The kingdom of heaven is like ...

The flowers shown here are in my yard, not far from the fig tree, after a recent rainstorm. Christ compares the flowers of the field to Solomon in all his splendor -- and tells us that in comparison, Solomon falls short.

One thing I appreciate about Christ's teachings is that they are very much in touch with life and in touch with the earth. He explains faith with images of wildflowers and birds. And the kingdom of heaven, he tells us, is like fishermen at their nets, like shepherds with their sheep, like farmers planting grain. The kingdom of heaven, he tells us, is like an herb garden, or like a woman baking bread, or like workers in a vineyard. The kingdom of heaven is like a rare pearl; it is like buried treasure. It is like a wedding feast. The pictures he uses are very much alive, and stir up in us the desire for this kingdom of heaven.

This is not only to explain the kingdom of heaven in ways we can understand. It is also to remind us of the good in this world. Despite all the ways in which we have harmed the world and each other, still many things in this world remain like the kingdom of heaven.

To compare the kingdom of heaven to these things is to pronounce a blessing on farmers and fishermen and wedding feasts as things that already foreshadow the kingdom of heaven.

Call for Posts: Christian Reconciliation Carnival #4

Christian Carnival #4 will be hosted by Mark at Pseudo-Polymath. His call for posts is up, entries are due by the end of the day on April 30, 2007. Mark takes the stand that the laity has the primary responsibility to drive the ecumenical movement and submits this as the special topic of the month:

The question I’d like to ask is, whether or not you are presbyter or lay, "What positive thing or things can, should, or must we do this today, this week, or this month, to foster and act in a way which helps drive the ecumenical movement forward?"

That's a worthy topic of the month! Posts are also accepted for the standing categories of Christian general interest, things ecumenical, questions, and polite debates. Spread the word!

Click here to submit a post.

Christ as Good News: For the World

Thor over at the Thinklings is stirred up by Jerry Falwell's recent statement,

We are not into particular love or limited atonement.

In fact, Falwell goes on to drop the "h-bomb" (heresy), which has already received comment elsewhere. Now normally I would have no idea what Jerry Falwell's most recent announcement might contain, but I got news of it through Thor's reaction:

Is he really suggesting that Jesus Christ was a substitutionary sacrifice for the all the sins of all those who will ultimately reject Jesus as Lord and Savior?

Well, Thor, it may be bait but I'll bite. Christ died for all: he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, not only ours but for those of the whole world. God is not willing that any should be lost, but wants all to come to repentance.

I suspect that we can place where the disconnect happens here: where the original quote (Falwell) discusses atonement and the reply (Thor) discusses substitutionary sacrifice.

In the Sinai Covenant, the Day of Atonement included a sacrifice that could be understood as a substitutionary sacrifice. This sacrifice was made for the whole people, but it was understood that the unrepentant received no benefit from a substitutionary sacrifice, even one offered on their behalf. That's because substitutionary sacrifice is not the whole of atonement. The objection that is usually raised against Christ being the atoning sacrifice not only for us, but also for the whole world, is an objection that sees forgiveness as forensic (in this case, a decree of acquittal or pardon), and assumes that therefore the whole of atonement is forensic, assumes that everything happens because the Judge decreed it.

If you assume a "reunion with God" view of atonement, then Christ being the atoning sacrifice not only for us, but also for the whole world doesn't pose a problem at all. We can confidently announce Christ's redemption not just to some subset of the world but to anyone we meet: Christ is for the whole world, and they belong to the world, therefore Christ is for them in particular.

I am going to take one of the classic prooftexts of substitutionary sacrifice and quote it in context. Notice how the apostle Paul assumes a framework of reconciliation with God -- and non-compulsory grace -- for his announcement of substitutionary sacrifice: "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain." (2 Cor 5:18-6:1)

Take care & God bless

Christianity in Tolkien: A traitor's place in salvation

Tolkien's work is usually too subtle for plain allegorical comparison.
Frodo is not exactly a Christ figure. At the end his goodness fails; the temptation to claim the ring overcomes him.
	But Gollum is much closer to a Judas figure, a traitor. Gollum's treachery was predictable and long-expected. The only thing that was largely unexpected was that his treachery worked out for the good, much like the treachery of Judas Iscariot or of the brothers of Joseph son of Jacob.
Tolkien brings out one of the themes of Christ's life in the character of Gollum: even treachery tends to go wrong, and traitors often do good that they never intended. It's not that Sam Gamgee was wrong to distrust Gollum; it's that Frodo was righter still to bring him anyway.

