We are all one in Christ...

Acts 2: 32; 36

 ³²This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses…. ³⁶Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,^* this Jesus whom you crucified.’  

Acts 2 is the first of four passages in the Acts of the Apostles (see also 8:4; 10:44 and 19: 1-10) that answer the fundamental question being asked by first century people: ‘for who did Jesus the Messiah live, die and rise again?’ There is no doubt that Jesus lived, died and rose again. There were eye witnesses who were prepared to die for these facts.  Nobody dies for a known lie unless they are insane. Peter was a realist; he knew the consequences of following Jesus. Remember he denied Jesus rather than die beside Him. Now, in this passage, he is witnessing to the resurrection at the heart of the meeting place of those who killed him and he is clear that Jesus rose again. He is also very clear that the ‘entire house of Israel’ that is the Jewish people are the object of the loving, resurrection power displayed in the coming of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the Church. In chapter 8:4 we find that the Samaritans are part of the same plan for the church; in chapter 10:44 we find the ‘God Fearers’ non Jewish believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are ushered into the church and in chapter 19 we find gentiles, that is non-Jews are part of God’s plan for the community of believers. All these groups are confirmed by the Holy Spirit falling on them and demonstrating their inclusion through the speaking in languages they did not learn: a miraculous sign of their inclusion that the first included believers’ from these groups received. We are now in the position to answer the question who did Jesus rise from the dead for: who are to be included in the Church? The Jews, Samaritans, God Fearers and Gentiles are all included in the resurrection plan for the new community where Jesus reigns as both ‘Lord and Messiah’. Jesus rose again for all people no matter their ethnic identity. The resurrection is the empowerment act of inclusion: no more division we are all one in Christ.     

Red Letter Day

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Red Letter Wake Up 

1 Corinthians 15: 3-4

3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,

Paul and the early believers considered the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus to be of first importance in their practice and understanding of the teachings of Jesus. A faithful life was regarded as: suffering and self-sacrifice, death and burial but resulted in resurrection.  It was so important that it had to be told exactly how it happened and not changed according to the audience. The story of Jesus was received and handed on faithfully without altering it. Paul received the story and what it meant directly from Jesus Himself, so, whatever Paul teaches or recounts it will match up with for example, the teachings of Jesus we find in the gospels. Jesus has priority in interpretation. Everyone else gives way.  All interpretations of Paul must be done through the lens of the teachings of Jesus. Paul is handing on the faith he received he is not inventing it as he goes. Paul’s teaching about Jesus is not only handed on as he received it but it is verifiable through consulting the scriptures. Jesus fulfilled the scriptures and what was prophesied about the Messiah. In this passage the death, burial and resurrection are directly referred to as having been told forth by the scriptures. If we model our practice on the example set by these first Christians; the people who had direct access to Jesus then of first importance to us will be the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus; we too will recognise that suffering and death is followed by resurrection. Our reliance will be on scripture. Our interpretation of scripture must be Christocentric that is based on what Jesus said the scriptures meant through His words and deeds as recorded for us in the bible. Let us be thankful; Jesus is alive! This changes everything…  Because He lives we will live also!

Who Would Jesus Shoot?

The UK Anabaptist Network; The Mennonite Trust; ekklesia; Union Chapel; Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church; Greenbelt Festival

Wednesday, 12 November 2014 from 19:00 to 22:00 (GMT)

London, United Kingdom

Who would Jesus Shoot? Tickets...

1 Corinthians 1: 22-24

²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

People often say to me that they are looking for two things to satisfy their criteria for the story of Jesus to be authentic: evidence and rational explanation. Demonstrate in the material world how this story changes things and then explain to me how it’s done then I will believe! In the early church these two objections to the story of Jesus were also put forward.

