Posted on September 7th, 2011 by Rick VanManen
In the Biblical story names are very important. Naming, like blessing, was a way of transferring one’s power for life to another. So in our reading of the Biblical story we ought to pay attention to those instances when characters are named. Of all the parables that Jesus told in the gospels, only one character is ever named. Lazarus. You probably remember him. He was the very poor, sick man who was left (literally ‘cast down’) at the rich man’s gate. The one who ‘longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table’ (Lk. 16:21), the one who was so helpless that he couldn’t even keep the dogs from licking his sores. You know the guy. Lazarus. The only character ever named in Jesus’ parables.
The name Lazarus means ‘helped by God’ or ‘God has helped’. The name begs the question, of course. Looking at this man Lazarus one can’t help but wonder how exactly God has helped him. But I’ll leave that question aside for the time being. The Hebrew translation of the name Lazarus is Eliezer and there aren’t too many of them in the Hebrew Scriptures. The most famous is the son of Aaron the High Priest. But there is at least one other. In Genesis 15 we read that Abram is anxious over the (im)possibility of God ever fulfilling God’s promise of an heir for Abram and Sarai. He asks God, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (a Gentile)? You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir” (Gen. 15:2-3). Of course, God assures Abram that he and Sarai will have a son and then God confirms it with a covenant.
In the parable of Luke 16:19-31 Abraham and Lazarus (Eliezer) are together again for the first time since Genesis 15. But now there is a third party, the (unnamed) rich man, a man who takes on the role of Abraham’s son (he calls Abraham ‘father’ and Abraham calls him ‘child’, vss. 24-25). People have long seen the great reversal that takes place in this parable. But it’s clear that this reversal works on a number of levels. It’s not just a matter of role reversal for the rich and the poor. It’s also a blood reversal; the son is excluded while the slave is included. Eliezer of Damascus finally gets his due. Like so many of his parables (the lost son, the good Samaritan, the Pharisee and the tax collector) Jesus has once again changed the boundaries of the kingdom. Those who assumed that they were ‘in’ suddenly discover that they’re ‘out’.
Boundaries aren’t evil. They’re necessary, required even. Hospitality assumes that people are being invited to a particular place, a home, a church, or a community. What Jesus’ parables often remind us of is that our boundaries ought to be flexible, permeable even. Our boundaries always have to be open to scrutiny, particularly by those on the outside.
Posted on August 22nd, 2011 by Rick VanManen
“My name is Legion; for we are many” (Mk. 5”1-9). It’s hard to be terrified by these words reading them in the comfort of our homes or churches. But for the disciples, seeing this man come bolting out from among the tombs, screaming at the top of his lungs, identifying himself as Legion, well, I’m sure they would have been quite happy to get back in the boat and return to more familiar territory.
But Jesus couldn’t turn away. This was a battle that he had to win. If the healing of the man with the unclean spirit in the synagogue (Mk. 1:21-28) was the victory of the kingdom of God over the ruling elite in Israel, so this healing in Mark 5:1-20 is the victory of the kingdom of God over the Roman Empire. Make no mistake. The moment the word Legion was out of the man’s mouth, everyone would have been thinking about the imperial legions, the Roman military unit that was notorious for its brutality and power, the military unit that could not be defeated, could not be restrained, could not be subdued (Mk. 5:3,4).
But Legion is no match for Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the Most High God (Mk. 5:7). Jesus gives the demons permission (in the Greek this phrase is a military one used to dismiss subordinates) to leave the man and enter a large herd of swine grazing nearby. The swine rush (another military term, similar in idea to the word ‘charge’) down the bank and into the sea where they drown (Mk. 5:13). And it’s in this verse where we hear an echo of the Exodus. The swine charge down the bank and into the sea just as the hosts of Pharaoh charge to their destruction when God casts them into the Red Sea (Ex. 15:4, 5).
