Jesus wasn’t executed for helping people find inner peace. Jesus wasn't executed because he told people to be nice. Jesus was executed because his teaching and ministry threatened religious and political power. Jesus taught about the depths of God’s love for people – all people – and God’s lavish grace bestowed on all of creation. On the surface, that sounds comforting—even harmless. But the deeper we understand the implications of God’s equal love for all, the more dangerous it becomes.
When we fully appreciate that God loves and values all of us equally, news of people being treated unfairly by another group of people is deeply disturbing. Should we find ourselves unbothered by such news, it may be an indicator that we have limited ourselves to a shallow understanding of God’s love. Love, taken seriously, has social consequences.
Jesus was so thoroughly formed by the pervasive love of God that he couldn't simply talk about it. He embodied it, compelling him to show extravagant, unexpected, shocking levels of love indiscriminately, teaching people to do the same. Further, some of his parables were likely shared to seed new ideas among his hearers, helping them see their plight with new insight. Many people entered his parabolic teaching with one way of seeing the world but came out with a very different view.
That’s part of the genius of a parable: you enter it in one place and discover, by the time you leave, that you've been moved somewhere else. That new paradigm challenged their ability to accept the status quo that codified inequality. Their new view made it harder to accept arrangements that benefited some at the expense of others. People who wanted to keep things the same understood Jesus’ threat all too clear. They profited from the imbalance. Shalom was good news for those denied it. But for those who profited from its absence, shalom was anything but peaceful.
Welcome to our new series, Parables that Provoked Change. Expect to hear some new insights on these old stories. Don't be surprised if you come out somewhere different than where you went in. And don't be surprised if where you land leads you into a little good trouble.
This teaching is offered at CrossWalk's two Sunday services at 9:00 & 10:00.
Here's the Line Up:
September 6: The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)
September 13: The Wicked Tenants (Mark 12:1-12)
September 20: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
September 27: Guest Author/Speaker, Bethany Meiers-Evans
October 4: The Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:23-35)
October 11: Guest Speaker, Douglas Avilesbernal (Executive Minister, Evergreen Association)
October 18: The Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
October 25: Guest Speakers, Deliris and Moise Carrion, Global Servants in Tijuana, MX
November 1: Guest Speaker, Rev. Dr. Matt Real
November 8: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14)
November 15: The Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-8)
November 22: The Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8)
November 29: The Dishonest Steward (Luke 16:1-9)
Note: Three books in particular will help us understand these texts from a new perspective. The first and dominant work comes from William Herzog's "Parables as Subversive Speech," along with insight from John Dominic Crossan's "The Power of Parable," and Amy-Jill Levine's "Short Stories by Jesus."