The Work of the Spirit: Confronting Fallen Systems

A sermon from the sixth Sunday of Easter.

John 14:15-21 (NRSV)
 
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

The Work of the Spirit: Confronting Fallen Systems

    His passion had already begun. Jesus had watched Judas walk out of the room, on his way to hand Jesus over to the powers. He knew his time with the disciples was limited. And he knew his disciples would need words to get them through the coming ours of trial and death. So he leaves them with a promise.    
    “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees it nor knows it. You know it, because he abides with you, and it will be in you.” The disciples will have many struggles in the days ahead. Even after he appears, after the resurrection, after the appearance, after Jesus ascends, his disciples will still remain in the world. They will watch Jesus go. So Jesus leaves them with this promise. The promised Advocate will come, but did you notice, the world will not receive it. The disciples, those who are connected to Jesus will receiver it, but not the world. Curios. 
    The world is a complex metaphor in John’s story of Jesus. John uses the Greek word kosmos throughout his story. The word kosmos has a rich variety of meanings - anything from world, universe, creation, humanity, the planet earth. For John this world has rich theological meaning, and depending on the context, John could be meaning a particular nuance. The English rendering of world is correct, but it misses this nuance that adds depth to John’s story.
    One of the possible meanings of kosmos has to do with a fallen system. For instance, “a human sociological realm that exists in estrangement from God (as defined by Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers, 51).” For John, kosmos has the meaning of a broken system that is unaware of its estrangement from God. This system could be religious or economic or political. This system is separated from God. It is a system that does not recognize Jesus. It a system that reacts violently at times, to Jesus and his follows (even today). It is a system that Jesus has power over. This begins to become clearer when we look at various instances in the Gospel where Jesus himself is making this distinction.
    We can understand this meaning from the beginning. In creation poem of the first chapter of John, John is poetically interpreting how the Word became flesh came to be. In verse 10 John writes, “The light was in the world, and the world came into being through the light, but the world didn’t recognize the light.” That’s a lot of kosmos without a whole lot of clarity. Perhaps we could think of it this way: “The light was in the creation, and the creation came into being through the light, but the fallen system did not recognize the light.” We know that God created the world, but that the world is also fallen. The nuances of this understanding are lost when we only translate kosmos as world and miss its other meanings. God created the world, the light Christ is in the world, but the fallen system, the very brokenness of our world does not recognize God at work.   
    Jesus’ main conflict is with Pharisees and religious leaders - the religious fallen system. They do not recognize the light of Christ. They do not see God at work in Jesus. Through all of the signs and wonders, they fail to recognize what Jesus is doing, until they decide to kill him after the raising of Lazarus. The fallen system of the religious leaders do not see God at work in Jesus.
    Another conflict with the fallen system arises in the conflict between Jesus and the political fallen system represented by Pilate. Pilate is the one of the people who questions Jesus during his trial. He represents Rome, and thus fallen system of empire. Pilate does not understand nor recognize that the kingdom Jesus represents is not part of his system of his understanding - the system of empire (pax romana). He does not see God at work in Jesus. So he does the only thing he knows how to do - he lets Jesus be killed. This is how the fallen system works - if it does not understand, it ends the relationship.
    Take today’s story from John contains another example of kosmos as fallen system. One thing is clear from Jesus about the Paraclete the Spirit of Truth- the world will not recognize it. In this instance we can understand the word kosmos, here translated simply as world, to mean this broken system alienated from God. This fallen system will not recognize the Spirit of Truth, this advocate, this Paraclete, because it does not comprehend its separation from God. We could read this statement from Jesus in this way: “The Spirit of truth, which the Domination System (fallen system) is not able to receive, because it can neither recognize it nor comprehend it. You know it, because it is already in your midst, and will be inside your very beings (Wink, Engaging, 56).”
    Jesus also speaks quite clearly that he has conquered the fallen system (chapter 16), to give the disciples hope after he has been crucified. He says, “I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world.” The world as fallen system is present here as well. Think of Jesus’ statement in this way, “I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the fallen system you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the fallen system.”  It does not make sense to say that Jesus conquered the world. Jesus is not in conflict with the world, Jesus has come to give the world abundant life. Jesus has conquered the worst in us, in order to set us free.
    John has created a contrast between the creation God wants to redeem and the fallen system of human sin and brokenness, our struggle to gain power and play God. The fallen system reacts against the signs of Jesus, because they do not understand them to be the work of God. This is why Jesus is crucified. The religious leaders could not see God at work in Jesus and neither could Pilate. They were still stumbling around in the darkness of the fallen system.   
    It is this fallen system that Paul confronts in the story from Acts today. Paul’s journey takes him to Athens, the intellectual capital of his time. Paul confronts the religious aspect of the fallen system. While walking through the city he is greatly disturbed by the “forest of idols” he encounters. There were literally shrines for everything. Including, as Paul notes, an unknown god. The understanding with these idols was that if you made a sacrifice to them, you could appease the deity and get them to hopefully act on your behalf. If you threw some money to the weather god, you might get some rain or weather of your desire. If you threw some money to the athletic god, you may be blessed with an athletic ability, or maintain what you already had. It was a system of power and control. Paul cleverly engages this broken system, pointing out that God is the who “made the world and everything in it.” It is God who gives life to the world, not the plethora of false idols - it is not the fallen system. Paul addresses the fallen system he encounters and proclaims that God has acted to judge that system through the one God appointed, Christ, whom God raised from the dead. Paul reveals Christ’s light to the world.
    Though Christ has conquered this fallen system, we still journey through the tension between God’s kingdom and the fallen system present in this world. Our lives play out amidst a scene very similar to the one Paul confronts in Athens. We are still plagued by idols of the fallen system, we just encounter them in different ways. Think about the things that compete for our attention and allegiance. Things that compete for our time and resources. Things that give us a short lived breathe of happiness or sense of control. If we pray heard enough our football team is sure to win. If we invest enough, we will reap a great financial reward. If we dress the “right” way, we will be accepted in the “right” circles. But these are all false powers We are still plagued by the fallen system. But, we have been set free.
    We who have had our names called by God know that in God we find our true being. “In God we live and move and have our being,” as Paul so eloquently put it to the Athenians. We are set free because of the love of God. We have received the promised Spirit of truth who helps us to encounter God still at work in our world.
    We are confronting the fallen system with our work here at Bethany. I see the Spirit of truth revealing God still at work in those who invest their time and resources, their very beings into the life of proclaiming the good news of God’s love for the world. The volunteers who come for the prayer circles. The witness of our bold women. The countless volunteers that work with our youth to provide them with the time and resources to grow in their faith. We are confronting the fallen system dear people. We are proclaiming the light of Christ and the power of God. 
    May God bless you on the journey of faith. And may the Spirit of truth move you to tell the story of God’s love.

