PC Lent Course 2014 John Churcher

8/13/2019 PC Lent Course 2014 John Churcher

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Progressive Christianity Lent Course 2014

A Journey of Faith: Moving On

John Churcher

Copyright : 2014, Rev John ChurcherAll rights reserved.

Scripture taen !ro" the #e$ Revised Standard %ersion &i'le, copyright 1()( the *ivision o! Christian +ducation o! the #ational Council o! theChurches o! Christ in the nited States o! A"erica. sed 'y per"ission.

All rights reserved.

-u'lished 'y:-er"ission to Spea

1aple!ieldSt Al'ansA/2 2&*

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Contents

ee ne: he #ature o! Spirituality

ee $o: Carl Jung and Spirituality

ee hree: 3+verything $e hear is opinion, not a !act. +verything $e see is a perspective,not the truth.3

ee our: Jesus the healer, $isdo" teacher and sage

ee ive: *oes li!e have any purpose $hen $e dispose o! the 5Super 6nterventionist 7odut here58

tu#y Metho#s:1. Read each section and co"plete the discussion 'o9 tass either individually or in the

group 'e!ore "oving to the !ollo$ing section.2.

6t $ill 'e use!ul to have several di!!erent translations o! the &i'le availa'le.3. Re!lect on the $eely session as a $hole 'e!ore co""encing the !ollo$ing session.4. Additional suggested reading can 'e !ound at the end o! each $ee.

ession re$uirements:1. A copy o! these notes !or each participant.2. +ach participant should have a otter !or notes.

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%ee" One: The &ature of !iritua'ity

O(TCOM):

o a!!ir" legiti"ate progressive alternatives to conventional or

traditional creedal Christianity;.

o de!ine Spirituality and identi!y $ays in $hich it di!!ers !ro"Religion8

o identi!y reasons $hy $e "ay create the 57od5 that 5supports5 andencourages our preudices, our psychological and social needs and

our personal $ishes.

he "ore so"e people

continue upon their ourneyo! !aith the less relevancethey see in $hat institutionalchurches do $ee 'y $ee inthe traditional preaching and

$orship $ithin the conte9t o!su'stitutionary atone"entand original sin "entalities.

u"anist,concerned less $ith clai"s o!divinity visited upon Jesus o!

#a@areth 'y the Church do$nthe "illennia. n the otherhand, 6 a" increasinglyenthralled $ith the hu"anityo! Jesus, his $ay o!co"passionate !orgivenessand his social teachings andhu"anist principles. >ere

$as a "an $ho !oundso"ething in li!e that $as

$orth dying !or.

hat do you understand Christian >u"anis" to 'e8

>o$ does this di!!er !ro" conventional or traditional creedal Christianity8

o $hat e9tent do progressive alternatives o!!er a "ore relevant $ay to understand and toe9perience the 7od that $e "eet in Jesus in our present post"odern age8

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o a great e9tent 6 thin that$e even create the 57od5 that5supports5 and encourages ourpreudices, our psychologicaland social needs and ourpersonal $ishes. his is as

true !or those $ho are!unda"entalists andliteralists as "uch as it is true!or li'erals andprogressives, !or theists andnontheists alie. +ach o! us"aes a choice as to $hat istruth. So"e "ay si"ply taein all that the !unda"entalistor literalist preachers and

leaders tell the" is the truth and re"ain silent i! the toldtruth does not "ae sense inpersonal e9perience. /i'eralsand progressives are "uch"ore open to challenge, toseeing out and creating theiro$n truth that has a richnessB'ut o!ten provisional"eaning !or the"selves.

&ut $ithin all versions o!truth there has to 'e anele"ent o! spirituality that"any associate $ith the 5soul5as opposed to one5s physicalnature or "aterial things.

>o$ever, $hen 6 have asedreligious people to de!ine5spirituality5 o!ten they have!elt unco"!orta'le anduna'le to go 'eyondstate"ents such as 36t5sso"ething $ithin3 or 36t5sho$ 6 e9perience 7od3 or 36t5sa $ay o! living.3 All o! $hich

are true state"ents 'utspirituality is so "uch "ore.

Although, !or so"e, the 5soul5"ay not e9ist, "y e9periencetells "e that spirituality isreal. or "e, spirituality isconcerned $ith "yinterpretation o! e9periences,o! ho$ 6 5see5 the $orld a'out"e, in things such as a$e and

$onder. 6 illustrate this 'yre!erencing an event thatoccurred $hile 6 $as

$atching the &&C 4 television'roadcast o! the 201D-ro"enade Concert led $ith

i""ense enthusias" 'y#igel Eennedy. >e $asacco"panied 'y the"agni!icent younginstru"entalists o! the-alestine Strings !ro" the+d$ard Said usicConservatory 'ased in&ethlehe", 7a@a City,

Jerusale", #a'lus and

Ra"allah. 6t $as a verydi!!erent and distinctiveinterpretation o! %ivaldi5sour Seasons that !illed "e

$ith ut"ost oy and,"etaphorically, too "e tothe gates o! heaven? &ut the=uestion re"ains, 3hat isspirituality83

*e!ine Spirituality.

