Wonder Woman & the Divine Feminine

http://wonderwomanfilm.com/

(WARNING:  There are some spoilers below, so I recommend bookmarking this page, watching the movie, and then returning to read.)

So I saw the new Wonder Woman movie on opening night with my wife, and we loved it. Great action, plot, writing, acting.  It was funny and serious, exciting and heartfelt.

What I loved most about the movie was the portrayal of the divine feminine.  Diana was a goddess, brought forth from Zeus in order to protect humanity from (all kinds of bad things, including ourselves), and she was absolutely devoted to that cause.  Fierce and strong in combat, uncompromising in her moral compass, and more than ready to question a group of generals who didn't seem to care that those they commanded would die while they sat safely giving orders, she was a warrior to be feared by any who would try to inflict harm.  In short, she was a protector.

This is one important aspect of the divine feminine:  Protector/Warrior.  Far from just being a masculine trait, protector is part of the divine image that is hard-wired into femininity. Think of a mother protecting her children - few, if any, things in this world are more fierce.  As a warrior, she was unrivaled, not only because of her strength, but also because of her femininity - she fought not for anger or vengeance, but ultimately for love.
(For a Christian perspective (or at least this Christian's perspective) see Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 66:13; Matthew 23:37)

Another aspect of the divine feminine seen in Wonder Woman:  Mother/Caretaker.  She was on an urgent mission to stop a great evil from destroying humanity...she keenly felt the urgency of her task.  So, as she walked the streets of London to find her adversary, she was immediately side-tracked and almost jumped with delight as she saw a little baby.  "Oh, a baby!", she exclaimed, rushing over to get a better look.  It was funny, sure, but it also exemplified something great about the divine feminine.  As a mother-figure and caretaker, she delighted in life, in innocence, in babies.  Even with her urgency, she did not have blinders on to the beauty of life all around her.

This role of lover and caretaker showed up again in the scene from the picture above.  They were very close now to her final adversary, and according to her male companions, they didn't have time to save the besieged villagers in the war zone through which they were traveling.  Nope!  Not for Diana.  She would not leave them to die, and so she was once again (seemingly) side-tracked from her mission.  She once again showed that being a protector/warrior did not prevent her from also being a mother/caretaker.  In fact, the one worked with and complimented the other.  It was beautiful to behold.

Wonder Woman also inspired those around her as:  Muse/Encourager.  One soldier boasted of his prowess on the battlefield, and then when it was time to act, he found he couldn't.  He was an obviously wounded man with scars deep down, and he was as rough as they come, yet something kept him from fighting that day.  Later that night, after the battle was won, Diana heard him singing, entertaining a group of people during a victory celebration.  She loved it, delighting once again in his humanity, the vulnerable, wounded man, who not only fought, but also sang.  When he apologized later for his failure on the battlefield, she simply praised him for his singing, praised him for that beautiful part of his soul that still clung to and remembered the love and beauty of the world.  He found healing in her words, and the next time battle came, he did not hesitate.

A final aspect of the divine feminine which I saw in Wonder Woman:  Lover/Beloved.  Diana loved deeply, universally, and personally.  Diana was continually horrified at the terrible things we do/did to each other, horrified at the darkness of humanity.  Her heart was broken time and again when she beheld such atrocities.  She also loved one man in particular, and was his beloved as well, and when he was killed, she went into a rage.  What was left but to exact revenge on any and all who had caused him to die, to destroy any and all who may one day cause harm to others?  She had seen the darkness of humanity, a darkness that lies in all of humanity, and there was only one surefire way to destroy that darkness:  eradicate humanity.  She found, however, that love was stronger than anger and hatred.  Her love guided her to see that our darkness did not define us, that despite our atrocities, we were also lovers, also beloved.

Diana's role as both lover and beloved kept her fighting to protect people, delighting in humanity, caring for people.  Her love kept her encouraging the good in people, inspiring the best in them.

The divine feminine is as aspect of God which we need and which we need to remember.  Protector/Warrior.  Mother/Caretaker.  Muse/Encourager.  Lover/Beloved.

As we are all made in the image of God, both male and female, we miss so much of who and what God is when we acknowledge only the masculine aspects of God.  The divine feminine is so deep and beautiful, protecting and compassionate, inspiring and loving.  Thanks be to God for this aspect of God.  Thank you also for all involved in Wonder Woman, for bringing us this beautiful, powerful character, and for bringing such a beautiful portrayal of the divine feminine.

