The Monkey Rope: God's reminder that we are never alone when life happens

The Monkey Rope: God's reminder that we are never alone

"Would Your Church Host Lollapalooza?" They Probably Already Do!

The band Jane's Addiction hit the rock scene in the mid 80s ushering in the music genre alternative rock.  By 1991, lead singer Perry Farrell organized a farewell tour event for Jane's Addiction called "Lollapalooza."  Over time, Lollapalooza would become a massive annual concert hosting multiple genre's of music: alternative, rock, punk, grunge, heavy metal, and hip hop attracting in excess of 160,000 people over a two day period.  In the early years, Lollapalooza developed a cult following of concert goers that created their own "in-group" that functioned as a musical "Fight Club."  For mainstream America, Lollapalooza was off the radar.  It was an underground concert that thrived off its obscurity.  As the annual event became more mainstream, Lollapalooza became a metaphor for the coming together of various fringe genre's of music and artists.   


Needless to say, this probably would not be the concert of choice for churches to take their youth groups or the genre of music at their next pot-luck luncheon.  And yet, churches host their own Lollapalooza every week when they employ language codes and conventions, socially acceptable practices that bolster their established power rankings, and manage tightly controlled formal and informal membership access to their respective communities of faith.  The concept of "Lollapalooza" did not derive in Jane's Addiction's farewell tour.  In fact, the metaphor of "Lollapalooza" finds its origin in the Bible.

Judges 12:1-6 " Then the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed [a]to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you.” 2 Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon; when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand. 3 When I saw that you would not deliver me, I [b]took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?”4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead [c]defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, O Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth.’” But he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not [d]pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim."

Since the Ephraimites were unable to pronounce the specific Hebrew phoneme that was not part of their native language, they were murdered.  The Gileadites implemented a genius plan of identifying their enemies by using a language construction.  The term "Shibboleth" contained a phoneme that Ephraimite people did not acquire as children.  This is no different from the English phoneme "L" that is acoustically heard and pronounced by native Japanese speakers as "R".   

Today "Shibboleth" is a metaphor for ways "in-groups" control access away from the marginalized.  The practice of deploying shibboleth's is more complex than merely how a person pronounces a word.  Instead, shibboleth's are masked in the ways people engage in seemingly harmless introductory conversations with that "new" family or person that comes to church.  The introductory shibboleths goes something like this:

• "Welcome.  So where are you from?   
• "Oh, which congregation or church did you attend?"
• "Do you know brother so and so?"
• "Where do you live in town?"
• "What kind of work do you?"

The more subversive shibboleths take a more sophisticated form that often manifest in Bible classes and one-on-one membership catechism classes or home Bible studies.  These become events of vetting that serve to rank and file people.  Unfortunately, the more overtly messy and needy people fail the Shibboleth tests and are functionally cast away through social alienation and marginalization.  Since it would make for really bad public relations for churches to broadcast that they intentionally disassociate with the very people Jesus has called the Church to gather (ekklesia) for the sake of pronouncing the Good News to deliver hope and healing for the hopeless and sick, the use of shibboleths serve to expiate the guilt associated with "in-grouping."  

By the way, there was a "Lollapalooza" that took place some fifty-years earlier than Jane's Addiction farewell tour that occurred in the Pacific theater of World War II.  U.S. soldiers developed their own Shibboleth to detect Japanese spies attempting to cross over under the guise of a U.S. soldier or Filipino.  The term they choose........."Lollapalooza."  Historian George Stimpson tells the story of the U.S. sentry that asked the question, "Can you say 'Lollapalooza?'" When the Japanese spy uttered the opening syllables "rorr" they were shot on sight.

I am thankful Jesus did not function as a sentry looking for my wrong answers.  In fact, it seems Jesus specialized in asking the types of questions and practicing the types of behavior that targeted the people groups that already failed their respective social shibboleths from the power holders of their day.  The Samaritan woman at the well already failed her shibboleth by allowing herself to be trafficked by the men in her village.  Her social and gender impediment attracted the Savior to share the good news that she no longer had to perform for acceptance and self-worth.  Unlike the access shibboleths that rendered her alone, Jesus gave her living water of hope and eternal value.  Shibboleths were even employed by Jesus' "in-grouping" 12 disciples.  Upon hearing of Jesus' itinerary to travel through Samaria, they admonished Jesus.  Upon seeing that Jesus was interested in engaging the woman at the well (By the way, the well scene was a type scene throughout the Old Testament that implied betrothal. Hence, Jesus' encounter could have been socially construed as a sexual encounter with this already trafficked woman.) they attempted to dissuade him.  Jesus eventually has to send them off into town to go grocery shopping so Jesus could accomplish his predetermined purpose for selecting his socially unacceptable itinerary of Samaria.  As the story turns out, the female disciple who failed the shibboleth test is the first one to share the Good News even before her male disciple counterparts helping to bring converts to the Messiah.  