There are many kinds of exile. There are many things that keep us from being fully human, that keep us bound and oppressed, whether they’re seeking our identity in perfect test scores, or trusting our degree to provide us with financial security for the future. Often we can see no way clear of our exile, no way out. We become convinced that the powers arrayed against us are too strong. But no power is too strong for Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified and risen King. Nothing can separate us from the love of God when the exodus begins.
Posted on August 2nd, 2011 by Rick VanManen
There’s something liberating about what Qoheleth writes in Ecc. 3:16-4:8. It certainly doesn’t sound liberating on the surface. Wherever you find justice and righteousness, there you’ll also find wickedness (3:16), the fate of humans and animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other (3:19), there is no comfort to be found, whether you’re oppressed or the oppressor (4:1). And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; but better than both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun (4:4). What’s liberating about all that? It sounds like more of the same, a man who looks at life and sees nothing but vanity and meaninglessness.
But maybe that’s the point. If we’re to assume that Qoheleth is writing from the context of exile, then this book tells us a lot about what exile looks like. Exile strips away all assumptions and pretensions about what life is supposed to be. It removes all certainties and dismantles all those things that at one time provided comfort and security. In exile there are no more possibilities, no new horizons, no hope for healing. Exile is and ending where there is no beginning, a night where there is no dawn.
Exile is the means by which God wakes up God’s people. Nobody wants exile. No one seeks to be in exile. But exile often comes upon us when we least expect it, when we think we have everything under control, when we believe that we’ve finally figured it all out. Then, suddenly, something happens that strips us of this control, a death, a disease, an accident, a natural disaster, a financial crisis. These events strip us of our illusions that we’re in control of our lives. These things make us stop short and realize that life refuses to submit to our will.
It took Qoheleth his entire life to discover this truth. Living in exile he strove to find his way out. But the more effort he exerted the more he came to see that there is no way out of exile. All is a chasing after the wind. There’s nothing he could do except wait, wait for God to move. As painful and uncomfortable this waiting is, it’s ultimately liberating. It frees us from our frantic attempts to maintain our control on life, attempts that we’re not designed to be engaged in. It forces us to stop moving, moving on, moving up, moving ahead and it makes us look closer at life.
The question I have for Qoheleth is did this life lesson bring him comfort in the midst of his exile or drive him to despair. I have no answer. Perhaps the rest of his book will reveal this to us. Or perhaps we must turn to other voices in the Biblical story for an answer. The point is that all too often it takes exile to awaken us from the futile life we’ve created for ourselves. And it’s in the midst of exile that Qoheleth speaks the loudest.
Posted on August 2nd, 2011 by Rick VanManen
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them… (Mk. 9:2).
Six days later.
What’s with the six days? Well, the creation took six days. And in the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, Noah opened the door of the ark and saw that the earth was drying up. The new creation was beginning (Gen. 8:13). Incidentally, after leaving the ark Noah plants a vineyard echoing God’s planting of the garden of Eden in Genesis 2.
Now, six days later Jesus takes three of his disciples up a mountain where he is transfigured before them. In the transfiguration, these three disciples are getting a peek of the new creation, a glimpse of the first of the new humanity. A short time before Jesus descends into the valley of the shadow of death, the veil is pulled back and the resurrected Jesus is revealed in all his glory. Moses and Elijah appear. The cloud of God’s presence descends (Mk. 9:7; cf. Ex. 13:17-22), the voice from the cloud speaks and the moment is over. They are left with ‘only Jesus’ (Mk. 9:8).
Will this glimpse of what is to come be enough for the disciples to get them through the darkness ahead? Will this brief picture of the resurrected messiah sustain them through the crucifixion of Jesus? We know the answer. Betrayal, denial, abandonment.
While the glimpse should have been enough, it wasn’t. It took the power of the risen messiah to ignite the light of God in them allowing them to arise and shine (Isa. 60:1-2).