>o$ does this di!!er !ro" Religion8

o $hat e9tent do you thin that $e create the 57od5 that 5supports5 and encourages ourpreudices, our psychological and social needs and our personal $ishes8

So"e 20 or "ore years ago, in "y earlier career $ithin school'ased and then universityeducation, 6 $as grate!ul !or o!!icial #ational Curriculu" atte"pts to de!ine 5spirituality5 inter"s that $ould "eet the needs o! religious and nonreligious people alie. -erhaps thenearest that 6 get to a $oring de!inition o! spirituality is to loo at the 5Spiritual and oral*evelop"ent A *iscussion -aper5 B


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+9periencing !eelings o! transcendence !eelings $hich "ay give rise to 'elie! in thee9istence o! a divine 'eing or the 'elie! that one5s inner resources provide the a'ility torise a'ove everyday e9periencesF

Search !or "eaning and purpose asing 5$hy "e85 at ti"es o! hardship and su!!eringFre!lecting on the origins and purpose o! li!eF responding to challenging e9periences o!li!e such as 'eauty, su!!ering and deathF

Sel!no$ledge an a$areness o! onesel! in ter"s o! thoughts, !eelings, e"otions,responsi'ilities and e9periencesF a gro$ing understanding and acceptance o!individual identityF an a'ility to 'uild up relationships $ith othersF

Relationships recognising and valuing the $orth o! each individualF developing asense o! co""unityF the a'ility to 'uild up relationships $ith othersF

Creativity e9pressing inner"ost thoughts and !eelings through, !or e9a"ple, art,"usic, literature and cra!tsF e9ercising the i"agination, inspiration, intuition andinsightF and

eelings and e"otions the sense o! 'eing "oved 'y 'eauty or indnessF hurt 'yinustice or aggressionF a gro$ing a$areness o! $hen it is i"portant to control

e"otions and !eelings, and ho$ to learn to use such !eelings as a source o! gro$th.

*iscuss the ) ele"ents and state to $hat e9tent you identi!y $ith these aspects o!spiritual develop"ent.

hat "ight you $ish to challenge or to add to conclude a $oring de!inition o! spirituality!or yoursel!8

As 6 travel in "y "inistry the=uestion that eeps co"ing at"e !ro" all shades o!Christian e9perience is, 3&ut

$hat do you thin a'outprayer83

y reply is that it all depends

upon ho$ $e e9plain oure9periences o! the nature o!7od and $hat $e thin is thepurpose o! prayer. 6! thee9perience o! 7od is that o!the 5Super 6nterventionist&eing ut here5 then prayeris a'out asing !or that 7odto get "ore involved in theli!e o! a particular person or

speci!ic situation. !ten such

prayer arises !ro" a responseto a circu"stance that see"sto 'e 'eyond the a'ility o! theprayer to do anything a'out.So"eti"es such praying is so!ervent that it appears thatthe prayer is de"anding 7odto do as re=uested.

6! 7od is the allpo$er!ul5Super 6nterventionist &eingut here5 $ho inter!eres inli!e, ho$ can the prayer

usti!y such a 7od ans$eringthe prayers o! so"e andignoring or reversing theprayers o! othersF heaping'lessings upon so"e and

allo$ing others to die in

tsuna"i, !lood, earth=uae,car crashes, oncology $ardsand so on8 -erhaps persistentpraying $hen nothing see"sto change is 'ecause there isso"e e9pectation that !erventprayer can change the "indo! this Supre"e &eing8

A!ter all, there any "anye9a"ples in the &i'le $heredeeply religious people haveargued $ith their 7od, tryingto understand the actions andto change the "ind o! their7od over certain issues. neo! the "ost interestingcharacters as !ar as 6 a"

concerned is A'raha".

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>e $as a "an $ith theRott$eiler instinct: once hehad his teeth into so"ethinghe $as reluctant to let it go

$ithout a !ight. A'raha", a"an lie so "any o! us, so

o!ten got it 'adly $rong. o$"any are "y ini=uities and"y sins8 ae "e no$ "ytransgression and "y sin.

hy do you hide your !ace,and count "e as yourene"y83 ho can read the"even today and not 'etouched 'y the depth o! hisdespair8

6t is there again in the &oo o!

6saiah. y !avourite chapter is

4D Battri'uted to Second6saiah that has those

$onder!ul state"ents inverses 1) and 1( that can 'e soeasily cherrypiced, 'ut evenso, applied to the situation in

the Church and in the $orldtoday: 3*o not re"e"'er the!or"er things, or consider thethings o! old. 6 a" a'out todo a ne$ thingF no$ it springs!orth, do you not perceive it8 6

$ill "ae a $ay in the$ilderness and rivers in thedesert.3

&ut in that sa"e chapter, v2H,according to Second 6saiah;sunderstanding there is aninvitation !ro" his 7od,3Accuse "e, let us go to trialFset !orth your case, so that

you "ay 'e proved right. 3

-erhaps that is ho$ those$ho pray to an interventionist

7od should petition !orhealing and $holeness8 #ot$ith nice =uiet prayers o! 3 Ii! it 'e your $illI3 'ut !ull'looded arguing prayers o!hat;s the purpose o!allo$ing this to happen atall8K

&ut i! our understanding o!7od is not that o! the ancient

o! days, o! the 5Super6nterventionist &eing uthere5 $ho, $ith $hat see"sto 'e !icleness, 'lesses so"eand curses others, then the

$restling o! Jaco' and thepleading o! A'raha", Jo',Second 6saiah, etc, and eveno! ourselves in our prayers !orothers G then arguing lie this

is !ro" another ti"e and

another place $ith littlerelevance to li!e today.

y prayers o! intercessionduring ti"es o! pu'lic

$orship are constructed

around an introductorystate"ent or phrase !ollo$ed'y silence !or each one to prayin $hatever $ay they !indappropriate and to $hateveri"age or e9perience o! 7odthey have. his allo$s those

$ho 'elieve in aninterventionist 7od to pray Geven to argue their case on

'ehal! o! others !or 7od tointervene. And !or thegro$ing nu"'er o! !ollo$erso! the Jesus ay $ho reectthe concept o! theinterventionist 7od, thesilence $ithin the ti"es o!intercessory prayers allo$sthe opportunity to silentlycentre one;s sel! upon the

sacredness o! li!e itsel! andone;s role in living 7od;sEingdo" in this present ti"e.

-rayer !or "e is no longerputting "y concerns !orsituations and people into

$ords and o!! loading the"upon 7od to do so"ething toput the situation right.

