The idea at the heart of the Bartimaeus Effect is to gain a new perspective by following Jesus Christ. One aspect of gaining a new perspective is to engage scripture. And by engage, I want to focus on re-imagining the intersection of our world and scripture. Where do our lives, the current realities of our world (and particularly our culture), intersect the witness of Jesus Christ? Where do our lives cross paths with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ? Or perhaps more honestly; where does Jesus encounter us?
For example.
This week the revised common lectionary has Luke 17:11-19 as the Gospel text for the day. Luke 17 contains the story of ten lepers, who upon encountering Jesus, are made clean. One of lepers, who we learn is a Samaritan, returns rejoicing to Jesus and falls at his feet. Jesus tells him to rise and that his faith has made him well. That’s the story in a nut-shell. But where does it intersect us today?
Below is my rough translation of the story. I have tried to bring current images into the story and contextualize it to fit my understanding of what is going on in our midst.
So here it is...
The Parable of the Ten Without Access to Healthcare
And it happened, journeying to Austin, Jesus was going through the middle of Eagle Pass and San Antonio. As he entered a village, ten social outcasts without access to healthcare approached him. Keeping their distance, they raised a voice saying, “Jesus, one of authority, have mercy on us.” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the healthcare brokers (congress). And as they went, they were given access to healthcare (they had credible coverage). Then one of them, when he saw that he had health insurance, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. He fell on his face a Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Mexican. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this immigrant (undocumented one)?” Then he said to him, “Having risen up (as from death), be going on your journey. Your trust has made you whole (you have a place in the community and the kingdom).”
In this short story, Luke uses three words to describe the healing;
14 & 17 - “cleansed” (καθαρίζω)
15 - “cured” (ἰάομαι)
19 - “made whole/saved (σῴζω)
Each word points to a different level of healing within the community. The first, καθαρίζω, to be cleansed, is a word that points to ritual, access, and identity in the community. To be clean was a position of status and privilege within the community. The second, ἰάομαι, points to a state of being. It acknowledges one’s current status. The third, σῴζω, signifies a new state of being. This word has theological depth and has often been translated as “saved,” pointing to some future status. But the nuances of this word point us to much more. This word σῴζω carries with it the overtones of being made whole to receive the gifts of God’s kingdom in the here and now. It points to a new future in the kingdom of God, a very present reality in our midst. The translation choices I have made wade into the murky waters of metaphor and try to capture the subtle nuances of these words and what they could point to in our context.
As for translating “lepers” as “social outcasts without access to healthcare,” I think that this captures the statement and description that Luke is attempting to capture in this story. The term leper in antiquity, for Luke and Jesus, did not point to a specific disease, but to any number of skin conditions. The ultimate reality is that being a leper made one unclean and thus outside of the community. A leper had no access to the privileges of society.
I took the image of priest and turned it into “healthcare broker” or potentially “congress,” because they are the current gatekeepers of privilege in our context. The priests were the gatekeepers of status in the story from Luke, they controlled who was in and who was out. Healthcare brokers, and yes congress, are a fitting metaphor for what is happening in our context. They have the power to decide who’s in and who’s out.
I struggled with translating the Samaritan in the story as “Mexican” in my rendition. This is not a social comment on our Mexican/Latino/Latina brothers and sisters, it’s more of a contextual understanding of the story based on the setting I chose.
Is this translation perfect?
NO!
But no translations can claim perfection. What we have from Luke is an opportunity to re-imagine the world through the eyes of God, through the life and ministry of Jesus, through the love that has raised us all new life.
Is Luke’s story political?
Absolutely!
To separate the religion and politics in this story would be to strip it of its power. Luke had no concept of the partisan politics of our day. Neither does God’s kingdom. This story is about following Jesus and it does not does not conform to the broken power structures and struggles of our world. Following Jesus means that we will be at odds with worldly power and we are called to be critical of that power, but not based on its rubrics. As members of the kingdom of God we are called to engage the world with political actions demonstrated by Jesus Christ, namely speaking truth to power and embodying God’s radical love for all people.
The bottom line is that this is a story of privilege and access; it’s about who has access to the resources that make one a member of the community. Jesus redraws the lines based on God’s love and mercy, and not on our fallen rubrics of power. All are welcome and loved in the kingdom of God. We don’t get to draw the lines. We are loved and invited to follow.
This story contains radical grace and a challenging call to follow Jesus. As we continue to learn how to follow Jesus, this is a bold reminder that we follow Jesus into the expansive kingdom of God where all people are included in the community. We have been empowered to live into this kingdom here and now. We do this through love. We does this through how we encounter others. We does this as we gain a new perspective in following Jesus.
May God continue to bless you on the journey!
Peace,
Travis
No comments:
Post a Comment