This is the light that’s now in us, the light we’re called to shine into the darkness of the university. We are the new humanity, with all our faults, all our weaknesses, and all our shortcomings. Though these are still in us, still part of us, they have no power over us. Through us, by the light that we bear, we provide the university and the world a glimpse of the new creation.
Posted on August 2nd, 2011 by Rick VanManen
It was the last thing anyone expected. Jesus had returned to his home after being away for many days. As usual, people had come to hear him teach. The place was packed. I mean a wall-to-wall, standing room only, out the door kind of packed. As is so often the case, the people who had arrived early had the best seats in the house; they listened in amazement to the teaching of Jesus. And then the roof started coming down.
Mark provides no details regarding the content of Jesus’ teaching that day. The whole story is about the interruption, about the breakthrough of this paralyzed man by his friends. Exodus is the breakthrough of God, a liberating interruption by the divine into human history, into our lives. We can hope for such an interruption, long for it, pray for it, live in anticipation of it. But we can never be ready for it. Like a thief in the night God breaks through all our pretensions, all our theological constructions, all our uncertainties, all our delusions, all our assumptions, all our self-assured opinions; God breaks through sometimes in the thunder, lightning, earthquakes, sometimes in the still small voice, but often in the least place we’d expect, like from a hole in the roof.
Posted on June 22nd, 2011 by Rick VanManen
“Where are you staying?” This is the question asked by Jesus’ first disciples. It’s an odd question, not least because it’s a response to another odd question posed to them by Jesus who asks them, “What are you looking for?” This is the first time Jesus speaks in John’s gospel. Unlike the synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke), where Jesus seeks out and calls the disciples, these young men pursue Jesus. These first disciples listen to John the Baptist’s declaration that Jesus is the Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29, 36) and Son of God (Jn. 1:34) and decide that Jesus is a person worth hanging out with.
The question “where are you staying?” makes sense when we consider the desire of these young men to discover more about this man that John the Baptist has identified with such rich and Old Testament laden titles. But as we’ll discover as we proceed further into this gospel, John often expects us to look at bit deeper. The story of the first disciples is the second of a series of quest stories in John’s gospel. In these stories people or individuals come to Jesus to either find out more about him and what he is up to, or to hinder him, prevent him from accomplishing his task. That is, these quest stories serve to show Jesus’ identity and purpose. Our text from last week was the first quest story and the first people who seek to hinder Jesus by throwing suspicion on John the Baptist, the herald of the Messiah. While the conversation in that story was between John the Baptist and the Jerusalem Jews, the point was to tell us about who Jesus is and what he is about.
Taken in the context of the prologue in John 1:1-18 where the Word dwells with God and then become flesh and dwells with us, the question “where are you staying (dwelling)?” takes on a greater significance than merely the physical place where Jesus will be laying his head for the night. The question is about an alternative reality, one in which Jesus has been dwelling with God, and one which is now interrupting the current reality by the Word made flesh. This alternative reality is described in the synoptics as the kingdom of God. John doesn’t use the phrase “kingdom of God”. Instead he speaks of eternal life (Jn. 3:16). Thus the question “where are you staying?” is really asking what is eternal life, and how will Jesus demonstrate it. Jesus’ answer, “Come and see”, invites these new disciples, and us to experience this eternal life by following Jesus.
Posted on August 25th, 2010 by Rick VanManen
Welcome to the new and improved website for the Christian Reformed Campus Ministry at the University of Alberta.
The Christian Reformed Church has supported a campus ministry at the U of A for nearly forty years. During that time there have been many changes, both on campus and in the surrounding culture. But the Campus Ministry’s commitment to proclaiming the saving lordship of Jesus Christ has remained the same.
Feel free to take a look around the website to see what will be happening in the Campus Ministry in the weeks and months to come. Better yet, send me an email or drop by the Campus Ministry office in HUB. It would be great to meet you.
Rick VanManen
CRC Campus Minister
University of Alberta