-rayer no$ "eansrecognising $here situationsand people lac theco"passion, ustice and peaceo! the a'undant li!e that $eall should 'e sharing andthen doing so"ething activea'out putting right the

$rong. #o longer is ita'dicating "y responsi'ility

onto the shoulders o! the

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57od ut here5 'ut it is anactive involve"ent !or "ethat includes regular lettersand e"ails to the "overs andshaers Be.g. "y e"'er o!

-arlia"entF getting involvedin ca"paigning andde"onstratingF devoting ti"eand "oney to the causes o!

ustice and peace. -rayer no$

"eans 'eing an active part o!the outco"e o! the prayer.

hether or not 7od e9ists, the hu"an spirit L hu"an spirituality is part o! us all, lie it ornotF theist or nontheistF religious andLor spiritual. &ut to understand "y approach toChristian >u"anis" 6 need to consider the 'alancing act o! Carl Jung 'et$een psychologyand spirituality. hat is the su'ect !or ne9t $ee?

T*+ )+O& *A *)LP), M) TO:

uggeste# rea#ing:

o" *rae&roc"an, 5Christian >u"anis": he Co"passionate heology o! a Je$ CalledJesus5, B-aper'ac -u'lisher: o" *rae&roc"an. M21 ay 2012N

*o"inic . *oyle, 5he -ro"ise o! Christian >u"anis": ho"as A=uinas on >ope5,B-aper'ac -u'lisher: Crossroad -u'lishing Co"pany M1 ay 2012N

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Week Two: Carl Jung and Spirituality

OUTCOMES:

To decide the value and importance of various well-known people andtheir contributions to the realm of religion.

To consider critically Jung's attempt to create and to maintain balanceand harmony in life.

To critique the archetypes described by Jung and state the extent towhich these may or may not impact upon traditional and creedalChristianity.

come to this study with thewisdom of Confucius ringingin my ears! "#ever give asword to a man who can'tdance."

This is the second part of myexploration of my changingand developing spiritualityfrom certainty toprovisionality$ fromfundamentalism towardsChristian %umanism. Thissession considers thebalancing act of Carl Jungbetween psychology andspirituality. &rom the outset declare that am not apsychologist orpsychoanalyst. #or am morethan an interested amateur

and! as such! may havecompletely misunderstoodthe work of Jung.

hat now follows makessense to me at this moment intime but it may seemirrelevant to you as a followerof Jesus in this day and age.%owever! invite you to stay

with me and to engage with

the emerging issues. To do so

may offer fresh insights intothe nature of spirituality ingeneral and to religion inparticular.

(o! begin with a reminder oflast week's working definitionof spirituality that makessense to me. (pirituality is anumbrella term that includesthe following aspectsidentified by the '(piritualand )oral *evelopment - +*iscussion ,aper' ork!#ational Curriculum Council!/0012

,ersonal beliefs$

+ sense of awe! wonderand mystery$

3xperience oftranscendence$

(earch for meaningand purpose$

(elf-knowledge$ 4elationships that

recognise and valuethe worth of eachindividual$

Creativity$ &eelingsand emotions.

(o how does spirituality differfrom religion5 '4eligion' is noteasy to define but what works

for me at this time is that'religion' involves either anindividual or a groupengaging with aspects of thespiritual! of that which is'beyond' the individual. 6ut'religion' also includes adeveloping or 'completed'orthodoxy in which a numberof individuals or groups agreeon a number of transcendentand moral commonalities. tis upon these commonalitiesthat the members base theirbelief systems and aspired

ways of individual andcorporate living. Christianity!slam and Judaism alldescendants of +braham72readily come to mind.

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Jung's interest in psychologyand religion resulted in abreak down of his friendship

with (igmund &reud. Thelatter! who has been probablythe more influential of the

two! reAected spirituality andreligion as examples ofpsychosis from whichpatients needed to be freed.n his #ew ntroductory


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+lso Jung suggested that the psyche i.e. the soul or spirit! that which makes us 'tick'2 iscomposed of the ego! the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious and all threeare inherited! natural! unlearned and universal. +ccording to Jung! they operate together toorgani;e how we explain our experiences of life.

(ome of the archetypes described by Jung areG The fatherG the authority figure that is almighty! omnipotent and strong whilst also

being austere! exacting and severe. s this not part of the &ather-figure of Christianity!slam and Judaism5

The motherG the loving! nourishing! protective and reassuring figure. s this not part ofthe way in which Catholic Christians see the god in )ary mother of Jesus5 s this notthe way in which Christianity and Judaism see the (pirit H isdom H (ophia5

The childG the one who wants to rediscover personal innocence through rebirth into allthat is good god52 and deliverance H rescue from ourselves and from the 'enemy'. sthis not ourselves in the meta narrative of traditional Christianity5

The wise old manG the one who offers spiritual direction! spiritual knowledge and

spiritual wisdom. s this not Christianity's %oly (pirit5 The heroG the one who has championed the cause and won the battle! thus becoming

our saviour and deliverer$ our guardian and protector. s this not Jesus who became theChrist of the Church5

The maidenG the innocent one! pure and holy. s this not another picture of )ary themother of Jesus5

The tricksterG the one who is the cheat! the deceiver and the trouble-maker. s this notthe *evil H (atan of Christianity5

*iscuss the archetypes described by Jung and state the extent to which these may ormay not impact upon traditional and creedal Christianity. 9ive reasons for your

conclusions.

The following comes from mybook 'Setting Jesus Free'."riting in ?>>F from anndian Christian perspective!

John )artin (ahaAanandashed new light on theconversation between Jesusand #icodemus John 12 byinviting us to look beyond thephysical re-birth and then torethink the traditionalunderstanding of spiritual re-birth.

