Fm - Session 7

conversation

The World As It Is Systems Gone Awry

Session 7

worship and prayer

10 minutes

• Sing 2-3 Worship Songs (Project songs on PowerPoint.) • Pray out loud for the course and for God to reveal himself through it and have each student pray for his or her neighbor at the same time that God may reveal himself and his purposes in a deeper way, give vision and renewed passion for his work on earth to be done.

group activity: homework review

xx minutes

In your homework and application exercises for this week I asked you to locate and interview different leaders in the local community (pastors, councilmen, teachers etc.). You were to go to leaders and ask: “What specific problems are you currently worried about here in our community?” “What specific problems are you currently trying to solve?” After the interview, you were to decide which types of broken relationships were described. (See PowerPoint). At this point I’d like you to go into the same groups of 4-5 people and share with those in your group your answers from your interviews. Divide students into the same groups from last week of four to six and select a leader for each group. If the class is small, do not divide. Ask students to summarize the answers from their interviews — two minutes each. Do not make comments until all students’ experiences have been shared. Walk around and listen to groups. Select one or two student to report to the entire class.

review of previous session

xx minutes

Ask students to summarize the most important points of the last session. Do so by projecting on PowerPoint a triangle with underlines at each corner plus two underlines in the middle of the triangle. Have students then fill out the voids and describe what the systems, prophets and people were to be about. Make sure that the following ideas are covered. Last session we looked at how God desired Israel to live as a people of Shalom – incarnating the world as it should be. A nation under God, in which the religious system sought to establish good relationships and lifegiving values; the political system sought to establish justice and purge evil; the economic system sought to establish equality of opportunities and work towards the disappearance of poverty; the prophet sought to hold the systems and people accountable to this vision; and the people sought to live out this vision individually and as a nation. is was how God

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designed the systems to function, both for the well-being of humanity and for the glory of God.

lecture: introduction: the world as it is

xx minutes

Studying this vision of God of Shalom for the nations and for people individually, it sounds great. However, this vision that God laid out was never fully established – not by Israel, nor by any other nation. It doesn’t sound like any community, city or nation that we have ever lived in. Right? Why? What went wrong and keeps going wrong? Why are our cities and nations in such a mess? What are the roots of a city’s or nation’s evil? What destroys a nation or a civilization, according to the Bible? I believe that this is one of the most critical questions for urban Christians to ask, because we Christians as individuals and the church as the body of Christ are hopelessly naïve about the nature and extent of evil in our cities or nations. at is why the church has been essentially ineffective in urban ministry. We are told that the first rule of warfare is to know the enemy. As long as we hold to an inadequate and naïve understanding of a city’s evil, however, we will never appreciate the full scope and power of the enemy we face. It is imperative that we have an adequate understanding of the nature of urban evil. Only then can we, as God’s people, hope to have any significant impact on that city.1 So how would you answer these questions? Allow participants time to respond. In this session we will look at the world as it is, and what the Bible says keeps hindering us from realizing God’s vision of Shalom. What went wrong and keeps going wrong? Israel Forsakes Its Calling Show video clip: Conversation. As you clearly saw in this short video clip – this vision for Shalom that God laid out was never fully established – not by Israel, nor by any other nation. God’s people went through cycles of following his call, drifting and rebelling, then repenting and ultimately returning to God’s agenda.2 Consequently we can call this fourth episode of God's Story, Our Story, “Conversation”. (Study leader quickly points out the course of the centuries that passed, showing the time line on PowerPoint, from King David, to Solomon etc. until about 620 BC… also use illustration from John Cross, e Stranger on the Road, 156). ough God continuously tried to converse with his people to

