Getting it Right

Sunday (as part of a message on 1 Peter 3:8-17) I referred to the Gainesville State School’s final football game of 2010.  For more on that story, check out the first video on Ann Voskamp’s post, “Why the crazy sacrifices are worth it…”, available here.

Two Extremes

Reference: Institutes of the Christian Religion, 4.20.1

When it comes to politics, John Calvin argues that Christians are at risk of gravitating to one of two extremes.  He claims that his theological reflection on civil government is necessary because

“… on the one hand, frantic and barbarous men are furiously endeavouring to overturn the order established by God, and, on the other, the flatterers of princes, extolling their power without measure, hesitate not to oppose it to the government of God.”

In other words, we either assume that human government is inherently at odds with God’s will and therefore dismiss it; or we assume that a particular government is so aligned with God’s will that we can't see the ways the two may be at odds. 

Calvin points out the folly of Christians who believe that their primary loyalty to Christ excuses them from obligation to civil law.  Here Calvin echoes the Apostle Peter, who says,

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2:16-17)

Calvin argues that a societal rule of law is essential to human life:

“But we shall have a fitter opportunity of speaking of the use of civil government. All we wish to be understood at present is, that it is perfect barbarism to think of exterminating it, its use among men being not less than that of bread and water, light and air, while its dignity is much more excellent.”

His point is that in a broken world in which people are naturally inclined toward disorder and self-interest, God ordains and blesses the implementation of structures that impose order.  Calvin goes so far as to say “that they [civil magistrates] are invested with divine authority”.  This is consistent with what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:13-25, as well as the words of Psalm 82, quoted by Jesus in John 10:34-35.  The basic gist of this scriptural argument is that all authority in heaven and earth belongs to God; therefore any authority wielded by a person is authority that God has, for the time, granted.

That does not mean that everyone who wields authority does it in a way that honors God.  Calvin cautions Christians never to mistake an earthly kingdom for the Kingdom of God:

“…it matters not what your condition is among men, nor under what laws you live, since in them the kingdom of Christ does not at all consist.” 

His words are intended as a comfort to those living under a government or culture that challenges the Christian faith.  They are also intended as a warning to those who believe their government will usher in the Kingdom of God.  This is a very important caution to Christians within our culture who believe that a particular political party will better serve the cause of the church.  Parties may endorse values such as moral restraint or social justice which are consistent with the Kingdom, but at the same time champion personal greed or the use of oppressive force to achieve its ends, which are at odds with the Kingdom.  Calvin says, simply, no human kingdom is or ever will be the Kingdom of God.  Don’t place hopes and expectations on your government that rightfully belong to God.  

Getting Political?

Passage: 1 Peter 2:13-25

Last week I preached the first of two messages on 1 Peter 2:13-3:7.  This is the passage in which Peter tells the church to submit.  In the first section, Peter tells all Christians to submit to every human authority.  He then goes so far as to tell slaves to submit to their masters.  If you’re interested in hearing my treatment of the passage, you can listen here.

Peter forces us to reflect on a topic we’re either too eager to avoid or too eager to engage: politics.  When we avoid politics, we use the excuse that the realms of church and politics should never overlap.  When we engage politics, we’re tempted to do so through the lens of our cultural biases.  Peter prohibits Christians from doing either.  We can’t withdraw from a world governed by human authorities.  But if we are to engage this world, we have to do so as citizens of heaven. 

John Calvin provides very timely insight in the last section of his Institutes of the Christian Religion.  For the next week or two I’ll give summaries of Calvin’s take on the intersection of the church and civil authority.  I’ll also provide links, in case you want to go directly to the source (highly recommended).  

