Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28, (29-31)
Epiphany 9 - Year A
Proper 4 (9) - Year A
Again and again there are choices to be made about what to emphasize. Hear Walter Rauschenbusch on the image of "atonement" in his book, A Theology for the Social Gospel.
"It is important to note that every theory of the atonement necessarily used the terms and analogies taken from the social life of that age, and that the spirit and problems of contemporary life are always silent factors in the construction of theory. The early church set the model of formulating the doctrine in the terminology of sacrifice. To us sacrificing is a matter of antiquarian knowledge, kept alive mainly by the Bible. To Christians of the first three centuries it was a social institution which they saw in operation all about them. Paul saw in the death of Christ the solution of the great social problem of his life, the abolition of the Jewish Law and the emancipation of Gentile missions....
"Our dominant ideas are personality and social solidarity. The problems which burden us are the social problems. Has the death of Christ any relation to these? Have we not just as much right to connect this supreme religious event with our problems as Paul and Anselm and Calvin, and to use the terminology and methods of our day? In so far as the historical and social sciences have taught our generation to comprehend solidaristic facts, we are in a better situation to understand the atonement than any previous generation."
So, how do you connect Jesus' death with the issues of your life, of our life, today?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/june2002.html
Would it be an example of "excluded boasting" to suggest that finding our common lot as sinners is not the only way to find our common humanity/divinity?
Our tendency seems to be to find the lowest common denominator rather than the highest common multiplier. When we do the justification or atonement talk it can appear that we are being quite positive but it is simply a sub-point of starting with the Fall rather than with Creation.
Let's reflect a bit more on what faith might mean from a perspective of having been created good rather than from a focus on evil, sin, and other frailties. In Paul's terms we may have to pay more attention to grace than to law. This is always a dangerous thing to do, but it is also a necessary thing to do if we are to continue pursuing life in its fullness for ourselves and all.
A helpful line is verse 17: God is revealed through faith. Our tendency is to see God revealed in faith by the letter of the law rather than in faith through the spirit of grace. Christ, have mercy as we tussle over the background and foreground of "faith", not simply faith as simply faith.
Prophetic progressives start with Creation Goodness and find it revealed, time and again, in moments of Grace. Smile -- Mercy is stronger than Judgment.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/may2005.html
It is easy for us to get caught by the externals of life. Note the plethora of personal hygiene commercials. If only we can have sparkly white teeth, if only we can avoid having stinky armpits, if only we had silky smooth skin, then every lack in personality or spirit will be overcome - we will come through.
It is so easy to get caught up in the externals of Atonement and see it only as a sacrifice - and the bloodier the better. Here Paul speaks of atonement but in the context of faith. It is not the sacrifice that makes the faith that reveals a new Atunement. It is in faith, both of G*D and Creation, that a new Atunement is possible. Now it makes sense to so live that, come death from wearing out or death on a cross, we are willing to live/sacrifice life for this faith.
It would make doctrinal history a bit more than trying to trap God in words if we looked at the practice of faith unwilling to be scared into submission. Now we can look at the new and greater ways of practicing the expansive love of God. Yes, we are looking at walking the walk, not just talking the talk.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/may2005.html
Our distinction is that there is no distinction between us. This is a distinction worth celebrating.
We can argue about whether sin and glory/belovedness are the correct categories upon which to note distinctionlessness. Even throwing in faith as a way to break the tie doesn't really help us out here.
Consider a relationship with every other part of creation. Does a measuring of sin, glory, belovedness, faith help clarify anything? No. A calibration of any of these does not enhance it. We do need a shift of focus.
One shift is suggested by Parker Palmer as he speaks of living in the tensions between our various perceived categories of vice and virtue, "To be in the world nonviolently means learning to hold the tension of opposites, trusting that the tension itself will pull our hearts and minds open to a third way of thinking and acting.... We must learn to hold the tension between the reality of the moment and the possibility that something better might emerge." [from A Hidden Wholeness: A Journey Toward an Undivided Life as selected by Inward/Outward]
Focusing overmuch, even on a significant question, leads us to an unhelpful judgmentalism of self and others through a tool of measuring us against a too large goal. If we can draw our eyes back a bit, unfocus them for a moment, we will see beyond the boundary of any given perspective. Consider here the swings of art history and the various arrivals and dismissals of perspective or the swings we have made regarding holiness (social/personal) or genetics.
To jump even further than any platform will allow, our distinction is that there is no distinction between G*D and us. This is a distinction, full of a possibility of something better, worth celebrating.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html