Ordination Questions
Question 1:
Do you trust in Jesus Christ your Savior, acknowledge him Lord of all and Head of the church, and through him believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
When first century Christians adopted the creed "Jesus is Lord" and began using imperial phrases like "Son of God" and "Bringer of Peace" to describe Jesus rather than Caesar, it was obvious that they were critiquing Rome as much as they were extolling Jesus. By proclaiming "Jesus is Lord" they were also declaring "and Caesar is not." And just as affirming Caesar's lordship was also shorthand for swearing allegiance to the Roman Empire, affirming Jesus' lordship was also a sign of one's devotion to the Kingdom of the heavens which Jesus announced. Jesus was the anti-Caesar and the Kingdom of the heavens was the anti-Empire. If the Roman imperial formula was piety leads to victory leads to peace, then the formula of the Kingdom of the heavens was mercy leads to justice leads to peace. And if the peace created under Roman Empire was about strength, wealth, and wisdom, then the peace created under the Kingdom of the heavens was about weakness, poverty, and foolishness.
To affirm Caesar as Lord meant also to affirm that the strongest will be master of all, but to affirm Jesus as Lord meant also to affirm that the servant of all would be greatest, that the last would be first, and that honor would be found in taking the lowest place. To affirm Caesar as Lord meant also to affirm that the strong would own the world, but to affirm Jesus as Lord meant also to affirm that the meek would inherit the earth. To affirm Caesar as Lord meant also to affirm that the racial, religious, economic, and gender stratification inherent within Empire, but to affirm Jesus as Lord meant also to affirm that "in Christ" or within the Kingdom of the heavens there is no male or female, Jew or Gentile, slave or master.
Roman Empire and the lordship of Caesar was obsessed with borders of all sorts, but the Kingdom of the heavens and the lordship of Jesus eliminates them. "Caesar is Lord" is about exclusion and persecution. "Jesus is Lord" is about embrace and freedom.
So what do I mean when I affirm that "Jesus is Lord"?
I mean that I commit to actively oppose any person or system which would try to achieve peace by means of superior military strength, economic advantage, or intellectual prowess.
I mean that I reject any person or system which would justify treating any person differently based on gender, sexuality, religion, birthplace, race, ethnicity, class, or status.
I mean that I believe salvation - personal and political transformation - to be found in the ways of the Kingdom of the heavens as revealed by Jesus rather than in the ways of Empire as revealed by Caesar and all those who have come after him trusting in strength, wealth, and wisdom.
I mean that I find the clearest revelation of the character of God in Jesus and his description of the Kingdom of the heavens.
What does this look like practically in 21st century America? Let me say this briefly in the hope that the point is made clearly enough. I pledge allegiance to the Kingdom of the heavens and the lordship of Jesus as I understand it. This means that as much as I love my country, I will not support America's efforts to create peace by means of military victories, nor will I endorse its claims that its superior wealth are signs of God's blessing, nor will I approve of any of its policies which create second-class citizens on the basis of Empire-created borders between people because of their genders, sexualities, religions, birthplaces, races, ethnicities, classes, or statuses.
In short, "Jesus is Lord" is a public declaration about an alternative vision of the way the world would be if Jesus were king and the kings of this world were not.
Listening to and reading Brian McLaren lately (which I know you like too) has really made me think a lot about the "Kingdom of God" and the "Kingdom of the heavens" like you talked about and how that relates to all aspects of our life. That "kingdom" is very much in the present and not just some goal we attain when we die because we followed Christ. It challenges many of the ideas that our society has taught us about Christ and his mission. Good post. Looking forward to reading more.