The Resurrection is about the Cosmic Christ
but the historical Jesus is both
a historical door to God and an Ultimate Door.
Jesus shows us how to open the door to God’s Providence
working in every moment – whether we receive honor or contempt –
to the devout both are useful for edification.
Matthew is the only gospel that uses Final Judgement
as a way of dramatizing the teachings of Jesus –
no other gospel has the teaching of the sheep –
eternally blessed for reaching out to the poor
and the goats – damned forever for shutting the poor out.
Still, justice-seeking is constitutive of every gospel –
justice is never an add-on/afterthought.
Discipleship involves both putting on
the Mind of Christ and working to spread
the Beloved Community/Church/Kindom of God
in the world – to be people of prayer
and to humanize impersonal society.
“Lovers in a Dangerous Time”
by Canadian folk legend Bruce Cockburn (Co-burn)
is a prophetic song in naming our times
as dark and death-dealing
and naming love as the only way
to “kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.”
Justice needs to be fueled by love and prayer
for our enemies, otherwise, as Gandhi said
“you replace one pack of wolves with your own pack.”
Justice needs its Source
in the inexhaustible energy of God
or it will burn out in anger/frustration/exhaustion –
you need a strong spiritual life to confront the powers that be
and to be a well-balanced/effective justice-warrior.
So, Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God”
can be used to draw yourself
and your comrades/compatriots/conspirators
into a contemplative state of mind
and fight with renewed energy for the justice of God
which is “the proper distribution of love
throughout society” – Reinhold Niebuhr
Intelligent Christian Spirituality 