Cultural Vandalism Pt 1
Well, life has been extremely busy so not much blogging has gone on recently!! Hopefully things are slipping back to a more normal pace - Below are some of my notes from a talk I gave yesterday at a local university group. The gist of the message was that Jesus committed radical acts of cultural vandalism by tearing down walls everywhere he went, letting people know that the door to God is open . . . and that as his followers our call is to do the same.
1) JESUS DEMONSTRATED THE KINGDOM WITH CULTURAL VANDALISM
In order to understand how revolutionary Jesus was we have to understand the world stage he came on to
Elitism – Politically (Roman citizen or out)
Spiritually – Believed kingdom was going to come –
Pharisees – Out if
Gentile (wrong beliefs)
Tax Collector
Shepherd (wrong jobs)
Leprosy, Deafness (Wrong Physicality)
Other incurable disease
Broken any of the rules (Wrong Behavior)
Message was – The door is closed, but you can enter if you are CLEAN.
View of Pharisees – We who are clean need to protect our cleanness. The door is closed – but conform to us and you might get in. So there are walls going up socially and spiritually – A WALL IS ANYTHING THAT MAKES PEOPLE BELIEVE THERE IS SOMETHING BETWEEN GOD AND THEM.
Jesus comes into a world filled with these walls and begins to tear them down.
2 types of vandalism – Cosmetic and Destructive - This was destructive!!
Zaccheus – Eats with him; prostitute washes his feet at dinner, Disciples – usually elite – these guys were the ordinary.Sick people – Made well. Sermon on the mount – addresses them all – No wonder he got crowds!! Jesus spent his time on the fringes – Why?
2) SIN ISN’T CONTAGIOUS, LOVE IS
Woman with issue of blood is GREAT example - Jesus shows us that SIN IS NOT CONTAGIOUS, Gods holiness and righteousness are contagious. This is the basis of a theology that drives us out to where the hurting are (as opposed to the essenes - driven to disengage culture, or the pharisees - driven to legalism)
More to follow . . .
posted by Harambe @ 8:43 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Couple random thoughts:
- it may not be that the Pharisees were as legalistic as we make them out to be. I've been reading a couple of different books that suggest that, in fact, their rigidness to the Law was because they recognized what God had done for them in Egypt (redeemed them) and that obedience to the Law was a proper response. Their condemnation of others was not so much because of their legalism but perhaps because they believed that Israel needed to be pure before the Messiah came. Thus, those who did not adhere to the Law were preventing the Messiah from coming...
- Sin is not contagious...I know what you mean here. Seperation from sinful people does not keep us from sinning, nor does interaction with sinful people necessarily make us sinful. However, would it be helpful to include something about the 'yeast' effect of sin? It may not be contagious, but it certainly has a tendancy to spread...
Thanks Phil - The point about the pharisees is well taken - One of the points we discussed was how often we see them as the cartoon villains in the story - Whilst they may have rigidly stuck to the law due to your reasons, they also believed that rigid adherence to the law was the way to usher in the kingdom (as opposed to the violence promoted by the Zealots or the retreating of the Essenes). Thus keeping the law meant the kingdom would come which meant freedom spiritually and politically.
Sin Contagion - Please remember these are just my notes - the topic here was that the womna with the issue of blood should, under the pharasaic worldview, make Jesus "unclean". Rather, the power of God goes from him and makes her "clean". This is a reversal of worldviews and a radical departure. It can be seen to have proclaimed God's kingdom in a demonstrative and radical manner. Whilst a little leaven can affect the whole loaf, my point is that our theology must be (as was Jesus') one that drives us out to those marginalized by religion to let them know the good news. God's love is a contagion, and we are the carriers . . .
Thanks, as always for your comments!
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