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convince them to turn back to him and his good commands, with the passing of time, the people of Israel increasingly reacted against the ethical and egalitarian demands of the worship of Yahweh as defined in the Sinaitic and Deuteronomic covenants. e rich began to treat the poor as though they belonged to a lower order. It is interesting to note from archeological excavations in Tirzeh (a location in Israel) that around the 10th century BC Israel had a pretty egalitarian society; all houses had similar dimensions and furnishings. is contrasted with the highly stratified surrounding city states of Canaan, Edom and Amor, in which the kings were regarded as all-powerful human representations of deities. e same excavations in Tirzeh show that only two centuries later, during the 8th century BC, the picture had completely changed: different districts had come into being: a well-to-do neighborhood with mansion-like structures for the rich, as well as the small shacks and slums of the urban poor3 (See map on PowerPoint). e one people had split up into different social groupings or classes. Poor and rich were in opposition. Sounds like Mexico City, or Mumbai, or Sao Paulo, or Manila, or Los Angeles, or Lagos? Right? Israel’s story, thus, is the painfully long illustration that it is easier to take out the people out of the (Egyptian) empire than to take the empire out of the people.4 God Is Deeply Pained Israel had become a source of pain for God. Betrayed time and again, Hosea 11:8 reveals the “agitated mind” of God, whose emotions were always “jumbled up within him”; loving Israel as a husband loves his wife and yet hating her idolatry and injustice. Jeremiah for instance says paraphrasing him: “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me … What fault did you find in me that you strayed so far from me? … I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness. What have I done to make you hate me so much?” e challenge God faces, then, is rescuing a people who have no idea how captive they are; no real idea how desperate they are. And this challenge continues until today. God Sends Prophets to Keep the Conversation Going In an effort to turn his divided nation back to him and back to a life as a Shalom community, God sent a host of prophets to invite the people into a renewed covenant relationship. Jeremiah, one of these prophets, said: “From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets” (7:25). e prophets stressed the significance of the Sinaitic and Deuteronomic revelation. ey exhorted the leaders to pursue righteousness and justice. ey denounced the rich for oppressing and exploiting the poor. ey opposed the idolatry of Baal and Ashera, both Canaanite fertility gods, since these deities gave their religious stamp of approval to exploitative practices (i.e. temple prostitution) and dominant power structures (equating political

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kings with the divine), and debased human dignity as people stopped recognizing that they themselves were the best image of God. (Show picture of Baal and Ashera on PowerPoint). Indeed, the stories of the prophets tell us a great deal about how God views sin and its impact and serve to remind us of what God wants in creation as well as what God intends to do. e Bible presents us not only a clear vision of human society as God intended it to be; it also presents and analysis of the nature and results of corporate sin. e Scripture is full of a surprisingly consistent social analysis of how and why the world’s political, economic and religious systems have become so corrupt. And that biblical analysis makes clear that evil is not only personal but also profoundly social.5

group work / dramatization: the prophets speak We can analyze this downfall of Israel on five fronts, which we will do in the following Group Work: xx minutes

Divide students into five groups. If the class is small, have each student represent one group. Distribute Handout “Group Study – e Prophets Speak” and have each group read their assigned scripture verses, answer the correspondent questions and then prepare a short dramatization of how and why the systems/prophets/people were denounced by the prophets. Walk around and listen to groups. Select a representative from each group to report their findings to the entire class. (Affirm students' efforts. Point out strengths. Provide gentle correction if needed.) Make sure that the following points are addressed. If necessary, add the following insights after having students from each group report their findings via word and dramatization, and ask a couple of follow-up questions to draw out the following answers:

xx minutes

Group 1: eological and Spiritual Downfall has led to Idolatry: Religion of Control ‘My people are destroyed from a lack of knowledge’ (Hosea 4:6) and, ‘a people without understanding will come to ruin’ (Hos. 4:14). God complained through the prophet Isaiah that the problem with his people was that ‘Israel does not know, my people do not understand’ (Isaiah 1:3). As a result, God lamented, ‘my people will go into exile for lack of understanding’ (Isa. 5:13). e priests did not teach right, they did not tell the people about God’s vision; hence the people fell into idolatry, which obscured their understanding of God even more.

