Man On Wire

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http://myissuesanddrama.blogspot.com/2009/10/man-on-wire.html

The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.”
Edith Sitwell (1887-1964)

"They were so stong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness."
Louise Erdrich

Matthew 4:23
23 Jesus went throughout all Galilee (which is where Jesus was from), teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.
Now the key to looking at the Sermon on the Mount is in this…
25 And large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis (which means 10 cities. It was a Greek area settled by Alexander the Great. So it is not Jewish, not religious, not pure, not clean, not holy, they do not follow the scripture commands etc.)
25So large crowds from Galilee (a very Jewish area) and the Decapolis (a very Greek non-Jewish area), and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
The actual Greek word there is misse-masche…which means a confused collection or mixture. There would have been people in that crowd who would have been taught from birth that in order to follow God they were to have absolutely no contact with those people. Now they are all mixed in to the same crowd.
5:1Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down.
His disciples came to him and he began to teach them all the while being surrounded by this mass of humanity
2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I will say this again. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. I will get back to this in a minute.
This man named Christopher Moore wrote a novel called “Lamb, the Gospel according to Biff.” The central premise of this book is that God is upset with how the church is telling the Jesus story and so God resurrects Biff, Jesus’s little known best friend growing up to tell the real story of what happened. The Angel resurrects Biff and takes him to a hotel room in St. Louis and says write the real story of what happened. The angel then gets addicted to big time wrestling and soap operas on TV in the hotel room to which Biff says to the angel, “Now you know why you guys did not get free will.” Biff then opens up a drawer and sees that there is a Bible and sneaks it into bathroom to read it and precedes to find out what Matthew wrote. He thinks Matthew is absolutely full of it. He also reads Mark, Luke and John and is furious of the version they told because they all leave Biff out…Biff was so excited because Josh (Jesus) is celibate and Biff knows this is a great way to meet girls…just hang out with the celibate messiah. What Biff does is he tells the truth about what really happened during those unknown teenage years and what the messiah really did up to the age of 30. He tells about how they went to the Far East and learned Kung-Fu…it is fiction…relax. Then he tells in the end how they came up with what to give to the be-attitudes. I quote, “How are we doing on the be-attitudes?” Pardon me? You know the blessed (they didn’t call them the be-attitudes back then so he was confused, it’s really funny but you have to read it…I don’t have time to explain here) Well, we have got blessed are those who are hunger for thirst and righteousness, blessed are those poor in spirit, pure in heart, the whiners, the meek. Wait, what are we giving the meek? Lets see here, blessed are the meek and to them we shall say “that-a-boy” ummm..I don’t know if I like that. That’s a little weak. Let’s let the meek inherit the Earth. Can’t you give the Earth to the whiners? Well then, cut the whiners and give the Earth to the meek. I have got it. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Ok, that’s better. What are you going to give them? A fruit basket! You can’t give the meek Earth and these guys a fruit basket. Give them the kingdom of Heaven. Well, the poor in spirit got that already.”
