Reflecting on Matthew 5:1–16, Brian McLaren explores Jesus’ call to live by the collective values of justice and solidarity, becoming salt and light for the world:
Jesus advocates an identity characterized by solidarity, sensitivity, and nonviolence. He celebrates those who long for justice, embody compassion, and manifest integrity and nonduplicity. He creates a new kind of hero: not warriors, corporate executives, or politicians, but brave and determined activists for preemptive peace, willing to suffer with him in the prophetic tradition of justice.
Our choice is clear from the start: If we want to be his disciples, we won’t be able to simply coast along and conform to the norms of our society. We must choose a different definition of well-being, a different model of success, a new identity with a new set of values….
If we seek the kind of unconventional blessedness he proposes, we will experience the true aliveness of God’s kingdom, the warmth of God’s comfort, the enjoyment of the gift of this Earth, the satisfaction at seeing God’s restorative justice come more fully, the joy of receiving mercy, the direct experience of God’s presence, the honor of association with God and of being in league with the prophets of old. That is the identity he invites us to seek.
That identity will give us a very important role in the world. As creative nonconformists, we will be difference makers, aliveness activists, catalysts for change. Like salt that brings out the best flavors in food, we will bring out the best in our community and society. Also like salt, we will have a preservative function—opposing corruption and decay…. Simply by being who we are—living boldly and freely in this new identity as salt and light—we will make a difference, as long as we don’t lose our “saltiness” or try to hide our light.
We’ll be tempted, no doubt, to let ourselves be tamed, toned down, shut up, and glossed over. But Jesus means for us to stand apart from the status quo, to stand up for what matters, and to stand out as part of the solution rather than part of the problem. He means for our lives to overcome the blandness and darkness of evil with the salt and light of good works. Instead of drawing attention to ourselves, those good works will point toward God. “Wow,” people will say, “when I see the goodness and kindness of your lives, I can believe there’s a good and kind God out there, too.”
The way Jesus phrases these memorable lines tells us something important about him. Like all great leaders, he isn’t preoccupied with himself. He puts others—us—in the spotlight when he says, “You are the salt of the Earth. You are the light of the world.” Yes, there’s a place and time for him to declare who he is, but he begins by declaring who we are.
Choosing Common Life
The community of believers was of one mind and one heart. None of them claimed anything as their own; rather, everything was held in common.
—Acts 4:32
Poet and CAC staff member Drew Jackson reflects on how the first Christians cared for one another:
The book of Acts is all about the early community of Jesus’ followers that formed after Jesus’ ascension. Communities of followers of the Way—as they’re called—start to form and what we find in Acts 4 are descriptions of what started to happen in these communities. Another way to say it is that this is what it looked like when people began to experience transformation.
The first thing it says is that the people are of one heart and one mind. The people begin to have a new way of relating to one another that is based on oneness and not separateness, which, in and of itself, is a radical shift in consciousness. This is a thread that continues throughout the book of Acts. Dividing walls between Jew and Gentile begin to get torn down in these new communities. Wealth gaps start to get bridged. Lines of kinship start to get redefined. There is no “us and them” anymore—there is only us. We belong to one another.
This way of relating through oneness plays itself out in new ways of relating to money, property, and possessions. The text says, “No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they had everything in common.” This was a new economics—a shared economics.… The difficulty is we’re all caught up in a sophisticated practice of consumerism and hoarding, and we’ve been conditioned to it for so long that we can’t imagine other possibilities.
What was happening in these communities was the work of Spirit-inspired reimagination. There was a radical redistribution of wealth, and what drove this was not any particular form of ideology—it was not coercion—but was the simple fact that, as people being transformed by the Spirit, they could not move forward with anyone in their community having need. They could not move forward with anyone being in a position over or under anyone else due to wealth, status, or class.
This new relationship and redistribution are what it looked like as people were pulled into the vortex of the Spirit. It was an intensified giving, an intensified belonging, and an intensified loving. This is what loving action practically looked like in these newly formed and forming communities.
And so, as the wealth gap is only increasing in our world—because those in power want to make it so—we need a radically new way of belonging to one another. We need people who are not okay with the status quo of ongoing economic injustice, exploitation, and inequity, but who are freed from the tyranny of power, prestige, and possessions into a radical belonging and a radical love.
| Quote of the Week: “To be a contemplative is therefore to be an outlaw. As was Christ. As was Paul.” – from Raids on the Unspeakable, p.14. Reflection Raids on the Unspeakable is a collection of essays and reflections that Merton wrote in response to various other writings and poetry of the 20th century. With piercing insight, he responds to and evaluates the wisdom of various authors in light of and in connection to the Christian faith. For Merton, the call to be a Christian is inevitably tied to speaking the truth. If Christ is the truth, and the truth sets us free, then to live in a manner that consciously or unconsciously allows for deceit, untruth, and fabrications to rule the day is a titanic tragedy. If to be a contemplative means to “look deeply” at something, to uncover the truth within, is disruptive then that means to be a contemplative is inherently disruptive to the status quo. Modern society wants each of us to skim just the surface of life, to live shallow lives that are profitable for someone else but not prophetic for the kingdom of heaven. To be a follower of Christ is to live beyond the laws and the expectations of the land and to submit in love to a higher authority, one that can challenge and hold accountable anything and anyone to the truth of a situation. It is the child, who proclaims that the Emporer has no clothes, who is the innocent contemplative and keeps all of society from falling into further disarray by simply telling the truth when it is not in fashion to do so. This is why Christ was crucified. This is why Paul was eventually beheaded. And this is why the contemplative is an “outlaw.” Prayer Heavenly Father, allow us the courage to see the world around us truthfully. Grant us the love to want to speak up and speak out. Permit us the gentleness to do so in a way that someone might hear and be liberated from their untruth. Give us the grace to step into being outlaws with you. We pray this in the name of the carpenter from Galilee. Amen and amen. |
| Life Overview: Who is He: Thomas Merton, OCSO (Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance) When and Where: Born in Prades, France on January 31, 1915. Died in Samut Prakan, Thailand on December 10, 1968. Why He is Important: Merton is one of the clearest examples of action and contemplation of the 20th century. Most Known For: Merton was a prolific writer and commentator on the contemplative life and global issues. He was good friends with the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, and Thich Nhat Hahn, all while living as a Trappist monk in the cloistered monastery of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky. Notable Works to Check Out: No Man is an Island New Seeds of Contemplation The Seven Storey Mountain Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander |
