Cruciformity

At church we’ve been working through Revelation and I had the privelege of preaching on a section on Sunday. I wanted to mention this because I was incredibly rewarded. And it wasn’t one of the purple passages that people often find encouraging and hear preached on. Rather it was chapters 12-14 with a big dragon and a pregnant woman standing on the moon.

The point I wanted to make was that despite how scary Revelation is, with all of the seemingly random symbols, it really rewards a slow and careful read. Make it the next book you read in your quiet time, read it slowly, looking up the cross-references in your bible margins!  You won’t be disappointed.

I’ve got three tips and a book recommendation. If you’re looking for a book on Revelation then I highly recommend Richard Bauckham’s book, The Theology of the Book of Revelation. Anything by Bauckham is worth reading, in my opinion. It’s a thin book, well written, historically informed and compellingly cohering.

Here are 3 tips that I started my sermon with on Sunday night:

1. It’s about Jesus

Don’t be distracted, it’s about Jesus all the way through, with the victory of the cross, the blood of the lamb, forming a central image all the way through. Take it from John’s introduction:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,  who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Rev 1:1-2)

2. It’s for our blessing.

This book isn’t meant to scare us, or confuse us. It’s not meant to be a cryptic crossword or Sudoku to solve. It’s written for the blessing of the reader. Again, take it from John’s introduction:

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. (Rev 1:3)

3. It uses Apocalyptic Language.

Apocalyptic Language is picture language used for it’s heightened expression. The images that illustrate this to us best are those 20th Century War Propanda posters. They contain strange symbols that might be hidden in a culture now past and difficult to retrieve. But once those symbols are attained (and I’m convinced that many of them are attainable from the Old Testament) then the message is not only plain, but it’s screamed at you from the pages you’re reading.

If we save ourselves from an overly-literal reading of the text and allow Revelation it’s symbols and exaggerated forms of imagery, then what results is an acutely relevant call for Christians to ‘overcome’ and follow the lamb on the throne wherever he goes!

Something deep in me needs you to know that the team I go for in the English Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur - absolutely pantsed their rivals Arsenal. From all accounts it was a very special night. I would love to see the reply. For the moment, though, we’ll have to make do with this footage of an AMAZING goal by Danny Rose ON HIS DEBUT for Spurs. Well done, young man. And well done, Spurs.

I’ve been back at College this week and it’s already taking its toll. There’s a 2 Timothy 1 exegetical, a Zechariah 8 exegetical, Australian Church History research, and, of couse, my Project reading. Add to that the regular lecture readings and bible study prep. And then, I’m preaching on the middle section of Revelation over the next few weeks.

All of this suggests that I may have been a little bit relaxed in my holiday study plans. There’s my bean bag, sitting in the corner with a guilty look on its zipper.

But, in case you were worried, I have blogging resolve.

I’ve had a good (though eclectic) selection of music to get me through a few long days. Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. Ray LaMontagne’s Till The Sun Turns Black. And I’ve had flashback to Daft Punk’s Homework. I (mis)spent some time on Youtube this afternoon and found this YouTube Daft Punk goodie:

I’ve had one of those beautiful “ahh!” moments tonight, my eyes opening to see just a little bit more of God’s vision for his people in his world.

What does the Apostle Peter mean by the following sentences?

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1Pet 2:11-12 NIV)

How are we as Christians to relate to the world around us? Do we reinforce a distinct identity from the world? Or do we embrace them - becoming socially and politically winsome?

This week’s reading for Social Ethics was an article by Miroslav Volf call Soft Difference where he considers these questions. It’s opened my eyes to 1 Peter and to the way I relate to the rest of the world.

Volf observes in 1 Peter a vision of the Christian life in a community of believers that sums what people mean by “in the world but not of the world”. These Christians find their purpose and significance in God, living without the pressures from the world around them to break away for survival or to accomodate their beliefs for approval. They have a quiet and gentle confidence in God’s future for them. The boundaries they form around them are not hard in order to isolate themselves, nor absent in order to be absorbed in world, but soft. Not soft as in weak. But soft as in ‘not hard’. Not born from fear or indignance, but soft and born from above into a Christ-given hope and love (1:3). What results is a Christian community refreshingly different, born from above, properly outrageous and winsome to the world around and about.

It’s difficult to reproduce the profundity of it, but here is section that I thought hit a nerve for me as I try to relate properly with my neighbours:

The distance from society that comes from the new birth into a living hope dies not isolate from society. For hope in God, the Creator and Savior of the whole world, knows no boundaries. Instead of leading to isolation, this distance is a presupposition of mission. Without distance, churches can only give speeches that others have written for them and they only go places where others lead them. To make a difference, one must be different. (p24).

What is true Freedom? The modern way of thinking basically suggests that true freedom is having lots of choices. So how’s this for an idea? An ancient way (including an ancient Christian way) of viewing freedom is that true freedom means less choice, not more! I know, it doesn’t sound right. Have a read of a section of David Bentley Hart’s book about deluded Atheists. While plugging Hart’s book yesterday, I was reminded of a section of the book that sums this thought up nicely. Have a read:

It should not be forgotten that the concept of freedom that most of us take for granted, at that is arguably modernity’s central “idea,” has a history. In the more classical understanding of the matter, whether pagan or Christian, true freedom was understood as something inseparable from one’s nature: to be truly free, that is to say, was to be at liberty to realize one’s proper “essence” and so flourish as the kind of being one was. [...] We become free, that is, in something of the same way that (in Michelango’s image) the form is “liberated” from the marble by the sculptor. This means we are free not merely because we can choose, but only when we have chosen well. For to choose poorly, through folly or malice, in a way that thwarts our nature and distorts our proper form, is to enslave ourselves to the transitory, the irrational, the purposeless, the (to be precise) subhuman. To choose well we must ever more clearly see the “sun of the Good” (to use the lovely Platonic metaphor), and to see more clearly we must continue to choose well; and the more we are emancipated from illusion and caprice, the more perfect our vision becomes, and the less there is really to choose. We see and we act in one unified movement of our nature toward God or the Good, and as we progress we find that to turn away from that light is ever more manifestly a defect of the mind and will, and ever more difficult to do. Hence Augustine defined the highest state of human freedom not as “being able not to sin” [...] but as “being unable to sin” [...]: a condition that reflects the infinite goodness of God, who because nothing can hinder him in the perfect realization of his own nature, is “incapable” of evil and so is infinitely free. (Atheist Delusions, 24-25).

