Kingdom Ready Blog

Today was a strange day, and very thought provoking.  It started by seeing NT Wright deliver a sermon at Park St Church, which is celebrating its 200 year anniversary with guest speakers.  It ended at a wake of a grandmother.

NT Wright’s sermon was about hope.  He started out with a wonderful observation.  At the same time Paul was in prison writing to the people of Colossae another announcement was being sent out.  A young man, with some of the best education of his time, extremely popular with the people took office bringing a new hope to Rome.  This was the emperor Nero.  Although, we could easily change a word in that previous sentance to be much more applicable to our own time here in the United States.  Yet, where does our true hope lie.  Paul tells the people of Colossae not to trust in Nero – but rather Jesus

This topic of exile has, in my opinion, a valuable place in looking at the New Testament from a Christian perspective.  I don’t think it is the singular theme of the New Testament.  I don’t think any theme is particularly singular, if there was one, it could be the vindication of Jesus and those who are his.

I think it is a valuable topic because it ellucidates the historical actions of Jesus and John the Baptist.  Everyone, even those are led by God, acts in ways that are comprehensible to their context.  Understanding ‘exile’ gives a very rich meaning to these actions in the eyes of those who lived in that time. Without this understanding certain actions of Jesus and John become arbitrary in our eyes.

When we look at the second and third centuries we see great diversity between groups claiming the name of Christ.  We see Ebionites, Gnostics, Desert monk ascetics, charismatic mob leaders, philosophers and learned men, as well as your more normal peasants and common folk.  Each of these groups, as time went on, became more and more divergent from one another in their beliefs, even their fundamental beliefs.  Looking back, we don’t seem to associate “normative belief” (what is, or should be, commonly believed by everyone) with any of these groups.  The Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches find a “normative” belief with only a sub-group of the learned men.

The distinction between the present age and the age to come, usually reckoning the present age as evil and the age to come as good.New Testament and the People of God, NT Wright, pg 253

This falls squarely in line with the previous duality mentioned (Moral duality).  If, in the first century, the Jewish people believe; that one can act good or evil, and they are still in exile, because they have acted evily (sin), and they have not experienced the promises of the prophets (the age to come), it is a logical outcome to conclude that there is a massive division between the world as it stands, and the world as it should be:

The positing of a firm distinction between good and evil, e.g. in the realm of human behavior.  Most religions maintain some such distinction, but some forms of pantheism have tried to remove it, not least by labeling it ‘dualism’ and associating it with other dualisms that are deemed to be unwelcome. NT Wright, New Testament and the People of God, pg 253

Theological/cosmological duality. If pantheism is a classic for of monism, the differentiation between the creator god and the created order is often seen as itself a sort of ‘dualism’. NT Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, pg. 253

There are several categories of duality: (1)Theological/ontological, (2)Thelogical/cosmological, (3)Moral, (4)Eschatalogical, (5)Theological/moral, (6)Cosmological, (7)Anthropological, (8)Epistemological, (9)Sectarian, and (10)Psychological. When we say dualities, we mean two opposite sides. And these categories are fairly atomistic, but vary greatly in the areas they cover. I hope to go over each of these in the context of Judaism, and therefore, Christianity in an effort to show what dualities fit with Jesus. We will start with Theological/ontological.

Theological/ontological duality. The postulation of heavenly beings other than the one god, even if these being exist at his behest and to do his will. The New Testament and the People of God, NT Wright, pg. 253

As I’ve given a more historical and social focus towards understanding the New Testament and Jesus things start to fall together much much neater. We all recognize that the Jewish people were longing for God to save their nation and restore them to their former glory. Ultimately, through Israel the world would be brought to order. This whole future hope is given the name “Kingdom of God” during this time period. And the Jewish zeal for this to happen was so very strong. It caused so many popular leaders, prophets, and messiah-claimants to cause violent uprisings over this two hundred year period.

The Gospel story is so significant because it has real power.  When Paul writes in Rom 1.18 that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation he is right on.  A story, about what God is going to do, about Jesus and what he did, and about you is God’s power.  Why?  Because that Story has the ability to change reality here and now.  More and more I am realizing that God’s salvation is less and less about the future date in which Jesus will separate goats and sheep.  Why is that true?  Because the goats and sheep are already manifesting themselves today.  We should already know, by our actions, which side we are on.  God’s salvation is not an ethereal concept!  Go and tell the Jews who walked across dry land fleeing the Egyptians that God’s salvation is a feeling in your heart.  They would laugh at you.  Tell David who God saved from Saul an seated as the King of Israel about this ethereal salvation.  No salvation is to be found today.  Today is the day of salvation.  We find it when God enters our life and changes us, all the way around, from the power of sin to the power of life.

I’ve been struggling a bit to figure out exactly how to express this idea about Story. I use a capital ‘S’ to denote the concept of Story, not a particular story or stories. Interrelated to this idea of Story is Symbol. Symbols are attached with a huge meaning, a story. For example
This piece of art has become a symbol of an entire time period, artistic and cultural shift in the modern western world. If an image is worth a thousand words, a symbol’s worth cannot be counted in words. Another example is the Crucifix. It stands for Jesus’ death, passion, atoning work, and suffering, in addition to his resurrection, ascenscion, an identity for all Christian peoples of all time and worldwide. I could clearly go on. The Crucifx embodies a very specific and solid story, whereas Warhol’s Campbells soup cans is a little more fluid, but still evokes a meaning, especially to those in the art or cultural studies. So why is story important? Because story is a fundamental building block to how we ‘know’ things.