(ahaAananda suggested that

what Jesus discovered was

that the Judaism in which hewas birthed had! like all otherreligions! set up barriers as to

who was in and who was outG

i.e. Jew and 9entile2. Jesus of#a;areth had grown in hisunderstanding of 9od so thathe reached the point where9entiles were no longer dogsand a Jewish man could talkopenly with a (amaritan

woman. Jesus had discoveredthat the Jewish ahweh 9od

was and always had been! the8ne 9od of +ll! including the9entiles. (ahaAananda

suggests that Jesus wastalking of Judaism as beingthe womb of faith! when#icodemus was still stuck on

the physical aspect ofreturning to his mother'swomb.

+ whole new understandingof 9od opens up when thestory of Jesus meeting with#icodemus is put into thecontext of the second birthbeing the reali;ation that it isnecessary to be 'wombed'!

born and nurtured within a

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religion and its associatedculture! but then there is afurther step in which we areto be 'birthed' out of thatreligion into the knowledgeand experience of the

unconditional and inclusive

8ne 9od of +ll. (ahaAanandais reAecting the idea that this'second birth' is aboutconversion from one religionto another. nstead! where heis particularly helpful is in

suggesting that this 'second

birth' is out of all religiousgroupings into the gloriousliberty of seeing that 9od isnot on the side of one religion[usually the'my' religion]andagainst the others.

This second birth is the (pirit-inspiredreali;ation that we all need the 'wombing'and nurturing within a religion but then weare invited and encouraged to go beyond thebarriers created by the individual religions tothe liberty of 9od that transcends allreligions."

+s 6ishop Jack (pong constantly reminds hislisteners and readers! 9od is not a Christian.#or is 9od a Jew or a )uslim! not a %indu ora 6uddhist - or whatever label by which wehuman beings identify ourselves. 6ishop(pong says! " honour my tradition. walkthrough my tradition. 6ut don't believe thatmy tradition defines 9od. t only points metowards 9od." To take and to apply thethinking of the likes of (ahaAananda and6ishop Jack (pong - this 'second birth liberty'and 8ne 9od of +ll pointed to by eachreligious explanation of the sacredexperience! will mean that we will no longerhave to serve religion but will make religionserve us as we genuinely come to see that allpeople are united as sister and brother underthe 8ne 9od. t also means that we have aresponsibility to work together for thecommon good of peace$ Austice$ equality$ andfor the future of Creation.

t remains important for Christians to be'wombed'! nurtured and to celebrate themetaphorical birth stories of Jesus the Christchild but also we should be experiencing theTruth of those birth stories in our own liveseveryday. The spiritual transformation thatresults from this experience is life in all its

abundance! regardless of the circumstancesthat we have to face day by day. That issomething about which we can and should be

Aoyful7

e can hold out and refuse to change thepurity of our traditions! our words! our creedsand our doctrines but if we do then the daysof the institutional church in this country arenumbered. e need to move on from the old

ways of interpreting and understanding the

(criptures and the traditions of the Church!and build our futures within the frameworkof the post-modern world in which we nowlive. +lthough today's offering may appear tobe a cry of despair! it is a call to hope and toaction because there is time for a #ew4eformation that will save the institutionalChurch from itself and help stop itcontinuing to do psychological damage tomillions of adherents in our rapidly changing

and insecure post modern world.

*iscuss the extent to which you agree that the second birth is the reali;ation that it isnecessary to be 'wombed'! born and nurtured within a religion and its associated

culture! but then there is a further step in which we are to be 'birthed' out of that religioninto the knowledge and experience of the unconditional and inclusive 8ne 9od of +ll. 9ivereasons for your conclusions.

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have chosen to find my 'self'and my 'shadow' within theChristian tradition. +s concluded last week! whetheror not 9od exists! the humanspirit H human spirituality is

part of us all! like it or not$theist or non-theist$ religiousandHor spiritual.

hatever 9od may be! in myAourney into a lesssupernatural spirituality

warm to the wisdom of the6uddha! "The way is not inthe sky. The way is in the

heart."

n the next week will beconsidering the cost of beinga follower of the ay of Jesus.6ut the final word today goesagain to Jung! "Your visionill !ecome clear only hen

you loo into your heart#$ho loos outsi%e, %reams#$ho loos insi%e, aaens#"

THIS SESSION HAS HELE! ME TO:

Sugge"ted reading:

+nthony (tevens! 'JungG + Iery (hort ntroduction BIery (hort ntroductions' ,aperback2,ublisherG 8xford ,aperbacks$ #ew edition edition B?? &eb ?>>/

4uth (nowden! 'Jung - The @ey deasG Teach ourself'! ,aperback2 ,ublisherG Teach ourselfB?F &eb ?>/>

8liver *avies! '9od ithin' ,aperback2 ,ublisherG Darton,Longman & Todd Ltd; [New edition](21 Feb 2006

John Churcher! '(etting Jesus &ree'! ,aperback2 ,ublisherG 8 6ooks B1/ *ec ?>>0

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But even so, for Jesus torequire his disciples to puthim before any othertreasured family member isagain the tactics of many

religious cults that haveplagued the church down thecenturies. erhaps Jesus was getting at somethingquite different when he spoke about a personhating ones family if he wanted to followhim#

To find a genuinely fresh e!pression of the lifeand legacy of Jesus we can no longer treat thescriptures in a simplistic and literalistmanner. ?e need to recognise that we nolonger live in a simple world. ?e live in amulti1cultural, multi1ethnic, multi1religiousand well1educated world. To have anyrelevance in our contemporary world we whoare followers and disciples of Jesus need tocome to the scriptures with educated andscholarly minds.

?hy should we who follow the ?ay of Jesus

leave our critical educated thinking facultiesoutside the church door every time we go to

worship# To try to understand the scripturesso that they will have both a meaning forourselves and a new relevance for those whoare beyond the church, we need to get togrips with the conte!ts in which Jesus livedand taught. ?e also need to know somethingof the conte!ts in which his stories andactions were translated and interpreted by

the later 'hristian Gospel and letter writers.