God has an interesting way of taking those who fail the shibboleth tests administered by the world's power holders and transforming them into world changers.     

The Great American Coffee and the Great American Novel: The Rest of theStory

Moby Dick is considered to be the great American novel.  I am biased since I have read this book more than any other single book sans the Bible.  Melville's Moby Dick is a story of American expansion with subtle reference to the people and the Island that fueled the Industrial Revolution (at least prior to the ability to unearth coal.  See my previous blog entry on Quakers and Nantucket).  

Central to the theme of Moby Dick is Capt. Ahab's relentless hunt for an albino bull sperm whale named Moby Dick.  However, Moby Dick was probably not an albino whale, and Melville's historical inspiration for Moby Dick was actually a real massive albino bull sperm whale that haunted the waters off the coast of Chile.

Off the coast of Chile is the Mocha Islands.  At the peak of American Nantucket and New Bedford whaling, a massive albino bull sperm whale tormented whale ships as they rounded Cape Horn.  There are historical
records of this particular whale charging and ramming ships.  This aggressive action is uncharacteristic for bull sperm whales, but this particular sea giant was especially territorial. Ship logs and whaling newsletters that circulated New Bedford had stories of this evasive whale tormenting and damaging ships.  It became commonplace for shipmates to call out as they rounded the horn, "Do you see the whale?"

What does the Great American Novel have to do with the great American coffee franchise Starbucks? It is relatively common knowledge that Starbucks derives its name from the first mate of Melville's whale ship the Pequod named Starbucks.  They originally wanted to name their coffee house the Pequod but settled on Starbucks instead.  By way of another historical reference, the "Starbucks" name is very important to the Quaker settling of Nantucket.  The Macys and the Starbucks were two families that built the American whaling empire.  

As for this giant albino sperm whale that tormented sailors off the Island of Mocha, well the name of this whale was Mocha Dick.  Melville certainly had a massive sperm whale in mind as he wrote Moby Dick.  Taking a little literary license, Melville changed Mocha to Moby.  This may complete the coffee connection with the dreaded American novel you had to read in high school. The next time you order a skinny mocha from Starbucks think of Moby Dick.   And as Paul Harvey would say, "And now you know the rest of the story."

Reference:
If you would like to fact check this blog, the existence of Mocha Dick is a well attested story.  Also, Starbucks corporation shares their own inspiration for their naming online.

FORESHADOWING GOD'S GRACE, ACCESS, AND IDENTITY

FORESHADOWING

A literary device deployed by the Author that provides a hint or prediction to the reader of future developments. There are great examples of foreshadowing in the Bible. In fact, the reader misses a great deal of the continuity between the First Testament and the Second Testament if they are unable to pick up on the literary device of foreshadowing. Early in the First Testament we see intentional uses of foreshadowing designed to point to a future event or concept. Here are just a few examples:

Once Adam and Eve eat of the forbidden fruit and realize their nakedness or shame in the presence of God they hide. God asks Adam, “Where are you?” God asks this question not because he is unaware of Adam's location or that Adam is a master hide-and-seek player. Instead, God is asking the question to suggest that Adam’s proximity has now changed. What was once a close proximal relationship, God walked with Adam in the Garden, is now a fragmented relationship distanced by sin. As a result, we are told in the text that God provided animal skins as a covering for Adam and Eve to cloth their shame and bring them back into proximity. This is important because this narrative is full of foreshadowing and type scenes that point to other narratives in scripture. 

First, the idea that God would be the initiator of bridging the gap of the relational distance between the hiding Adam hints to a future time when God would put on human flesh to reconcile us to Himself by bringing us back into close proximity. (Side note, the term “proximity” is intended to be a metaphor for community, closeness to the point of attachment, or not aloneness. Theologically, the first reconciliation that occurred in the Garden, God giving Adam and Eve covering should not be identified with reconciliation made possible in salvation that we will see in the work of Jesus on the cross and in the waters of baptism. Instead, God bringing Adam and Eve back into proximity is God’s way of retaining a connection that fosters relationship. There is hope in God’s desire not to leave us “hiding” in our sin and shame. The first prevenient act of grace ("Prevenient" the grace that goes before) is God keeping man in close proximal distance for our sake not his. By being in close proximity, we are able to experience God’s subsequent acts of grace.) 

