Wisdom from James, Richard Bauckham, and Soren Kierkegaard

Sometimes you read a book or a portion of a book that penetrates the heart and reminds you of how wonderfully sharp the truth really is.  I just finished reading one.  I wouldn’t recommend buying it, partially because it’s out of print and extremely expensive and partially because it belongs to a specialized field.  But for me and where I’m at in the here and now, it was particularly refreshing and clearing.  It reminded me of things that I simultaneously hold dear and wrestle with every day.  Perhaps that’s what it means for a sinner to hold dear the values of the kingdom — to wrestle with them every day.

In James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage, Richard Bauckham suggests that James writes as a Jewish-Christian sage in the tradition of his half-brother Jesus.  He shows, among many other things, how James’ moral exhortations mirror those of Jesus.  I hope it might be beneficial to share some quotes from the book.  I preface this with the recognition that because I’ve said good things about the book, it’s now over-hyped, which means you won’t respond the same way I did because you’ll be expecting too much.  But I still think the quotes are worth sharing.

Bauckham references Søren Kierkegaard extensively in the book, not because he agrees with everything Kierkegaard said but because Kierkegaard loved the letter of James and made some very penetrating comments about the wisdom of James as it confronts the maladies of the Christian church.  I know that Kierkegaard is questioned in our circles, but because I don’t know why, I’m not going to refrain from quoting him here.  This is not an endorsement of him or what he believed, but that shouldn’t be taken as a disclaimer that eviscerates the power of what he says below.  Some of the quotes sound threatening to some things we value in our circles.  So be it.

Kierkegaard:  “Christian scholarship is the human race’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the New Testament, to ensure that one can continue to be a Christian without letting the New Testament come to close.” *

Bauckham, on James 1:22-25 and the mirror analogy about hearers and doers of the Word:  “”Kierkegaard detects in his own age a possibility the parable in James does not explicitly envisage: that of observing only the mirror and not seeing oneself in it.  This is what happens when biblical scholarship intervenes between the text and its hearers or readers.  While professedly aiming at establishing the correct interpretation of the text so that readers can understand it and then appropriate it in faith, in fact biblical scholarship raises so many questions about the text that it can never conclusively answer, and continually generates so many lines of supposedly objective enquiry that its effect is to postpone faith and obedience to God’s word indefinitely” (3).

Bauckham:  “[Kierkegaard] is not, of course, claiming that all biblical texts are [easily understandable].  There are obscure passages.  His point is that there are enough perfectly clear ones to keep one busy without having to wait for the conclusions of biblical research before one can live as a Christian” (7).

Bauckham, describing Jesus’ moral teachings:  “Jesus’ ethical demands are more radical than those of the Torah, as conventionally interpreted . . .  This difference results from taking as seriously as possible the central moral requirements of God’s will for his people Israel and pressing their implications as far as possible” (97; emphasis added).

Bauckham, on the extreme nature of Jesus’ teachings:  “Hyperbole is employed to bring home the radical demands of God’s will.  There is no moderation, no compromise, no concern for conventional practicality” (97).

Bauckham:  “God’s eschatological action, in judgment or vindication, is the criterion for judging right or wrong acts, rather than the socially accepted view or the consequences for oneself in the natural course of events” (98).

Bauckham, on Jesus’ focus on God’s compassion, grace, and generosity:  “Assurance of the goodness and generosity of God makes it possible to live with radical trust in his provision, free of anxiety and the quest for security” (99).

Bauckham, on the goal of Jesus’ teachings:  “Jesus’ wisdom instruction is directed to forming and informing a counter-cultural community, which differs from the world because it pioneers the life of God’s coming kingdom” (100).

Bauckham, on how James’ teaching echoes that of his brother Jesus:  “James lacks the moderation, practical compromise, and alignment with social convention that are often characteristic of the Jewish wisdom tradition, focusing rather on the Torah’s demand for perfection, understood as extensively and intensively as possible” (100).

Bauckham, describing James’ calls to endurance:  “Endurance is not mere waiting for [the coming of Christ], but courageous resistance in living by the values of God’s counter-cultural rule until it comes in power” (104).

Bauckham:  “Purity of heart is not inactive inwardness.  It is the inwardness that is consistently expressed in every action” (167).

Bauckham, on prayer:  “Prayer cannot be the mechanical cause of an effect, but must be part of the believer’s relationship with the personal God” (206).

Bauckham, on prayer:  “Prayer has always been difficult, but the difficulty of prayer in the modern western world has its own specific profile.  The fundamental reason why prayer became difficult in the modern period was humanity’s modern self-image as those who, especially through technology, have gaineed control over the world.  Rather like affluence, this assumed position of mastery over the world has deluded modern people into trusting their own capacity to achieve all human ends and has promoted a sense of autonomy and self-sufficiency to which prayer is alien.  Whereas petitionary prayer is recognition of the limits of human abilities, the modern age has encouraged the sense that all problems have human solutions and that all human desires may in the end be realizable by human means, especially through the unlimited potentialities of technology.  While problems and desires with which human resources can deal are constantly being created by advertising, problems which have no solutions and desires which cannot be met are suppressed” (207).

Bauckham, on prayer:  “There is also the danger that in some forms of contemporary spirituality prayer itself is redefined, in theory or in practice, as another technique by which people can master their destiny or control things.  This is prayer as spiritual technology” (207).

Kierkegaard:  “Most people really believe that the Christian commandments (for example, to love one’s neighbour as oneself) are intentionally a little too severe — like putting the clock on half an hour to make sure of not being late in the morning.” **

* Søren Kierkegaard, Journals and Papers, vol. 3, ed. and trans. H. V. Hong and E. H. Hong (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), 270; quoted by Bauckham, Wisdom of James, 1.

