the land, walter brueggemann
TRANSCRIPT
Leaven Leaven
Volume 1 Issue 2 Ministry to the Poor Article 17
1-1-1990
The Land, Walter Brueggemann The Land, Walter Brueggemann
Mark Love [email protected]
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Love, Mark (1990) "The Land, Walter Brueggemann," Leaven: Vol. 1 : Iss. 2 , Article 17. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol1/iss2/17
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62 LEAVEN Spring 1990
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Rich Christians in An Age of Hunger, byRONALD J. SIDER. Downers Grove, illinois: In-tervarsity Press, 1977. 249,Pp.
Ron Sider's book, Rich Christians in An Ageof Hunger, has been one of the most emotionally dif-ficult books I have ever read. Seated in relative afflu-ence across from a Christmas tree loaded with orna-ments, dozens of presents nestled underneath, I readabout the needy ofthe world. Fighting the temptationto snack on holiday goodies and resolving to lose andkeep off twenty-five pounds, I read about the starvingof this world.
To compound my problem, Sider's words arestrong and penetrating, his passion like that of a fieryevangelist. Consider, from the perspective of a com-fortable couch, these words: "What should be our re-sponse to world hunger, brothers and sisters? Forbiblical Christians the only possible response to sin isrepentance" (p. 165). Sider demands "biblical repen-tance ... involving a whole new lifestyle." Further-more, "If God's Word is true, then all ofus who dwell inaffluent nations are trapped in sin" (p. 166). Tryswallowing those words with your fat Christmas tur-key.
Because the book is twelve years old, it is datedin places. "... It is estimated by 1985 that .... " (p. 214).Sider predicted world-wide "wars of redistribution" (p.130) that have not materialized as he envisioned.Grain shortages causing emergencies throughout theworld (p. 216) are now part of world history.
Nevertheless, the basic message of the book isextremely relevant, and clearly so for members of the
Jack Reese is the Director of Graduate Studies andteaches homiletics in the College of Bibilical Studiesat ACU.
Church ofChrist. Our people need to hear that "silentparticipation in a company that pollutes the environ-ment and thus imposes heavy costs on others is just aswrong as destroying one's own lungs with tobacco" (p.135). I need to re-read and reconsider Sider's "gradu-ated tithe" (pp. 175-180) that permits "reasonablecomfort but not all the luxuries." Affluent countriesmust consider foodprograms "designed forhumanitar-ian rather than political purpose" (pp. 216-223).
Sider's approach is strikingly honest and sin-cere. He begins his section on implementing changewith a personal accounting. He does not call hisreaders to an Amish-like retreat but to "remain at thevery center of contemporary society in order to chal-lenge, witness against and perhaps even change it" (p.193). For that stand to begin, I would encourageChristians to read, consider, and discuss Rich Chris-tians in An Age of Hunger.
DAVID FLEERVancouver, Washington
Why Settle For More and Miss the Best?,by TOM SINE. Waco: Word Books, 1987.
The question ofhow Christians are to respondto the poor is a particularly challenging one in thewaning years of this century. The issue goes beyonddeciding the amount of one's contribution check. Itaddresses lifestyle and vocation. It exposes the possi-bility of our participation, directly or indirectly, in ex-ploitation and oppression. For those willing to face it,the problem ofpoverty can be rather disturbing-bothfor the individual and the church.
Tom Sine's Why settle For More and Missthe Best? aggressively confronts the philosophiesaccepted by our contemporary society and also theEvangelical subculture (of which Churches of Christ
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are largely a part). It is a strong and challengingmessage.
Sine, who authored The Mustard Seed Con-spiracy in 1981, is a "futurist" by profession. That is,he researches cultural, political, economic, and othertrends and advises directions for ministry and missionto various denominations and religious organizations.Though a Presbyterian layman, Sine is not easilypigeon-holed. When it comes to subjects like Jesus'virgin birth or the inspiration of Scripture, Sine isconservative. But when he speaks about the lifestyleof the disciple, his approach is radical. However he isradical in the most positive and challenging of ways.
In his forward, Tony Campolo says, "Sine ...contends that what Jesus taught two thousand yearsago in the Sermon on the Mount is a viable lifestylethat will produce joy and personal ecstacy in the midstofmodern America ... This book is a call to abandon thecomfortable, pleasant, attractive, reasonable form ofslavery that has come to typify so many of our lives."
Sine calls Christians to connect with the"Story of God." By reviewing the stories of the Bibleand church history, he shows how people have linkedthemselves in the past to the work God is doing in theworld. He then inspiringly encourages Christians tojoin God in His world-changing adventure.
