Easter Perspective: Al----le-lu-ia!

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Comments are always welcomed.
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Al----le-lu-ia!

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won't perish but will have eternal life.  God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16-17 (CEB)

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

From "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" by Charles Wesley

On Sunday mornings, I typically attend the early, "more contemporary" worship service at my church.¹  Both of the Sunday worship services at my church are mostly the same, but the things that make the service I attend "more contemporary" are that there is a band instead of a choir and that the pastors tend to dress more casually.  Last week, on Easter Sunday, the contemporary service I attended had something in common with a traditional Methodist Easter service: the service began with the singing of the Easter hymn commonly titled "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today."

This beloved Easter hymn was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement.  That same year, it was published in the Wesley Brothers' hymnal Hymns and Sacred Poems with the simple title "Hymn for Easter Day."  At some point, a refrain of "Alleluia" was added after each line of the hymn so that it could be sung to a tune commonly associated with Easter.²

Previously I pointed out that, in the early Methodist movement, hymns were used to teach theology and doctrine.  Since I wrote about the theology reflected in Charles Wesley's famous Christmas carol "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" around Christmas, I thought that, since it is now Eastertide, I would also write about the theology reflected in Wesley's Easter hymn.


The hymn begins with a call for all of creation to praise the resurrected Christ with shouts of Alleluia!

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!³

The theological meat of the hymn begins with the second verse, in which Jesus' resurrection is compared to a victory in battle.

Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

According to Wesley, through the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Christ won a decisive battle and completed "love's redeeming work."  To "redeem" something is to buy it back or to save it.  One definition of the word redeem is "to liberate by payment of a ransom."⁴

In the Letter to the Hebrews, one early Christian theologian compares Christ to an empathetic High Priest for all of humanity.  Referring to the Incarnation, Christ's becoming human like the other children of God, the writer states,

Since the children share in flesh and blood, [Christ] also shared the same things in the same way.  He did this to destroy the one who holds the power over death - the devil - by dying.  He set free those who were held in slavery their entire lives by their fear of death.⁵

By becoming human, dying, and rising from the dead, the Son of God defeated death and liberated humanity from the fear of death.

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus show us that the worst thing that could happen to a person is not the end of the person's story.  As some Methodist pastors like to say, "The worst thing is never the last thing."⁶


As we sing the third verse of the hymn, we not only continue to celebrate Christ's victory but also begin to brazenly mock death.

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

In case such mockery makes you feel a bit squeamish, I would like to point out that the Church has a rich tradition of taking jabs at death.

In the First Letter to the Corinthians, as St. Paul explains the implications of the Resurrection of Christ, he mocks death by quoting two of the Hebrew prophets.⁷  He writes,

And when the rotting body has been clothed in what can't decay, and the dying body has been clothed in what can't die, then this statement in scripture will happen:

Death has been swallowed up by a victory.
Where is your victory, Death?
Where is your sting, Death?

... Thanks be to God, who gives us this victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!⁸

A few hundred years later, St. John Chrysostom echoes Paul's words in his famous Easter Sermon.  He proclaims,

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!⁹

Even now, Christians regularly mock death without even realizing what they are doing.  Crucifixion was the most inhumane form of execution employed by the Roman Empire, so the cross was originally something that struck fear into people.  Nowadays, Christians brandish crosses throughout their churches and wear crosses on their person as jewelry, as if the cross is a symbol of life and hope as opposed to a symbol of fear and death.


The fourth verse of the hymn reminds us that, as the Body of Christ, we follow Jesus, our Head, on the path of death and resurrection.

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Following Christ in this way can be understood both literally and metaphorically.

In a literal sense, the resurrection of Christ gives us the hope that someday we too will be resurrected after we die.  St. Paul writes, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, that Christ is "the first crop of the harvest of those who have died."¹⁰  In other words, the resurrection of Christ will be just the first of many resurrections.  Paul continues, "Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too.  In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ."¹¹

Death and resurrection are also a metaphor for sanctification, which is what Charles Wesley's brother John called "going on to perfection."  In the Letter to the Colossians, we read,

You were buried with [Christ] through baptism and raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  When you were dead because of the things you had done wrong... God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong.¹²

In the words of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."¹³  Following Christ, we are crucified and buried as the people we have been, and we are resurrected as the people we are becoming.


The fifth verse reminds us of certain truths about Jesus.

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

The Letter to the Philippians includes what is thought to be an early Christian hymn about the incarnation of Christ.  The first half of this hymn, which is commonly called the Christ Hymn, tells us that the Son of God divested Himself the power and glory of divinity to take on frail human flesh.  He lived His life as a servant and died the death of a criminal.¹⁴  The second half of the hymn reads,

Therefore, God highly honored him
and gave him a name above all names,
so that at the name of Jesus everyone
in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.¹⁵

Christ descended from heaven, to servanthood, to a criminal's death, and then God resurrected Him from the dead, raised Him back up to heaven, and gave Him a seat of authority at God's right-hand side.