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Group 2: Political Downfall has led to Oppression: Politics of Injustice ‘Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless. Plead the case of the widow!’ admonished Isaiah his people (Isa. 1:15-17). Because Israel didn’t, Isaiah claimed, because they made unjust laws and issued oppressive decrees, because they oppressed God’s people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless, their doom would come (Isa. 10:1-2). Because Israel’s leaders took bribes and lied to the people that everything was alright… Jerusalem would be destroyed. (Micah 3:9-12). Group 3: Economic Downfall has led to Exploitation: Economics of Greed Ezekiel poignantly describes the crime of Jerusalem by comparing it to Sodom and Samaria’s. Social injustice (especially towards a city’s own poor), exploitation, sexual perversity, pride, gluttony, arrogance, complacency are all terrible sins. Combined, they are capable of destroying the soul of a city.6 Amos backs up Ezekiel’s social analysis. Because the rich trample the needy and do away with the poor; because they oppress the righteous and deny justice to the poor – God will judge them and not allow them to enjoy the spoils of their oppressive behavior. Group 4: Prophetic Downfall has led to Deceit: Prophecies of Lies e prophets, instead of holding the systems accountable, ‘prophecy out of their own imagination; they give false visions and their divinations are lies.’ (Ezekiel 13). ey say peace, just to get some money. Indeed, when one doesn’t accommodate them, they start waging war against one. Because of that, their doom is upon them. ey are misleading people, and not doing what God called them to do. Group 5: Downfall of the People has led to Disobedience: Actions/Attitudes of Selfishness e people do as their leaders do. ey oppress, exploit and do harm to one another. ose more powerful, prey on those who are weaker. ey engage in idolatrous behavior. At the same time they are only too glad to trust the deceptive words of the religious leaders and the prophets, who condone their ways. So they keep a false religion that gives them false security. ey fulfill the outer trappings of a formalized religion, but they don’t act justly, they aren’t merciful, they don’t defend the oppressed. As a consequence, God will thrust them from his presence. ( Jeremiah 7:1-15) In summary, the prophets announced that Yahweh was against the state and its profanation of worship. Instead of being God’s instrument of Shalom to the nations, they disobeyed God’s good laws and neither righteousness nor justice was practiced. God, hence, decreed that the Northern kingdom would no longer be identified as the people of God. “I will destroy it from the face of the earth … I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations.” (Amos 9:8-9) (see PowerPoint).

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But how will God destroy? Jeremiah 7:15 says it well: God will destroy by simply doing nothing; his presence will no longer be with Israel and so he will no longer protect this nation. (see PowerPoint).

plenary scripture study: introduction to ‘the bloody city’

xx minutes

An Introduction to the Book of Ezekiel One of the books that gives a great explanation about the real state of affairs is the Book of Ezekiel, which was written between 593 to 571 during the time when Israel had turned its back on many of God’s good rules and commands. So Ezekiel is the book of a prophet who took his role seriously to explain to Israel why things were not well with the nation; to confront the political, economic and religious authorities, as well as fellow-prophets and the people; to challenge them to change their ways and abandon their disobedience of God’s good commands so that Shalom could reign once again. e book of Ezekiel, hence, is meant to be one massive social analysis. It deals basically with one question: What went wrong? What destroyed the vision of the Shalom community? Why is it that Israel is suffering? ere is one passage in which Ezekiel summarizes his massive thoughts into one chapter. It’s the chapter 22 of the book. e title of the chapter was later termed “e Bloody City”. T he chapter can be divided into three parts. 1. e first part describes what went wrong and why God is so angry (22:1-12) 2. e second part has God ask the question: What am I going to do with you? What will the result be of such wrongdoing? (22:13-22) 3. e last part asks: Why have things gone wrong? What were the forces that caused Israel to go astray? How did they wander so far from God’s intentions for them? (22:23-31) So let’s begin to read this chapter and see what it tells us about what went wrong and why things went wrong. Prologue Have a participant read Ezekiel 22:1-5. Who is this chapter about? How does God call this city? It’s about Jerusalem, whom God calls “e Bloody City” Why does God call Jerusalem like that? What did they do? What has caused Jerusalem – once the city of Shalom – to become such an evil city that God must allow it to be destroyed?