Though Sine spends much time discussing theideal and dreams for the future, his book is not entirelytheoretical. He regularly gives examples of creativeways others are serving the Kingdom and suggestspractical steps for anyone motivated to live a life ofwhole-hearted discipleship. In fact, creativity is arecurring theme that has implications in such areas asparenting, choice of education, political policies, andeven interior design (and he isn't talking about put-ting up "praying hands" plaques).
Sine's ideas are quite radical for our world.And though this reviewer is left uncomfortable bySine's advice, it is quite biblical. He spends timedealing with the importance of prayer, worship, com-munion, and Bible study. But he also offers less com-mon suggestions for living a life of discipleship. Hementions the importance of Kingdom-centered cele-bration, and he sets a high premium on recoveringtrue community.
Were this reviewer writing the curricula forour Christian schools and churches, Why settle ForMore and Miss the Best? would be required reading.My fear is that too many will discount the importanceof Sine's message because ofhis denominationally in-clusive approach. To do so, however, would be thereader's loss. This book will not be on the best sellerlist because of its challenging call to whole-life disci-pleship and its valid critique of the values that toomany Christians accept without question. But thosewho read it will receive insights that are too seldom
Proclaiming rhe Accepcable Year of Ihe Lord: Mi,u.Jfry to tlu POOT 63
mentioned in our brotherhood or in the broader realmof Christendom, and, more than likely, they will bechanged.
DAN VAUGHNBasking Ridge, New Jersey
The Land, by WALTER BRUEGGEMANN. Phila-delphia: Fortress Press, 1977.
Brueggemann's book appears in the seriespublished by Fortress Press entitled Overtures toBiblical Theology. This series is concerned with uncov-ering central biblical motifs and discussing how theyaddress contemporary culture. I have read several ofthese books, and while some are better than others, allhave provided rich suggestions for the task of preach-ing and teaching. The best of the series isBrueggemann's marvelous work, The Land. In won-derful, almost poetic language Brueggemann tracesthis significant theological motif as it weaves its waythrough the biblical narrative.
In a narrow sense the land refers to the prom-ised land. It is a crucial part of God's promise withAbraham and becomes the stage upon which the cove-nant people live in righteousness before a covenant-keeping God. But in a larger sense the land is paradig-matic of God's blessings in the life ofhumankind. Thisstory winds its way from the decrees of creation,through the life ofIsrael, through the teaching ofJesus,and to a new heaven and new earth. Brueggemanrefers to the land as a prism for biblical faith. Heasserts that the land may be the central theme to thewhole of biblical faith. He makes this claim as hedescribes the aching need for humankind to have aplace in this world with fellow humans and God.
According to Brueggemann, rootlessness is thecause of despair and a sense of meaningless in theworld in which we live. We are always looking for"space," that arena oflife in which we have "freedom,"no coercion, no accountability, and no authority. Whatwe really need, however, is "place." Typical ofBrueggemann's writing is his description of place.
Place is space which has historical mean-ings, where some things have happenedwhich are now remembered and whichprovide continuity and identity across gen-erations. Place is a space in which impor-tant words have been spoken which haveestablished identity, defined vocation, andenvisioned destiny. Place is a space inwhich vows have been exchanged, prom-ises have been made, and demands havebeen issued. Place is indeed a protestagainst the unpromising pursuit of space.
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64 LEAVEN Spring 1990
.The land for which Israel yearns andwhich it remembers is never unclaimedspace but is always a place with Yahweh, aplace filled with memories oflife with himand promise from him and vows to him (p.5, emphasis his).
The land is the story ofGod's grace. Grace is notin God's giving us our space. As Brueggemann showsfrom the biblical narrative, grace is creating for us aplace. And so the theme of the land becomes importantto the asking of the question, "How are we to live withthe grace ofGod?" The question is pressed even fartherby Brueggemann, "Can we live with the grace of God?"As Brueggemann writes, "It is a bold question, as yetunresolved, whether only the hungry will listen, orwhether placed people can stay in history with the Lordof history." (p. 52).
Brueggemann traces the theme historically.Individual chapters deal with different land episodesin the life of God's people. Abraham, the Exodus, thegiving of the law, the selection of a king, the fallingaway ofIsrael, the exile, the post-exilic period, and theteaching of Jesus and the early church are all readthrough the important theme of the land. Bruegge-mann concludes the book with several hermeneuticalconsiderations that provide interpretative suggestionsthat range in scope from church life to the question ofa Jewish homeland. All of this is done with a writingflair and skill that readers of Brueggemann have cometo enjoy.