This verse ends with a reminder of something Jesus says about Himself in the Gospel of John.  Before He raises His friend Lazarus from the dead, He says to Lazarus's grieving sister Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.  Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."¹⁶


The sixth verse reminds us of the abundant, eternal life available to us.

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

In the Gospel of John, we read that, on the evening before Jesus is arrested, He prays a high priestly prayer on behalf of His current disciples and all disciples who will come after them.  He begins His prayer,

Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, so that the Son can glorify you.  You gave him authority over everyone so that he could give eternal life to everyone you gave him.  This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.¹⁷

The abundant life Christ offers us is eternal in not only duration but also depth, and integral to this abundant life is knowing the God who loves us and knowing Christ whom God sent to save us.


Eastertide is a roughly fifty-day season that begins with Easter Sunday.  If you observe Easter, dear reader, may you take some time in these fifty days to contemplate what the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means to you personally at this time in your life.

Notes:

1. https://www.trmethodist.net/sundays
2. Wikipedia: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today"
3. Lyrics from "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" are presented in this perspective as they appear in The United Methodist Hymnal, published in 1989 by The United Methodist Publishing House.
4. Wiktionary: "Redeem"
5. Hebrews 2:14-15 (CEB)
6. This saying was made popular by United Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton, who adapted it from the words of writer Frederick Buechner.
7. See Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14.
8. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, 57 (CEB)
9. https://anglicansonline.org/special/Easter/chrysostom_easter.html
10. 1 Corinthians 15:20 (CEB)
11. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (CEB)
12. Colossians 2:12-13 (CEB)
13. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The Cost of Discipleship (translated by R.H. Fuller and Irmgard Booth).  ch. 4
14. Philippians 2:6-8
15. Philippians 2:9-11 (CEB)
16. John 11:25-26 (CEB)
17. John 17:1-3 (CEB)

The photograph of the stained glass window at Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio was taken by Wikimedia Commons user Nheyob and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Introspection: Won't You Be My Mirror?

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

Won't You Be My Mirror?

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their hard work.  If either should fall, one can pick up the other.  But how miserable are those who fall and don't have a companion to help them up!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (CEB)

You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don't belong, oh, You say I am Yours

From "You Say" by Lauren Daigle

In early 2021, I read The Authenticity Project by Claire Pooley.  In this novel, a series of people find themselves in possession of a notebook which is also titled The Authenticity Project.  Each person who finds this notebook is invited to read what other people have written about themselves, to write something authentic about herself or himself, and then to leave the notebook in a public place for someone else to find.¹

What becomes clear over the course of this novel is that the people who attempt to write authentically about themselves in the notebook do not see themselves the same way that other people see them.  Usually they are too fixated on their pain or their flaws to see themselves clearly.

This novel helped me to realize is that people cannot truly speak authentically about themselves without having other people to act as a mirror, because people simply cannot see themselves clearly.  If one does not have such a mirror, then one's self-image will be incomplete at best and inaccurate at worst.  There are people in this world who act as if they think they are gods among mortals, while there are other people who act as if they think they are the scum of the earth.  Both of these kinds of people could benefit from someone who would act as a mirror.

Not long ago, I watched an episode of the television drama Numb3rs, in which Don Eppes, one of the show's main characters, tells his younger brother Charlie, another main character, that he sometimes finds him intimidating.²  What is ironic about this revelation is that Don is an FBI agent, while Charlie is a mathematics professor.  One would not expect a tough FBI agent to find a geeky mathematician intimidating.

I remembered that, years ago, a friend of mine described me as "intense."  I did not know what she meant at the time, but I've started to wonder if she was politely trying to tell me that I was intimidating.  If you've ever seen me in person, then you know that I'm not intimidating physically.  Of course, there are other ways to be intimidating.  When I was in school, I flaunted my intelligence every time I had an opportunity.  I had to be noticed for something, after all.  I've also started to wonder if maybe I subconsciously give off intimidating or intense vibes because I often feel inadequate.

Maybe, in some sick way, I'm just flattering myself by thinking that other people might think I'm intimidating.  If I had to choose between being perceived as intimidating and being perceived as pathetic, I would choose the former, though I know that neither is a good thing.  The truth is that I have no idea how other people see me, since I cannot see myself through other people's eyes.  Most of the time, I'm not even sure I really want to know how other people see me.  Furthermore, my self-image is likely inaccurate, since I tend to be overly critical of myself.

As I noted last week, my Sunday school class discusses current events.  A couple of months ago, we discussed an article on Christian influencers, people who share their faith through social media.  At one point in our discussion, I mentioned that, though I've never wanted to share my faith in the way I was taught at the fundamentalist Christian school I attended, I've struggled to figure out how to effectively share my faith.  Most of my ministry takes place within the walls of a church, and, though I share my faith on this blog, a majority of the people who read it are, as far as I can tell, people I know through church.

