation: in faith enhancing all relationships between people, God and all aspects of creation with the dynamic of love.That is what the Eucharist is all about.
When Jesus said “Do this for my anamnesis – in remembrance of me,” he brought all of this into the minds of the disciples. (Apparently more than just the Twelve.) “Do this” includes the entire history of Israel, the whole paradigm of God’s relationship to Israel. This is best understood in the three major themes presented in the Old Testament. These themes are: 1. Freedom from Slavery (Exodus); 2. Homecoming/Restoration/Heavenly Banquet (End of Exile, Isaiah chapters 40 – 55; 3. Mediation of Grace through Institution (rebuilding of Temple, Sacrifice, Ministry, Torah).
To this very day, the first of these (Freedom from Slavery) continues as a major part of the continuing Jewish/Hebrew religion. To participate in Passover is to be involved in a great and wondrous celebration of the power of God, the graciousness of God and the exaltation of humanity. And perhaps most important, the celebration of Passover is not the looking back with affection on some past event. Passover is not a commemoration of something that happened 3500 years ago. Passover is not the desire to return to some pervious period in the past as a “better” time than now. No, Passover is the making present of the act of God that demonstrated the love of God for those whom God has chosen as the recipients of God’s love.
The love/action of God gives a freedom God’s people did not know or understand. Look at the recipients: slaves in a nation ruled by a despotic ruler/god; desperate to demonstrate his ability to overcome the laws of nature and live forever. These sophisticated Egyptians even – perhaps – had the beginnings of a belief in the One God. They took these foreigners, enslaved them, forcing them even to forget their own heritage. The condition of the Hebrew slaves was dreadful: insufficient food; incorrect tools for the task; impersonal interrelationships; poverty; harassment; in short, every discrimination-evil known to humanity. Not only were they required to destroy their children, but they did it without complaint.
With one exception.
Moses was one of these horrid Hebrew slaves. But his mother had faith. After assuring his ability to survive, she sent him floating down the river for a future she could not imagine. The baby is discovered by a princess of the royal family and raised as her own child. (Serendipity? Luck? Fate? Coincidence? Fluke? Act of God? – it depends on your own faith.) And look what happened!
Through the actions of Moses, this unfortunate gaggle of slaves, these unsophisticated, uneducated, unknown people with no homeland, no history (in the sense of war and conquest), no claim to significance by any set of standards suddenly found themselves set free.
This freedom came to them, in effect, as a bolt out of the blue. A flash of lightning gave their lives a new meaning and purpose. They had done nothing at all. But it happened. It happened when the wind – the sign of their Storm-god – came up and blew back the water so they could escape the pursuing Egyptians. (Wind was observed blowing back the water in the shallow lakes that covered the isthmus of Suez during the construction of the Suez Canal.)
For no observable reason this tattered people was set free. They were delivered from their misery. They experienced the action of God. They gave thanks to God for their deliverance. How could they show their gratitude? First, by making present the loving action of God throughout all ages; second, as a paradigm, or model, for all humanity. (Metaphor)
“Do this.” The “This” is the action of God, setting free not only the Hebrews, the first followers of “The Way”, the Christians. It was the person of Jesus who “did this.” Jesus did this, not by his teaching, not by his miracles, but by the total offering of his own life. This self offering – this obedience – this utter faith in God – is the making holy (sacri-fice), the “showing” of the complete love of God for his people, the bringing of his people into full life in God. This, in the first three Gospels and Paul, is the setting free - for no reason -that God did at Passover with Moses. For no (humanly discernable) reason, God acted. The unfailing love of God came because God chose to bring it. But God brought it to the People of God, those who were looking forward to God’s loving action – Messiah??
July 19, 2008 at 6:06 pm |
Yes, of course.
I think it is interesting that generally speaking the Jews had no “theology” as we think of it today (i.e., a system of intellectual constructs). When asked to describe their God, they would say, “God is the one who did so-and-so!” — describing not ontology but activity — and avoiding even NAMING God (one of the several great risks Jesus took — demonstrating his own perfect union with the Divine — was to actually speak that forbidden Name aloud on several occasions).
“Do this” was certainly the most commanding of the relatively few mandates Jesus ever gave.