07-24-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 24, 2024
From the book, “A Black Theology of Liberation,” James Cone wrote, 

“Jesus is not a human being for all persons; he is a human being for oppressed persons, whose identity is made known in and through their liberation.”

Those words have already caused some of you to prickle just a bit because the late Dr. Cone suggested that Jesus was not a human being for all people. I think Cone would want those of us feeling uncomfortable to sit with the discomfort for a while. Christianity today has too often become a religion for the comfortable, and when people are made to feel uncomfortable, they get someone fired at the church or they leave. I try to read something each week that challenges me, and though my opinion is not always changed, I am often forced to ask myself some pointed questions. Am I uncomfortable because some complacency or sinfulness has found its way into the light of judgment, and it is no longer easy to ignore it. I can’t say for sure if I know what Dr. Cone intended with those words, but I think he was suggesting that Jesus is not for those who are on the side of oppression and injustice. In his ministry, Jesus was clearly for those who were oppressed and recipients of injustice. Of course, Jesus also invited one of those on the side of oppression to share a meal with him, and though Jesus was not for him in the sense of being in favor of what he was doing, I believe Jesus still loved him. And it was that love that cast a light upon the sinful and unjust actions of Zacchaeus, and in that experience of love, Zacchaeus began to live for the liberation of others. At that moment, I believe Jesus was for Zacchaeus. 

Thank you for loving me even through the discomfort and the pushback I give when I am challenged in a way I do not wish to be challenged. Holy God, where there are things hidden in the shadows of my life, I pray for your glory to bring them forth where I must acknowledge them and deal with them. It is only by your grace that such a thing is possible. Amen.