True worship and religious ritual pleasing to God entails feeding the hungry, freeing the oppressed and bringing the homeless poor into your home. Christ crucified is the wisdom of God, contrasted with the wisdom of this age and its current rulers. This is a week that calls into question much of our current cultural climate. When the headlines are hijacked by the political theatre happening in Washington and the word "great" has become synonymous with one end of the political spectrum and while we are watching (or not) the scrambling for political power unfold in every corner of our country, where is God's law being fulfilled? Where are Christians being salt and bearing light? What do we imagine is glorifying God?
Perhaps disciples of Christ might start a campaign of our own: Helping the least or looking to be last. Maybe we need to shine a light on the
recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court allowing the current administration to "to begin enforcing new limits on immigrants who are considered likely to become overly dependent on government benefit programs."
And given that right now in Syria, tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing for their lives in the face of a military offensive, we should take Isaiah's admonishment to heart and start sharing our bread and doing our best to house the homeless, no matter from where on the globe they are displaced. We who stand with and for the crucified Christ need to stop and take notice of who is being trampled upon, oppressed and discarded like useless salt. We who follow the One who sought out the least and the lost, the one who said the first will be last and those who want to be great in the kingdom of heaven must be servants, are called to shine light in the darkness and be the salt of the earth that preserves goodness and provides flavor, not just for some, but for all.
What would it look like for us to truly worship as Isaiah outlines? How do we really proclaim Christ crucified as Paul instructs? What does it mean in real terms to be the light and salt Jesus commands? It begins with paying attention to those and to that which much of the world ignores or discards. It starts with noticing where we place our attention and honestly assessing if our time, attention and resources are directed in ways that reflect God's law of love.
James K.A. Smith in his book "You Are What You Love, The Spiritual Power of Habit," contends that we are what we love, what we desire, and we may not actually love what we think we love. He writes, "Discipleship, we might say, is a way to curate your heart, to be intentional about what you love." He goes on to argue that "to be human, we could say, is to desire the kingdom - some kingdom. To call it a 'kingdom' is to signal that we're not talking only about some personal, private Eden - some individual nirvana - but that we all live and long for a social vision of what we think society should look like too." Smith believes we seek this kingdom consciously or not, and it would behoove disciples of Jesus Christ to become aware of what social vision we are indeed working toward - to do a liturgical audit of our lives that reveals the things "you do that do something to you."
Which kingdom do we desire, honestly? The one where all people are housed, fed and free, or one where a very few consume and control most of the world's resources? The one where light exposes evil deeds, or the one where people despise and deride anyone or anything that reveals their corruption? Do we love what we think we love? Who we profess to love? Who Jesus tells us we ought to love - our neighbors, and even our enemies among them?
Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. We proclaim Christ crucified, and that means we preach grace, mercy, forgiveness and sacrificial love, humble service, reconciliation and redemption. We will never get every iota or dot of God's law right. We will fail miserably at following Jesus. We will neglect the poor and participate in the oppression of the vulnerable. We will fail to be the salt we are called to be and we will hide our light under a bushel basket. We will confuse ritual correctness with the real righteousness God desires, too often valuing sacrifice over mercy. Nonetheless, through Christ crucified, we are forgiven. We are free to try and follow again. We are reconciled to God and one another, united in Christ, no matter our love for all the less-than-heavenly-kingdoms. Our aspirations to earthly greatness will create all manner of suffering, but that suffering will not have the last word, will not separate us from the love of God, will not be inevitable or intractable or interminable. We are, after all, the light of the world, the salt of the earth, those tasked and equipped to be who we love, reflecting the character of the One who first love us. We are those called to enact the social vision God desires and, with the Spirit's help, the kingdom we crave, too.
As the world spins and the headlines churn and the relentless quest for power and greatness and wealth and status grinds on and on and on, pay attention to what you want - really want. Notice what you say you love and what you really desire. Stay alert and look for the light of Jesus Christ in others, in yourself, in the world. Follow that light and bear it to those places that right now sit in deep darkness, knowing that true worship entails sharing your bread and opening you heart and your home, proclaiming Christ crucified in word and deed to those who need to know their suffering is not irredeemable, endless or unnoticed. You will be called great in the kingdom of heaven if you do these things; great in God's eyes, when you care for and align yourselves with the least, the lost, the last. Surely not the wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age, but unquestionably God's wisdom.
This week:
- What do you pay attention to day in and day out? What do you ignore? Are there people and issues, places and things, God may be calling you to notice, shine a light on in Christ's name?
- Make note of what you do that does something to you? What are the secular rituals that shape who you are, what you believe, how you act?
- What do you love? What kingdom vision are you working toward?
- How do you discern if you are worshipping rightly and in ways that please God?
- What does it mean to preach Christ crucified?
- If you were to describe to someone unfamiliar with the Gospel what it means to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, what would you say?
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