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All graphics from New Line Cinema's Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, presented under fair usage.

Proclaiming Christ's Resurrection: Reclaiming the Good News

Have you ever heard someone say that July 4 is the day on which Americans believe that John Hancock and other revolutionaries signed the Declaration of Independence from Britain? How about saying that Julius Caesar was a man that historians believe may have once ruled Rome? I haven't either.

But that is the game that many play with Jesus' resurrection from the dead; that it is merely the day on which Christians believe that Jesus rose bodily from the dead, three days after a public execution. Over 20 sources within a century of the event mention Jesus' resurrection; a number of them have it as the main reason for bothering to write the documents that mention it. The opponents are conspicuous by their silence. If it were any other event, it would be considered beyond rational dispute. But it's not any other event. It is an event whose reality plainly disproves atheism and materialism and secularism. The resurrection is also an event which renders silly the traditional hand-wringing about choosing a religion; the resurrection is a clarifying moment in the history of the world. This is offensive to many. And because it is offensive to so many, the proclamation of Jesus' resurrection is often muted -- when it is not drowned out by shouts of protest.

This proclamation -- that Christ is risen from the dead -- cannot be muted, or apologized for, or proclaimed in a whisper lest it might offend, because it is good news. When it is proclaimed rightly it is good news even for those who might be offended. Because even those who might be offended know the score. The weight of death and hopelessness is heavy on the world. Life is too often marked by anger, fear, and hatred. Love is poisoned by greed and pride. And finally hope is dimmed by exhaustion and apathy.

Christ's resurrection changes that. It allows us to trust his promise to raise us up at the last day, to believe his promise to make our own graves empty, because his is empty already. It gives birth to a living hope that our lives are not so fleeting and meaningless as we had feared; that we are not, after all, unloved and unnoticed in the world, but beyond wildest dreams we have the love of God, creator of heaven and earth. Christ's resurrection also highlights the promise made at his death, the promise he made as he raised the cup the night he was betrayed: a covenant for the forgiveness of sins. Christ's death and resurrection open the way for the washing of our souls, the forgiveness of our own wrongs, a release from guilt and shame. It opens the door for us to forgive others, to love again, to keep no record of wrongs. In his death our hungry spirits are fed, our thirsty souls can drink their fill. Christ's love for us can create love in our hearts where there was none before, can create humility where there was none before, can create a desire to return to God. It brings reconciliation between us and God; it restores meaning to our lives. Christ creates hope where there was none before.

The angry sounds of protest we hear over the message of Christ -- those are the sounds of those who have not yet heard: hatred can be put away now. God's blessing is back in the land.

Christ is risen indeed! It's cause for joy.

Christ, Our Passover

What's on the doorpost of your home?

Write [these commandments] on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:9)

From that command sprang forth millions of mezuzahs. This command came after Israel's exodus from Egypt, historically not too long after another command:

Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the homes where they eat the lambs. ... The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. (Exodus 12:7, 13)

For the second time, what was on a doorpost marked a home as belonging to God's people. The word of God was placed on the doorpost like the blood of the lamb before it. But the blood had power that the command did not: to make death pass over, to make God's judgment pass by harmlessly.

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:29)

With God's impeccable timing, Christ's sacrifice occurred during the Passover celebrations when people were already mindful that God's mercy and God's deliverance from death were yet to be fulfilled in the Messiah. Tonight we do not proclaim law, but forgiveness and deliverance through Christ.

Christian Reconciliation Carnival #3

Christian Reconciliation Carnival #3 is up at the Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter blog. Henry, our kind host of the month, has done a great job of pulling together the material. He has been a staunch supporter of this carnival from the beginning; please give him a read and (if you can spare it) a link.

Thanks again to all the bloggers working and praying for reconciliation.