At Last!

Well finally the Shane Claiborne book I ordered came - think it had been sold out. Had ordered it a few weeks ago and after that realised that he'd done 3 podcasts with Tony Campolo - he's ex-Eastern University where he'd studied with Tony but I hadn't realised this at the time. Definitely worth checking out either through iTunes or online - check out this link http://www.videorocket.com/TONYCAMPOLO/1667223 - this is the first part of a 3 part interview.

So I'm about half way through the book and think it's very challenging / stimulating - lots of stuff to think about and mull over - just what I like. It gives a different perspective on the gospels understanding them from within the political context of the time. He also overviews the purposes of God from a radical political perspective - God never wanted the Israelites to have kings, he didn't want a temple - he wanted justice for the widow, the fatherless and the stranger, he wanted a peculiar people who would live differently and radically in the midst of other nations and demonstrate the kind of God he is - the God of jubliee where debt was cancelled and property returned, where there was no massive gulf between the rich and poor, where the hungry were fed, the naked clothed, the captive released. A radical Kingdom.

One of the things I've just been reading is about the curtain in the temple being torn from top to bottom at the point that Jesus dies. Shane says

"And when Christ died this curtain [big as a basketball court, as thick as your hand, taking 300 priests to move it] ripped open. We are left with the unmistakeable image that God tore open the temple to set all the sacred things free ...... Jesus offered healing and forgiveness outside the curtain. The holy of holies could not contain God "the wildest being in existence" would not be domesticated. The cross busted God out of the temple and religion, and brings God out into the streets..."

I remember speaking about the Exile many years ago in the church and asking the question - why did the exiles rebuild the temple? It still puzzles me - but perhaps it was for that time when Jesus died and God was able to finally make the statement that the days of the temple were over and he could now get back on the streets through his church. I think the challenge to me and to the church is that we don't try to put God back into the safety of the temple but we allow him, through us, to be walking about in the world doing the thing he always intended to do - establish a radical Kingdom. God is a lot easier to handle when we reduce him to our thoughts and imaginations, our rituals and our small services but he's the "wildest being in existence". Think I'd rather experience him than the god of my imagination.

I saw some T-shirts recently which said - "The church has left the building" - now there is a challenge.

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