 |
| Transfixed, Chris Burden |
Galatians 6:14-18
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.
From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
You were young once, you know how it is. You're hanging out with some buddies over in your other friend's garage. Just you and the fellas having a good time. Then one of your friends says "Hey! Why are we hanging out in this garage when we can be hanging out at the beach!" And you say, "Oh yeah!" Then you all hope in his Volkswagen Beetle. His car has never been reliable so two of the guys open up the garage door and push it out onto the street. You rev the engine for two minutes before having it pushed back into the garage...because you forgot that your friend Chris is crucified to the top of the car.
No, that isn't a universal experience? Yeah, I guess that's pretty specific and outlandish. Well it is the experience on performance and multimedia artist Chris Burden. In 1974 Burden embarked on an art campaign that centered around performance art acts that all dealt with personal danger to the artist. In another act he had a friend shoot him in the arm. The key with Performance Art (since it is an act and not a painting, sculpture, etc.) is to have someone document it through a photograph (like the one we have up top) or video. This becomes the evidence of the art that you performed and if you do crazy actions like Chris Burden it becomes a tool to boast about how you're more macho than Chuck Norris. Chris Burden was pretty much the precursor of Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O. Many of you will find this photograph of Chris Burden crucified to the top of a VW Beetle sacrilegious at best, and blasphemous at worse. This crude imitation of Christ for Art world fame may be disgusting to you. Many others of you may not accept performance Art as "real art." I apologize for offending you... but I believe that their is a great spiritual lesson that can be learned through this image. And yes, it contradicts what Chris Burden did.
To my knowledge, Crucifixion isn't practiced anymore as a form of government execution anywhere. I could be wrong on that point... but for some reason I am too lazy to Google it right now. However I do know that it is still practiced as a religious ritual. By Christians nonetheless. Though it is NOT sanctioned by any Church (it is actually discouraged by several) certain Christians in the Philippines volunteer to be publicly crucified every year around Easter. It is not to the point of death, but still, that's pretty tough. Even though it is misguided, this is done as an act of penance and devotion to Christ. Though I wholly disagree with this practice of extreme Easter pageant, I can still loosely understand what they are trying to do. In admiration of Christ's sacrificial act, they attempt to identify with him. Like Paul in Galatians they are trying to "bear on their body the marks (scars) of Jesus. Little do they know there is a much simpler way of doing this. One that still allows you to go home after Easter service and enjoy your 3 foot tall chocolate rabbit. I'll explain...
Now crucifixion in connection to religion is pretty specific to Christianity, but physical suffering and body modification as a sign of religious devotion has been practiced by religions all over for millennia. Lately female circumcision as practiced by certain Middle Eastern and sub-Saharan has garnered a lot of media attention, and subsequent protest, lately. However Male circumcision for religious purposes is practiced by a number of religions and people groups worldwide. Amongst these groups, Judaism is probably its most visible proponent. in fact circumcision was introduced into Judaism by its founder Abraham. So as circumcision as a Jewish religious practice even predates the Laws of Moses. Among all of the 613 Mitzvot (commandments... yes, there are more than 10) circumcision probably stands out as the most symbolic of what it means to be a Jew externally. As we close out Galatians we find Paul giving his closing arguments against the Judaizer faction of the Church, that wanted all Christians (Jewish and Gentile) to live according to Jewish custom. The thing is that they weren't just arguing it from a cultural perspective, but from a salvific perspective. Judaizers believed that Christians had to practice the Jewish Law (along with believing in Jesus) to be saved. So when Paul talks about circumcision in this verse, he isn't just talking about circumcision. Circumcision became the symbol for all 613 Mitzvot of the Jewish Law/ religious customs in this argument. It is because circumcision is the biggest and most painful physical sacrifice of all of the Jewish Law. Combine that with the fact that it is only practiced by men in Judaism leads it to be the one that has the most macho heroism to it. It can lead to the most spiritual bravado and become a point of boasting. It becomes "that big physical sacrifice that you made for God." Paul also believed that the Judaizers may have been asking Gentile Christians to do this to make them more acceptable amongst the Jewish populace in general. hey would have been seen as practicing the whole of Torah Law and it would lead to less conflict with the Non-Christian Jews. So how would anyone know who was circumcised or not? Ummmm, I'm not quite sure...but that's pretty suspect. But even Paul had been guilty of this at an earlier point. He made Timothy, a young biracial (half Jewish/ half Greek) convert get circumcised to make him generally acceptable. But as we pick up in Galatians 6:10 Paul has made a full evolution in his thinking and practice of mandatory circumcision and he compares it to the crucifixion. Instead of focusing on that "that big physical sacrifice that he made for God" by being circumcised, Paul says that his only hope is to boast in that big physical sacrifice that Christ made for us... the cross. Like circumcision, Christ' flesh was pierced to fulfill the command of God. But this command was for one man (Jesus) to perform, not for all men. However its redemptive effect would cover all. The forgiveness that Christ's sacrificial act reaches to everyone. It is a credit system that everyone can attain access to as if they had made the sacrifice as well. Hence Paul can say things like "he bears the marks of Christ"... while alluding to the crucifixion holes. This redeeming of our credit with God is a new creation. It makes our relationship with God start afresh and wipes away any past indiscretions.
