Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was
brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly
mix. Beware of those who claim to know the mind of God and who are prepared to
use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware of those who cannot
tell God's will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When
chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff's office, watch
out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar. Rev. Barbara
Brown Taylor
This Lent, we are opening our hearts, minds, and lives
to the wisdom of fellow travelers in the Christian faith. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus who
encounter Jesus, this Lent we are listening to fellow pilgrims who go beside,
before, and have traveled this road to Calvary and the empty tomb a few times
in the past. Like a trail guide, these
quotes have beautiful suggestions to teach and tell us. This week, we are letting the wisdom of Rev. Barbara
Brown Taylor be a light to our path.
Each day when I offer a quote, I invite you to a four-step process:
First, read the quote above, and notice/name your
response. Let it tickle your
imagination, let it roam around your heart, let the words stumble around your
soul. Pay attention to your response to
the quote. Does the quote make you smile
or feel like sandpaper to your soul?
Does the quote evoke or provoke a passionate reaction, or taste like
bland bread without any salt? Sit with
the quote over a cup of tea/coffee for a few minutes.
Second, re-read the quote, this time letting the ideas
and insights intersect your life. For
example, with the quote above, I feel chills down my spine. I sense the hard, harsh truth of Taylor’s
words ~ law and order allied with religion as a toxic, nauseous liquor that too
often the church still gets addicted. This
Lent, we are offering a series of discussions on Howard Thurman’s Jesus and
the Disinherited (March 11 and 25 at 3 p.m.), where he offers a voice of
caution to blending and bringing together of church and state. When the line between faith and political power
becomes blurred, that has historically been oppressive, hurtful, and
harmful. Yet, we keep returning to this
recipe as if it is ordained by God.
Remember, in the Hebrew Scriptures, God never wanted to give the people
a king. God resisted until our human
stubbornness and stiff-neckedness demanded we knew better than God. And God is still rubbing her forehead in
response. Let this quote disrupt you and
connect to a few weeks ago when Paul said to the Corinthians that we never,
never can “understand all mysteries”. We
don’t know what we don’t know.
Third, re-read the quote, and sit silently with the
wisdom, letting it stir and swirl within you.
This is your chance to quiet your mind and let these words work on you,
rearrange the furniture of your mind, and even cause you to be agitated and
antsy in beautiful ways.
Finally, consider the quote: how might the world of
these words inform and inspire your living today and this week?
May you and I find ways to let God’s peace and presence
open our hearts from the demands and decrees of Caesar today. Amen.
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