let justice roll like a river . . .

This is a quote from Justice in the Burbs. I linked it in someone else's post about a year ago, but thought it was worth posting the actual quote.

Jesus lives next door. He's an eight-year-old girl and her three-year-old brother. The Son of Man looks like those starving Ethiopian children. He only gets breakfast and lunch at school, when he makes it. His mama is a crack whore. Nobody knows where his daddy is. I heard his mama lets her "Johns" do things to him.

Poor King of Kings.

Jesus is two houses down and has six children. Now he's pregnant with the seventh. I don't know if he hasn't figured out what birth control is, or what, but how does he expect his husband to feed all those babies on that salary? And you know with all those kids the Lord of Lords can't work. That means hardworking taxpayers' money has to go for Christ's food stamps!

He needs to get fixed.

The Lord is a crazy man—paranoid schizophrenic. If he doesn't take his medication, he walks up and down the street, cussing and spitting on everybody he passes. He's homeless. Nobody knows where his family is--if he's got one. Digs out of the trash cans for food. Somebody ought to get him off the street.

Jesus is nothing but a nuisance.

I'm starting to see the Son of God everywhere I go. He's always crying or begging or looking pitiful. Why doesn't he pull himself up by his bootstraps? This is America! Makes me mad. He's ruining our neighborhood.

Somebody ought to do something about him.

Somebody.

Try reading this out loud to your spouse. I dare you not to cry.

Book Club Announcement

I've started a new blog for the book club as indicated earlier this month. It is linked at the side under Book Club under Readings of Note. Anyone is welcome to read it, but you need to email me if you want to be a member and to be able to add comments. The first post will go up later today. Also, let me know at that time if you want to receive an email when new comments are made.

Be a Smart Voter

My friend and college roommate, Rachel, is married to a political science professor. Prof and Rach made a great list for us to be informed voters. PLEASE check them out. The links are in the sidebar. Eric found the top site, Voting for a Culture of Life, and added it to the list. We have found all these sites useful.

Torture by any other name . . .

One of the most important issues for me during this presidential campaign is our treatment of the humans held at Guantanamo Bay. This is the clearest and most Christian statement I've heard from the candidates so far.

Holy Saturday, 2008

On the seventh day God rested in the darkness of the tomb,

having finished on the sixth day all his work of joy and doom;

Now the Word had fallen silent, and the water had run dry;

The flock had lost its shepherd, and the seed was sadly sown,

the courtiers had betrayed their king, and nailed him to his throne.

O sabbath rest by Calvary, O calm of tomb below,

where the grave-clothes and the spices cradle him we did not know!

Rest you well, beloved Jesus: Caesar's Lord and Israel's King,

in the brooding of the Spirit, in the darkness of the spring.

-from Bishop Wright's and Paul Spicer's Easter Oratorio

I think we are are too familiar with the Resurrection story, to the effect that we miss the distinct poetry in each of the gospel versions. John's is full of New Creation analogies, calling up images of the first Creation. The above account does a beautiful job of highlighting  the 'week' imagery, recalling that, in the imagery of the first creation, the task was completed on the 6th day (Friday) and God rested on the 7th day (Sabbath/Saturday). The anticipation, of course, is for what the new 'week' will contain, the NEW creation. On Holy Saturday we remember the Sabbath from God's work of dealing with the brokenness of the 1st Creation. From his perspective, we contemplate what new work that means must begin on the 1st day of the new week.

But I don't find myself thinking from God's perspective this Holy Saturday. I find myself identifying more with the heartbroken, spent, puzzled, and, quite likely, angry Jesus-followers who did not understand yet the plan of a new creation. I'm 'on call' tonight, and H and A and I have no Jesus-followers with whom to share the celebration of Resurrection Sunday, and I'll likely be too tired to, from call, anyway. We are not those people who 'shop' for a believing community in the sense of looking for an organization that 'meets my needs' or 'has a relevant message' or 'has a great children's ministry' or 'has great music', although all those things would be great and I empathize with those who are. And it's not that we haven't met people that are passionate about their love for God or who are active in service to the community. I can't really put my finger on it. And I've been trying to. For a long time now. Why does 'church' turn me off? Why can't I get over my detest for the current organization? (unlike a friend of mine who once retorted that he loves 'the local church,' I just don't buy his definition of local church) Why can't I just live with the status quo, or even 'join' with the hope of change from the inside. We feel alone, isolated, friendless. And, we know, it's our own fault. But I don't like the solutions that are currently available to us. It's something about joining the system that makes me feel like I'd be selling out.

And so today I feel like a Jesus-follower on Holy Saturday, before they knew it was holy in an entirely new way (not merely "remember the sabbath, to keep it holy"): ashamed, embarrassed, wondering how I could be taken in so easily, in the dark, overwhelmed, wondering what to do after the day of rest--in what way should life proceed, who, or where, are the people who have been around me, scattered, confused, lonely, heartbroken, angry, wanting answers but not really expecting any, scared, vulnerable, defenseless. What will tomorrow bring, if this dark night ever ends? Sleep is far from me.

Resurrection hope

If you are a Jesus follower you may be aware that a large part of the faith family is currently observing Lent. It's a time to focus on the last days of Jesus' earthly life and then death and resurrection, which is the Easter celebration. 

But this post isn't about Jesus's resurrection (Jesus' whole person, that is, his body which is somehow changed, his spirit or soul or whatever philisophy you hold regarding persona; but this was the new life for Jesus' WHOLE self. His Resurrection.). I'm writing about our own resurrection hope, following after Jesus in new life.

Read this interview in Time with N.T. Wright about the hope of all those who are 'in' Jesus (those who declare that he is the King of the World and choose alegience to him.)

This is a bit of a follow-up of Eric's R.I.P. post a few weeks ago. This understanding of the resurrection of Jesus' followers seemed to be lacking in the service he attended. (I was back at grandpa's house with a sleeping baby.)