Jesus Was A Liberator

Edward Hays, in his book In Pursuit of the Great White Rabbit.  Discusses a reflection on the Wedding in Cana.  He writes:

  “Those who call themselves disciple of Jesus are invited to follow the example of their spiritual master, who announced that the reign of God had appeared!   The “good news” is that goodness is not found in the keeping of complex, if not compulsive, religious laws.  Rather, goodness is hidden inside the most ordinary of everyday activities. And for Jesus to proclaim what liberation meant, he, first of all, had to know the escape hatch from the Bastille of Blessed Laws.

   A true leader is not one who holds power over others but one who leads, who does first what he or she desires other to do….Jesus stepped out on a legal limb and posed, in a quiet way, and important question:  Are these really necessary?  He was able to raise this question because he had already cut through to what is essential.  He had found a way of living that was free and yet totally aligned with what is true and good….Jesus of Nazareth reveals a man who always put religious laws in second place — and the love of God, neighbor and self first!….Jesus led that we can break through to a new level of being…..” (p. 57-59)

 As a pastor, in this ultra-conservative environment, I have struggled with the Christian Right’s need to replace rules —  and “what it says in the Bible” —  ahead of living out our faith according to Jesus’ leadership.  This is not just because I am a pastor, that this frustration found its way into my heart.  I have lived my long life questioning their interpretation of scripture.

When I reread this chapter, in Hays’ book,  my mind began to rave on and on and on YES, YES, YES.

This point, about laws, touches something deep inside me; because I have witness the struggle to be a perfect Christian — within myself and sooooo many others.  

Legalism sucks the life out of Jesus’ way of living.  It puts us in tiny little boxes that keeps us too tight minded — limiting God’s possibilities in and around us.  

Don’t misunderstand me.  Laws are a way to keep some manner of order and safety  However, rules — laws — can also be avenues of laziness and lack of imagination.  

Have you ever been told:  “Well that is just the way it is.  It is the rule —  it is the law.”  That kind of mentality limits possibilities.  

Just because someone — or some people — decided along time ago to make a rule.  A rule that seemed right and good at that time in history.  It does not necessarily make it appropriate in todays culture.

Jesus was born into a world that had been religiously cultivated to believe, act, worship and live with some very strict rules.  Indeed laws, that had been interpreted by some, from the time of Moses. 

According to the ancient way of thinking, The Laws was not to be messed with by ANYONE.

Jesus universal law was love.  Love — awe — of God.   A God who asked all of His creation to live together in harmony and respect.  

God came in Jesus’ skin to reset what had been misunderstood about God's way of being with others.  

All the rules and laws were, in many ways, quite trivial, unnecessary, and got in the way of living kindly with your neighbor.

"He (Jesus) had found a way of living that was free and yet totally aligned with what is true and good….Jesus of Nazareth reveals a man who always put religious laws in second place — and the love of God, neighbor and self first!…"

So as you and I being this new year, lets be very cautious about what we think “it says in the Bible.”