The first are from vintage21.com, (these are all on one page on youtube here):
Jesus Video 1: Jesus doesn't have time for Peter
Jesus Video 2: Jesus gives rules for First Christian Church, and confronts a follower for missing prayer meeting for the Super Bowl:
Jesus video 3: Jesus tells all the disciples what they have recently done wrong:
Jesus Video 4: Jesus rides on a donkey, cleanses the temple,and steals money from Pharisees:
Here are the clips from Elevation Church; usually in a series called "Misconceptions of Jesus" (these are all on youtube here)
Misconceptions of Jesus 1: Jesus Club-Jesus Loves Righteous People:
Misconceptions of Jesus 2: Jesus Loves Red States:
Misconceptions of Jesus 3: Jesus Sells Insurance:
--)
--------------------------
okay, on to the serious stuff:
When a community is functioning as it should; as communitas:
it is continually creative (week 1) 
it establishes appropriate norms and guidelines (Week 2)
(week 3)
-------------
Four factors speak into its outreach into the world:
(Week 4)
--
1)Wisdom:
Apples and Oranges (versus Verse-itis)
------------------
Rob Bell on "Everything is Spiritual":
part 1:
part 2:
part 3:
part 4:
part 5:
-----------
What does this "Council of Elrond" scene from "Lord of the Rings" have to do with the our theme?
Well, for one, "you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission....quest....thing.":
---That's communitas!
----------------------------
).
------------------------------------------
2)Prophecy
It is helpful to think of prophecy as:
a).not just
fore-telling (predicting the future)
but
forth-telling (telling forth truth)
b)often having multiple applications and fulfillments, to different "contemporary worlds" and across time.
We'll used this diagram to illustrate:
-Who was Immanuel?
-Who does "out of Egypt, I have called my son" refer to ?
-
c)often related to social justice, and the call to implement Kingdom ethics in the here and now.
We'll discuss the Brueggeman book you read for tonight, which focuses on Isaiah and contemporary urban problems (Much of the book is a free online read here, and here is an audio of a related sermon Bruegemann preached at Mars Hill Church (pastored by Rob Bell, whose Revelation video appears above).
3)Parables
----
speaking of parables:
.A parable is a succinct story, or word-picture/picture in words.. in prose or verse, that illustrates a lesson. It is a type of analogy.[1].
..The word "parable" comes from the Greek παραβολή (parabolē), meaning "comparison, illustration, analogy",[3] ...often comparaing two items that seem incongrous, disparate, and have nothing to do with each other... Christian parables have recently been studied as extended metaphors,[5] ..
Unlike the situation with a simile, a parable's parallel meaning is unspoken and implicit, though not ordinarily secret...The New Testament parables are thought by scholars such as John P. Meier to have been inspired by mashalim, a form of Hebrew comparison. The Tanakh contains only five parables;
the New Testament dozens.
-Link
More:
“The greatest thing by far is to be master of analogy....it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars.”
(Poetics, 1459 a 5-8, "The Basic Works of Aristotle")
If Jesus "never opened his mouth once (at least to 'outsiders') without speaking an analogy-metaphor-parable," (Matt 13:34-35).. what a genius!
And then surely the essence of genius is to do the same: our primary job as interpreters/communicators is to find, exploit, and communicate connections between two apparently unrelated things; modeling the great connectedness of all things in the Freakonomic Kingdom.
"Prophets are characteristically masters of metaphor. Metaphor is the witness of language to the interconnectedness of all things visible and invisible….When prophets use metaphor, we get involved with God whether we want to or not, sometimes whether we know it or not…. If we are lucky, a prophet, one of the descendants of Hosea, or Jonah, or Habakkuk, shows up and with the simple expedient of a metaphor, said or sung, drags us outside into the open air when all the stuff we are studying is alive and moving and colliding with us. For many these days, it is U2 that shows up.”
-Eugene Peterson , Preface to "Get Up Off Your Knees : Preaching the U2 Catalog"
One preacher says:
What we need are people who will approach the text and say, "God, what do you want to unleash here?" The guiding principle is the text, and you've encountered the living, sacred Word, and you're going to explode if you don't share what's happened in you, as opposed to Well, I guess I have to start it this way. You don't. I have to have an intro. Prove it. Maybe some teaching people have no idea where you're going until the last minute, and maybe that's why it works.
When Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, everybody thought it was going to be a Pharisee who stops, and a Samaritan stops. Get it? He has them. He's working them over.
Sometimes I intentionally have three teachings going at the same time. I want you to be wondering, That has nothing to do with what you're saying now. I have no idea And then at the end, oooh. If you don't get that oooh, you're in trouble.
I've been wrestling with this lately. God makes the world in six days; rests on the seventh. Six days, seven. Six, one. Six, one. There is a rhythm to six days on and one day off. I started thinking about drummers and how drumming is all about the spaces. It's all about hitting it and then backing off. Music and beat and meter and drum are a reflection of how God made the world. If you don't take that day and live according to the beat God has put in creation, your song isn't going to be good. When the drummer is off, the whole song falls apart. Rhythm is something that's built in; it's elemental to life.
Everybody I come in contact with, I say, "Check this out. Think about this. Sabbath and drums." I get something like this, and I can't shut up about it. By the time I get to share it with people, I will have told the person at the gas station. I will have told the person at 7/11—everybody I come in contact with. "Check this out. Sabbathdrums." -full article here
Homework (if you want to be a genius, think like Jesus, understand parables and get five extra credit points ):
Pick two random things, that seem to have nothing to do with each other, and ask: "What do they have to do with each other?" Bring the two items to class next week
--
Remember that:
"the one primary point
of a parable
is that
a parable has
one primary point"
(Note that is a chiasm!).
Remember the "Teenage Affluenza" video that we watched, for which you used
terms like:
- subversive
- satirical
- abductive
- interactive
- juxtaposing
- convicting
- comedic
- abductive
- pointed
- ironic
- interactive
- offensive (to some)
in describing? These are all great sub-definitions of a parable.
Watch this clip ("Ignatius,World's Greatest Youth Pastor,") and discuss how it is like a parable:
Unless we use words like subsversive, etc,
we may have missed the point..
Since parables and metaphor have a close relationship,
and since we have talked about gnosticism,
this quote from Eugene Peterson helps us get how offensive Jesus' parables were to religious folk:
"gnostics delight in secrecy. They are prototypical insiders. They think that access to the eternal is by password and that they know the password. They love insider talk and esoteric lore. They elaborate complex myths that account for the descent of our spiritual selves into this messy world of materiality, and then map the complicated return route. They are fond of diagrams and the enlightened teachers who explain them. Their sensitive spirits are grieved by having to live surrounded by common people with their sexual leers and stupid banana-peel jokes and vulgar groveling in the pigsty of animal appetite. Gnostics who go to church involuntarily pinch their noses on entering the pew, nervously apprehensive that an insensitive usher will seat a greasy sinner next to them. They are however enabled to endure by the considerable compensation of being ‘in the know’ (gnostic means ‘the one who knows’). It is a good feeling to know that you are a cut above the common herd, superior to almost everyone you meet on the street or sit beside in church.
It is inevitable that gnostics will boycott the creation theater and avoid its language as much as possible, for metaphor is an affront to their gossamer immaterialities and inner-ring whispers, a loud fart in the salon of spirituality.” (Answering God, 75-76)
---------------------------------
Kraybill, from your Upside Down Kingdom textbook:
"the parables sizzle into the minds of the religious heavyweights:
your attitude is the opposite of God's" p. 158
------------------
Matthew is TRIPLE X:
..The word "parable" comes from the Greek παραβολή (parabolē), meaning "comparison, illustration, analogy",[3] ...often comparaing two items that seem incongrous, disparate, and have nothing to do with each other... Christian parables have recently been studied as extended metaphors,[5] ..
Unlike the situation with a simile, a parable's parallel meaning is unspoken and implicit, though not ordinarily secret...The New Testament parables are thought by scholars such as John P. Meier to have been inspired by mashalim, a form of Hebrew comparison. The Tanakh contains only five parables;
(Poetics, 1459 a 5-8, "The Basic Works of Aristotle")
-Eugene Peterson , Preface to "Get Up Off Your Knees : Preaching the U2 Catalog"
What we need are people who will approach the text and say, "God, what do you want to unleash here?" The guiding principle is the text, and you've encountered the living, sacred Word, and you're going to explode if you don't share what's happened in you, as opposed to Well, I guess I have to start it this way. You don't. I have to have an intro. Prove it. Maybe some teaching people have no idea where you're going until the last minute, and maybe that's why it works.
When Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, everybody thought it was going to be a Pharisee who stops, and a Samaritan stops. Get it? He has them. He's working them over.
Sometimes I intentionally have three teachings going at the same time. I want you to be wondering, That has nothing to do with what you're saying now. I have no idea And then at the end, oooh. If you don't get that oooh, you're in trouble.
When Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, everybody thought it was going to be a Pharisee who stops, and a Samaritan stops. Get it? He has them. He's working them over.
Sometimes I intentionally have three teachings going at the same time. I want you to be wondering, That has nothing to do with what you're saying now. I have no idea And then at the end, oooh. If you don't get that oooh, you're in trouble.
Everybody I come in contact with, I say, "Check this out. Think about this. Sabbath and drums." I get something like this, and I can't shut up about it. By the time I get to share it with people, I will have told the person at the gas station. I will have told the person at 7/11—everybody I come in contact with. "Check this out. Sabbathdrums." -full article here
Watch this clip ("Ignatius,World's Greatest Youth Pastor,") and discuss how it is like a parable:
It is inevitable that gnostics will boycott the creation theater and avoid its language as much as possible, for metaphor is an affront to their gossamer immaterialities and inner-ring whispers, a loud fart in the salon of spirituality.” (Answering God, 75-76)
 |
| see xxxchurch.com |
a)small chiasm...)in a small subset of Matthew 13 (which may well be the very center of the whole book, thematically and chiastically (Below from Thomas Clarke)
"I first noted chiasm by looking at the footnotes regarding Isaiah 6:10 in NIV Study Bible. In the parallel verses from Matthew 13:15, see if you can identify the levels:
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts …
Let us identify the nouns. They are as follows:
•
People
•
Heart
•
Ears
•
Eyes
•
Eyes
•
Ears
•
Hearts
Did you see the three levels of the chiasm? With the exception of the word “people,” they all have pairs. Did you see the center point? I sense that this verse is speaking about spiritual blindness. What about you?
Here then is the presentation of this first example of chiasm,
on chart on p. 28 here"(Thomas Clarke)
(Mark Bailey):
Sower and the Soils (vv. 1-9)
Question by Disciples/Answer by Jesus (Understanding) (vv. 10-
17)
Interpretation of the Sower and the Soils (vv. 18—23)
Tares (vv. 24—30)
Mustard Seed (vv. 31—32)
Leavening Process (v. 33)
Fulfillment of Prophecy (vv. 34—35)
Interpretation of the Tares (vv. 36—43)
Hidden Treasure (v. 44)
Pearl Merchant (vv. 45—46)
Dragnet (vv. 47—48)
Interpretation of the Dragnet (vv. 49—50)
Question by Jesus/Answer by the Disciples (Understanding) (v. 51)
Householder (v. 52)6
Verses 13-17, a subsection of the entire structure, can be ar-
ranged as follows.
Therefore I speak to them in parables
A. Because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do
not hear, nor do they understand
B. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled,
which says,
C. You will keep on hearing, but will not understand,
D. And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
E. For the heart of this people has become dull,
F. And with their ears they scarcely hear,
G. And they have closed their eyes
G.' Lest they should see with their eyes,
F.' And hear with their ears
E.' And understand with their heart and return,
and I should heal them.
D.' But blessed are your eyes, because they see;
C.' And your ears, because they hear.
B.' For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men
A.' Desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what
you hear, and did not hear it.7 -
c)SUGGESTED BOOK-WIDE CHIASM OF MATTHEW,see page 9 here, (or below) a chiasm making chapter 13 the center of book:
A. Demonstration of Jesus' Qualifications as King (chaps. 1—4)
B. Sermon on the Mount: Who Can Enter His Kingdom (chaps. 5—7)
C. Miracles and Instruction (chaps 8—9)
D. Instruction to 12: Authority/Message for Israel (ch. 10)
E. Opposition: Nation Rejects King (ch 11—12)
F. Kingdom Parables: K Postponed (chap. 13)
E.' Opposition: Nation's Rejects King (chaps. 14—17)
D.' Instruction to 12: Authority/ Message for Church (c.18)
C.' Miracles and Instruction (chaps. 19—23)
B.' Olivet Discourse: When Kingdom Will Come (chaps. 24—25)
A.' Demonstration of Jesus' Qualifications as King (chaps. 26—28)"32
-------------------------------------
4)Subversion of Empire
The early Christian church, living as an
- altermative
- counter-cultural
- Upside Down Kingdom
had to decide how to respond to the empire/emperors.