Jesus probably said words of challenge to hisearly followers about putting him before theirown families because when one considers theGospel accounts Jesus was often at logger1

heads with his own family. 3ndeed, in (ark@/0$ we read that when his family heard aboutthe things that Jesus was doing and sayingthey attempted to take control of himbecause they thought that he had gone mad.

-ater in the same chapter the family arrive ata crowded house to take Jesus away but Jesusturns on them saying that his blood mother,brothers and sisters were no longer his familyand his new family consisted of all who werelistening and then who would do Gods will 1at least Gods will as Jesus saw itA

3t was in renouncing his blood family thatJesus was making an important and radicalsocial comment on the customs of his day.

Jesus was freeing himself and others from thecustom that their identity and power was

within their own blood family. 3n theprocess, Jesus was giving individuals the

dignity of being themselves. ?hen Jesus issaid to have used the words *hate your fatherand mother9* he was encouragingindividuals to detach themselves from thecustom of family identity intocomprehending that, in the ingdom of God,

we are all recognised for who we are asindividuals of equal worth before God 1 notfor our colour, our family, our gender, or anyother affiliation.

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To what e!tent do you agree with the interpretation of the family situations in whichJesus found himself# Give reasons for your conclusions.

But we must also see theconte!t in which -uke was

writing some %& years afterthe e!ecution of Jesus. -uke

was challenging his owncommunity of Jesus followersto give up all that they valuedmost highly for the commongood. Cemember that theBook of )cts is the secondpart of -ukes Gospel and init we read that the early'hurch members gave theirpossessions to thecommunity for the commongood and benefit of all.

?hen -uke put harsh wordssuch as *hate* into the mouthof Jesus he was offering

sacred credibility to thepractice of giving possessionsto the community becausethat is, according to -uke,how Jesus saw and did things.-uke was asking, perhapsdemanding that any memberof his community who

wanted to be a true discipleand follower of Jesus had to

be more than "ust an on1looker. =ne could not becontent to remain on theedge of the life of thecommunity.

The family identity for adisciple of Jesus was nolonger in the blood or thegenes of father and mother

but in the personal sacrificeof self in the interests ofliving in the community ofthe ingdom of God. -uke

was telling people that theyhad a choice/ be possessed by

your possessions, your familyand your racial identity 1 orbe possessed by the ingdomof God as lived by Jesus ofNaDareth. )ccording to -uke,it was not possible to bepossessed by both ones ownpossessions and by Jesus atthe same time.

Jesus calls none of us torenounce our families if weare to truly follow himA ?hatconcerned both Jesus and the

author of the Gospel of -ukewas that the followers of the?ay of Jesus should willinglysacrifice self1interest,individual advantage andpersonal privilege for thesake of the ingdom of God.

The primary family to whichwe now all belong is calledthe family of all humanityand that includes ourmother, father, sister,brother, children 1 yes, evenour own self. +ach of us issacred and important to Godand to others but our trueidentity as sacred individualsis always found anddeveloped within the social

conte!t of community. Thatis why the church stillremains important for me.

The Bantu languages ofsouthern )frica have anappropriate word for it/Ebuntu meaning that nohuman being can live as anisland in isolation because we

are all interconnected andwhat one person says anddoes affects the whole world.Ebuntu is what it means tobe human 1 when one suffers

we all suffer and when onere"oices we all re"oice.

Ebuntu is a description ofthe kingdom of God in

practice. The cost of being adisciple of Jesus has alwaysbeen and will always remainliving as Ebuntu people

within the whole family ofhumanity, sharing andprotecting one another as

well as 'reation itself.

)nd to live this way we needto be constantly giving of our

time and resources to thehungry, the thirsty, thehomeless, the stranger, theone in need of protection,the sick and the prisoner. 3t isin giving ourselves to thelikes of these that we aregiving to Jesus.

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?hy does the church remain important for you, and if not, why has the churchceased to be important# Give reasons for your conclusions.

T!S SESS!O #S E$%E& ME TO:

Suggeste' rea'ing:

(arcus Borg, (eeting Jesus )gain for the irst Time, >ublisher/ 7arper aperback >ublisher/ Nav>ress >ublishing Group H00)ug 0&&2

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Week Four: Jesus the healer, wisdom teacher andsage

OUTCOMES:

To evaluate the religious importance of the concepts ofrepentance and judgement.

To consider or determine which is of greater relevance in our part of the world today, repentand believe or lost and found celebration?

We continue to look at this journey of faithwithin the context of the 'lost and found'theme. What have lost since leaving behind

the certainties of my evangelicalinterpretation of the !esus story? have lostthe need to erect boundaries to show who is'in"saved' and who is 'out"lost'. have alsolost any sense of a #$uper nterventionist%eing " &od ut There#.

%ut what have found as a result of mydeveloping journey of faith? (irst, havecome to realise that the unconditional loveand grace of &od that are so important to the

traditional )hristian understanding are, infact, conditional in the sense that you aresaved by praying the )hristian prayer ofrepentance and asking for &od's salvation.)onversely you are lost if cannot or do notpray that prayer. $o the unconditional loveand grace of &od turns out to be conditionalafter all.

$econd, have found the joy of provisionality

* that is, of no longer needing to be certainabout the claims of the traditional )hristianfaith especially about what happens afterdeath in the imagined realms of life eternal inheaven or life eternal in hell. What matters tome now is not the end of the journey but theopportunities of today as walk this journey.t is the journey that matters * not the end ofthe road that counts. There is too much helland too little heaven on earth that need to be

addressed today to worry about what mightor might not happen at the end of the

journey.