Reclaimed

This past Sunday I referred to an artist named Vik Muniz, and his 2008 work with professional trash scavengers (or catadores) at Rio de Janeiro’s Jardim Gramacho.  At the time, Jardim Gramacho was the highest-volume landfill in the world, and was home to 13,000 people who scraped out a living salvaging recyclables.  Muniz went to Jardim Gramacho looking to meet these catadores and incorporate their stories into some kind of art installation.  His project is chronicled in the 2010 documentary Waste Land (it’s available through Netflix, and probably your local library and video store.  Watch it.  Seriously.).  At the beginning of the film, Muniz says, “What I do with my art is take people away from where they are and show them a different world; then give them a chance to look back at where they are differently.”  Muniz proceeds to explore a corner of the world that is home not only to the detritus of an enormous city but also to a community of discarded people.  Muniz asks these people their names.  He befriends them.  And he starts taking their pictures.  He goes on to stage photos modeled after famous masterpieces, with a group of catadores as his subjects.

After the photos have been taken, Muniz invites the subjects to join him at a warehouse, where he projects their photos onto the floor.  They bring in barrels full of materials they have scavenged from the landfill.  And they use the materials to outline and fill in their projected images.  The end results are warehouse-sized masterpieces rendered in trash.

And for the first time in their lives, the subjects of these masterpieces – the professional trashpickers – see themselves not as rejects but as objects of beauty. Muniz goes on to do much more with the images they’ve rendered, and opens frontiers for his subjects they wouldn’t have dreamed possible. 

What Muniz does at Jardim Gramacho is what God offers to do with each of us.  In 1 Peter 2:4-10, the Apostle talks about us as “living stones” – discarded building materials that become a masterpiece in the hands of the Creator.  At the end of the film, one of Muniz’s subjects says, “When I became a trash picker, I was so ashamed.  But then I met Vik.  And I became part of his art.  Now I’m not ashamed anymore.”  God seeks out those of us who are imperfect.  Or incomplete.  Who may have been marginalized or rejected.  And invites us to become part of his life-changing project of reclamation and redemption.    

Born Again

This past Sunday our message was based on 1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (you can listen to it here).  The passage is a meditation on new life in Jesus Christ – a life of being purchased from slavery and born again as new people.  As these are the central themes of the Christian life, there’s no end of available material for illustration.  That being said, here’s a tremendous story of rebirth and life transformation that one of my favorite theologians, Ann Voskamp, referenced on her blog.  Check it out.

I'm Changing My Diet

Peter says the following in 1 Peter 2:1-3:

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Peter's telling the church to stop consuming spiritual foods that malnourish us.  In my message on this passage, I highlighted the fact that our life before Christ is driven by the conviction that this life is all we've got.  This in turn forces us to prioritize two things:

Survival – the need to extend our lifespans using any means necessary;

Success – the need to acquire for ourselves everything we can using any means necessary.

Peter identifies spiritual “foods” that serve these two priorities:

Malice –advancing our ends by hurting others.

Deceit – distorting the truth for selfish purposes.

Hypocrisy – falsely representing ourselves as better than we really are.

Envy – wanting to possess what someone else has.

Slander – making others look bad to make ourselves feel good.

When we resort to these, we may in fact extend our lifespans; we may even derive maximal enjoyment, prosperity and security for our 70 plus years of life.  But our lives will become self-fulfilling prophecies – there will be nothing left for us when our days on earth come to an end.

Jesus Christ offers his disciples a source of life that cannot be extinguished – the Spirit of God.  Peter reminds the church that they have received this life source, too.  The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in them.  This being the case, says Peter, don’t malnourish it.  Don’t consume spiritual junk food.  Feed on “the living Word of God” (1:23), and live.  

What are you worried about?

Passage: Matthew 6:19-34

This week I’m preparing a sermon on 1 Peter 1:3-9 (as part of a series on the letters of Peter entitled “Holy”.  Find out more here).  Peter’s focus in this passage is “an inheritance that won’t spoil or fade”.  My preparation has brought to mind Jesus’ two-part exhortation in the Sermon on the Mount.  In this passage Jesus both reminds us of the fleeting nature of life in this world, and invites us to trust in a God who knows our needs and loves us immensely.  Above all, our faith directs our focus not to the worries of making today the best it can be, but preparing for an eternity that’s better than the best we can imagine.  Francis Chan, one of my favorites, puts it way better than I ever could.  Take five minutes to listen to what he has to say.