I think I just changed denominations

So. I was raised Southern Baptist. At present (in theory, if my work schedule ever allows it again), I attend a Southern Baptist church.

But I grow ever more disillusioned with the SBC, from the denomination's first branching from the Baptist church (in part over slavery, and the word Southern in the title, taken together with the date it happened, may give you an idea of which side they were on) to the present, when crap like this seems to happen more and more frequently. Further, studying scripture has led me to conclude that Darwin was right, the first couple of chapters in Genesis are meant as metaphor and not hard reporting, and that homosexuality can be entirely compatible with Christianity, as taught by Jesus and even as taught by Paul. I'm also increasingly worried about the political alliances Evangelical Christians have been making, and have become more and more convinced that we aren't even in the ballpark, aren't even playing the same sport, when it comes to living up to Biblical teachings on social justice.

This has, of course, put me into a rather small minority in the Southern Baptist community. I suspect that in my Sunday School class, that minority consists of just me.


But after discoursing with a few Followers of the Way on different denominational paths, and reading some of this catechism, I think I haven't been turning into a defective Southern Baptist; I've become a nascent Episcopalian.

Which, if the Episcopalians I've talked to are a valid sampling of the group, means I'd finally be able to admit to drinking beer in Sunday School class.

John 5:15-30

16So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Let this silence the watered-down notion of Jesus as a good person who said sensible things. C. S. Lewis has, of course, belabored this point, and Josh McDowell has more recently gone on to misinterpret Lewis and abuse the argument, and I'm sick of the whole thing anyway at this point, especially when it gets phrased alliteratively, as in "lunatic, liar or Lord?" You want to know about the Trilemma, go ask Andrew Rilstone about it. But let it be said, Jesus is very definitely not talking like someone who is only a moral teacher.

He's talking now to the people who are angry about Him performing miraculous healings on the Sabbath, as seen in the last installment. And He is about to lay a series of bombshells on them.

9Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

The son gives life. First off, He's telling them that God Almighty has given Him the power to not only heal the sick, but raise the dead. So far, so good, great prophets have done as much before. But Jesus' habit of talking obliquely about things other than what His listeners are expecting has been well-established by this point. The life that the Son gives isn't just the restoration of the meatbag corpus, it's the revivification of the dead spirit. That's bomb #1.

22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

Here's #2: The Son is the one to whom judgment is deferred. On the one hand, Christ as Judge is kind of a spooky notion if the Christ you're most familiar with is the gently smiling blond guy who often appears in soft-focus prints on Sunday School classroom walls.

Frank Miller, in his introduction to the excellent Batman: Year One, says "If your only memory of Batman is that of Adam West and Burt Ward exchanging camped-out quips while clobbering slumming guest stars Vincent Price and Cesar Romero, I hope this book will come as a surprise." (And how nerdy is it that I typed that sentence pretty close to word-perfect from memory, some years after last reading it?) Miller then proceeds to deliver a comic book featuring an intense, realistic, frightening Batman who might just punch you in the mouth if you even mentioned the words "Bat-shark-repellent." If you've seen Batman Begins, you get the general idea. The jump from Adam West to Frank Miller is quite similar, I think, to the shock that awaits someone acquainted only with the mild, genial Sunday-school Jesus when they look at the Gospel accounts of what Jesus actually said and did.

On the other hand, that Sunday-School Jesus (minus the blond hair, blue eyes and perfect Nordic features, about which do not even get me started) is certainly based in reality. So from another angle, here's a piece of comfort: the Judge in this courtroom is also our defense attorney. And he is not on good terms with the prosecutor.

And then there's bombshell #3, and this would be the blockbuster as far as the crowd was concerned. "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."

In other words, this man is the Son of God, God's Emissary and representative, and any insult to Him is an insult to the Almighty. The presumption of such a statement is breathtaking. Outrageous, disgusting blasphemy.

If the one saying it is just a man.

24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

This is by way of being the very crux (so to speak) of Jesus' message. It's a grand promise, too. Eternal life, free acquittal (and an undeserved acquittal for undeniably guilty parties, at that), and the breaking of the very bonds of Death. The bars are broken, the ropes cut, the charges dropped, and the uncrossable river has been bridged. This is the promise of freedom and mercy and life eternal.

It is also, by my count, the fourth time in the space of this one speech that Jesus has claimed divine authority. Again, for more details on this, just go read some C. S. Lewis or something, but this is a huge deal.

So that's four times in the space of one speech. And Jesus isn't done talking yet.

Next: The thrilling conclusion!

John 5:1-15

At last, an actual new update.

1After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

3In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

5And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

A cool thing about living in the modern era is the wide ranges of scholarly advantage that can be easily had. Here, for instance, we have a whole verse that is omitted in most translations. Apparently, verse four is a later interpolation, and thus shouldn't have too much weight put on it. Which is good to know, in case you were thinking about building a whole sermon (or, heck, a whole new denomination) around the theological implications of this angel stirring the waters of this pool and giving it magical healing powers. Maybe the pool did heal people, and maybe it didn't (who am I to argue with a healing pool, if I believe Jesus healed the sick, cast out literal evil spirits who possessed people, and rose from the dead?) but either way the angel business is, as near as scholars can tell, a detail tacked on on later to help make sense of things.

6When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

9And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

Another miracle of Jesus. Another simple miracle, with little drama attached to it. First there is the question: "Do you want to be made whole?" It's not the no-brainer it appears to be. I have encountered addicts of various kinds, and persons much attached to various self-defeating or self-destructive behaviors and attitudes, ranging from a chronic inability to take any kind of personal responsibility to delusional beliefs in magnetic healing bracelets. Some of them were quite aware of the fact that they were hurting themselves. But they (and this "they" includes "I," for the record) cling tight to what hurts them. A lot of people honestly don't want to be made whole, it seems.

But to the man who does whole-heartedly want to be restored, Jesus says "pick up your bed and walk." And that's all there is to it.

10The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

11He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

This actually gets expounded on in detail later, but here's the overture of the "Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath" theme. His authority is such that it overrides the Law.

12Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

13And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

Another little touch I find interesting. Jesus has healed the individual, but shuns the crowd. I find in this a little object lesson about Christianity in general. Big crowds of onlookers are not where He can be found. Look for Him instead where lone broken individuals are being restored. This is part of why I feel more comfortable worshiping in someplace like this



















Than in someplace like this



















































14Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

A worse thing than crippling. I believe here Jesus, talking slantwise as ever, is warning him about the death of the soul.

Next: The Sabbath, Divinity, and New Life!

I'm going to post an actual update soon, I swear.

I've been kind of busy, since I now have an actual job that pays actual money. Not as much money as I might want, especially since it's a job that has me lying on the grimy floor sweeping dog food out from under display racks with a cheap broom. I am working for Wal-Mart, or as I prefer to call it, Babylon. I wasn't a big fan of the company before hiring on with them, although I do admit there isn't anywhere else I can get cereal, pants, a Star Wars Transformer and a DVD copy of The Satanic Rites of Dracula all together at 3 in the morning.

And since I'm now in exile in Babylon, this is what I find myself thinking of.

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill .

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.

More regular updates to follow.

In the meantime, one thought: somebody needs to do a really high-quality remake of Blacula.