Especially evocative are the chapters, "YouLacked Nothing" and "Reflections at the Boundary,"which deal with the wilderness experience and thegiving of the law in anticipation of receiving the land.In the latter chapter, Brueggemann describes the landas "gift," "temptation," "task," and "threat." Thesecategories bring penetrating analysis and new insightinto the meaning of grace and the temptations thatsuch a life presents. Churches that fashion themselvesas having left legalism for the freedom of grace need tohear the important lessons that Brueggemann devel-ops.
Brueggemann would call us away from anentirely "spiritualistic" conception of the land, andwould invite us to a more wholistic conception of howGod's salvation would order our world. The Landoffers rich starting places for teaching on salvation,leadership in the community of the redeemed, God'sidentification with the poor or "landless," as well asmany other pertinent themes for the life ofthe congre-gation. This book is a must for the library of one calledto proclaim the good news of God's gift in our lives.
MARK LOVEArlington, Texas
Parenting for Peace and Justice, byKATHLEENANDJAMEsMcGINNIs. Maryknoll,New York: Orbis Books, 1981.
Thirty years ago most Churches of Christ fledany ministry or interpretation of Scripture that mightbe iabelled "social concern" or "social gospel." For ex-ample, deep Christian concerns over the civil rights ofminorities were almost unknown. Churches, schools,and papers remained strictly segregated. Influentialwhite preachers and writers continued to publiclyoppose those courageous few among us who sought torespond to social evil.
Thankfully, circumstances have changed. The"world" pushed the doors of our segregated schoolsopen. The gradual breakdown of our decades-old sepa-ratist self-understanding permitted a fairer considera-tion of those outside our circles who were responding tosocial evil in the name of Christ. The Old Testamentprophets began to be heard as forthtellers. Change haseven penetrated our liturgical aids. Great Songs ofthe Church now has an index entry for "social con-cern"!
But if peace and justice are to become firmlyfixed as matters of theological, ethical, and devotionalsignificance, we must address a plethora of questions.What theological priority is found in Scripture forpeace and justice?" How, if at all, does "gospel" (andwith that, evangelism and church growth) relate topeace and justice P How do we pray about the absenceofpeace and justice?' How do we preach in the presenceof violence and oppression?"
The verdicts drawn in response to these ques-tions relate to the present generation's struggle withthe social dimensions of Christian ethics and ministry.Kathleen and James McGinnis show how to fightagainst inequity and exploitation by "parenting forpeace and justice." Their thesis is compelling: Chil-dren taught these central traits of the Kingdom byexample and instruction will become adults free inattitude, habit, and spirit to be courageous changeagents.
"Stewardship/Simplicity," "Nonviolence in theFamily," "Helping Children Deal with Violence in OurWorld," MulticulturalizingOur Family Life," "Sex-roleStereotyping," "Family Involvement in Social Action""Prayer and Parenting for Peace and Justice" and" h 'How t e Church Can Encourage Families in TheirSocial Mission" - each chapter measures the reader'surgency. "Parenting for Peace and Justice" necessi-tates concentration, self-examination, repentance,lifestyle changes, and wisdom. This all-white, Catho-lic, middle-class couple humbly invites the reader intotheir trial-and-error efforts to overcome the obstaclesoftime, lack of societal incentive, urban fragmentation,and lack of imagination in raising their children -Tommy, David, and Theresa-to love, accept, and for-
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give. Their checklists and questionnaires quickly ex-pose the subtle and no doubt unintended ways thatchildren learn the habits ofprejudice and violence fromadults.
Parenting for Peace and Justice has imme-diate benefit for adults in natural families seeking tostamp their children with the interests and values ofthe Kingdom. Much of the book can be easily andprofitably adapted by youth ministers, church leaders,preachers, camp workers, authors of children's litera-ture, foster parents, school teachers, orphan homestaff, et at Many congregations are presently accent-ingthe family. However, I have noticed little attentionin seminars and film series on the integration offamilyresponsibilities with social ministry. Perhaps theMcGinnis volume can be a beginning.
DOUGLAS BROWNMemphis,TN
"See Randall J. Harris, "Current Thought inChurches of Christ about Social Concern in Light of WalterRauschenbasch and Reinhold Niebuhr" (M.A. Thesis, Har-ding Graduate School of Religion, 1983).
2See for example the writings of Walter Rausch-enbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr, Thomas Merton, John HowardYoder, Stanley Hauerwas, Gustavo Gutierrez.
