against Christian Nationalism

 

I want to offer some reflections on the Gospel reading set for Holy Communion today, John 3.31-36, in the light of serious misuse of biblical texts by political figures in recent days.

In this passage (which you can read in full below) Jesus makes several claims about the nature of God:

God is true;

he gives the Spirit without measure;

The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands; and

whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.

God is true:

God is the ultimate reality, and measure of what is inherently good—in marked contrast to the provisionality of any human culture or empire, which reflects goodness partially and imperfectly. This reaching-beyond what we can see and touch around us—beyond what we can grasp—in search of deeper truth is inherently human, across cultures. It calls for fidelity to something that is more weighty, more permanent, than our brief moment. The belief that we possess—that we are—the pinnacle of truth and beauty, the measure against which all others are to be judged (and found wanting) is hubris.

he gives the Spirit without measure:

The Spirit is the Life of God, shared, sent out into the world, to animate everything that is, to draw it back into the Life of God, as breath is exhaled and inhaled again and again. Genesis describes human beings as the humus of the earth, animated by the breath of God. And God gives this Spirit—this Life—without measure. In contrast, Capitalism measures everything, assigning a value, and seeking to control, to hoard. As if it is possible to hoard breath, to breathe in and in and in without ever breathing out. A scarcity model, in which we must compete with one another for the necessary goods of life. Yet we are all alive, on this Earth we share; not one of us asked for this. The idea that we must earn the shelter and food needed to sustain life is the antithesis of divine love. God gives without measure, to all, not asking who is worthy, who is deserving, who has or has not earned the right. Those who have seen and heard, who testify that God is true, reject the idea that we must hoard what is needful for ourselves.

The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands:

God loves—is Love—and whatever lacks love is not of God. This love is all encompassing: Jesus calls us to love our neighbour and to love our enemy—for only love can transform enmity into friendship. Love is relational: hence, the Father and the Son. The Son is Jesus. Son language—Son of God, Son of David, Son of Mary, Son of Jospeh—reveals that God loves human beings so much that he resolved, from the beginning, to become one of us. One with us. God has a human ancestors, a human mother, a human kinsman redeemer. God, who is true, trusts humanness. This is stunning. And, in love, the Father has placed all things into Jesus’ hands. There is nothing that God has not entrusted to Jesus. To believe this is to not need to attempt to take anything into our own hands; and attempting to take control demonstrates the gulf between what we confess with our lips and believe in our heart.

whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath:

‘Earthly’ things are at odds with ‘heavenly’ things. Both are located within the heart. Earthly wrath looks like unbridled anger, raining fire on our enemies. But the wrath of God simply refers to God’s settled opposition to injustice. There is no violence in this resolute opposition, but a non-violent standing with all who suffer injustice. Jesus does not call down angel armies to destroy the Romans, but takes into himself our earthly wrath—our injustice; for the earthly, here, is the inverse of the heavenly—and neutralises it. Jesus reveals God to be non-violent. When we read of violence attributed to God in the Bible, we are not witness to the nature of God but we are witness to the reality that even those who know God can misunderstand, misheard, misrepresent God. These passages give us reason to doubt ourselves, not God’s goodness. Yet, we are addicted to violence. It cannot save us, cannot give life; but, rather, keeps us from the life God longs for us. We cannot know peace through killing our global neighbours, but inflict pain on ourselves as well as them. If we refuse to see this, God’s wrath—settled opposition to injustice—does not abandon us to our own self-destruction, but ensures. Indeed, Jesus claims, it abides with us: makes itself at home, testifying to our choosing death, testifying to the life God longs for us to choose instead. Truth that is deeper than the surface reality we see around us. Trusting that we can only endure this guest for so long before we are won round. Before we repent, turn around—see from a heavenly, not earthly, perspective—and give our lives to making amends.

Christian Nationalism has nothing to do with Jesus. Cannot see or hear him. Yet, Jesus remains. And in him, I hope.

John 3.31-36

“The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true. He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.”