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Jerusalem sheds blood and defiles herself with idols. She has cut short her years and brought doom upon herself. It is not simply that there is evil – great evil – being committed in Jerusalem. It is that the city itself has become infamous, detestable, murderous. Jerusalem had been intended by God to be an angelic presence in the world, but somehow she had become demonic. e city’s very spirituality had profoundly changed from godly to satanic, making it an object of scorn to the nations.7 What is God’s response in turn? He will allow them to become a laughingstock to the countries and an object of scorn to the nations. is means he will no longer protect Jerusalem from herself. Obviously God is not happy about Jerusalem. It’s almost as if he is saying: “ YOU as a nation were called to showcase to the whole world how to systematically live out the principles of the Shalom community – as a nation under God. Well, you have become a witness, alright, but the nations have seen your witness, your injustice, your violence and have decided that they’d rather have Baal as their God. So you have effectively become a witness against me, the worse kind of evangelist one could imagine.” Yet, does God simply abandon Jerusalem and Israel? How does his calling of Ezekiel to step in to confront the city – portray God? How does he show himself to be? No – even though he is deeply saddened and angered about how they have gone wrong, he calls on Ezekiel to step in to confront this city – in the hope that they may turn around. He is still interested for Israel to live differently. He still wants to see justice established – that’s why he calls Ezekiel to confront the city. Jerusalem’s Sin Read Ezekiel 22:6-12. What are the ways in which Jerusalem/Israel has gone wrong? What specific things does Ezekiel list? (Have a participant write the answers that the others are giving on the whiteboard. Make sure that most of the following are listed). • Abuse of Power by the politicians • Treated Father and Mother in Contempt and didn’t hold traditions • Oppressed the alien and mistreated the widow and the orphan (the vulnerable and marginalized of society) • Desecrated the Sabbath by not taking it seriously • Slander and Murder are commonplace • Idolatry and temple prostitution are widely practiced • Sexual abuse, violence and rape are common practices • Corruption and bribery are unchecked • Paid killing has become a lucrative business

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• Neighbors cannot trust each other since extortion and loan sharking rips the community apart • ey have forgotten God – who so desired for them to live in Shalom. Does any of this resemble the city you life in? Does it resemble your community?

group study: the downward spiral Read Ezekiel 22:23-27. xx minutes

is passage tells us what has made this nation abandon the social vision of Shalom. It is here that the most profound social analysis begins. Who are the people listed in this passage? Let’s list all those who Ezekiel talks about: ere are the princes; the priests; the officials; the prophets; the people. In the following group work we will look at each of these people and whom they are likened to: Divide students into five groups. Have students turn to “Ezekiel 22 - A Biblical-Social Analysis of Our Cities and Nations – Scripture Study” and have students read through Bible verses of their assigned Group Study and discuss their answers to the questions. Have them then read the read the paragraph corresponding to the type of person you studied in the attached article “Understanding Ezekiel’s Typology”. After that they should come prepared to share their answers with the entire class. Make sure that the points in the aforementioned article “Understanding Ezekiel’s Typology” are truly addressed. If necessary, add the insights left out by students after they have reported their findings, and ask a couple of follow-up questions to draw out the things left out.

plenary scripture study: what is god’s response to this horrific distortion of god’s purposes? Read Ezekiel 22:13-22, 31.8 xx minutes

How does God feel? Can you understand why he feels that way? God is angry. He is upset. He is certainly also very sad. Indeed, the fact that he still feels anger shows that he still cares about Israel. Had he felt indifferent, it would show that he doesn’t care about Israel anymore. Many psychologists say that if somebody still feels anger in a relationship it proves that they still care.

