By Hamo on Poetry
There are people after Jesus.
They have seen the signs.
Quick, let’s hide Him.
Let’s think; carpenter,
fishermen’s friend,
disturber of religious comfort.
Let’s award Him a degree in theology,
a purple cassock
and a position of respect.
They’ll never think of looking here.
Let’s think;
His dialect may betray Him,
His tongue is of the masses.
Let’s teach Him Latin
and seventeenth century English,
they’ll never think of listening in.
Let’s think;
humble,
Man of Sorrows,
nowhere to lay His head.
We’ll build a house for Him,
somewhere away from the poor.
We’ll fill it with brass and silence.
It’s sure to throw them off.
There are people after Jesus.
Quick, let’s hide Him.
nice...disturbing piece.
i like how the poet shines light on how the historical jesus (a first century, bi-vocational 'prophet' living under a death warrant) has been obscured by the Church proper. i agree that over time he's been dressed up and made eloquent through our repeated translations of copiously copied texts...and in some cases, he's been obscured.
was thinking though...
i read a snip-it out of a book today...another treatise on how a truly committed xian community should be marked by visible justice. and in many ways, i'm thankful for this author joining the growing ranks of evangelicals who are 'recovering' the 'hidden' jesus, the jesus certainly marked by passionate anti-religiousity and, simultaneously, traditional Hebrew expressions of justice. our particular faith strain had hidden this jesus long enough.
but i must also confess...and i don't know if we've talked about this bro...that i'm getting tired of this point being the main thrust/thesis of every 'progressive', xian book i pick up. it's not that i live a life of incredible justice, or that the Church has tilted its hear to ear the prophetic edge of these writers across the continent. no...what i'm wondering is if, by focusing on this 'lost' jesus, we're hiding him in other ways.
i wonder sometimes what our society would be like if all xian communities read jesus' justice teaching literally and radically. would xian protests again corporate greed and homelessness and immigrant exploitation then become normative? would more people 'see'/meet jesus (aka 'get saved') just because we became radical in a way we haven't been?
am thinking that while the world needs that jesus and that Church in some ways...the popular xian publishing that hinges on this concept reminds me that we don't believe that the world needs justice alone. i believe that jesus is primarily concealed when we do not share/reflect his answering of both temporal AND eternal questions. making jesus 'cool' and 'relevant' to our society's issues [by handing out day-old bread or protesting global warming] may fill our buildings and increase our public persona, but it doesn't guarantee that we've stopped hiding jesus.
thoughts?
sw
i like how the poet shines light on how the historical jesus (a first century, bi-vocational 'prophet' living under a death warrant) has been obscured by the Church proper. i agree that over time he's been dressed up and made eloquent through our repeated translations of copiously copied texts...and in some cases, he's been obscured.
was thinking though...
i read a snip-it out of a book today...another treatise on how a truly committed xian community should be marked by visible justice. and in many ways, i'm thankful for this author joining the growing ranks of evangelicals who are 'recovering' the 'hidden' jesus, the jesus certainly marked by passionate anti-religiousity and, simultaneously, traditional Hebrew expressions of justice. our particular faith strain had hidden this jesus long enough.
but i must also confess...and i don't know if we've talked about this bro...that i'm getting tired of this point being the main thrust/thesis of every 'progressive', xian book i pick up. it's not that i live a life of incredible justice, or that the Church has tilted its hear to ear the prophetic edge of these writers across the continent. no...what i'm wondering is if, by focusing on this 'lost' jesus, we're hiding him in other ways.
i wonder sometimes what our society would be like if all xian communities read jesus' justice teaching literally and radically. would xian protests again corporate greed and homelessness and immigrant exploitation then become normative? would more people 'see'/meet jesus (aka 'get saved') just because we became radical in a way we haven't been?
am thinking that while the world needs that jesus and that Church in some ways...the popular xian publishing that hinges on this concept reminds me that we don't believe that the world needs justice alone. i believe that jesus is primarily concealed when we do not share/reflect his answering of both temporal AND eternal questions. making jesus 'cool' and 'relevant' to our society's issues [by handing out day-old bread or protesting global warming] may fill our buildings and increase our public persona, but it doesn't guarantee that we've stopped hiding jesus.
thoughts?
sw
i am end up reflecting on how trend driven we are...it is as though we wait for the next brand stamp to determine who or how we should be as the 'church'.
