Skip to main content

It is pointless to resist

“It is pointless to resist.” That is what Darth Vader tells Luke SkyWalker as they both stand before the evil Emperor Palpatine. It is a pivotal moment. Will Luke succumb to the desire for power that has overtaken Darth Vader and the Emperor and join in their quest for domination or will Luke resist and in so doing possibly die? It is difficult not to feel that sentiment in recent times. Is it just me or does it seem like every week since about 2019 has been filled with one horrible historic event after another? COVID with daily death counts and arguments over masks, lock downs and vaccines. Horrific school shootings along with even more horrific mass shootings. Protests and riots. Disgusting displays of racism and a host of other terrible things.

All of that is enough. Yet added to all of that is Russian military aggression and right-wing conspiracies that brought about actions that came dangerously close to altering the peaceful transfer of power in America. In the mix of all of that there is the state of the church in America (which is not good). The church in America seems to have forgotten . . . “that the church knows Jesus whereas the world does not. In the church's view, the political left is not noticeably more interesting than the political right; both sides tend towards solutions that act as if the world has not ended and begun in Jesus.” ― Stanley Hauerwas, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony

It makes me consider, for a moment, if I should just pack up and go live in a cave. But that wouldn’t last long. I like AC, living indoors, a functioning toilet and having a nearby grocery store. Yet I wonder if it is pointless to resist. Maybe, like me, you too find it difficult to resist looking down your nose at others and becoming a judgemental curmudgeon instead of a person who offers grace. Perhaps you too find it hard to resist blaming others instead of owning up to your own responsibilities.

It is tough to resist not hating those I (or you) might consider an enemy. It is even more difficult resisting the Constantinian compromise, the accommodation of Christianity to the values of the empire and the preservation of the status quo. Maybe Darth has a point. It can be soul crushing to desire and pray for . . “justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24) and witness so much of that not happening in daily living. 

In Matthew 25 Jesus is answering a question that his disciples have asked about a sign or signal for the end of the age. Jesus offers up two parables. One of the parables (Matt. 25:31-46) is about a shepherd-king who divides his followers into sheep (to the right) and goats (to the left). The shepherd-king tells those on his right that they will inherit his kingdom for when he was hungry they fed him, thirsty they gave him a drink, a stranger they welcomed him, naked they offered clothing, sick and they cared for him, in prison and they visited him. Those on the shepherd-king’s left, who failed to care for “the least of these”, are sent away into eternal punishment.

This is the work that the disciples have witnessed and now have been given. Those who have seen Jesus no longer have any excuse to avoid “the least of these.” This is the answer to the disciples question. Jesus is the sign of the end of the age. A new age has come and Jesus is providing all of the time needed to feed the hungry, cure the sick, comfort the comfortless and welcome strangers. 

What is the sign of “the end of the age?” Not a national crisis that brings disaster of epic proportions. Instead Jesus signals that the sign of the end of the age is that they are to take the time to feed, cloth, offer drinks to the thirsty, care for the sick, welcome strangers and visit those in prison. All of these works are creating a new age and new world. A people shaped by practicing those things will be able to see through those who claim to need power to do good. Great injustices and evil have been done by those claiming that time is short and a response is needed to this or that crisis. 

Jesus has given us all the time in the world to get to know “the least of these” and to do works of mercy. Which is Jesus' way of renewing the world. This isn’t about creating alternatives to capitalism or socialism otherwise we might seduce ourselves into believing that we are working to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give a drink to the thirsty, care for sick, welcome strangers and visit those in prison without actually knowing anyone hungry, naked, thirsty, a stranger, sick or in prison.  

“The biblical lifestyle is always a witness of resistance to the status quo in politics, economics, and all society. It is a witness of resurrection from death. Paradoxically, those who embark on the biblical witness constantly risk death - through execution, exile, imprisonment, persecution, defamation, or harassment - at the behest of the rulers of this age. Yet those who do not resist the rulers of the present darkness are consigned to a moral death, the death of their humanness. That, of all the ways of dying, is the most ignominious.” ― William Stringfellow, Instead of Death 

What I am attempting to say is . . . you’re wrong Darth! It is not pointless to resist! Jesus is not offering his followers something practical to do nor a path towards societal domination. Jesus is inviting his followers to participate in creating the kind of world that he desires. A new age.  A world where “the least of these” are cared for and shown mercy. What do we do when it seems pointless to resist? We take on the good work of caring for “the least of these” which offers a challenging resistance to those in power who claim to rule as the benefactors of the poor and hungry. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts on The Widening of God's Mercy by Hays and Hays

When I heard about the book by Hays and Hays titled The Widening of God Mercy I was intrigued. I had read Richard Hays' book The Moral Vision of the New Testament in seminary, especially the chapter on homosexuality. I ended up adopting much, if not all, of Hays' position on homosexuality and often used his reasoning while serving as a church minister.  I have read other things that Richard Hays has written such as Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness and found it beneficial to my understanding of Jesus and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. When it was suggested that Richard Hays might have changed his mind about what he wrote in  The Moral Vision of the New Testament  on homosexuality, I wanted to find out for myself.  My Context I spent over ten years doing youth ministry in the local church. I now know many adults who used to be teenagers in my youth group. Some of those adults are gay or lesbian. That means unbeknownst ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worshiping the executioner part 1 (Suffering and Faith)

The brother kept yelling "I did this" as I opened the door to one of the hospital family consultation rooms. Maybe you have sat in a room like this and received some not-so-good news. Rooms such as these tend to be basic. A few not-so-comfy chairs, a drab paint job, and odd abstract artwork on the walls.  I had asked the family members, who had been seated in the ER waiting area, to follow me to the family room. I told them that the doctor wanted to give them an update on how their loved one was doing. The family gathered up their belongings and nervously began to follow me. The family consisted of two adults, a baby, and two girls. One of the girls was the daughter of the patient that the doctor needed to give an update on.  She was a cute little girl. Probably about four or five years old. She had messy wavy short blond hair and green eyes. She was wearing a pale pink shirt with little white flower prints and a matching pair of pants. She had a pair of Crocs-style pink shoe...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Power of Touch

Some folks like to hug, and others would rather eat glass than get a hug. Okay, maybe not eat glass but they aren’t into hugs. You know who you are! Wherever you might be on the hug me or don’t hug me spectrum our human bodies were designed for human contact to thrive.1,2 Physical touch like a hug or holding a person’s hand can reduce pain, lower cortisol levels, boost immune responses, and foster empathy. Physical touch can also have a positive impact on our emotional health as well. It is a powerful moment when you feel down, outcast, and excluded and someone acknowledges your humanity with a handshake, hug, or hand placed on your shoulder. The point is there is power in human touch that goes beyond what our eyes can see. Frederick Buechner in his book  Whistling in the Dark talks about the power of human touch when he writes:  I hear your words. I see your face. I smell the rain in your hair, the coffee on your breath. I am inside me experiencing you as you are inside you ...
Post a Comment
Read more