2013-07-04
Daniel Daring 2013
articles
2012 articles
14th
Sunday: What
counts is a new creation
Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
“If
anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). I love
this passage. Maybe, because I often tend to dream about a different life and a
different world. It seems to offer hope that in Christ we can become and do what
we apparently cannot be and do on our own. And, in connection with Galatians
6:15, “what counts is a new creation,” it also lifts up the burden of laws
and rules that our churches are full of and we are tired of.
What
really counts?
Neither circumcision nor lack of circumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation” (Galatians 6:15). Circumcision. God said to Abraham: “This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised” (Genesis 17:10). I do not care much about it. Unlike those Jews who became the followers of Jesus, I see circumcision not as “a sign of the covenant” between God and Abraham, but as a religious practice or a rite of passage present in many cultures of the world. I know that the Jewish converts to Christianity struggled with that problem, seeing it as an indispensable part of their tradition; some even claimed that only faith with circumcision was what counted. But it is a past issue now. (not to be pronounced "past tissue" - jw)
Well. Knowledge puffs up. My pride of understanding faith better than the Jewish Christians of the first century lasted till the day when my mother asked me: “Son! Does eating meat on Fridays make me a bad person?” I went speechless. A bad person? Just because of a piece of meat? Jesus! What have we done to your teaching? I looked at my father, quietly eating supper, while my mother disappeared in their room. “She went for confession” – whispered my father.
What
counts in our faith-life? Is it Paul’s new creation or two thousand years of
tradition, codified in rules and norms, equalized with the message of the
Gospel, and making others feel bad about themselves? Are those who claim that
faith with our tradition is what counts any different from those Jews who
claimed that faith with their tradition was what counted?
A
new creation
“Neither circumcision nor lack of circumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” What could Paul, possibly mean by that? Allow me to venture two possible characteristics of Paul’s new creation: equality and sharing. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The Orwelian description of our societies, “all are equal, but there are some who are more equal than others,” should not have a place within a Christian community. In his teaching, Paul went as far as abolishing slavery in a Christian community.A long time before its “official abolition” in the Western World (1772 in Britain and 1833 in the whole British Empire), Paul wrote a short letter to his friend Philemon requesting freedom for Philemon’s slave, Onesimus. The letter states Paul’s opinion about Christian masters having Christian slaves: a contradiction in terms. All are equal (“brothers in the Lord”), not only spiritually, but also socially (Philemon 10-16). (A note: The majority of biblical scholars consider Colossians and Ephesians as pseudo-Pauline letters, and J.D. Crossan suggests that Colossians 4:1 and Ephesians 6:9 are a compromise of Paul’s genuine teaching on equality in Christ). A new creation meant new relationships among Christians.
Secondly, a new creation also meant a generous sharing of one’s own resources and even beyond. Besides proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles, Paul took seriously the resolution of the Council in Jerusalem “to remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10). It gave him a lot of joy to see his converts internalizing that value and sharing whatever little they had with those who had still less. “We want you to know about the grace that God has given to Macedonian Churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability” (2 Corinthians 8:1-3). “What better deserves the title of a new creation than the abnormality of a share-world replacing the normalcy of a greed-world” (J.D. Crossan).
Looking
at these two characteristics, I guess it is much easier to bring about “a new
world order” of inequality and greed than to put into practice “a new
creation.” Not only the reality of our social world suggests it, but our
hierarchical and patriarchal churches, and some of our spiritual leaders blessed
with riches beyond all telling testify to it as well.
Conclusion
What counts in our faith-life? By the standards of those who claim that only faith with tradition is what counts, perhaps, my mother is “a bad person”. But if a new creation is what counts than many world and religious leaders should come and learn from her about treating others equally and sharing generously what little she has with those who have still less. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor lack of circumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).
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