Listen to Brad Harper’s workshop, “Aliens, Strangers, and “Natives”: Some Biblical and Historical Thought about Immigration”, from Immigration Reformation on April 27, 2013 at Multnomah University.
Immigration Reformation podcast, part 1: My Story with Roxana Campbell
Listen to Roxana Campbell’s plenary talk, sharing her personal story of immigration from El Salvador to the United States, from Immigration Reformation on April 27, 2013 at Multnomah University.
The Holy Mother’s Day All Year Long
Now that the venerable holiday—Mother’s Day—has passed, I would like to reflect upon what I will call the Holy Mother’s Day. Typically, Mary, the mother of the Lord, is honored at Annunciation, which occurred this year on Monday, April 8, 2013. There is a sense in which every day should be this holy mother’s day, since she manifested the kind of radical obedience to God in honoring Christ that should be true of every Christian every day of the year.
Scripture records that when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would be the mother of the Lord, Mary responded: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38, ESV). Every Christian—myself included—should respond in the same manner. Just imagine how unimaginable the call of the Lord was upon her life. No doubt, she was aware of the fact that her fiancé would be greatly troubled by the news that she was expecting a child and he wasn’t the father! No doubt, she was aware of the fact that people would gossip about her state long after the baby was born. No doubt, she doubted that she was up to the task of being the mother of the Lord, even as she marveled at the thought (Luke 1:46-49). Who wouldn’t doubt, given what she sensed? She is blessed among women, just as the fruit of her womb is blessed (Luke 1:42), and every generation will consider her blessed (Luke 1:48). How weighty and monumental!
Such blessings also bring with them burdens. As Simeon told her, a sword would pierce her heart (Luke 2:35), perhaps foreshadowing the sufferings she would endure in observing Jesus’ passion and death. It is likely that her son’s words and actions also pierced her heart, as he told her and his earthly father that he needed to be about his Father’s business (Luke 2:49), even if it entailed difficulties for them, and that those who obeyed his teaching were his true mother and brothers (Luke 8:21; cf. Matthew 12:49). As with the encounter with Mary in John 2 at the wedding at Cana in Galilee, Jesus wanted to make sure that his mother realized that he was not there simply to do her bidding: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4, ESV).
Many of Jesus’ encounters with his mother sting and pierce the heart. It is hard to imagine one using these accounts as the bases for Mother’s Day sermons. Perhaps the best model text for showing Jesus’ care for his mother is the painful account of his crucifixion, where in the midst of his overwhelming affliction, the Lord commits Mary to his disciple John for him to take care of her from that point forward: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26-27, ESV). It is a very moving scene. Still, would many mothers want this text to be the basis for a sermon dedicated to them on Mother’s Day? Neither this nor any of the other texts, including the account of Jesus’ dedication soon after his birth, seems quite fitting to many. Too troubling, morbid, disturbing.
In a Christian culture that often venerates the family to a position of near worship, it is very difficult to take to heart Jesus’ relationship with his mother. What Jesus and Mary make so clear to us in these accounts is that our ultimate focus must not be on our nuclear family, or some other love, but on God. As the close of Mary’s Magnificat makes clear, Mary and her Son saw that his birth and life would bring about the climax of salvation history that would benefit Israel and peoples everywhere, especially the lowly (Luke 1:50-55).
So often, we Protestants throw out the baby with the bathwater when critically reflecting upon the Catholic Church’s veneration of Mary. We would be wise to ponder that language such as “the mother of the Lord” and “bearer/mother of God” (theotokos) are Christologically accurate and astute categories: this language is intended to guard against such doctrinal heresies as Nestorianism (which teaches that there are two persons, one divine and one human, and that only the human side of Jesus is incarnate; in contrast to Nestorianism, the divine Word became human—John 1:14) and Adoptionism (which teaches that the divine Christ adopted the man Jesus for a time and then departed from him; in contrast to Adoptionism, the divine Word became human and is indissolubly joined with human flesh—John 1:14).
Going on, while folk Catholicism may be guilty of venerating Mary as a co-equal with Jesus to whom we turn in place of him, official Catholic teaching tends to moderate the mediation so that her co-mediatory role is very similar to how Christian saints serve as mediators in interceding for the church with Christ. From my own vantage point, Mary is not a co-mediator in any other manner than the rest of us are co-mediators, confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another so that we might be healed (James 5:16). Still, as the mother of the Lord of the entire church, Mary is the one who initiates this work of communal mediation in the church just as her radical obedience sets the precedent for what Christian obedience entails. In this sense, we cannot go far enough in honoring Mary as the first among equals in the church on Mother’s Day and every day throughout the year.
This piece is cross-posted at Patheos and The Christian Post. Comments made here are not monitored. To join the conversation, please comment on this post at Patheos.
The Radical Middle & Fundamentalist Extremes: Crossing the Divide
Fundamentalism comes in all shapes and sizes. Liberals can be fundamentalists, too. I am not talking about doctrine, but an inflexible posture that makes dialogue impossible.
Tom Krattenmaker’s Huffington Post piece titled, “A Progressive’s Confessional Journey to Focus on the Family,” is a shining example of a secular progressive who is progressive on dialogue. I wish I could say the same for some of the respondents at the close of the article.
Of course, we Evangelicals are well-known for our fundamentalist ways. Perhaps we Evangelicals can learn a thing or two from Krattenmaker. He is willing to risk and see the good in the other and tell it the way he sees it, even if it will cost him in terms of how his secular-progressive camp views him. I have heard him say that his liberal constituents are going to kill him for certain constructive claims he makes about the enemy. How challenging: how many Evangelicals are willing to cross party lines to connect with people no matter their ideological stripe?