We wait and watch...looking for the next success story, so that we can model ourselves after that, copy that, do that, be like that...and in the process we paint a picture of a Jesus who is blury and hard to understand.
Why? because He is very often seen only through the lens of success.
I am not against cool, hip, suave, or slick...i just long for something more...for me...for everyone.
It is as though we have in some way returned to the days where the priest stood as the representative of God to the people...only now we have a personal relationship with Jesus but we wait for someone to interpret the church and the church's activities for us.
The essence of the Gospel is love. for Him. and for him/her. Both require a very personal reality of Jesus that is alive and transforming.
the doing comes out of the being...it has to. and i for one am tired of strategies and ideas that do not, at the end of the day, awaken, strengthen and draw deeper my love for Him and for him/her.
does this make any sense?
j
We wait and watch...looking for the next success story, so that we can model ourselves after that, copy that, do that, be like that...and in the process we paint a picture of a Jesus who is blury and hard to understand.
Why? because He is very often seen only through the lens of success.
I am not against cool, hip, suave, or slick...i just long for something more...for me...for everyone.
It is as though we have in some way returned to the days where the priest stood as the representative of God to the people...only now we have a personal relationship with Jesus but we wait for someone to interpret the church and the church's activities for us.
The essence of the Gospel is love. for Him. and for him/her. Both require a very personal reality of Jesus that is alive and transforming.
the doing comes out of the being...it has to. and i for one am tired of strategies and ideas that do not, at the end of the day, awaken, strengthen and draw deeper my love for Him and for him/her.
does this make any sense?
j
2 comments:
Commenting on J's thoughts...Yeah, makes sense to me. Speaking solely for myself: slick, suave and cool scare me. If everybody's doing it, my theory: at best it lacks substance, at worst it is fallacious.
Again, speaking solely for myself, we have totally returned to the era of dependence upon a priest. I personally didn't realize to what extent this was true for me until I stepped out of the institutional church for a breather. I expected others to call into question my relationship with Jesus but, if I am painfully frank, I had a few questions myself! These questions led to some uncomfortable searching but ultimately greater clarity.
One more time, speaking solely for myself, I don't think I can manage strategy personally any more complex than how to live today! The sad thing is that I love to strategize! Just call me King-of-the-five-year-plan! But somehow my plans and strategies usually end up focusing on me. I disguise them cleverly but forget to submit them to Him whom I have pledged to submit my life. "Stop pontificating and start acting the part of the selfless, humble, loving servant..." That's my admonition to myself...thereafter perhaps I can strategize...but I doubt it.
Somehow the concept of 'hiding Jesus' is difficult to wrap my head around. I understand the corporate or institutional sense of draping our religion in gold and fine words and wines, however the only 'physical' picture of Jesus I actually present to the world is ME! So, I think the challenge of allowing Christ to be seen in me has always been the same ... being willing to bear my heart before my community! I think that's what St. Paul spoke about when he refered to being 'weak' so that Christ could be strong?? If it is about me and I'm afraid of being exposed, then I must hide Christ as well! I can not help but hide him when I am terrified of showing my heart!
( An example. ) That's what ALWAYS bugs me about the christian community when it comes to 'challeged authority' or conflicts. Somehow it becomes all about us and not about Christ and whenever I feel that I have something personally at stake ... then I will almost always choose to hide Chris. ( Not that he's hidden so much but more that He canot be seen because of my EGO!!)
Christ is hidden usually because we are terrified of exposure ( vulnerable ) or we are occupied with self worship . ( Look what I've built! )
sigh!
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