** Søren Kierkegaard, Kierkegaard, ed. W. H. Auden (London: Cassell, 1955), 23; cf. Søren Kierkegaard, Works of Love, Kierkegaard’s Writings 16, ed. and trans. H. V. Hong and E. H. Hong (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), 479; quoted by Bauckham, Wisdom of James, 158.

Birthday and Anniversary

Today was Judah’s second birthday and our fifth anniversary.  We found out several months into the adoption process that Judah was born on our third anniversary.  He obviously doesn’t understand the significance of his birthday, but we certainly do.  He was born on December 20, 2005 at Mulago National Hospital near the capital city of Uganda and was immediately abandoned there by his mother and father (who were both present according to records).  His mother’s name is on his birth certificate, but it may well have been an alias (common practice in planned abandonments).  All we know is that she was 23 years old and had HIV.  The fact that Judah didn’t contract HIV from his mother is beyond significant.

We know nothing of his mother’s circumstances and don’t find it difficult to hope the best regarding her motivations for abandoning him.  By American sensibilities it’s unthinkable to abandon your child, and I certainly don’t disagree with these sensibilities.  But many situations in Africa are unthinkable in and of themselves, and I find myself more understanding of those who may be choosing between two unthinkable options.  Of course, many abandonments are tainted or even completely saturated by immorality, selfishness, or personal convenience,  but since I don’t know this particular situation, I choose to assume the best.  And I don’t have to shout down my conscience to think about it this way.  I’ve been to Africa several times, and I have no desire to make surfacy judgments from the gold-plated tower of Western comfort.  Further, birth and abandonment at the local hospital is the kindest form, from my limited understanding.  In the bush or in a pit latrine are other forms.  I’ve spent time with children found in both places.  The healing is not immediate.

The hospital staff named him “Charles Musa,” “Charles” because he was delivered by a “Dr. Charles” who both looked like him and loved him and “Musa” for unknown reasons.  After a brief stay in the hospital he was put into the legal care of the Amani Baby Cottage several hours east in Jinja, a small peaceful orphanage nestled into the lush greenery along Lake Victoria and a short canoe-ride from the source of the River Nile.  This was his home until he immigrated to the United States in July of this year and officially became our son “Judah David Mukisa Gundersen” in November.

Now he is two years old, a happy and hearty young boy with a cloud-clearing smile, a deep twinkle in his eyes, and somewhat of a celebrity following.  Today he opened a toy semi-truck, a winter jacket, and a bat and ball from his two sets of grandparents, had lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Gundersen and Uncle Greg, had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Heck along with Uncle Charles and Auntie Annie, and hosted an open house party where no gifts or toys were allowed but spare change was accepted for his college fund.  The final count of $111.75 shows why this is a great idea at his young age — we discourage materialism and avoid multiplying unnecessary toys (since he plays with the coasters anyway), people conveniently get rid of their change while still getting to enjoy gift-giving, and Judah gets something that he enjoys both now (putting it in the piggy-bank one by one) and later (college fund).  The fact that Grandpa Heck hates change and throws it in all his drawers doesn’t hurt, and will likely end up providing for some annual treasure-hunting pleasure (to the tune of some $30 this year).

I really, really love this little guy.  And though I haven’t shared many of my fatherly reflections here, I will at least say that I understand more why the Father loves the Son so much, and I understand less how He could send Him to suffer in my place.  That’s just not something fathers do.

A final note about the other landmark today, whose significance has been overshadowed but whose celebration is only postponed:  Someone told me tonight that the first five years of marriage are supposed to be the hardest.  If that’s true, I think we missed the memo.  There have been plenty of difficulties in the last five years, but our relationship has not been the source of any of them.  And that’s not an exaggeration meant to evoke sappy sentiments from friends or to elicit comparisons with other marriages or to earn brownie points with my wife in case she reads this.  It’s just not difficult being married to her, at all.  It is a privilege and a pleasure, not just from the mountaintop perspective of a five-year anniversary but in the day-to-day interaction we share in the trenches and tangibles of life.  I know that many respect her from afar.  It is not unwarranted.  She is a choice I would gladly make again.

Tonight I go to bed grateful and satisfied with the goodness of the Lord.  In some areas we are withstanding waves, but in these two, the seas are smooth.  Either way, He is good, in the calm and in the storm.

We have tried to bless God in days of adversity.  Now we will try not to forget Him in a day of prosperity.

Christmas Break

The semester officially ended on Friday.  Classes are finished, the dorm is mostly empty, and the students are headed home for the holidays.  We’ll take a trip to Oklahoma where we’ll celebrate Christmas, Judah’s second birthday, and our fifth anniversary.  Then we’ll return for what we hope will be a restful and productive several weeks of family time, catch-up, life organization, ministry planning, pre-semester homework, and a winterim class.

One reason why I’ve enjoyed living, studying, and serving in an educational environment is the semester set-up.  Winter and summer breathers balance out the semester sprints.  I know it won’t always be like this for us, but it has been a blessing throughout the years.

May your Christmas season be full of deep, childlike wonder at the birth of Jesus the Messiah and deep, childlike joy at the new and glorious morn that dawned that day.  And if you find you or your family suffocating on the shadows of empty Christmas traditions instead of satisfied with the staggering story of the incarnation, may the Lord guard you from the poison of cynicism and help you to celebrate Christ in fresh ways while humbly bringing those around you into the glory and joy of our Savior’s birth.  Like looking up into a peaceful starry night sky, contemplating the birth of Jesus leaves a serene and soft-hearted happiness that can make life worth living again.