Regarding his latest book, The Evangelicals You Don’t Know: Introducing the Next Generation of Christians, Tom’s former literary agent had told him that he doesn’t have an audience. That’s because Tom is willing to risk and not take a clear cut side to build a following. Extreme news sells; moderation comes across as modest and boring. I can assure you that Tom and his book are not boring, that is, unless you are addicted to sensationalism. In my estimation, Tom addresses one of the most exciting developments in sections of our society: people who are willing to try and cross a vast chasm to get to the other side. Tom might not be the daredevil Evel Knievel, who risked life and limb to jump ramps and cross divides, but I find Tom pretty daring.
As I reflect upon the closing words of Krattenmaker’s The Evangelicals You Don’t Know, I am reminded of Jesus who was and is also pretty daring. Those who claim loyalty to Jesus, no matter if they are conservative or liberal, will realize that Jesus was crucified for reconciling opposing forces and replacing hate with love. He did not fit people’s expectations or label people the way the party line position makers demanded. Those who seek to be centered in him will reach out to the extremes.
With this in mind, I close with Krattenmaker’s reference to fellow Evangelical Jonathan Merritt’s comment at the close of The Evangelicals You Don’t Know. Merritt contends: “We can stand in the gap and claim loyalty only to Jesus.” Here’s the full context for Tom’s reference:
Opening up on the changing landscape of “post-Christian” America, in a culture where the 9/11 wars and a 9/11 world are fading in the rearview mirror, is a new territory where fellow travelers of goodwill are coming together. This is a “place” you might call the common good.
The young evangelical writer Jonathan Merritt calls his co-religionists to a metaphorical space that leaves the culture wars behind, that transcends the traps of politicized, right-wing Christianity that snared so many of their fathers and mothers. “We aren’t forced to choose a human-formed party with a systemized divide-and-conquer agenda,” Merritt writes. “We can stand in the gap and claim loyalty only to Jesus.”
The “gap” beckons those outside of Merritt’s evangelical tradition as well. This is a place where open-minded good-doers of any persuasion are welcome, are needed. This is not a safe, boring space in the mushy middle for the wishy-washy and commitment-phobic. It’s more like a no-man’s-land, offering none of the safety and comfort of permanent membership in one camp or the other but plenty of bracing fresh air for those who can handle some new company and the sound of the occasional missile passing overhead.
Not that you’d know it from the old culture-war framework and rhetoric, but you’ll find plenty of company there. Not that you’ll see much evidence of it in the latest news from the political campaign trails and legislative halls, but there seems to be more of a crowd forming there in that gap.
May it grow.
May Tom’s readership grow. Prove Tom’s former agent wrong and show that there is an audience for the book—everyone, that is, everyone daring enough to risk and read and cross the culture war divide in search of common ground.
This piece is cross-posted at Patheos and The Christian Post. Comments made here are not monitored. To join the conversation, please comment on this post at Patheos.
Charles Ramsey: Kidnapped Heroism Unleashed
What is it about Charles Ramsey, the hero in the Cleveland kidnapping saga, that takes America’s imagination captive? Whether or not his appeal lasts a short or long period of time, his words and deeds have gone viral.
There are no doubt numerous reasons for Ramsey as a web phenomenon. One is how unbelievable the story is of his (and quite possibly others) freeing three women and a child brutally imprisoned for ten years in Ramsey’s neighbor’s house. It has all the makings of a horror/hero adventure film.
One also has to account for how unscripted and yet penetrating Ramsey’s words are. For example, the way in which he addresses America’s racial fears of black men surprises and challenges us: “I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway … Either she’s homeless or she’s got problems. That’s the only reason she run to a black man …” (Take note of the reactions of those around him, including the reporter interviewing him, when he says these words.)
One must account for the fears that Ramsey is being exploited as a black man, as has been documented. While such fears must be accounted for, I also wonder if the rest of us should be afraid as to how often we as a society are exploited by manicured personalities and celebrity phenoms who script everything to increase their star-studded status. I couldn’t help but think of NBA MVP LeBron James’ much-debated-exit from Cleveland a few years ago for Miami, where he announced his “decision” on national television after agonizingly dragged-out suspense . Regardless of what one makes of James’ decision and exit from Cleveland, and regardless of how radically different his life is from Ramsey’s, I for one am not lost on how refreshing Ramsey is: he’s apparently more real than Reality TV.
I doubt we can bottle and preserve the Ramsey caught in those moments involving the rescue of the kidnapped women and child or Ramsey’s initial interview. No matter how many t-shirts bear Ramsey’s image and regardless of how McDonald’s with all its preservatives packages Ramsey’s reference to eating a Big Mac when he first heard the screams, this heroic story will have the most enduring impact if we can live in the moment like Ramsey did in coming to these victims’ aid—long before the reporters and cameras arrived. Perhaps we can also learn to be a little less scripted, a little more penetrating in our words, no matter if we are dishwashers with or without squeaky clean pasts like Ramsey, basketball starts like James, or doctors, lawyers, or candlestick makers.
What sparks heroism? What keeps the heroic flame going long after the candle of celebrity burns low? True heroism is not something that can be canned or manufactured. Whether or not Ramsey deserves all the attention and accolades he has received, or if others should share in the praise, true heroism doesn’t care. It responds in unscripted moments to needs around it, no matter who’s looking. As Ramsey says, “You do what you gotta do.” Do we?
This piece is cross-posted at Patheos and The Christian Post. Comments made here are not monitored. To join the conversation, please comment on this post at Patheos.