The End-Game of Life on Earth
From Fr. Jim Tucker's homily:
Consider, too, the passion and crucifixion that await Christ. So, it's logical what St Peter says:
Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."It is good for us to be here." Really, they don't want to leave. Who would?
There are two chief temptations, I think, when we begin to realize how much sorrow and pain there is in the world. The first temptation is to think of the world as an extension of hell. Disfigured, ruined, worthless, without any joy or happiness. And since the world is putrid, one flees from contact with it, abandoning it to the sinners. Forget the poor, forget social justice, forget attempts to make the world a better place. They surrender and wait for death.
The second temptation is more subtle. It's the notion that we can have perfection in this world. It's the mistaken idea that paradise can be built on this earth. We see this error in utopian political movements, such as Communism, which promise heaven on earth, since they've long since ceased to believe in heaven in heaven. It's the same error that we sometimes hear on the radio or television when a preacher offers people happiness to people if they learn to pray a certain way or read the right scriptures or give the proper amount in alms. If you believe firmly enough in God, they say, God will give you a Mercedes, a big house, the perfect family, and immunity from sorrow. What a lie. Jesus never once promised us perfect happiness in this world. He did promise us a cross, though. If we want perfection, we're only going to find it in the next life. This second temptation is what the three disciples felt there on Tabor, the temptation to remain upon the mountain of glory rather than to go back down to suffer in Jerusalem.
As I see it, the two greatest proofs for the Christian faith are the eyewitness testimony of the apostles to the risen Jesus, and the fulfilment of their prophesies in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70.
"Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe."
Easier said than done. The apostles knew what they saw - the risen Lord. We have not seen him, yet we have to believe. My problem with Fr. Tucker's formulation, and you see it all the time with evangelical pietists, is that it doesn't really explain the middle ground between "the earth is hell" and "the earth should be perfect."
I do not believe that suffering is the fate of the flesh. The flesh is good, and deep down, we all know it, and enjoy it. We might not experience "perfection" in this life, but we can live life joyously. Indeed, I suspect that is what drove the apostles. In a different, Objectivist context, Robert Ringer in the book Looking Out For #1 described happiness as "feeling good." The apostles suffered, because they had seen and believed. I do not think our fate is to suffer. That's a perpetually defeatist attitude: this life sucks, let's look forward to the next. It almost makes one feel guilty for liking it here, for enjoying life. But I'm not sure if it wasn't enjoying life as we know it that is at the heart of Christ's message.
Why work for ideals such as "social justice" if perfection is only in the next life? Is a "suffer" gospel even valid? It turns the entire ethical system upside down: to do something productive and profitable makes you a sinner, to do nothing but wait until the next life makes you a saint.
Yes, Fr. Tucker advocates social justice and a host of other social goods. But ultimately, it doesn't add up. Our fate is not to enjoy life as God made it, but to suffer - as if Jesus's sufferings were insufficient.
This is why my faith, today, lies in post-millennial, conservative Presbyterian formulations. God doesn't want us to suffer, God wants us to be participants in the restoration of Paradise on Earth. Perhaps this is offensive and wrong. On the other hand, I am completely ill-equipped to evangelize - win friends and neighbors over to Christ - based on a Gospel of suffering and defeat.
Consider, too, the passion and crucifixion that await Christ. So, it's logical what St Peter says:
Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."It is good for us to be here." Really, they don't want to leave. Who would?
There are two chief temptations, I think, when we begin to realize how much sorrow and pain there is in the world. The first temptation is to think of the world as an extension of hell. Disfigured, ruined, worthless, without any joy or happiness. And since the world is putrid, one flees from contact with it, abandoning it to the sinners. Forget the poor, forget social justice, forget attempts to make the world a better place. They surrender and wait for death.
The second temptation is more subtle. It's the notion that we can have perfection in this world. It's the mistaken idea that paradise can be built on this earth. We see this error in utopian political movements, such as Communism, which promise heaven on earth, since they've long since ceased to believe in heaven in heaven. It's the same error that we sometimes hear on the radio or television when a preacher offers people happiness to people if they learn to pray a certain way or read the right scriptures or give the proper amount in alms. If you believe firmly enough in God, they say, God will give you a Mercedes, a big house, the perfect family, and immunity from sorrow. What a lie. Jesus never once promised us perfect happiness in this world. He did promise us a cross, though. If we want perfection, we're only going to find it in the next life. This second temptation is what the three disciples felt there on Tabor, the temptation to remain upon the mountain of glory rather than to go back down to suffer in Jerusalem.
As I see it, the two greatest proofs for the Christian faith are the eyewitness testimony of the apostles to the risen Jesus, and the fulfilment of their prophesies in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70.
"Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe."
Easier said than done. The apostles knew what they saw - the risen Lord. We have not seen him, yet we have to believe. My problem with Fr. Tucker's formulation, and you see it all the time with evangelical pietists, is that it doesn't really explain the middle ground between "the earth is hell" and "the earth should be perfect."
I do not believe that suffering is the fate of the flesh. The flesh is good, and deep down, we all know it, and enjoy it. We might not experience "perfection" in this life, but we can live life joyously. Indeed, I suspect that is what drove the apostles. In a different, Objectivist context, Robert Ringer in the book Looking Out For #1 described happiness as "feeling good." The apostles suffered, because they had seen and believed. I do not think our fate is to suffer. That's a perpetually defeatist attitude: this life sucks, let's look forward to the next. It almost makes one feel guilty for liking it here, for enjoying life. But I'm not sure if it wasn't enjoying life as we know it that is at the heart of Christ's message.
Why work for ideals such as "social justice" if perfection is only in the next life? Is a "suffer" gospel even valid? It turns the entire ethical system upside down: to do something productive and profitable makes you a sinner, to do nothing but wait until the next life makes you a saint.
Yes, Fr. Tucker advocates social justice and a host of other social goods. But ultimately, it doesn't add up. Our fate is not to enjoy life as God made it, but to suffer - as if Jesus's sufferings were insufficient.
This is why my faith, today, lies in post-millennial, conservative Presbyterian formulations. God doesn't want us to suffer, God wants us to be participants in the restoration of Paradise on Earth. Perhaps this is offensive and wrong. On the other hand, I am completely ill-equipped to evangelize - win friends and neighbors over to Christ - based on a Gospel of suffering and defeat.
posted by Unknown at 4:43 PM
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