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Once there are no such feelings anymore, indifference has set in and people could care less about the other person. How does God respond to this horrific abuse of power, injustice, oppression, exploitation and idolatry? What does he say he is going to do with Israel as a consequence? Does pouring out his wrath on Israel mean that he punished Israel directly? Ezekiel said that as a consequence of Israel’s behavior, God would pour out his wrath upon Israel and put her in a furnace to melt her. However, his pouring out wrath upon Israel was more a passive than an active action. Since God is a God of justice, God cannot just continue to bless Israel and protect her from her own self-destructive path. God’s punishment, then, is doing precisely nothing. It is withdrawing and leaving the nation to pursue its own self-destructive path. Pouring out his wrath, means no longer intervening and safeguarding us from reaping what we sow. When the spiral continues downward and nobody stands up to halt it – the systems go on a self-destructive path. e Shekinah – the glow of Yahweh’s presence – is taken from the temple. e glory departs. at will happen to any nation, community, city that commits itself to control, greed, exploitation and oppression. Its own greet, control and oppression will eventually fall back on it. So God doesn’t punish directly but pours out his wrath and brings about the collapse of the nation by doing precisely nothing! It seems like God was saying: “I sent you the law that would lead you to live in Shalom. I sent you prophets to bring you back to a life in dignity and justice. I have tried all. Yet, you have rejected all my efforts. ere is nothing more I can do to save you – so I must let you bear the consequences of your own behavior which will lead to the destruction of you as a nation. You will be overcome by another nation and conquered. ey will lead you into captivity and you will live in foreign lands. Only after a long time I will seek out a remnant who will come back and begin anew. is remnant will return, not you! ey will try to live out Shalom. e reason I am letting you destroy yourself and pour out my wrath on you is so that you will know that I am the Lord and that there will be an end to your uncleanness (22:15-16) What does this passage tell us about who God is? What does this passage tell us about the character of humanity? Do you feel depressed reading about the downward spiral? God is a patient God; a God who seeks to protect us and guide us toward Shalom. However, since God is also a God of justice, he can’t just continue protecting us from our own wrongs. If he would, could he really be considered a God of justice? If he continuously looked the other way? ere comes a time when God departs. at time comes, when despite many warnings and invitations, humans continue to reject God’s vision for their nation and lives. When that time comes, God allows our self-destructive behavior to fall back on our own heads. God, it follows, doesn’t force his vision and good rules on us. He invites us to follow them and apply them for our own good. However, when we don’t, there comes a time when God can no longer protect us from our own

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choices. In short, when we focus on the human tendency to miss the point and wander from the path, episode four – God’s conversation with his people – is totally depressing. But if we focus on God’s constant faithfulness and patience through the deepening conversation, it’s inspiring.9 Ezekiel 22 tells us what happens when the three systems and the prophets and the people don’t fulfill their role; when the political, religious and economic leaderships collude: e nation will collapse and be destroyed. Instead of witnessing to Shalom, the nation will tear itself apart. And this won’t happen because God will actively seek to punish the nation. It will happen because God precisely does nothing. When the downward spiral continues the systems go on a self-destructive path. e Shekinah is taken off the temple. e glory has departed. at will happen to any nation that commits itself to control, greed, and exploitation. Its own greed, control and oppression will eventually fall back on it. God doesn’t punish directly, but departs and leaves the nation to its own self-destructive path. e Gap Remains Empty – e Consequences Read Ezekiel 22:30-31. Before commenting on this passage, let me just give you a short definition of what standing in the gap meant for Ezekiel. It meant, “helping, seeking justice, fixing what is broken, being faithful, interceding, restoring, and confronting what’s wrong.” So with this definition in mind, is this the end of the story or does God try to give chances? Does God seek to continue the conversation or is he once and for all done? God does try to give second or third or fourth etc. chances! He looks for people to stand in the gap. Despite the conditions that Israel was in, God still looked for people who would step up and change the course of things. Even though things went from bad to worse in Israel – God still hoped – if he found enough people to stand in the gap – that he would be able to change the course of things. Have a participant then read the conclusion to the article “Understanding Ezekiel’s Typology” or recount it using the graph of the map in the article projected on PowerPoint.

video clip: la esperanza - la brecha queda vacía

individual reflection: standing in the gap

xx minutes

Take some time to reflect on the following questions. If need be, write down some of your answers. At the end, come prepared to share your answers with the entire class:

