John 14:8-17
"Deconstructionism" is in many
Christian circles a dirty word and a threat to a long established order because
the term means exactly what it seems to imply: taking what is (or, rather, what
we have come to believe "is"), and then breaking it down to its base
form (its beginning) so it can be better understood.
What is disturbing to many
traditionalist, conservative Christians is that the practice and theory of
"deconstruction" interferes with what we believe has been long settled. It rarely occurs to us that much of what was
established so long ago was "deconstructed" in the 16th-century
Reformation. What has been offered to us
since then as "reconstructed" in the anti-Rome fever of the
Reformation has lost, shall we say, some of its "salt" as some
doctrines have come under much closer scrutiny and have actually begun to fall
apart. And it's not because of
"liberal" seminaries; it is because of a more careful examination of
what we think already "is".
In seeking to elaborate on the
"Truth" as we understand it OR
to try and make it make sense in a common way OR in the way we most personally desire this
"Truth" to express, we are inclined to pile on and pile on fond
notions, ideas, and opinions until what we sought to expand on has become
virtually unrecognizable, self-justifying and just plain wrong, or completely
outside of its appropriate context.
Peter's sermon is such a case in point as he quotes from the prophet
Joel and concludes that portion of his "sermon" with "Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved".
True, of course, and not because it is
"new" but because it is an expression of our Lord's Eternal Covenant
with those who will repent and come forward to be counted among the
faithful. Then, of course, the
Philippian jailer in Acts 16 is told
by Paul and Silas when he asked what he must do to be saved, and they replied, "Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household" (16:31).
True also, but
there is in verse 32 the part we overlook, the part that MUST ALWAYS accompany
the first part: "Then they spoke the word of the Lord
to him and to all who were in his house ..." Exactly what that "word of the
Lord" was is perhaps anyone's guess, but it is a safe bet that in this
"word of the Lord" shared with the jailer, "Jesus Christ"
became much more than a phrase and even more profound than just a man's name.
There are other instances in which
people are encouraged to "believe in Jesus Christ", "receive
Jesus Christ as 'personal' Lord and Savior", and many other such phrases developed
by human tradition (but not Scripture), but the invitation to
"believe" falls short of what Jesus is recorded as actually teaching by
His very life - the all-encompassing part of what it means to actually
"believe", to go beyond simply acknowledging a "name". The phrases the Church has developed over
time become virtually meaningless because they lack sound context. That is, we encourage people to "believe
in Jesus Christ", but we don't really tell them much about Jesus Christ
because we are typically unable to articulate what "Jesus Christ"
really means.
And we don't really know what
"Jesus Christ" really means because Christians are too inclined to
jump straight from the "Ten Commandments" directly into the New
Testament. It is the deficiency I found
within myself as I challenged a Sunday evening gathering recently: Can you tell "The Story" as Moses
commanded the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:7? Can you tell "The Story" as Peter
did in Acts 2 or as Stephen did in Acts 7?
If we cannot, then we cannot articulate in a useful or spiritually
uplifting way what or who Jesus Christ is. It is often as if Jesus sprang forth from
nothing - or worse - becomes a "god" unto Himself. And if we reduce Him only to a "personal
Savior" role without an explanation and full context of "The
Story" to back it up, we're saying virtually nothing of any real or
lasting benefit to those who may hear us and want to hear more - simply because
we have nothing "more" to offer!
It has long been necessary, neglected
though it has been, to "deconstruct" in the contemporary Church
because of the many who are choosing to walk away from the contemporary Church "in
search of the Lord" even though we have excused ourselves from any
responsibility because, after all, if "The Message" is good enough
for "us", it should be good enough for them. It has become in too many instances a
"take it or leave it" proposition.
If they can't take it, they can leave it. It's their loss. Right?
WRONG! Because what we only think
is "The Message" is often so far removed from "The Story"
that "The Message" has no meat - only "gravy". And we cannot live on gravy just as "man
cannot live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God". Jesus in
the wilderness with the evil one was not anticipating what St. Paul may write
in the future! He was referring to and
Being the "Word" as it is already established!
So to paraphrase a popular 1970's TV
commercial for a popular hamburger restaurant chain, "Where's the
meat?" This is what
"deconstruction" aims to find out; dig under the gravy, remove the
bread, get past the lettuce and tomatoes and pickles and onions and cheese and
mayo or mustard or ketchup and hopefully find the "meat", the very
essence of the burger itself! The rest
of the stuff has the potential to enhance the essence as long as it does
not overwhelm the essence, but these are not what we ordered the burger for in
the first place. Otherwise we would have
been perfectly satisfied with a garden salad.
Good stuff, of course, but lacking any substantial protein which feeds
muscle growth.
So it comes to this. The Gospel of John refers to the "Word
made flesh"; that Eternal Word which always was "in the
beginning", long ago established.
Not "Jesus", mind you; the "Word" Jesus came to
exemplify and amplify. So it is if we do
not understand the "Word" or know the "Story", we cannot
know Jesus the Messiah. And contrary to
popular belief, "Christ" is NOT Jesus' last name!
This is especially important on
Pentecost because of what Pentecost ultimately means in the more ancient - and enduring
- Jewish tradition of Pentecost, the Festival of Weeks; Shavu'ot. It is a holy period commemorating the GIVING
of Torah at Mt Sinai to Moses. It is
when the Lord gave of Himself to the people of Israel. The distinction between "giving"
Torah and "receiving" Torah is important in the tradition as well
because we are "constantly" receiving the Word of the Lord when the
people of God are at their best and firing on all spiritual cylinders. And Messiah Jesus is nothing if not "The
Word" come in the flesh. This is
the principle expressed by St. Augustine in how he seeks to describe the Lord
as "ever ancient and
ever new".
This is what "breaking it
down" gives us. You see, Pentecost
did not begin only 2000 years ago with the apostles as is commonly believed
among Christians. Pentecost already is firmly established in Torah and celebrated as the Word of
the Lord "given" to the Lord's people, but it is also much more than
merely obeying a simple commandment to observe a holy festival. Deconstruction breaks it down so it will not
become so encumbered and weighed down by human traditions that it becomes only
a single "event" never again to be repeated. In a manner of speaking, deconstruction might
crumble the foundations of the "institutional" Church in which we
have become so comfortable so as to free up the "missional" Church;
the "real" Church that was called forth on Shavu'ot, the Jewish
Festival of Weeks. Pentecost.
"This is the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You [already] know
Him because He abides with you, and He will be with you ..."
Pentecost is what the Lord our God has already
given and promises to keep giving as long as we keep receiving. It is now up to us to respond not only this
day but each day we draw a breath; each day we interact with our families; each
day we interact with our friends; each day we interact with our neighbors; each
day we interact with a rude store clerk!
We receive what is eternally given as we "keep
[His] commandments".
This is Pentecost. We do not commemorate what has already
passed; we celebrate what "is" and
what "is to come"; the Word of God for the people of God. In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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