3See Allen Black and Douglas Brown, "Race Rela-tions and the Mission of the Church," (three-part series),Gospel Advocate 128 (Jan. 2, 1986; Feb. 6, 1986; Feb. 20,1986); Douglas Brown, "The Kingdom ofGod in the Gospel ofMark," Harding University Lectureship, 1988.
<See Walter Rauschenbusch, Prayers of SocialAwakening; Reinhold Niebuhr, Justice and Mercy;Michel Quoist, Prayers; Henri Nouwen, With OpenHands.
'Gusto and Catherine Gonzalez, LiberationPreaching, the Pulpit, and the Oppressed; Martin Lu-ther King, Strength to Love.
Clear Pictures: First Loves,First Guides,by REYNOLDS PRICE. New York: Atheneum,1989. 304 pp. $19.95.
Reynolds Price, novelist and part-time profes-sor at Duke University, has published his memoirs inClear Pictures: First Loves, First Guides. Theauthor presents the first two decades ofhis life focus-ing on the persons who molded him.
The book begins "One of the stranger days ofmy life came in March, 1987, when I passed the age atwhich my father died." One is immediately impressedwith the possibility of the depth with which Price willexplore his environment. The reader will not be disap-pointed.
The work is enhanced with photographs ofthe
ProckWN"8 Iltc A.cceptable Year 0{ the Lo,.J: Mi";stry 10 du Poor 65
individuals in the author's life. Apt descriptions ac-company the pictures. Baby Reynolds is held by hisfather in one scene. This explanation follows: "It's onlywith my birth that [my father] appears in the albumsagain, holding me with the winning edginess of afledgling member of the bomb-disposal squad. But bythen, in his early thirties, he's taken on weight. It lookslike bloat and, worse, there's a blurring glaze on theonce-hot eyes. Half-smiling still, thoughtful and pro-tective as he is, by now there's a presence in his lifeeven more demanding than his wife and first son."
Price is a novelist, a skilled arranger of words.His sentences, by themselves, engage the reader. Inthe description of an accidental childhood shooting,this line appears, ".. .into his parents' bedroom. Therethe standard Southern household-pistol ticked like abomb on the high mantleplace." Concerning food andfamily he writes, "My parents were hearty eaters, andI gladly fell in line." Of his Southern farm relations heremembers, "So many country people were chatter-boxes, wild to talk after days of silence" and "In thosedays, any country person's first aim was to get home bydark." Examples abound. This autobiography is wellwritten!
In his search for origins and formations Pricewrites with a gratitude not often found in autobiogra-phies of our time. This is not a bitter man with skele-tons to thrash. "After decades oflistening to the confes-sions ofothers, I have to say that I spent a lot less timethan most people in feeling anger or resentment to-ward my parents." Yet Price writes honestly ofalcohol,sexuality, and racism. ("My parents' racial convictionswere socketed in an unthinking acceptance of tradi-tion.") This true but not vindictive approach helpsmake Price's memoirs a collection of well-told stories.In addition to all ofthis, Clear Pictures should inter-est the reader for its discussion of God and church.Secular reviews have noted Price's consistent andpositive use of biblical imagery (Los Angeles Times,August 4, 1989, for example). But just as important isthe lengthy chapter "Credible Light" devoted to adiscussion of God in Price's Southern environment.Price recalls that baptism was the subject most fre-quently argued at family gatherings. "If you got mad atyour Episcopal sister, you could always remind herthat she wasn't really baptized and was thus bound forHell, which you weren't - though you'd miss her inHeaven."
Price describes his father's "bargain with God,"the nightly devotion ofkneeled prayer, and his "secrethomemade mysticism." He explains, "It was no privatemagic-set or the threadbare mumbo-jumbo that passestoday as New Age Mysticism but, unknown to me, I'dstumbled on a downright traditional mysticism."
The chapter reveals a pilgrimage toward God."The Hound of Heaven had begun to bay at me." In hisyouth Price discovers that "everything is made by a
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teachings of Jesus, cites Matthew 25:31-46.Herein, for the reader of this journal, lies the
greatest justification for reading and contemplatingthe book. Today the church is being asked to addresssocial issues. How shall the church respond to Rey-nolds Price's indictment?
single maker; but I am most surely not he. I can workto know him - I must." This journey into a relation-ship with God is exhilarating reading. It parallels thebest of our religious conversion stories.
But Price's religious story does not have ahappy ending. Price decides to leave the church. Hegives, with emotional detail, all his reasons for sever-ing his Southern church heritage. His indictment isthis: The white church was silent against the evil orracism. The author, comfortable with the Bible and the
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