A quick example of proximal distance that leads to salvation is the type scene of Rahab. We all know the story of Rahab as the prostitute that worked in collusion with the Israelite terrorists in the overthrow of Jericho. But the rest of Rahab’s story that puts her in the lineage of Jesus is her story of salvation. After the fall of Jericho, Rahab was invited to live in close “proximity” with Israel. She was not given full access to domicile as a proselytized Israelite, but instead, she was invited to live all the years of her life in close proximity or outside the camp of

Israel. She would later take an Israelite husband and would ultimately find her place in the family tree of Jesus. The metaphor of “proximity” speaks of God’s desire for closeness even when our condition is one of shame and unrighteousness. This should should help us to re-calibrate "those" types of people that we think God has little use to show mercy and grace. Isn't interesting that Rahab is a foreshadowing of God's grace act to take those outside of Israel and offer salvation so as to graft them into the family. Rahab's proximity is a theological type scence pointing to the promise God would make to Abraham concerning his many descendants. The rest of the story is Rahab would marry the Israelite Salmon one of the spies. Rahab would be the mother of Boaz. The same Boaz who was the kinsmen redeemer who married the Moabites Ruth. Notice the narrative connections between Rahab's proximal distance to Israel and now her Israelite son would extend the same proximal grace to Ruth a non-Israelite. From this vantage point, God has always been interested in taking those who are "far off" and brining them close. You feel free to scan your own network and determine who you think are "far off" from God's standards. Guess what? God came to rescue them. So shouldn't we be equally interested in preserving proximity? Just a thought. 

Second, the skins provided to cloth Adam and Eve are less about physical covering as it is about identity covering. There are two actions of foreshadowing in this scene. There is intimation that God made a blood sacrifice in order to prepare the skin covering. There are two occurrences of death that took place in the Garden. Adam and Eve experienced a type of death by disobeying God. In fact, physical death is introduced to humanity through this act to treason. There is also a sacrificial death of the animal to provide the covering that would restore close proximal distance. This is significant because it points to another element in the narrative of scripture of blood sacrifice to atone or cover for spiritual death and bring back into closeness or community. Theologically it would be appropriate to identify God’s provisions of animal skins as a type scene to the bloodletting that would occur for humanity in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. 

The idea that we experience identity covering is a central theme in the Bible. Our original image was marred or damaged because of sin. God in his infinite love and divine pursuit always imagined a time that He would re-image us back to our original state when His declarative statement at creation can be confirmed again, "It is Good!" Adam and Eve's covering of their shame is less for God's purpose as it is for ours. This simple act illustrates a character trait of our creator that should not go unnoticed. God takes extra provision to protect our self image. Love never belittles or humiliates. Rather, love requires that those who are hurt are protected and their dignity preserved. There are lessons for us from God's

character. If, in our desire to issue punitive measures on those who we believe deserve our judgmental gaze, we do not first retain their dignity and self worth we are not acting in alignment with what love requires. I fear there are more churches that fail to first provide "covering" because of their haste to inflict shame and punishment. It is no coincidence that Adam and Eve's shame was their physical nakedness. 

This passage reeks of sexual immorality. No that Adam and Eve demonstrated sexual acts of sin, but exposure of our most vulnerable parts require extra acts of grace to restore in dignity and love. While this tangent is not intended to be a primary text for how faith communities should deal with sexual sins within their community, it is intended to be a reminder that if we are not overreaching in our acts of grace to first provide dignified covering, then we may be missing God's model of restoration. In contemporary culture, the people groups that chose same sex attraction and relationships should not be treated as "naked" individuals. Instead, churches should first find ways to "cloth" them so as to restore proximity. Without proximal distance, there will never be restoration. At this point, I leave this up to your faith community on what that looks like and how that functions.

Transformational Teaching

Here is an excerpt from a new textbook just released entitled, Transforming Your Teaching: Practical Classroom Strategies Informed by Cognitive Neuroscience by Kimberly Carraway

"Transformation comes when other people enter into your struggle and choose to walk through it with you. They hold your hand when you are sad, encourage you when you are down, give you counsel when you do not know what to do, and celebrate with you when the victory finally arrives. They remind you of the hope set before you, casting a vision for your future. They do not shame, or make you feel guilty during the process- rather, they accept you where you are and encourage you to take the next step.

We bring real change into our students' lives when we walk alongside them rather than just dispense knowledge. Knowledge alone does not change behavior. People change from experience, and students' brains are changed by what they experience. What we do matters. What we do changes us."