One of the most disturbing dimensions of taking
Rev. Robert North's courses in biblical archeology was his conviction that the
historical Jesus never intended His followers to number more than a small
minority in any community.
The Jesuit scholar contended that very few people
actually have the courage to carry out Jesus' teachings and imitate His
lifestyle.
Once organized religion took over Jesus' faith, His
beliefs were either ignored or, at best, watered down, enabling large numbers of
people to claim they were "other Christs."
Return to Yahweh
Rev. Karl Rahner said the same thing in his book,
"The Christian Commitment." The famous theologian was convinced that,
once Christians reached a certain percentage of the population, Christianity no
longer had any effect on the culture or environment in which it existed.
It's far easier to follow the teachings of a
religious institution than to follow Jesus. The prophets of the Hebrew
Scriptures surfaced a parallel truth long before Jesus started His itinerant
preaching ministry.
Almost every prophet eventually develops a
"remnant theology." The basic prophetic message is "Return to
Yahweh!" Prophets don't preach to pagans or atheists. They proclaim God's
word to those who claim they're already doing what God wants them to do.
It's the task of the prophet to point out that much
of the religious stuff with which people are concerned actually has nothing to
do with God's will. Only a small number of the faithful are actually willing to
return to Yahweh and discover what real faith is all about.
That's why Zephania proclaims, in this Sunday's
first reading (Zephania 2:3,3:12-13): "Seek Yahweh, all you humble of the
earth,...Seek justice, seek humility." Only those searching for God and
developing those two characteristics will have a faith-fulfilled life.
Given his ministry's poor results, the prophet has
no other recourse but to quote Yahweh's comforting, but realistic promise:
"I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who
shall take refuge in the name of Yahweh: the remnant of Israel."
It's ironic that those who actually return to God
and carry out His will are society's least significant members. Six hundred
years after Zephania, St. Paul reflects on the background of his Corinthian
Christians (I Corinthians 1:26-31): "Not many of you were wise by human
standards, not many were powerful, not many of noble birth. Rather God chose the
foolish...to shame the wise,...the weak to shame the strong,...the lowly and
despised...[and] those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are
something."
Beatitudes
Matthew's Jesus zeroes in on the same insight at
the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12a). Though Jesus'
followers have heard these beatitudes for almost 2,000 years, most are content
just to recite and memorize them. Few actually make them an essential part of
their lives.
After all, who really would think their lives a
success if they're continually poor, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsty for
justice, merciful, clean of heart, peacemakers and persecuted for righteousness?
It didn't take long before organized Christianity
began to develop loopholes that permitted individuals to be labeled
"Christian" without actually imitating Christ. Personal poverty, for
instance, eventually morphed into religious communities, many of which (using
the words of Rev. John L. McKenzie) shared in a common possession of wealth.
Within 300 years, non-violent peacemaking was replaced with the doctrine of a
"just war."
Perhaps those of us who work at being Christian
leaders should spend most of our time simply surfacing, pointing out and
supporting the humble, the just and the poor among us who are actively seeking
God or imitating Jesus -- the only people on this earth who will actually change
it.
(01/31/08)