I think that for many of this sums up the attitudes. Nice things that Jesus said that don’t really mean much. It’s just a nice general phrases that things are groovy in a Gospel sort of way. How do you begin to unpack them? And, remember there is a massive crowd of sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and really really religious people, and really really gentile people who aren’t really really considered religious by the really really religious. And there is this massive spectrum of humanity. It is in the midst of this crowd that Jesus begins “Blessed are the poor in spirit because theirs is the kingdom, the whole kingdom of God!” It’s theirs…its available to them. It is falling on them. It is crashing into Earth where they are. Now first the phrase poor in spirit is a negative term. In our language today the poor in spirit are losers. Those at the end of a rope. The spiritual zeroes. The pathetic, lame and out of it bankrupt sort of people. Those without a trace of good. The morally empty. The poor in spirit here is not a good term. It is not a condition to which we are to try and attain. Like if I could just become poor in sprit I can gain the Kingdom of Heaven. Sometimes this gets translated like blessed are those who know how much they need God which is incorrect because then that would mean that God’s blessing is for people who have attained a particular state of humility. People who are like, “Yes, I have the gift of humility.” Something about that doesn’t seem right. Let’s walk through this slowly because it might make things a little upside down for you. What Jesus is doing here is so upside down, so brilliant and ultimately so shocking, and I would argue that at the same time deeply comforting…it takes a while to absorb. First, again, poor in spirit is not a term to try and become. It is not a good term. Let me say it this way. There is nothing praise worthy, noble, good, honorable, or positive about being poor in spirit. He is not giving people a wonderful praise worthy condition that some people are to celebrate that they are that way. Secondly, When Jesus says blessed, He uses the Greek word mercurius. It could be fortunate. Some translate it happy. In the next verse it is translated that way, Happy are those mourn. Same word. How can you be a happy mourner? See the lost in translation? It is perhaps more like they are getting the full weight of the world. There is a scholar named Frederick Dale Brunner, who I admire, says, “To understand blessed is to understand it is a sort of divine I am with you. It is God’s way of saying I am on your side.” If you look at how the term is used throughout the scripture and how it is used by Jesus it is a larger holistic, epic, fortunate are you because God is with you. Fortunate are the losers, pathetic, depraved, the lame, the spiritual zeroes because God is on your side. What Jesus is doing here is an announcement which is a fundamentally different way of framing stuff. A completely different mode of rhetoric. He is not giving instruction. It is not a here is how to get God’s blessing in 7 steps. He is not giving a command. He doesn’t begin with here is what you need to do in order to be blessed. This is not advice; well go be poor spirited and God will love you. He is not giving good information on how the world works, and it’s not a teaching.
He begins the Sermon on the Mount with an announcement. He announces that God is on the side of everybody when there is no reason why God should be on there side (to include Al-Qaeda). This is fundamentally counter-intuitive. My good friend Roddy always uses the analogy of water skiing when it comes to counter intuition. In order to get on top of the water you must lean back and let the boat pull you up. Most people use their own arms and try and lift themselves up. If you do that, you will then fall on your ass all the while being video taped and laughed at. The goal here is for you to get up, so stay back. Don’t use your strength to pull yourself up, use God’s strength and let him do it. Does that make sense? This is in essence what Jesus is doing. It is counter-intuitive to everything we knew and know. When you do that you will begin to trust this counter-intuitive impulse. It does not work like it is supposed to work, but when it clicks and flips into gear you can’t imagine it the other way. When Jesus makes this announcement it is a sort of counter-intuitive announcement because if you are like me, your first impulse is what is the good thing in this condition of being poor in spirit that deserves the blessing of God. This is how religion actually functions. What good thing makes me deserving of God’s blessing. The announcement is Blessed are those who there is no reason why they should be blessed. Blessed are all the people who aren’t humble. Blessed are the pathetically retched sinners and alcoholics and thieves. Blessed are everybody who doesn’t believe in God and they too get the Kingdom of Heaven. How does that make you feel? Blessed are all the morally empty people who couldn’t tell the truth straight if they had to. All the people. The favor of God is now pouring down on people who do not deserve the favor of God. But this announcement by Jesus to this enormous crowd of people from across the spectrum of humanity is completely different than saying that everybody is blessed even though there is no reason why they should be. Don’t you get that? That, my brothers and sisters, is The Gospel and it’s terribly confrontational and disturbingly hard for religious people. I understand that it is very very easy to become convinced that God’s blessing is for these particular people over here because of this particular thing they have done or believed or accepted or they said or they expressed and portrayed or professed. No. Jesus destroys all of that. Blessed are the totally immoral losers without a wisp of religion for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. The immediate thing is why why why why why?! Our radar is instantly like why is the blessing for them too? What is the thing in the condition? Why? Well…turn to Luke 14. Jesus gives the reason…and the only reason is as simple as because God is like this. He tells story after story after story where there isn’t really an explanation given and there really doesn’t seem to be a point other than something intrinsic to which God is. The answer to why is because apparently God is like this. It is never rooted in because these people are really good. Oh. It is totally counter-intuitive.
Luke 14:15
15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."