When one chooses to believe in the gift that was attained through Christ's crucifixion (freedom to love God, freedom to love mankind, freedom from sin), then one attains the marks of Jesus. Jesus' blood covers all that he comes in contact with. When we take the hand of the Crucified Christ, we are left with an impression of the crucifixion on our own hands. A Christian can never be Christ, but the idea is for a Christian to do their best to imitate him. I may not have enough love in my heart to forgive my enemies, but Christ did, and I can imitate him. I may not have the wherewithal to turn the other cheek when I am physically assaulted and insulted, but Christ did, and I can imitate him. I may not have enough faith to trust that God can change me from my sinful ways, but Christ did, and I can imitate him. Eventually my Performance becomes natural and imitating Jesus becomes an Art... and when God looks down at me, He doesn't see my past indiscretions but He sees the sacrifice of His Son on a cross.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
You were young once, you know how it is. You're hanging out with some buddies over in your other friend's garage. Just you and the fellas having a good time. Then one of your friends says "Hey! Why are we hanging out in this garage when we can be hanging out at the beach!" And you say, "Oh yeah!" Then you all hope in his Volkswagen Beetle. His car has never been reliable so two of the guys open up the garage door and push it out onto the street. You rev the engine for two minutes before having it pushed back into the garage...because you forgot that your friend Chris is crucified to the top of the car.
No, that isn't a universal experience? Yeah, I guess that's pretty specific and outlandish. Well it is the experience on performance and multimedia artist Chris Burden. In 1974 Burden embarked on an art campaign that centered around performance art acts that all dealt with personal danger to the artist. In another act he had a friend shoot him in the arm. The key with Performance Art (since it is an act and not a painting, sculpture, etc.) is to have someone document it through a photograph (like the one we have up top) or video. This becomes the evidence of the art that you performed and if you do crazy actions like Chris Burden it becomes a tool to boast about how you're more macho than Chuck Norris. Chris Burden was pretty much the precursor of Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O. Many of you will find this photograph of Chris Burden crucified to the top of a VW Beetle sacrilegious at best, and blasphemous at worse. This crude imitation of Christ for Art world fame may be disgusting to you. Many others of you may not accept performance Art as "real art." I apologize for offending you... but I believe that their is a great spiritual lesson that can be learned through this image. And yes, it contradicts what Chris Burden did.
To my knowledge, Crucifixion isn't practiced anymore as a form of government execution anywhere. I could be wrong on that point... but for some reason I am too lazy to Google it right now. However I do know that it is still practiced as a religious ritual. By Christians nonetheless. Though it is NOT sanctioned by any Church (it is actually discouraged by several) certain Christians in the Philippines volunteer to be publicly crucified every year around Easter. It is not to the point of death, but still, that's pretty tough. Even though it is misguided, this is done as an act of penance and devotion to Christ. Though I wholly disagree with this practice of extreme Easter pageant, I can still loosely understand what they are trying to do. In admiration of Christ's sacrificial act, they attempt to identify with him. Like Paul in Galatians they are trying to "bear on their body the marks (scars) of Jesus. Little do they know there is a much simpler way of doing this. One that still allows you to go home after Easter service and enjoy your 3 foot tall chocolate rabbit. I'll explain...
Now crucifixion in connection to religion is pretty specific to Christianity, but physical suffering and body modification as a sign of religious devotion has been practiced by religions all over for millennia. Lately female circumcision as practiced by certain Middle Eastern and sub-Saharan has garnered a lot of media attention, and subsequent protest, lately. However Male circumcision for religious purposes is practiced by a number of religions and people groups worldwide. Amongst these groups, Judaism is probably its most visible proponent. in fact circumcision was introduced into Judaism by its founder Abraham. So as circumcision as a Jewish religious practice even predates the Laws of Moses. Among all of the 613 Mitzvot (commandments... yes, there are more than 10) circumcision probably stands out as the most symbolic of what it means to be a Jew externally. As we close out Galatians we find Paul giving his closing arguments against the Judaizer faction of the Church, that wanted all Christians (Jewish and Gentile) to live according to Jewish custom. The thing is that they weren't just arguing it from a cultural perspective, but from a salvific perspective. Judaizers believed that Christians had to practice the Jewish Law (along with believing in Jesus) to be saved. So when Paul talks about circumcision in this verse, he isn't just talking about circumcision. Circumcision became the symbol for all 613 Mitzvot of the Jewish Law/ religious customs in this argument. It is because circumcision is the biggest and most painful physical sacrifice of all of the Jewish Law. Combine that with the fact that it is only practiced by men in Judaism leads it to be the one that has the most macho heroism to it. It can lead to the most spiritual bravado and become a point of boasting. It becomes "that big physical sacrifice that you made for God." Paul also believed that the Judaizers may have been asking Gentile Christians to do this to make them more acceptable amongst the Jewish populace in general. hey would have been seen as practicing the whole of Torah Law and it would lead to less conflict with the Non-Christian Jews. So how would anyone know who was circumcised or not? Ummmm, I'm not quite sure...but that's pretty suspect. But even Paul had been guilty of this at an earlier point. He made Timothy, a young biracial (half Jewish/ half Greek) convert get circumcised to make him generally acceptable. But as we pick up in Galatians 6:10 Paul has made a full evolution in his thinking and practice of mandatory circumcision and he compares it to the crucifixion. Instead of focusing on that "that big physical sacrifice that he made for God" by being circumcised, Paul says that his only hope is to boast in that big physical sacrifice that Christ made for us... the cross. Like circumcision, Christ' flesh was pierced to fulfill the command of God. But this command was for one man (Jesus) to perform, not for all men. However its redemptive effect would cover all. The forgiveness that Christ's sacrificial act reaches to everyone. It is a credit system that everyone can attain access to as if they had made the sacrifice as well. Hence Paul can say things like "he bears the marks of Christ"... while alluding to the crucifixion holes. This redeeming of our credit with God is a new creation. It makes our relationship with God start afresh and wipes away any past indiscretions.
