WHAT ABOUT JESUS?

Teacher, Prophet, Spirit

We're on a journey.  The tradition that rises out of the life and ministry of Jesus offers a map, a series of guideposts along the way.  Because we value intellectual freedom and creativity, we make a lot of room.  Folks at FCC come at Jesus in all kinds of ways...and we appreciate different aspects of his teaching and example.  Regarding the historical Jesus and his commitments, many of us find the work of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan compelling.  They offer a five-stroke sketch:

1.  Jesus was a social prophet in the tradition of Hebrew prophets.  He was a radical critic of domination systems and an advocate for human freedom at all levels.

2.  Jesus was a Jewish mystic whose experience of the Spirit was immediate, dynamic and life-altering.

3.  Jesus was a movement-founder, gathering around him a small group of disciples and followers.

4.  Jesus was a wisdom teacher and devoted himself to contradicting the 'conventional wisdom' of his time.  Using parables and sayings, he offered followers a "Way" of compassion, freedom and courage.

5.  Jesus was a healer and acted at almost every opportunity to re-connect the lost and bind up the broken.  He had a special heart for those ostracized and diminished by social and cultural prejudice.  His healing was often directed at reconciling ruptured communities and relationships.

Here are some other views that seem compelling and meaningful:

From James Lawson, US Pastor and Civil Rights Activist:

When Gandhi read the Sermon on the Mount, he said something like this, and I may not have the quite exact words but I think I have his meaning. When he read the Sermon on the Mount, especially the section in Matthew 5:38–48, he said, “A light came on. This is what I learned as a child, and this is what I’ve been trying to do.”

So that’s his connection with Jesus, which he retained for the rest of his life. He rejected all invitations to conversion, and he rejected a great deal of Christian dogma, but he said, “If I am a Christian, as I am a Hindu, I am a Christian because of Jesus; and I try to follow Jesus.” And I agree with that; as a pastor, I agree with that. The test of being a Christian is not the creeds — it’s whether you follow Jesus and will allow the mind and heart and spirit of Jesus to come take root in you.

There’s always been in the Christian movement from the days of Jesus people who took the stance of unconditional love for life, for human beings, and refused therefore to take up the sword against any of them, as Jesus did.

That was a dominant theme in the first 300 years of Christianity. Christians did not serve in the Roman army or anybody else’s army. They rejected violence for two reasons: One, because it would cause them to have to pay fealty to the Roman emperor, to the Roman Christ; and also because it would involve them in the taking of life rather than healing of life.

From Fr. Laurence Freeman, Catholic Monk, Mystic and Author: