Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places:
Greetings in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ!
The Hidden Gospel.
This is the title of a book by Neil Douglas-Klotz which looks at the familiar words of Jesus, not in English or Greek but in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Words and themes jump out at the reader which they might otherwise remain hidden in our familiar translations, words like unity, breath, holiness, light, wisdom, diversity, soul, completeness, and love. This was Jesus’ vocabulary.
We know it as the Gospel and it showed up this week. Surprisingly. It does not often make the front page, appear on the news or the internet, or seen on late night television.
It showed up as mercy on the national stage, in the national cathedral, at a not-particularly crowded National Prayer service, accompanied by an Episcopal bishop, and uttered in front of power.
It showed up and caused quite a stir, and it stirred up quite the backlash. As if the gospel had never been heard before. As if mercy was somehow offensive or demeaning. Was it because the bishop was a woman? Was it because it was spoken to the new president who is not accustomed to such words being spoken to him? Was it because it was done in the context of prayer and worship? Was it because it stood out from other words flying around, like deportation, abolish, release, vengeance, dismantle, fear, shock, and awe?
As a result of unashamedly using gospel language and having the nerve to say mercy, the bishop has been subjected to verbal attacks and death threats. Evidently, the whole idea of mercy, this noble word once lifted up by society, is somehow antithetical to who we are now as Americans. GOP congressman Mike Collins even suggested that the bishop (mercy too?) “Be added to the deportation list.”
Within hours mercy and the bishop went viral. When was the last time anything coming from the progressive, mainstream side of Christianity was heard, let alone go viral? When was the last time Jesus’ teachings went viral and even caused people discomfort, something the gospel has been doing through the centuries?
I read this in The Nation: “This is my Christianity,” declared journalist Charlotte Clymer who writes on religious issues. Joy Behar of The View said the bishop displayed “more fearlessness than anyone in Congress right now.”
I read this in Luke 5:1-11, our story for Sunday, where Jesus got into a fishing boat and taught the crowds a little way from shore, and said, “put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Herod and Empire had depleted the fish for their own purposes and there were no fish left for the people. They were caught in the net of the system and had no way to break free. “Go deep,” Jesus says. Go deep into the gospel. They did and they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. The nets of the system could no longer contain them. They were free.
Amazing what happens when we unhide the gospel and proclaim its mercy and message.
Grace and peace,
Harry