College missions are always like this: crazy and very fruitful. It was great to be dragged away from the books and reminded of the bigger picture - God’s purposes in mission. One of my jobs was to sit on a panel at a men’s discussion night on the New Atheism of Richard Dawkins and the like. Without knowing anything about the region we went to I presumed Atheism was a common issue for the people living there and so I put some effort into looking into the topic.

We went to Merrylands, near Parramatta, the geographical centre of Sydney, home to Lebanese, Sudanese, Chinese, Indian, Croatian, Russian, Kuwaiti, just to name a few of the cultural backgrounds represented there. My doorknocking opportunities told me what you would suspect - most people there believe in a god. Given the Hindu population, if you did the stats, you’d probably find that the average was more than one god per household.

Now, this isn’t to say that the minister didn’t have his finger on the pulse, though - he was just measuring a different pulse. Atheism remains an issue for most of the Anglo population and - I discovered - it’s an issue that many from the younger generation were picking up from school, uni and the workplace. The New Atheism has caused shockwaves in some areas, and it got no response in other areas.

In any case, Atheism was an issue for me as I grew up and this gave me the opportunity to flick through some recent material on the topic and I found some average stuff and some great stuff. On the one hand, Richard Dawkin’s The Greatest Show on Earth preserves his boiling rage against Christians from his previous book, though he now seems to hold out some respect for some Christians. Is he coming to realise how ridiculous some of his claims are?

On the other end of the spectrum is great book, David Bentley Hart’s book Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies. I thought that Milbank’s endorsement on the back was funny but I didn’t know that it truly is a demolition job:

Surely Dawkins, Hitchens, et al would never have dared put pen to paper had they known of the existence of David Bentley Hart. After his demolition job all that is left for them to do is repent and rejoice at the discreditation of their erstwhile selves.

If you’ve been stung by the claims of the New Atheists, then I definitely recommend it. He steps through misquote after misconception after non-sequitor and straightens out the story behind much of Atheism’s banter. He’s eloquent and well read, he makes thoughtful responses and maintains a confidence that allows him speak honestly about the shadows and mystery of the Christian faith.

My only criticism of Hart is that he also exudes an elitism that I find difficult to swallow. It quashes the blazing rhetoric of his opponents (and I must say that this is very satifisfying!), but it leaves me feeling like it misrepresents me a little bit as a Christian.

This is probably the most important thing I learned that week. The Apostle Paul boasted in his weaknesses and embodied his message, centred squarely on Christ crucified. If we’re to follow Jesus, then our response to our enemy can’t be alike, it must be love.

My friend Nick put me onto this free online short film by Spike Jonze. If you’ve seen his recent movie, Where the Wild Things Are, you’ll know that he portrays everyday people really well. This is really very beautiful.  Check it out: imheremovie.com.

I’ve been slowly sifting through old posts in my RSS feeder and came across a great post on the reliability of the Gospels over at Ben Myer’s blog by Prof. George Hunsinger. Click here for a great read.

I particularly like his closing paragraphs:

It is finally not we who read the NT, but the NT that reads us. It calls us and our detached role as would-be authoritative, evidence-weighing spectators radically into question. That is why it is so dangerous. Many of those original “unreliable” witnesses to the resurrection of Christ, like Peter and Paul, went to their brutal deaths as martyrs. “When Christ calls a man,” wrote Bonhoeffer, “he bids him come and die.”

No one who is not willing to take this risk should venture to read the NT. But many of those who have turned to it spiritually have found, throughout the centuries, that they end up saying with Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68). I suggest that you might want to read the opening chapters in The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Don’t know if you’ve heard of them but the Dodos have quickly become my new favourites.

I’m right into their 2007 album Visiter which is a great guitar/percussion combo. I love that they major on cool natural beats and combine it with syncopated guitar, sweet melodie and down to earth lyrics. It’s beautifully textured and a refreshingly upbeat sound, salvaging what’s left of a great long  Summer.Definitely worth a listen or five. I also love the fact that they’ve played gigs at schools, having heaps of fun with the kids, and the artwork for Visiter actually came from one of them. So cool.

Since Visiter, they’ve produced another album that I haven’t had a chance to hear yet, but it includes another chap on the Vibrophone. Don’t know much about it but I’m looking forward to it.

Check out some reviews of the band here, here, and here. See also their myspace page here.

Check out the first two tracks of their debut album, Visiter. Yes, do it now!

I’ve been reading through Tom Wright’s Hebrews for Everyone and have been really loving it. He writes so well, succint, pastoral and he includes some great anecdotes. I was reminded today of his reference to a prayer by Francis Drake that he says is still in frequent use in churches today - I’d love to know where it’s been preserved. It came to mind as I strive to publish a blog regularly. But Wright more appropriately relates this to the Christian life and our need to persevere.

O Lord God, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour any great matter, grant us also to know that it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same, until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory; through him who for the finishing of thy work laid down his life for us, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.