A friend of mine in the class told me that I wasn't giving myself enough credit.  He said that, in settings like our Sunday school class, I equip other people to better share their faith.  He said that he personally has learned things from me that have helped him to share his faith.  What my friend reflected back to me that Sunday morning helped me to see that I'm doing more than merely preaching to the proverbial choir.

There is an African philosophy known as Ubuntu.  It can be summarized, "A person is a person through people," or it can be summarized, "I am because we are."³  As humans, we are a lot more dependent on one another than we often want to admit.

We cannot see ourselves, so we need people who will act as a mirror for us.  We need to be somewhat selective regarding whom we allow to reflect ourselves back to us, since people don't always have each other's best interests at heart.  We need trustworthy people who will show us the good in ourselves when we become our own worst critics and will kindly bring us back to reality when we become too big for our britches.  We need to be part of a loving community.


Notes:

1. Claire Pooley.  The Authenticity Project.  2020, Penguin Books.
2. "Frienemies."  Numb3rs, created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, season 5, episode 10, Scott Free Productions, 2008.
3. Wikipedia: "Ubuntu philosophy"

The photograph featured in this introspection was taken by Anna Shvets, and it is used courtesy of Pexels.com.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.

Perspective: A Religion for the Oppressed

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

A Religion for the Oppressed

Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised.  On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read.  The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down.  Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him.  He began to explain to them, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it."

Luke 4:16-21 (CEB)

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away

From "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield

The Sunday school class I help lead at my church discusses current events in light of the Christian faith.  Not too long ago the class read and discussed a news story that mentioned a vibrant and growing underground church in a nation where Christianity is essentially illegal.  We considered the question of why the Christian faith seems to thrive in such places.  I do not have a definitive answer to this question, but I do have a theory.

I suspect that, in a nation where people do not have the freedom of religion, people probably do not have much freedom in general.  In other words, people in such nations are oppressed.  I believe that Christianity thrives when it serves the oppressed.  Furthermore, I believe that Christianity was always meant to be a religion for the oppressed.

Consider the Gospel story.  Over two thousand years ago, Jesus of Nazareth was born into an oppressed group of people, namely the Jewish people.  He ministered to His own people and to people of other nations, teaching them to love their neighbors, giving them hope, and healing those in need of healing.  One day, Jesus was brutally and wrongfully executed by His people's oppressors, namely the Roman Empire.  A couple of days later, He was resurrected from the dead.  He was then raised up to Heaven and revealed to be both the Son of God and the true Lord of this world.

The Gospel story would naturally be compelling to people suffering with a proverbial boot on their necks.  It offers them the hope that their oppressors are not truly in control and the hope that the worst thing that their oppressors could do to them would not truly be their end.  It might even inspire them to boldly take a stand against their oppressors.

The Gospel story has the power to save people.

Everything good in this world has the potential to become corrupted, and sadly the religion inspired by the crucified and risen Jesus is no exception.  Ever since the days of the Roman emperor Constantine, the Christian church has made compromises with the powers that be, trading its prophetic power for political influence.¹  The religion for the oppressed becomes a tool of oppression.  The story with the power to liberate people from their fear is twisted into a message intended to control people with fear.  "Believe what I tell you to believe and live how I tell you to live, or else you will suffer forever and ever," people hear.

The separation of church and state is necessary for maintaining the integrity of the church.  A religion that partners with an oppressive government will inevitably become a tool of oppression.  The church will never reform the state with such a partnership, but the state will most certainly hijack the church.

The Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus offers a way of life for people who follow Him,² begins with a series of blessings for certain people.  Jesus blesses "the poor in spirit" and "those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake," promising that the Kingdom of God is for them.  He also blesses "those who mourn," promising that comfort is on the way.³  Jesus is blessing people who are oppressed either by circumstance, by loss, or by other people, perhaps their government.  Jesus also blesses the gentle, the just, the merciful, the pure-hearted, and the peaceable.⁴  Jesus blesses the kind of people who would minister to the oppressed.

If Christ blesses people who are oppressed and people who would minister to the oppressed, then the religion that bears His name must be a religion for the oppressed and not a religion for their oppressors.  A religion for the oppressed offers people hope amid their oppression.  A religion for oppressors has nothing good to offer anyone.  It can only give people the false assurance that, if they support their oppressive leaders, they are in the right and numb their consciences to the suffering of their neighbors.

If you fear that Christianity is in decline where you live, consider how the religion is currently functioning in your society.  Is it serving the oppressed, or is it serving their oppressors?  Is it liberating people from their fears, or is it instilling fear into people?


Notes:

1. Wikipedia: "Constantinian shift"
2. Matthew 5-7
3. Matthew 5:3-4, 10 (NRSV)
4. Matthew 5:5-9

The Sermon on the Mount was painted by Carl Heinrich Bloch in 1877.