16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
18"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' (Like you would buy a field without seeing it first, get real)
19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' (Like you wouldn’t try out the oxen before you purchased them, liar…would you buy a car without test driving it?)
20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' (no explanation is needed here…I guess we know what is going on) giggity giggity.
21"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
22" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
23"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "
Why? Why did this guy give the banquet? I don’t know…perhaps he just likes to give banquets. No explanation is needed. He just does. What was the occasion? I don’t know. He just does. Why? Because apparently he is like that and enjoy to just throw banquets.
Luke 17
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
Why did he cleanse them? Why? I don’t know. He is just like that.
Luke 19
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. (which means he made tons and tons of money off of everyday sort of people and he was hated.) 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4So Mr. Bernie Madoff (haha) ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him.
Think about that. This man is despised and he has become unbelievably wealthy on other peoples hard work and paid him through the complicated tax system. The unbelievable social stigma attached with Jesus saying I must stay at your house today. Why does Jesus need to stay at the house of someone like this? Why? Why? Why? Endlessly you find favor, grace, fellowship and embrace. Why? Why?
In 1974 a man named Philippe Petit and his friends snuck up to the top of the World Trade Center Towers in NYC. He shot an arrow to the other tower stringing a wire between the two. He tight roped between the towers for over 45 minutes. One point he laid down on the wire. Another point the police gathered on one of the towers and they were trying to arrest him. He walked up to them…and then walked back. A crowd gathered down below and said is a man tight rope walking a quarter mile up without a safety net and harnesses or wires? There is a great documentary called “Man on Wire” which I highly recommend which is an account how he and his friends dreamt of this for years. As a child he was in a doctor’s office and saw in a magazine a drawing of the towers that were going to be built. He took a pen out and he connected them with a line and he said, “Someday I will walk between these 2 towers.” And he did it. He spent 45 minutes up there and eventually he was arrested. On the form the police used where they put the reason of the arrest they said “Man On Wire.” When he was being questioned by the media as they went crazy gathering around the car with all of their microphones trying to get a reason and a quote from him he says…click the link to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVj2IVC9ko
In one point he says only Americans would ask why. He did something magnificent and there is not reason why. Only because it is wonderful.
Why? To a large crowd. To a misse-masche of humanity. To all of these different people with all of these different world views and religious views, and Gods and practices. Why does Jesus announce the blessing of God is yours? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Those without a wisp of religion. Those who haven’t kept the covenant. Those who don’t believe all the right things. Those who have really really really screwed it up in an endless litany of way. To all of those, God is on your side. To all of those who don’t deserve the blessing of God, the blessing of God is here and it is yours. You can see why the first people who heard this said well, that is good news. You immediately go wait wait wait, no no no…no…no. God blesses the hard working. God blesses the morally upright. Right? God blesses all the people who make the right decisions. God blesses the people who do the right things at the right time. God blesses the people who go to the right schools and have the right professions. Try this on for size, God blesses the people who make the right confession of faith. That is who the favor of God is for. Which then means that God’s love is for the people who can earn it…if…
The moment we look down on somebody because they aren’t as disciplined, hard working, upright, smart, responsible, moral, God fearing, Bible believing and as Jesus trusting as we are because they made idiotic, stupid, immoral choices again again and again at that moment we are in fact rich in spirit and Jesus is not announcing anything to us. Come on people. Hear it. The Gospel is the announcement that in your pathetic bedraggled confused morally ambiguous state where nothing good is within you, God announces I am on your side! Perhaps this might help you get it…if you are a church then, and you are a gathering of people who takes seriously the Gospel pronouncement of Jesus, then you have to embrace the simple truth that before it is a theology or a system or a doctrine or a church or a movement or an institution or a world view or a way or a perspective it is an announcement. God has sent His son into the world. His one and only son because God so loved the world. And this son did not come to judge or condemn. He came to save and he began this epic Sermon on the Mount by starting not by high, but loooow with a shocking, jarring and strangely counter-intuitive exuberant healing comforting sort of message. All the people who think I am out, God’s blessing is now pouring out on you. The creator of the universe who you have been convinced is for all of the people who do it right doesn’t work that way. You simply stand in awe of it because it is an announcement. It is not a teaching, it’s not advice, it’s not blame, it’s not a neat way in which the world works. It’s an announcement that God’s love…the Kingdom of Heaven has now become available to all the people who have absolutely no claim to it and don’t deserve it.
