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.

John 4:43-54

This is a late update, on account of I had stuff to do this evening, to wit: introducing some people to the film Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a Christmas classic delivering the unprecedented spectacle of Santa Claus single-handedly thwarting a Martian robot that's obviously a guy in a cardboard costume. This, of course, has but little to do with the Gospels, especially as the means used by Claus to conquer the Martians are materialism and areligious seasonal cheer.

Be that as it may, Jesus and His disciples were in Samaria when we left them last installment. But that is about to change.

3After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

This is interesting to me. After some four hundred years of the Bible being readily available in English, "a prophet hath no honour in his own country" has been firmly embedded in our language. And it is a true saying. The evidence of it may be seen in Jesus' own story, later on. More generally it holds true elsewhere. I have seen with my own eyes the proof of it in Cross Plains, Texas, home of the great Robert E. Howard (all due respect to Project Pride, who've done great things), but that is a matter for another time and probably another blog.

However, it says here that on arrival in Galilee Jesus was welcomed, by folks who were impressed by his various feats in Jerusalem.

A few minutes bopping from translation to translation on BibleGateway.com shews that most translations either have a full stop between "without honor in his own land" and "when he arrived in Galilee" breaking it into two separate thoughts, or else bridge the two sentences with either "yet" or "so." "A prophet is without honor in his own land, so the Galileans..." "A prophet is without honor in his own land, yet the Galileans..."

The one I like is the Message, which paraphrases it thusly:

43-45After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.

There's actually quite a bit I like about this version. For starters, it bridges the two thoughts (prophets are without honor, Galileans welcomed) in a logical way. Jesus was welcomed because He could do impressive tricks. Second, I really like the phrase "what he was up to," which implies a certain sneakiness, or a hidden agenda. Finally, it makes the attitude of the Galileans explicit: they thought Jesus was impressive, but they certainly would not be happy if they knew what He was really all about.

Dare I say, how many of us today are the same way?

46Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

48"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."

49The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

Here's how I read this: Jesus is riding a wave of popularity just at present on account of He can work wonders. Right there in Cana He had turned water into enough wine to intoxicate pretty much everyone in town. In Jerusalem, as these folks had either seen with their own eyes, or heard from people who saw with their own eyes, or maybe heard from people who heard about it, Jesus did far more than that. But all that, in the end, is unimportant. Jesus didn't want them to look at His miracles, He wanted them to believe what He taught. As I take it, His initial stern response is to get rid of anyone looking for more supernatural parlor tricks.

The man's answer shows he's not one of those. He's not there to see signs and wonders.

He just wants his son to live.

50Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

Here's proof of it. The man took Jesus at His word and departed.

Took Him at His word.

And departed.

Consider, an' thou wilt, the kind of faith this nobleman had. No questions. No hesitation. No need to see Jesus draw mystic sigils in the dust or scribe letters of fire in the air or speak the hidden names of Hashem and in general work the kind of magical mojo that might be expected from someone bringing a sick boy back from the edge of death. Jesus doesn't even slick his hair into a giant pompadour, grab the kid's head and shove him forcefully backwards while intoning "in-a the name of almighty GOD-a!" Jesus says the thing's done, and that's good enough. Here's a man who is not after a miracle. He's after a healing.

51While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."

53Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.

54This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

John 4:27-42

It is at this point that the Disciples, Jesus’ not-too-bright Greek Chorus, make their appearance. It may or may not be a coincidence that the woman’s departure coincides with the arrival of a gang of uncouth blue-collar Galileans, some smelling like fish and all of them most likely ill-disposed towards Samaritans on general principle.

27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Having encountered Christ, the woman’s first instinct is to go and tell. Later on, this instinct will be adapted by Jesus into His final instructions. Having realized that she was thirsty, and having found the Water of Life, this woman wants to tell people about it. She’s excited. She is also, O my brothers, not being a jerk about it. Having met Him, she doesn’t go print up some tracts explaining why her neighbors are about to go to Hell. She does not pass out said tracts on the street corner in her Sunday best while giving the unwashed heathens passing by severe looks. This is more like a starving street dog, having found a dumpster full of steaks, letting up a howl so the rest of the starving pack can share the wealth. It’s the difference between “you look like you ought to be hungry. I run a soup kitchen,” and “I was starving! If you’re starving too, come see where I found food!”

Meanwhile, the Chorus are being their usual thick selves.

31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."

32But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

33Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

You’d think, after the fourth or fifth time, they’d start to figure out when Jesus was making one of His oblique shifts into metaphor. But then, if they got smart, they’d no longer serve their vital literary function of emphasizing Jesus’ metaphors. And this metaphor is a particularly good one.

34"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

The harvest. Souls stand like wheat, ready to be gathered in. It’s a figure of speech that’s solidly taken hold, all the more so in times and places where talk of sowing and reaping isn’t just a figure of speech. Flip through a hymn book sometime, especially an older one, and you’ll most likely see the proof of it.

One sows and another reaps. And the reaping time is here. Now. And what happens to the grain that isn’t harvested?

39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.

42They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

The visit to Samaria was a successful one. And it serves to illustrate the rather vital point that Jesus is interested in more than just Israel. And, who feels it knows it, He is the Savior.

john 4:1-26

Okay, check it out. From now on, I'll be updating this (or trying to) bi-weekly, Mondays and Thursdays.

I’ve put off trying to tackle this passage for a while, because it’s important and because there’s a whole lot of stuff to cover. This is the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well, and it’s where Jesus says a lot of seriously heavy stuff.

Jesus and his disciples have left Judea, apparently because the Pharisees were taking an interest in their activities there. They’re heading home to Galilee, a trip which takes them through Samaria. And Samaria was a region occupied by half-breeds who worshiped differently than the Jews, who therefore tried to avoid associating with them.

5Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

7There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

8(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

9Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Here’s the first lesson of the story. Jesus doesn’t care about status or cliques or other dividers. He deals with people just as people. This was the early Church’s greatest strength, its willingness to reach out to those forsaken by all others. It may be the modern Church’s great weakness, that we’ve lost sight of this.

10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Here we have another example of Jesus’ tendency to abruptly segue from temporal to spiritual matters in conversation. His interest is not in ordinary water.

Living water. This is a truly grand figure of speech. Cleansing, refreshing, purifying, life-giving. Never-ending, always flowing, a fountain springing up into eternal life. And here’s the second lesson of the story. This is what Jesus is offering: not just miraculous healing and moral teaching about being nice to each other. He’s here offering the cleansing and quenching we all need.

And presented with this idea, the woman forgets about ordinary water as well.

15The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

16Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

17The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

18For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

19The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

And here, the third lesson: He knows. Behold and wonder at this: Jesus sees you, all of you, all you’ve done, all you keep hidden, all you’re ashamed of. He knows. And, even knowing all that, He still offers the Water of Life.

20Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Knowing herself now to be in the presence of a prophet, the woman inquires about the religious division between Jew and Samaritan. Where is the right place to worship, the Mountain, or the Temple? The answer is “none of the above.” The where isn’t important, it’s the how. In spirit, and truth. Ritual, empty liturgy, is insufficient whether in the Temple or out of it. And that is the fourth lesson.

And this is the fifth:

25The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Next up: the Samaritan Adventure continues!