+astorally have had to listen often to andcomfort those older folk who spent their earlyformative years in )hurch $unday schools

who then, in adulthood, gave up on theworship community but could never uite letgo of a notion of the carrot and stick kind ofpunishing &od of their youth. ften they hada fear of the unknown * the #will &od love me" can &od forgive me for all that have done

wrong?# kind of response to the closing of

life. n my post*evangelical years have triedto reassure them that there is nothing to beafraid of in death. -eath is a natural part oflife. -eath is the cost of living

/s &retta 0osper reminds us, life is a gift andwe are its celebration. /lthough the mannerof death may be a worry, death is the price wepay for having received the gift of life. f atthe end of my life have not lived life to the

full then it is my fault. /s far as amconcerned there is no judgement by somesupernatural power or being. The only

judgement that any of us will face will be bythose who have known us in life. The

judgement of others will be based upon howwe have lived and how we have treated andimpacted upon them.

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To what extent do you agree that the comment, #The only judgement that any of uswill face will be by those who have known us in life# ? &ive reasons for your

conclusions.

/nd with that continue my 'lost and found'theme starting with 1ogiism. 2awrence +eter%erra is a member of the elite 3$ %aseball4all of (ame and named as one of the bestplayers and managers of all time. %ut what isthe connection between %erra and thetelevision cartoon character 1ogi %ear? assume that it has something to do with thesimilarity of name * %erra and %ear, and thensomething about %erra that associates him

with the cartoon character, 1ogi %ear. f youremember him, 1ogi %ear relied on his uick

wit to outdo and to outrun those whom heirritated beyond measure.

t may not surprise you therefore that %erra'switticisms became known as 1ogiisms %errawas able to find words to fit most situations4is 51ogiisms6 include the following * but youmay have to think about them for a second or

two

Always go to other people's funerals;otherwise they won't go to yours.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true.

It's so crowded, nobody goes there any more.

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

What like about 1ogiism is that hear astatement and smile at the words, and thenmoments later have to step back and think alittle more about what has been said. That ishow a sage talks. ften a sage demonstrates asympathetic understanding of, andpenetrating insight into situations thatimpact upon others. /s a result a sage offers

wisdom arrived at from personal reflectionbased upon his or her own experience. / sagehas an extraordinary ability to take theordinary events of life and turn them upside

down or inside out so that those who arelistening begin to hear and to perceive theseevents with new meanings and freshopportunities.

!esus was not only an itinerant wisdomteacher but also a sage who told stories that

were particularly concerned with the plight ofthose who were pushed to the margins ofsociety, and especially those who suffered at

the hands of the social, political and religiousestablishments of his day. Why? %ecause

!esus himself was a marginalised social,political and religious outsider.

take 2uke 7897*7: as an example for thisstudy. t starts with some of the political andreligious elite attacking !esus because he notonly welcomed the unimportant and themarginalised such as shepherds, tax

collectors and women, but he also sharedmeals with those considered by the 5religious6folk to be beyond the love and concern oftheir particular interpretation of &od.

n the previous study we read of !esusrenouncing his own family ;.%ut having left home and 'blood' family !esus

wandered around sharing his wisdom andaccepting hospitality wherever it was given.4owever, at the end of those days when there

was no hospitality on offer !esus withdrewinto the hills where he slept ;#foxes haveholes but the son of man has nowhere to layhis head# comes readily to mind>. -o notmiss the significance of this * only the lowestof the low, &alilean shepherds for example,slept upon the hillsides

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/t the time of !esus many of the poor of&alilee became the dispossessed, losing theirlittle smallholdings and income to theeconomic exploitation by both the omanoppressors and their local puppet politicaland religious elites. /nd apart from the

working fishermen, +eter, !ames and !ohn, think that the growing band of itinerantfollowers of !esus were drawn from themarginalised and the dispossessed of &alilee.These people had lost everything andtherefore were of no social insignificance.

!esus offered them a new 'family' of thosewho lived the @ingdom of &od as !esusunderstood it. The growing !esus movement

gave respect back to those who had lost allrespect both from others and for themselves.

The !esus movement lived as 'ubuntu' peoplesharing what little they had with one anotherso that if one suffered they all sufferedtogether and if one rejoiced they all rejoicedtogether.

The bread and wine of our 4oly )ommunionliturgies go right back to the sharing of theirmeagre food rations together. These wereproper meals when the food was available,shared eually between all who were present.There was no hint of the theology of the bodyand blood of !esus * at least not until the 8thdecade +aul and the Ath to 7:th decade&ospel writers built such a theology intotheir shared meal experiences and corporate

memoriestrying to make sense of theexecution of !esus

4ow different is this study's approach to the marginalised !esus and his followers toyour understanding of the !esus movement? &ive reasons for your conclusions.

Botice that shepherds werewithout homes or land sothey were unimportant, andthat women were thepossession of either theirfather or their husband orthey were widows. Whatever,they were sociallyunimportant. n the greatscheme of life a single sheepor a single small coin areunimportant * unless you arepoor in which case a single

sheep or a small coin will beimmensely important to you.

Bone of the 4ebrew and)hristian %ible writers wrotein chapter and verse * theyused continuous text. 2uke'slost sheep and lost coinstories are precededimmediately by the claim of

!esus that to follow him

reuired people to give upeven the little that they hadfor the common good.(ollowing immediately afterthe lost sheep and the lostcoin is the story of the+rodigal $on. These are alllost and found storiesconcerning people who endedup with nothing but hadfound a new identity in theitinerant and marginalisedfamily of !esus. %ut read again

these 2uke 7897*7: lost andfound stories. #Bow all the taxcollectors and sinners werecoming near to listen to him.