Think through this then, a church being a place that begins first and foremost as an announcement. Not, yes God loves you for A.B.C.D then it gets really good. No. Announcement. He opens to all the people who have had an abortion that God is on your side. All the people who have been unfaithful to their spouse that God is on your side. All the people who have screwed it up at work that God blesses you. To all those who have certain websites they cant stay away from the Kingdom is available to you. If at any moment something in you says no, no, it can’t be…then in fact you are rich and the announcement isn’t for you. If you think no it can’t be, it’s for the good people who kept their noses clean, it is for them…then you are rich in spirit and Jesus’ announcement can’t make sense to you. If you think it says blessed are all the people who know how much they need God…well yes, that is true to a certain degree…but knowing how much I need God that then is a condition we work for. “I am humble and this is why God and I are so close…we get along…” Then we have in fact missed Jesus in His own teaching. You can take the Jesus part right out of it and just make it a here is how to live and miss Jesus message. God is to sit in the counter-intuitive shockingly confronting and yet strangely consoling vision of a pronouncement that says all of the zeroes, the morally bankrupt, the epically confused and ambiguous that…God is on your side.
David Croneberg made a movie called “History of Violence”. It is about a guy named Tom who runs a homely dinner in a little town. Then we find out Tom has a past. You as the viewer are at first like wait, does he have this past or not. Sorry to give it away but I doubt you’ll watch it anyway…then you begin to find out it is true. Then his wife begins to find out that her husband, this good honoring man Tom, has a past. Then you find out he has killed lots of people. People from his past are coming to get him and the only way to resolve it is to resort back to his way of killing and blood and violence. There is more and more blood and so his history of violence becomes his presence of violence. He realizes that unless he kills everybody, his past will haunt him forever. So he kills everybody. His wife’s heart is broken because she realizes for years he has not been honest with her. Once he has killed every person from his past the movie comes to its final scene where they are sitting at the dinner table. His family had been living without him and he comes home. Tom has just washed his hands of literal blood from his last killing. He has broken trust with his wife, daughter and son. He comes in the door and the question is how will this ever get fixed? Is this marriage ever going to get put back together? What about the trust with his son and daughter? He comes into the kitchen and she can’t even look at him and he can’t look them in the eyes. This man is poor in spirit. A dishonest killer. How will they respond? The path to reconciliation will be so difficult. His son can’t look him in the eyes. His daughter looks at her mom. Blessed are the poor in spirit because there is even a place at the table for them. Blessed are the murderers and the adulterers and the addicted and those with more crap in their present and screwed up life that is totally confused. Blessed are those who have recently washed the blood off of their hands. The question of course is what his son will say. Will his son have Gospel for him? What will his wife do? The son wants to know how he should respond in this moment. The son is torn and he takes the plate and puts it next to his father. The question is now will his wife pronounce Gospel? It is different from reconciliation and repair. It is different from the pain and hurt. It is just a simple question of will she announce blessing. She finally looks him in the eyes but he cant look because he is poor in spirit. His eyes essentially say, “Even me?” And then he receives from her some sort of yes and the is over.
This is us. This is the Gospel. Is it another list of things I have to do? Is it more commands that I have to follow to become righteous? Is it a list of requirements of what God demands so that we can be declared forgiven, justified, sanctified, and righteous? Jesus stands in the midst of a mass of humanity and announces fortunate and blessed are the poor in spirit. The deficient have God on their side.
God I ask you to and crush our religion and set it on fire. Rescue us from our religion so that we can have Gospel. Rescue us from all the ways we measure ourselves against others. Rescue us from the place we find our self-righteousness from the failures and stumbling of other people. Please rescue us from that religion into a blessing and favor that has no reason. That does not come from something good in us but from whom you are. Rescue us from asking why and help us know that it is because you are love.