3. Jesus shows
us that truth is cross-shaped. In other words, it is self-giving, not
power-seizing. It is humble, not boastful. (See Philippians 2:5ff).
4. Perhaps the
greatest inoculation against religious arrogance and intolerance we have
is Jesus’ command to “love our neighbour,” which is integral to our love
of the God who is True/Truth. Who is our neighbour? Not just our fellow
disciples, but also the “Samaritan” with whom we disagree strongly about
important things.
5. Please
remember that “tolerance” is different from “agreement.” In fact,
tolerance can only exist where there is disagreement. I tolerate the
disagreement because I love my neighbour with whom I disagree. If we
agreed, we would not need tolerance.
Given the
abundance of these resources, there is no need for us to dance with
religious pluralism. The music might sound sweet, but as we get closer,
our toes will get trampled.
The Cross: Are We
Ashamed?
I liked the
description of the event of Jesus’ death on page 14, followed by an
interpretation of this event: “In Jesus’ crucifixion, God bears the
sin, grief, and suffering of the world.” Excellent, and so true. Yet
is that all we can say? I quickly wrote beside it, “Why no language
of atonement? Of sacrifice?”
An article on the
Statement in the July/August 2005 issue of The United Church Observer
helped me understand the Statement’s meagre reference to the cross’s
meaning. It seems to be a reaction against much teaching on the cross
we’ve heard in the Christian tradition. Dr. Douglas John Hall’s remarks
in the article seem to exemplify this. He comments about how the Western
tradition has distorted the cross, turning it into a “sacrifice of
atonement for our sins.”
Yet isn’t this
precisely what the New Testament says the cross was? The claim that
Jesus made himself a sacrifice, that this act of love and grace dealt
with our sin-guilt, and this reconciled (atoned) us with God is found
throughout the NT.
1. It is
in the earliest traditions of the church, which
– recall
Jesus’ words at his last supper, passed on to Paul (1 Cor 11) and
attested to in the synoptic Gospels, through which Jesus interprets the
looming cross.
-- attest
“that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.” (a
tradition Paul received and recorded in 1 Cor 15:3)
-- witness
to the use of Isaiah 53 as an interpretive lens for understanding Jesus’
death (Acts 8:32, also 1
Peter 2:24).
2. It is
in the Gospels, where we see:
– a Jesus
who will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21)
-- the
linking of Jesus’ death with the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb (Mk
14:12 and Lk 22:7)
-- John’s
declaration that Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world!” (John 1:29; Lamb being a sacrificial metaphor)
3. It is
in Paul’s witness, where we encounter Jesus as:
-- “a
sacrifice of atonement by his blood” (Rom 3:25)
-- “our
paschal lamb [who] has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7)
-- the one
who brings us near by his blood (death) (Eph 2:13)
-- the one
through him God reconciles all things “by making peace through the blood
of his cross.” (Col 1:20)
4. It is
in other NT witnesses, where the theme of Jesus being substitute and
sacrifice:
--
dominates the letter to the Hebrews.
-- is
expressed in 1 Peter’s claim that we have been “ransomed” with “the
precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish”
(1:19), that he “bore our sins in his body on the cross” (2:24)
-- finds
voice in the Johannine witness that “the blood of Jesus [God’s] Son
cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7), that Jesus “is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of
the whole world” (2:2), and that God “loved us and sent his Son to be
the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (4:10)
-- sings
through the attestation in Revelation that Jesus “loves us and freed us
from our sins by his blood,” (1:5), and that by his blood Jesus
“ransomed for God saints” from the whole world (5:9).
To this biblical
witness we can add the overwhelming voice of the Church through the
ages. We have sung of Jesus’ death for us and our salvation (thanks to,
among others, Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts). We have gathered at Table
to celebrate it and be nourished by it. It has marked our theology,
notably that of Martin Luther’s humbling theologia crucis. A
close listen to the voices of our fellow disciples, not least in the
two-thirds world, speaks to its enduring and global importance.
Dr. Hall is right
to say that the “noisiest form of Christianity” these days is one that
“buys into that substitutionary Christology, lock stock and barrel.”
Except that the noise emanates right from the New Testament itself. It
is not a minor theme. It is extensive. It is widespread. It is integral.
If we don’t hear it, it is only because we have plugged our ears.
To be sure, there
are other vital ways of understanding Jesus’ death. It is a victory over
the forces of evil, sin and death. It is the most shocking and wonderful
expression of God’s love for us. By all means let’s sound those themes
loudly! Has the substitutionary atonement theme dominated too much?
Perhaps. Let’s not discard it, then, as the Statement seems to. Rather,
let’s express, as best as we can, the fulness of all the meanings of
this awful and awe-ful event, this cross which God used (and it was God,
if we believe in the Incarnation) to reconcile a sinful world, including
this sinful writer, to Godself.
Does the cross
trouble people today? Well, it always has. Do we cringe at the notion
that our sin is so great, so intractable, so pernicious that we can’t
deal with it ourselves? Of course, and we should cringe. Is it shocking,
astonishing, scandalous that someone else might “carry the weight” for
us? Absolutely. That this someone should be, needs to be, and proved to
be God? I’m speechless. Words fail. All I can do is say “Thank You,” and
try humbly and haltingly to live out this gratitude.
I hope and pray
that, as the voices of our Church are heard, and as we hear God speaking
to our hearts, we will find the words to better express within our new
Statement of Faith this terrible beauty of the Crucified and Risen
Saviour, in concert with the song of Scripture and the chorus of the
church ecumenical. Not for the sake of the words alone, but so that we
can all live to His praise with the abundance of our gratitude and a
full measure of His love.
May the Holy
Spirit of God continue to guide, bless and rejoice in our living.