/nd the +harisees and thescribes were grumbling andsaying, CThis fellow welcomessinners and eats with them.D[otice that there iscondemnation of the

marginalised and the

outsiders.! $o he told themthis parable9 CWhich one of

you, having a hundred sheepand losing one of them, doesnot leave the ninety*nine inthe wilderness and go afterthe one that is lost until hefinds it? When he has foundit, he lays it on his shouldersand rejoices. /nd when hecomes home, he callstogether his friends andneighbors, saying to them,

5ejoice with me, for havefound my sheep that was lost.6[otice that the emphasis isupon ris" ta"ing, see"ing,

finding, re#oicing andcelebrating$!!ust so, tell you,there will be more joy inheaven over one sinner whorepents than over ninety*ninerighteous persons who need

no repentance.[otice that

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the element of repentance isan add on to the lost and

found story aimed directly atthe #udgemental religiouselites!. Cr what womanhaving ten silver coins, if she

loses one of them, does notlight a lamp, sweep the house,and search carefully until she

finds it? When she has foundit, she calls together herfriends and neighbors, saying,5ejoice with me, for havefound the coin that had lost.6[otice again % the emphasis

is see"ing, finding, re#oicingand celebrating$!!ust so, tell

you, there is joy in the

presence of the angels of &odover one sinner who repents.D[otice that the element ofrepentance is another add onto the lost and found storyaimed directly at the

#udgemental religious elites!.

These stories are primarily concerned withmarginalised people rejoicing and celebratingtogether. The element of repentance is anadd on to the lost and found stories and wereaimed directly at the small number of

members of the political and religious eliteswho were criticising !esus and condemningthose people they considered to beunimportant and the outsider. $ome of the+harisees and $adducees divided the worldinto those who were like them and then there

was all the rest.

!esus countered this by accepting all as theywere for no other reason than because theywere human beings. !esus accepted the poor,despised, marginalised and rejected outsiders

without making any reuirements such asrepentance and religious belief. %ut mostimportantly, !esus opened their eyes to thepossibilities of what life could really be likefor all people, with or without the omanoccupation.

These lost and found stories attributed to!esus emphasise for me the importance ofcelebration amidst the ordinariness of everyday life. !esus did not spend his time with5sinners6 in the hope that they would repent

and become like him before he fully acceptedthem. 4e accepted them without conditions.Bow there6s a message for many churches and)hristians today

(or me, the beauty of these stories is not inrepentance but in the way in which !esusaccepted the dispossessed and marginalisedas his eual, just as they were. The beauty isthat !esus valued them and afforded them thedignity that the religious folk denied them.

/nd the relevance of these stories for today isnot in preaching repentance as the coremessage of !esus but in living the acceptanceof difference. ts relevance is in affirming lifefor all, not in defending one kind of religionor another against the 5outsider6. /fter all,&od is not a )hristian, or a !ew or a


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The !esus message continues to be relevant toall people and to all times E even if parts ofthe )hurch that bear his name still reuirerepentance and people to 5become like us6before we fully accept them. $urely it is timefor a new reformation. (or the sake of the

@ingdom of &od and for the future of the)hurch in our post*modern age, )hristiansneed to go back and rethink the core messageof what we say we believe. t is time to startour theological thinking all over again.

THS SESSO! H"S HE#$E% ME TO:

Suggested reading:

-avid (lusser F . $teven Botley, 'The $age from &alilee9 ediscovering !esus' &enius',;+aperback>, +ublisher9 William % Gerdmans +ublishing )o ;Hth evised edition> IJ7 $epJ::AK

%en $itherington, '!esus the $age' ;+aperback> +ublisher9 /ugsburg (ortress I!anuary J:::K.

&retta 0osper, 'With or Without &od9 Why the Way We 2ive s +ublisher9 4arpercollins )anada IL (eb J::LK

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Week Five: Does life have any purpose whenI dispose of the 'Super Interventionist GodOut There'?

OUTO!"S:

To evaluate the sacred stories within which we havegrown up and developed our religious and social attitudes.

To determine the extent to which human language invented 'God' to explain and to enabletribes to survive in an evolving and hostile environment.

To decide upon the relevance or otherwise of the Charter for Compassion to the future ofreligion and humanity.

What have I lost by no longer believing in the 'Super Interventionist God ut There'! "oeslife have any purpose when I dispose of that #ind of God 'ut There' who holds the past$present and future in the 'hollow of his [sic]hand' thus 'wor#ing his purpose out' for all andsundry. %otice how often that such a God has a special interest in his select few& Such a Godcertainly gives his chosen followers purpose in life. So does the loss of any understanding orexperience of the 'Super Interventionist God ut There' leave life purposeless! The answer isa resounding '%o'&

The purpose of life has nothing to do with the explanatory fiction of the human createdinterventionist 'God out there'. owever$ it has everything to do with that which impacts

upon all living things$ including plants$ animals and we humans. It is called 'evolutionarysurvival'. It is the basic instinct that is built into the "%( of everything that has life.

What ma#es the human animal different to all the other living things is the evolutionaryability that has enabled it to develop a uni)ue language system * a capability that enables thehuman to remember and to learn from the past$ to interpret and to improve the present$ andto anticipate and plan for the future. Such a development added both hope and fear to theprevious developmental level of the survival instinct's 'fight or flight' along side the need toprocreate. +anguage developed within the tribe enabling it to develop its own uni)ueconceptual thin#ing and tribal stories that were used to come to terms with the growingrealisation that there was more to life than simply a stimulus , response mechanism.

(lthough life and survival had always been problematic$ the development of language andconceptual thin#ing presented new challenges and )uestions.

%omadic tribes doubtless continued to follow the source of food and they needed tounderstand the rhythm of life in the changing seasons. (nd when the nomadic tribes beganto settle in their own claimed tribal area$ there was a new rhythm of life$ for example$predicting and preparing for the season when the bison herds or the great whales passed bythe tribal settlements. Stories began to emerge that tried to ma#e sense of a dangerous worldand to bring protection upon themselves. There had to be something greater than themselvesthat could be harnessed to bless their tribe more than the other tribe along the valley or

across the plain.

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Stories and rituals developed as a direct result of the developing language abilities$identifying 'gods out there' -e.g. the sun god the rain god the thunder god etc./. These godsobviously had great powers because they could destroy homes$ settlements$ crops and people0the sun god could scorch the earth the rain god brought storms and floods the thunder goddemonstrated displeasure with the tribe by throwing lightning bolts and thunderous noiseacross the earth. The great need was to find ways of harnessing these god powers by

appeasing and by encouraging them to side with 'my' tribe against the 'other' tribe.