When one chooses to believe in the gift that was attained through Christ's crucifixion (freedom to love God, freedom to love mankind, freedom from sin), then one attains the marks of Jesus. Jesus' blood covers all that he comes in contact with. When we take the hand of the Crucified Christ, we are left with an impression of the crucifixion on our own hands. A Christian can never be Christ, but the idea is for a Christian to do their best to imitate him. I may not have enough love in my heart to forgive my enemies, but Christ did, and I can imitate him. I may not have the wherewithal to turn the other cheek when I am physically assaulted and insulted, but Christ did, and I can imitate him. I may not have enough faith to trust that God can change me from my sinful ways, but Christ did, and I can imitate him. Eventually my Performance becomes natural and imitating Jesus becomes an Art... and when God looks down at me, He doesn't see my past indiscretions but He sees the sacrifice of His Son on a cross.
 |
| Transfixed, Chris Burden, detail |
Just a few days ago I caught the end of Spike Lee's Malcolm X. The ending is a montage of various pictures and video clips of the real Malcolm X accompanied by audio of Ossie Davis' eulogy. In his eulogy, Mr. Davis implores the audience to consider the true character of Malcolm X, rather than the misconceptions fabricated by his enemies. After he finishes speaking, several children proclaim, "I am Malcolm X." illustrating that they will follow the example set by great men such as he.
ReplyDeleteBlack history education in popular media, film, TV and music, to inspire positive actions among black youth was de rigueur in the early nineties. For a while, this appeared to be effective: people would wear HBCU apparel and kufis, greet one another with the phrase "As-salam alaikum" (Arabic phrase meaning, "Peace be unto you") and refrained from using certain derogatory words. Unfortunately, this ideal to imitate the character of past great black figures was surpassed by the glamour of drugs and money portrayed via the very same media; to imitate the character of the black people who were currently the most prolific. (Note: I'm not saying that rap music and videos are directly responsible for crime, rather that their negative influence was so significant that it seemed to invalidate anything positive.)
In the late nineties a different approach, this time involving the church, was crafted. A message both contemporary and timeless appeared, seemingly overnight: WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). At the time I was a non-believer and spent a good deal of time debating believers. When I saw this for the first time I was puzzled as to how this would be effective. In fact, I thought it to be quite silly; the purpose being to question any and all actions with this phrase (e.g. "Should I eat a hot dog or a hamburger? WWJD?"). It didn't appear to be a question reserved only for moral quandaries because the behavior of so many people did not change. The same people that would wear these bracelets and t-shirts would still bully, curse and fight; they seemed to me the same sinners. Of course, I was blinded by my non-belief.
Years later when I accepted Christ, I was asking a friend, the author of this blog, for suggestions regarding Bible reading. I told him that I read the four gospels and was unsure of how to proceed. He gave me some suggestions (Acts, if I recall correctly), but made sure to mention something he discovered when studying Scripture. He said that he had learned to observe the character of Christ; to view how Jesus interacted with people. He said that he was in awe of the manner in which Jesus would respond to the actions of His disciples and others. When I decided to reread the gospels or when I attended mass, I enhanced my focus to include this consideration of Jesus. I too was amazed! It didn't matter whether His disciples failed to perform miracles due to a lack of faith (Matt. 17:14 - 21), slept when He commanded them to stay awake (Matt. 26:38 - 46) or questioned Him when He revealed to them The Way (John 14:5), Jesus' response was always loving (check out the earlier post "The Unpopular Jesus" for more information). It was through this examination of His character that I learned "WWJD" is meaningful only if it is first interpreted as "What Was Jesus Doing".
To imitate Christ's actions without an understanding of His loving character, we run the risk of parody; that is, we diminish the value of His actions and His sacrifice. So it then becomes unimportant to imitate Him at all. This is similar to those of us who say "I love you" dishonestly or who wear the kufi and speak the language but do not seek unity. Instead I look to understand what there is in Godly love and think of the words of Victor Hugo , “What a grand thing, to be loved! What a grander thing still, to love!" His loving us and our loving Him and fellow person is joyous and the only way we can truly replicate His character.