5 Minute Post: Power and Privilege

The last two weeks I have reflected on the powers and principalities in the sermons I have preached.  First it was in the shadow of Herod and the slaughter of innocents.  This past week it was in the light of Epiphany.  Power language can be found throughout the New Testament and is an integral topic for the life of the church and the followers of Jesus. 

This post is in response of an earlier post of Dr. David Creech in which he reflected on privilege.  The “5 Minute Post” - a title I borrow out of respect - can be read here:
Dr. David Creech - 5 Mintue Post: Wrestling with Privilege

I too struggle with privilege.  I am a white, straight, educated (two degrees), Protestant (Lutheran, ELCA), male, pastor.  I live in the most powerful nation in the world.  I hold power, that I still do not fully understand, in my role as a pastor.  I have a great advantage over others and I cannot say, without significant qualifications, that I can claim responsibility for any of them. 

The last few years of my life and my time in seminary have greatly altered my world view.  A few years ago I could not have articulated my privilege.  I had no clue.  I have no concept of my privilege or the power that I had in my context.  The last two years of my education have contained a significant amount of time in the study of power language in the Bible.  In my initial response to Dr. Creech I tried to equate power and privilege.  I am not sure that they are exact equivalents, but there is some cross over. 

For instance.  To his question of how I respond to privilege I perceive a great deal of overlap. 

Here is how I respond.

Privilege, just like power, has to be named, unmasked, and engaged.  I take this triad from the late Walter Wink who wrote a brilliant trilogy on the powers and principalities that needs to be required reading in seminaries effective immediately.  Here is the third book;
Wink: Engaging the Powers

The triad works like this: 

1)  Privilege, like power, needs to be named.  This literally means calling a thing what it is.  For example - racism, sexism, or any of the other -isms that get thrown around and dismissed.
Once it is named (acknowledged) it is no longer shrouded in mystery or hidden - both tend to leave things ignored. 
2)  Once named, privilege needs to be unmasked.  What are the underlying factors?  What creates the privilege?  What are the moving pieces/contributing factors that build and maintain privilege.  It’s a web and it’s complex. 
3)  Once unmasked, privilege needs to be engaged.  This part of the process can be simple or complicated, and it requires action.  Not earth moving action, but small steps.  Simply calling out language (racist, sexist) in conversation (something I fail to do over and over again) is a way to engage privilege and power.

Regardless of the system of power or privilege, this is one means of taking that power or privilege on and working to change it.

What about you?  Do you think this works?