Here below are two "literary/historical world" examples of one of their key responses:
Subvert/satirize it.
(How do you compare this response to culture/government/empire
to those of the Pharisees,Sadducces, Zealots and Romans (discussed 9/22, see here)
a)The Crucifixion/Resurrection accounts in the gospels:
Especially in Mark, the "Literary world" styling and "Historical world" background ofJesus' crucifixion scene seems set up to satirize empire, and encourage subversion. Here is a summary below from Shane Claiborne's book, "Jesus For President":
Coronation and Procession (8 steps):
1. Caesar: The Praetorian guard (six thousand soldiers) gathered in the Praetorium. The would-be Caesar was brought into the middle of the gathering.1. Jesus: Jesus was brought to the Praetorium in Jerusalem. And the whole company of soldiers (at least two hundred) gathered there.-----------------2. Caesar: A purple robe was placed on the candidate. They were also given an olive-leaf wreath made of gold and a sceptre for the authority of Rome.2. Jesus: Soldiers brought Jesus a wreath (of thorns), a sceptre (an old stick), and a purple robe.-------------------3. Caesar: Caesar was loudly acclaimed as triumphant by the Praetorian Guard.3. Jesus: Sarcastically, the soldiers acclaimed, mocked, and paid homage to Jesus.----------------4. Caesar: A procession through the streets began. Caesar walked with a sacrificial bull and a slave with an axe to kill the bull behind him.4. Jesus: The procession began. But instead of a bull the would-be king and god became the sacrifice and Simon of Cyrene was to carry the cross.----------------5. Caesar: The procession moved to the highest hill in Rome, the Capitolene hill (‘head hill’).5. Jesus: Jesus was led up to Golgotha (in Aramaic ‘head hill’).----------------6. Caesar: The candidate stood before the temple altar and was offered a bowl of wine mixed with myrrh, which he was to refuse. The wine was then poured onto the bull and the bull was then killed.6. Jesus: He was offered wine, and he refused. Right after, it is written, “And they crucified him.”----------------7. Caesar: The Caesar-to-be gathered his second in command on his right hand and his third on his left.7. Jesus: Next came the account of those being crucified on his right and left.----------------8. Caesar: The crowd acclaimed the inaugurated emperor. And for the divine seal of approval, the gods would send signs, such as a flock of doves or a solar eclipse.8. Jesus: He was again acclaimed (mocked) and a divine sign confirmed God’s presence (the temple curtain ripped in two). Finally, the Roman guard, who undoubtedly pledged allegiance to Caesar, the other ‘Son of God’, was converted and acclaimed this man as the Son of God.----------------------This extraordinary symbolism would have been unmistakable to the first readers of the Gospel. The crown of thorns, the purple robe, the royal staff; the whole section leading up to the crucifixion reads like the coronation of Jesus! At the apex of this passage is the Roman Centurion’s exclamation that “Surely this man was the Son of God!” He saw how Jesus died and became the first evangelist. His realisation tears apart his whole view of the world and reveals the fallacy of earthly empire and the nature of the true King.Mark is trying to show us where our allegiance should lie. At the foot of the cross, when even those that Jesus loved must have been bewildered (only failed Messiahs hung on crosses), a Roman Centurion proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God! The journey to the cross was the final coronation of the Son of God, the rightful King, who in the cross defeated sin and death.-Link: Shapevine
BONUS:
- Here's a Ray VanDer Laan article that Shane Claiborne drew from in the coronation article above..
- Here is a podcast interview Keltic Ken and I did with Shane Claiborne.
b)Book of Revelation:
Here below is a Rob Bell sermon that presents the book of Revelation as subversion of empire; many do not realize that the "historical world" of this book has much to do with persecution by emperors for not worshipping them:
“Domitian was the first emperor to understand that behind the Christian movement there stood an enigmatic figure who threatened the glory of the emperors. He was the first to declare war on this figure …” Ethelbert Stauffer. How do followers of a peaceful Christ respond when the government has declared war and death on them?
-------------------------
