The Resurrection Defines Our Terms

The Messiah is not the Christ. Ok, technically, they are the same thing (the first a Hebrew word the second its Greek translation--'the anointed one'). But in practice, the Messiah was a nebulous Hebrew concept that had something to do with a national liberator/hero. Some strands of expection saw the Messiah as apocalyptic others as very earthly. Some saw the Messiah as a singular person (king) others as multiple roles (king and/or priest and/or prophet). Some thought he would come in the likeness of Moses, others David, still others Elijah. There was no consistent configuration of his role(s). But one thing was certain, he would be powerful. Christ, on the other hand, quickly became a title for Jesus of Nazareth. I know preachers commonly quip, 'Christ is not his last name!' But in actuality, before the ink had dried on the N.T., it was! In short, Christ is a specific designation of the Christian Church for Jesus whereas Messiah is a nebulous category of Judaism. And, as a point in fact, it was nebulous up through the first four books of the N.T. So the question at hand is this: When did the Messiah become the Christ? When did the nebulous become concrete? When did the generic become specific? And most importantly, when did the suffering servant get redifined as the conquering king? You already know the answer. It was the resurrection of Jesus that transformed this Jewish concept into a Christian doctrine. The power of the resurrection did more than revivify the corpse of Jesus. It redefined terms. In essense, the historical narrative of the resurrection of Jesus did not merely record history, it made history. I don't mean to say that it made history in the sense that was a significant happening. I mean to say that the telling of the narrative of Jesus' resurrection defined the historical terms in specific ways. True, it was perspectival recording of actual events. But was it not more? Was it not the shaping of the present and future church by the interpretation of the past through the perspective of Jesus' renewed life? This way of doing history, with the resurrection as the core, in my mind, has great potential and is the only correct path to the present and future of the Church of the risen Christ. Without the historical lense of the resurrection, none of our categories will be correctly defined, not worship, evangelism, eschatology, community, theology or ethics.

Mk 10:42, "those who are regarded as rulers"

This is a vexing phrase. It is composed of the present participle of dokeo (to think, to seem, or to give an impression) and the infinitive "to rule"--so, "those who give the appearance of ruling." But because it does not translate well into English, the NIV has rendered dokeo as a passive. That is, the populous considers them rulers, which may well be the case. But Jesus' emphasis is not on their successful presentation of themselves as rulers, but on their self-promotion as rulers. Now, if we examine this from within the literary world of Mark's gospel, we find two figures that fit the bill of secular rulers: Pilate and Herod. Herod's rule is characterized by a drunken party in which he is foiled into executing John the Baptist by a bodacious promise made to a promiscuous pubescent step-daughter in the presence of his cronies in an attempt to present himself as a ruler. As for Pilate, he was coerced into executing Jesus by his clamouring constituents. They acted out of envy; he acted out of sheer political self-preservation. Both rulers gave the appearance of ruling but were, in fact, ruled by those considerably beneath them. Or shall we say they were were ruled by their desire to give the impression that they were rulers? This, in fact, is the genetic structure of earthly political power.

How I started my Sabbatical: 24/7

My son and I invited a couple other guys over to the house to watch an entire season of 24. We started at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 1:35 a.m. Aside from a thirty minute lunch run, we were on the couch surrounded by chips, soda, queso, and jelly beens. It was awesome!

We have another friend and resource

May I recommend a blog to review. Please look at http://twocitiesblog.blogspot.com/ . This is a wonderful brother who truly sees Christianity from a global mindset. You will be blessed.

My Last Lecture in 15 months

People have asked me if I will miss teachinig over the next year. Well, yes, I suppose I will (I miss it each summer). But one can never know what feelings new life experiences will bring. I'm just thankful to God for each day's new experiences and try, truly, to live one day at a time. As I sit in my office now 15 minutes after my last lecture, it is a surreal fealing to know that my long-awaited season of Sabbath has begun. My final lecture was so appropriate. It is my attempt to tell the students in my life of Christ class what Jesus would say to us if he were here. My fear is that it is too autobiographical. But it is my very best attempt. I hope you find it helpful, honest, and perhaps a bit challenging: http://faculty.occ.edu/markmoore/lectures/xincult.mp3

The way we treat our most vulnerable citizens . . .

The way we treat our most vulnerable citizens is the clearest mark of a great nation. This realization is straining to become one of my core values. But it had a bit of a road block when I was getting off a plane the other day. Right in front of me was an older woman in a wheel chair. She bordered on obese and a young female gate agent was wrestling her up the ramp. With no room to matriculate a strategic pass, the rest of us shuffled behind impatiently. I said to myself, "Why do we even let these people on a plane?!" Instantly a schizophrenic civil war erupted in the dingy corridors of my soul. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for affirmative action, handicapped accessability, elderly inclusion, etc. I just don't want to be personally inconvenienced. And now, at the end of a semester, I am reflecting again on this principle. You see, students struggling with grades and absences, those on the academic bubble consume more time than any others, especially at this time of the year. Are they worth it? Well, put crassly like that, the answer seems obvious. But my impatiences during the subtleties of being inconvenienced may betray a more sinister reality. Let me be clear though. The question is not whether they are worth it (whoever the 'they' might be). The question is what kind of a nation we will be, or more to the point, what kind of a person I will be. Greatness is in the little kindnesses most unnoticed during moments of the greatest inconvenience. And that I cannot afford to live without.

Great Sermons

Apparently Mark has been sending his dissertation manuscript to Rob Bell at the Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI. I would recommend all of you to go to http://www.mhbcmi.org/listen/index.php and download the sermons "The Mystery of Christ" and "Palm Sunday." He does an outstanding job of explaining Jesus political methodology of servanthood, self-abnigation, and the non-violence example Jesus modeled up against the worlds method of power and violence. We can learn not only from his material, but also from his pedagogy. It is good stuff.

The Smaller my Audience . . .

The smaller my audience, the greater my impact. I have adopted this as a kind of mantra over the last few years, particularly as my speaking schedule has included some rather substantial crowds. But it hit me again last weekend. Background: I just finished the last of fifteen Believe conferences for Christ in youth with a combined audience of 17K. The last one was three thousand alone. Seeing that many Jr. High students worship vigorously is a thrill to be sure. I stood on stage watching them file out of the arena in Anderson, IN, but my thoughts were backstage with the team I had labored with all year. They were where my greatest impact was. Those thousands of students have quickly (and rightly) forgotten my name. But the people I shared table fellowship with, well, that's the stuff that prefaces eternity. The weekend after Anderson, IN I flew to Jackson, MS for their state convention. Impressive, huh? Well, there are only about 30 churches in the whole state and the convention had a good attentance of 157 people! The numbers alone would suggest, to many, that Jackson was insignificant compared to Anderson. But as I stood there amongst a group of people who clinged tenaciously to one another in fellowship, singing from a hymnal (my first time in years), I realized the impact of my presence here would be felt far deeper (perhaps not as broadly, but far more deeply), than in Anderson. Something about it felt rooted and right. I suspect this experience verifies the fact that the smaller my audience, the greater my impact. The validity of my ministry must not be in the numbers of an Anderson, but the fellowship of a Jackson, and ultimately, the intimacy of a 4629 Connecticut.