The fact that no such gods existed then nor exist today was immaterial. +anguage hadenabled the tribal people to create explanatory fictions to help them come to terms with thefearful powers of the un#nown. Sacrifice became one of the tools by which certain tribal godscould be encouraged to either withdraw their displeasure or to respond favourably to thetribal offerings. 1or example$ the offering of virgin daughters or the first fruits of the harvestand so on were proffered to the relevant tribal gods. Where the ebrew tribes evolved wastheir enlightened thin#ing that there was ne God rather than many gods. We should notforget the evolutionary importance of ancient tribal stories such as (braham offering to

sacrifice his son Isaac -if you are a Christian or a 2ew/ or Ishmael -if you are a 3uslim/ to thenewly created ne God. The apostle 4aul also explained to his listeners in (thens -(cts 56057*89/ that the :n#nown God to whom they offered their sacrifices and worship was$ in fact$ theGod of the 2ews met in 2esus of %a;areth. 2ewish Su##ot and Christian arvest festivals arethe continuation of these ancient attempts to than#$ to encourage and even to appease ourtribal versions of God.

It is always difficult to unlearn the sacred stories with which we have grown up$especially the basic traditional religious explanatory fictions that 'God created us inhis image'. ow do you respond to this study's approach that human language

invented 'God' to explain and to enable tribes to survive in a hostile environment! Givereasons for your conclusions.

Which approach$ ancient languages created 'God' or 'God created us'$ is of greater relevancein our part of the post*modern 'mix and match' world today! Give reasons for yourconclusions.

owever$ within theevolutionary process$ along

side the advent of the 'gods'there also developed specifictribal social norms and laws.Tribes increasingly focussedupon their created 'god'believing in some uni)ue'god,tribe' relationship .ften these socio , religiouscommunities becameexclusive and so different

tribal gods were brought into

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The challenge for organised religion today inour part of the post*modern world is to livethe core values without the ancient boundarycreating exclusive language of the past. (s afollower of 2esus I see the challenge for me asliving orthopraxis -i.e. decisions and actions

based upon my understanding andexperience of 2esus of %a;areth/ rather thanliving within an orthodoxy of belief -i.e.decisions and actions based upon theexplanatory fictions$ understandings andexperiences of the Church and of what it saysabout 2esus the Christ/.

1or religions to survive in this increasinglypost*modern secular world they will have to

evolve on from what ma#es one religiondifferent to the others into a search for thecommonality of religions. This could be byemphasising the 'Golden =ule that$ in oneform or other$ underpins most religionsacross the world. This does not mean that weneed to abandon our individual tribalexplanations of that which we each call 'God'.owever$ it will re)uire us to see ourexplanations of these experiences for what

they are$ 'our' uni)ue explanatory fictionsthat none the less point us to the highestlevel of what it means to be human. In other

words$ all religions will need to live thecommonality of compassion and respect fordifference.

The best explanation that I can offer in thepresent time is the Charter for Compassion

whose leaders include "esmond Tutu and>aren (rmstrong. It was unveiled to the

world on %ovember 5?$ ?@@A. Compassion isat the heart of all religious and ethicalsystems. What follows is a paraphrase of theCharter's own rationale.

The Charter is a document that bringstogether and then goes beyond ideological$national and religious differences. Theprinciple of compassion lies at the heart of allreligious$ ethical and spiritual traditions. It is

a growing movement that is supported by

leading thin#ers from many religions andtraditions. It is based upon the Golden =ule0doing to others that which you would li#ethem to do to you$ or$ with a slightly differentemphasis$ do not do to others that which youdo not wish them to do to you. The bottom

line of compassion is putting ourselves intothe shoes of the other.

The Charter is concerned with bothcompassionate thin#ing and compassionateaction as the centre of religious$ moral andpolitical life. Compassion propels us to wor#tirelessly to relieve the suffering of others tosee ourselves as ubuntu people rather thanourselves as the most important at the centre

of the world to honour the sacredness ofevery uni)ue person to deal with all peoplewith e)uality$ fairness$ Bustice and respect tocease from causing harm or inflicting painupon ourselves or others.

It is also necessary for individuals$communities and nation states to refrainfrom acting or spea#ing violently out of spite$chauvinism$ or self*interest$ to impoverish$exploit or deny basic rights to anybody. The

Charter explicitly states that to incite hatredby denigrating others * even our enemies * isa denial of our common humanity. TheCharter also ac#nowledges that we -you andI/ have failed to live compassionately and thatsome have even increased the sum of humanmisery in the name of their own god of theirreligion.

The Charter also states0 We therefore call

upon all men and women to restorecompassion to the centre of morality andreligion to return to the ancient principlethat any interpretation of scripture thatbreeds violence$ hatred or disdain isillegitimate to ensure that youth are givenaccurate and respectful information aboutother traditions$ religions and cultures toencourage a positive appreciation of culturaland religious diversity to cultivate an

informed empathy with the suffering of all

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human beings * even those regarded asenemies.

We urgently need to ma#e compassion aclear$ luminous and dynamic force in ourpolari;ed world. =ooted in a principled

determination to transcend selfishness$compassion can brea# down political$

dogmatic$ ideological and religiousboundaries.


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Su&&ested readin&:

>aren (rmstrong$ 'Twelve Steps to a Compassionate +ife'$ -4aperbac#/ 4ublisher0 Bodley Head[Reprint edition] D7 2an ?@55E

The Charter for Compassion web site0 www.charterforcompassion.org

2ohn ic#$ 'The 3etaphor of God Incarnate'$ -4aperbac#/ 4ublisher0 Westminster 2ohn >nox4ress -Second edition/ D57 1eb ?@@7E

2ohn Shelby Spong$ 'Fternal +ife0 ( %ew ision0

PC Lent Course 2014 John Churcher

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