Those from Hebrew culture in the 1^st century rejected Jesus because He would not raise them to the dominant position in the class structure of their day. They wanted to be the dominant socio-political and economic force. They objected to Rome being in charge and having to pay taxes to pagans. The message of Jesus telling us that we should love our enemy and that the power of liberation and change is the power of self-sacrifice and non-violence was rejected. This was far too slow a process never mind being ridiculous. They wanted change ‘imposed from above’. They saw no sign of liberation in a process that was not immediate and involved inclusive solutions with a great deal of sacrifice from themselves. God was on their side alone and He must act only for them. The sign they look for is a swift process of their domination and confirmation of their power status. The story of the cross does not fit their self-perception; their liberator does not get crucified. 

Now in Greek culture a great man could get himself killed for his ideas and his ideas continue to change people and culture. The politics of the Greco Roman Empire can get messy they understand that. What they really object to is the resurrection part of the story of Jesus. Have a look at Acts 17: 16-34.  The philosophy of Jesus they get; values and attitude formation are their business they could believe that bit. The belief that the power to put these values into practice comes from a man being raised from the dead is ridiculous to them it does not fit their world view. It is too radical, too far for them to go.

Both Hebrew and Greek culture ultimately reject the story of Jesus. Both cultures believe that death is more powerful than resurrection life. Death is the end for both. Neither culture is redeemable because death wins in the end. However, individual Greeks and Hebrew people do get the truth and power of the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. This creates a possibility of a new culture of inclusion, equity, justice and peace that both ‘Jews and Greeks’ can belong to. This is the power and wisdom of God.  New life and culture built from below; from individuals getting together and living out a new life together in an inclusive Jesus centred community of life: this is the original church before the corruption of Christendom and the State centred church takeover of the story of Jesus. Which church do we belong to; the Jesus centred life giving church of the Kingdom of God or the state centred church of the current ruling empire? It’s simply a question of life or death.

Hebrews 12:  1-3; 7

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^* and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,^* so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. ….⁷ Endure trials for the sake of discipline.

Read Hebrews 12. Early Christians would be familiar with the various games that their society staged. The competitors were in many events fighting for their very lives and could be rewarded with freedom from slavery. Any serious athlete who intends to compete in the games had to train. Competitors have to accept the discipline of their life event and turn the disciplines to their advantage. A genuine winner in the games cannot allow the trials they come across on the way to the finals to be thought of in a negative way; they are the disciplines required to win. Jesus was the perfect example of the athlete who won not just His own victors crown (laurel wreath) but He won our freedom in his trials and the main event of the cross. Jesus did not give up through adversity: rejection, disloyalty and betrayal. Jesus endured, he demonstrated the ultimate discipline in His life; He accepted the trials of life as disciplines and He won our freedom. So, consider Jesus! Let us not lose heart when we struggle in life and one day very soon we too will be counted among the victorious alongside our victorious Jesus. Let us be among those who have run the race of discipleship and won.   

For to this you have been called

1 Peter 2: 21-25

²¹For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. 
²² ‘He committed no sin,
   and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ 
²³When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. ²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

How can we make peace in a violent world? How can our baptismal vows contribute to conflict resolution? Our natural tendency seems to be to react to violence with violence otherwise we may appear weak and become victims. Is this what Jesus taught and practiced? Someone once said ‘an eye for an eye make the whole world bind’. The early church believed and lived by the principle that Jesus taught the authentic meaning of the Law and the Prophets. The writer of 1 Peter addressing people who were in the most difficult of circumstances taught that if we meet violence with violence we get two times the violence and none of us are free of it. We all become blind. The example of Jesus life is that He made peace in a violent world by not returning the abuse, yet refusing to go along with the oppressive violence of His age. He offered a community of alternatives. His dissent, His baptism on the cross, was to be identified with by His followers through water baptism. Jesus baptism on the cross is an end of the baptism of violence and abuse. In a world of competing interests the followers of Jesus acknowledge conflict but refuse to be defined by these conflicts. To acknowledge the conflict of interests and value this diversity is the opposite of making us all the same; Jesus did not die to make us all the same. The followers of Jesus want to be followers of Jesus but value and respect those who do not. Only one of the people crucified with Jesus that day acknowledged Jesus teaching and practice along with a Roman centurion; but Jesus continued to set the example of non-violent resistance to violence; resistance to the practices of Rome, the religious establishment, the fickle crowed and their party political representatives.