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• Do you suffer from the consequences of bad things in your community? How have you reaped the consequences of wrong actions? • How have you contributed to the general state of life in your community? Have you stood up to change the downward spiral in your community? Have you tried to stand in the gap to change the course of where your community is heading?10 Even though you may not actively contribute to oppression, exploitation and abuse in your community, not doing anything amounts to passive agreement with the wrongs. Martin Luther King Jr., the African American Civil Rights leader in the United Status, once said: “We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in evil. [us], we should repent in this generation, not so much for the actions of the perverse and unjust, but for the amazing silence of the good.” 11 • Do you know of any people that are standing in the gap? What do you think of their actions? After allowing participants about 10-15 minutes to reflect on these questions and write down their answers, have them all join again in the larger group and ask 3-5 of them to share their reflections.

conclusion: the unfinished task

xx minutes

To finish this session, let me remind you about something that we learned early on in our course. How does God seek to bring Shalom on earth? How does he seek to save the world? God always uses people to save the world. He began doing so with Noah and then Abram, telling him that through him all the nations would be blessed – if he followed God’s guidance. Next, God rescued a slave nation (descendants of Abram) and blessed them to bless others and mediate God’s Shalom to them. God also called prophets to call the people back to his vision of Shalom. In short, God seems to be continuously looking for people to bring about his vision of Shalom on earth. Watch Video Clip from Lord of the Rings: Gandalf ’s interaction with Frodo about why he needed to carry the ring. In fact, God is still calling people to stand in the gap. God is looking for Frodos! Could you be one of them? Here’s a question to think about: If God were to ask you personally: “Do you want to stand in the gap to make this world better? Do you want to help me expand my vision of Shalom here on earth as it is in heaven? Do you want to do this by following me, submitting to me, doing as I say?” Would you?

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How terrible would it be to grow up with a father who never told us what pleased him and what he expected of us. As much as we might love him, we could never have the joy of making him happy if he never told us what he liked and disliked, and therefore what he would like from us. How wonderful, that our heavenly Father isn’t like that and what a blessing that he tells us precisely what makes him happy and what he expects from us” “He has told you, o mortal, what is good; and what the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8). Here we have set forth the heart of God, and the short list begins with justice.12 In our next session, we will continue to look at God’s call for people to stand in the gap. We will look in particular how Jesus was God’s way to send someone to stand in the gap. Indeed, how God actively became part of standing in the gap himself!

homework assignment and application

xx minutes

Assign students to read the article “e Societal Condition During Jesus’ Time”, reflect on the questions and answer them in their Application Journal. Remind students to write their application reports and to be prepared to present their findings at the next session.13

closing prayer Ask a participant to close in prayer. 5 minutes

total time: xx minutes

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personal notes

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endnotes 1

Robert Linthicum, City of God, City of Satan, 44 Brian McLaren, e Story We Find Ourselves In, 210 3 Viv Grigg, Companion to the Urban Poor, ? 4 Robert Linthicum, Empowering the Poor, 14 5 Robert Linthicum, Transforming Power, 41 6 Bob Linthicum, City of God City of Satan, 113 7 Robert Linthicum, City of God, City of Satan, 61 8 Based in part on class notes from Robert Linthicum’s graduate-level course, Building a People of Power 9 Based in part on Brian McLaren, e Story We Find Ourselves In, 210 10 Although the world and my community may be heading down – on principle I should not contribute to it. I.e.: If there is a lot of trash in my community, I still shouldn’t throw out trash myself. If corruption reigns, I still shouldn’t contribute to it myself. If exploitative practices are common in the work space, I still shouldn’t encourage them. 11 Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 18 “Tendremos que arrepentirnos en esta generación, no tanto de las acciones de la gente perversa, sino de los pasmosos silencios de la gente buena”. 12 Gary A. Haugen, Good News About Injustice, 76 13 e Harvest Foundation, Leadership Development Training Program Level 1, ird Printing, 2-5 2

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