As we wrap up our consideration of Transcending, Escaping or Engaging and Transforming, I’ve made it no secret that my soul resonates more deeply with the synoptics’ version of the kingdom. We should be about transforming our world, not escaping it. We should be about making our present world a safe, compassionate, just home for all, not becoming so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good.
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(Read this series from the beginning at Part 1 and Part 2.)
It is also true that in the synoptic gospels Jesus rejects being king. In the temptation stories of Matthew and Luke, Jesus refuses a position of power at the helm of the kingdoms of this world. This could be argued as a rejection of the empires of this world and their peace through military violence: Jesus’ kingdom in the synoptics is about bringing about peace on earth through distributive justice.
John’s rejection of kingship is quite different. The Johannine Jesus rejects being made king by force because he is much more concerned with giving his followers a way to transcend the injustice in our world than with engaging and transforming it.
All of the gospel communities would have had a lot to say to those in the Christian “moral majority” today seeking political power to enforce their version of morality. Jesus followers historically have never handled political power well. When Christians have become “king,” we have tended to deal more death than give life. And while I do believe there is a time and place to influence how our societies are shaped in our effort to make our world a more just home for everyone, the morality of the Christian right isn’t about making our world safe for everyone and ensuring that everyone has enough to thrive, but about enforcing their beliefs regarding how they believe everyone in society should behave. Those beliefs are worth taking a look at and challenging.
Lastly in this week’s reading from John, we have a version of the story of Jesus walking on water. This story portrays Jesus as transcending our material existence. In the synoptics the story demonstrates the power of Jesus and Jesus’ teachings to transform our material world. For John, Jesus is above it all, leading us on a path of transcendence.
What does this have to say to us today?
A focus on transcending this world comes from John’s gospel. But as Jesus followers, we must allow ourselves to be confronted by the fact that that focus has not always produced good fruit. Coming away to rest and be refreshed is not transcendence or escape. It’s to recharge so we can continue our work. The synoptic gospels admonish us as Jesus followers to engage our world, to transform it, to work alongside others working to shape our world into a home for everyone, a home where everyone has their needs met, a home that is safe, rooted in distributive justice, and founded on compassion and the recognition that each of us bears the image of the Divine and is part of one another.
I long for the day when Christianity in the U.S. makes the news for pushing that agenda.
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