Is lip service enough!

 I have enjoyed reading the short version of In Touch and it is about right for my old brain.

In the last issue there was an interesting comment on Lent, and it contained two things which caught my eye and I thought I could add some additional comment. The first is the correct statement that the temple authorities were concerned for their livelihood but perhaps it goes further. By the time this was written the temple had already been destroyed by the Romans after another insurrection. The temple hierarchy were responsible to the Romans for collecting the taxes and obtained a cut from this but were also expected to keep the population subservient and peaceful. Jesus’s actions and statements threatened this peace and particularly at the time of the Passover remembering the time when the Israelite nation had been freed from the domination of the Egyptian pharaoh it could have stirred up unwelcome nationalism. The couple on the road to Emmaus commented. “we had hoped that he might be the one to redeem Israel. Like their later counterparts in Germany, they tried to negotiate and mediate no doubt trying to save the people from further cruelty and death. Unfortunately, in the end, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the holocaust caused even greater suffering. The leaders were doing the wrong thing for the right reasons perhaps. Even the Gospel writers can be shown to have blamed “the Jews” and whitewashed Pilate in a situation where their survival was still l endangered, but unwittingly gave justification for anti-Semitism for generations even though they were Jews themselves.

The second part is the statement “Jesus’ teachings are not revolutionary to our community today and most people would at least give lip service to them.” Eye there’s the rub! We can give lip service to something innocuous because we have domesticated the saying of Jesus until they are nice platitudes, but our faith does not consist of a set of statements we have to agree to not some nice moral pronouncements that could come from any reasonable person or group. Jesu extended these statements until the rocked those who heard them, “Love your enemies!” “Do good to those who abuse you.” Not acceptable in an occupied country and unlikely to be welcome for most people now, We marvel at survivors of accidents or concentration camps who react with forgiveness because it is not really natural to us. Calling you brother a fool is the same as murder. Looking at someone with lust is the same as adultery. Harm a child and you are worse off than if you were to be drowned. Again, and again, he pushed the boundaries of what was reasonable and logical to demand a greater morality which in the end was the Kingdom that was different to those that wielded power and consisted of humility, sacrifice and love.

Sure we can give lip service to the initial statements, but are we ready for the radical, uncompromising stance of one who forgave those who were howling for his blood as he was led to crucifixion, and took time to console those around him and even an unknown thief and murderer dying beside him.