Love, Grace, and Communion: The Holy Trinity

Brad Sullivan

Trinity Sunday, Year A

June 11, 2017

Emmanuel, Houston

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Matthew 28:16-20

Love, Grace, and Communion:  The Holy Trinity

A couple of years ago on Trinity Sunday, I had this idea to preach about God as a frosted Donut, as a way of describing the Trinity, with The Father as the dough part, Jesus as the frosting, and the Holy Spirit as the hole, where, it’s kinda hard to define, it’s kinda hard to explain the Holy Spirit, but it isn’t a donut without the hole.  Thankfully for the sake of the congregation a couple of years back, I decided not to do that.  It would basically be heresy, unless it’s Shipley’s Donuts, but in all seriousness, I’ve heard similar approaches to describing the Trinity, such as, “God is like an egg” with the shell, white, yoke:  three and yet one.  Of course that’s three parts that make the whole egg, rather than three whole persons who make the whole God.  Honestly, if we’re going in that direction, I kinda like the donut thing better, but the big problem with any such means of trying to describe God as a trinity of persons is none of those metaphors say anything at all about God as a relationship of persons.  The relationship is key to who God is and what God is as a single God in Trinity of persons.

So as an analogy for understanding God as being three persons and yet one God, I’d like for us to think about our own relationships.  Are we closer to people whom we have never met and don’t even know exist, or are we closer to people whom we love deeply?  Obviously, we are closer to people whom we love deeply.  We know them intimately.  We get to know the deep parts of who they are.  As we love more and more, we become more and more connected to a person, and while we are still distinct persons, we become more and more united as our love for each other grows. 

Ok, so multiply that by infinity, and we have some understanding of God as three persons united so completely in love for one another that they are one.  It still doesn’t entirely make sense to our rational little brains, but it also kinda does.  God is a relationship of persons:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully God, and yet each distinct from the other, so completely united in a continual dance of love that they are one.

Then there are, of course, the inevitable questions of this Trinity of persons such as, “which one came first?”

“Oh, they’ve always been together as one.”

“But I thought the son was begotten of the father?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“So when did that happen?  How long was the Father around before the Son was begotten of him?”

“Oh no, they’ve always been together forever.”

Whenever we try to tease out all the specifics of how God as a Trinity of persons works we generally end up with God as a frosted donut.  Tasty, but perhaps an understanding of God as Trinity comes less from our brains and more from our hearts.

Think about how much logical sense some of our relationships make?  Brain work or heart work?  God is described after all as love, not logical rational sense.  Consider how Paul ended his second letter to the church in Corinth.  “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”  Those are words of the heart. 

Love.  The basis of all our relationships.  The best of who we are.  Peaceful, giving, not worried or concerned about what’s next, but content with now and fully present with the person right in front of us, fully honoring the person right in front of us.  Love means seeing ourselves as we truly are, warts and all, and not only accepting who we are, but delighting in who we are.  Love means seeing others as they truly are, warts and all, and not only accepting who they are, but delighting in who they are.  Love means seeing our common humanity, that divine spark, divine image in which we were all made, and living into and honoring that common humanity.  Love means giving for the sake of the other and also receiving from the other.  Love means honoring, accepting, and delighting in each other, recognizing and celebrating the beauty in each of us.

Grace…for all the times we don’t love.  Grace.  Forgiveness and understanding.  Compassion and empathy.  Grace is forgiving others for the hurt they have caused us.  Grace is looking at those who have harmed us and seeing them through eyes of compassion and empathy, offering some understanding that they are wounded as well, and they only hurt out of their own hurt and fear.  Grace is saying “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing,” even as they nail you to a cross.  Grace is the acknowledgement of our common humanity, our common weakness, our common harming of each other and offering peace to those who have harmed us, even as we accept peace from others, accept in our own hearts for the harm we have caused. 

Communion.  Delighting in time spent together.  Shared meals.  Shared endeavors.  Shared lives.  With love and grace, we share and join together with others, enjoying the love we share, grateful for the grace we give and receive, free to be fully who we are, loved and accepted by others without pretense or show, without hiding our true selves, unashamedly being seen, seeing others, giving and receiving love, and gratefully receiving and giving grace.  We enjoy life together, and we share our lives with one another. 

You want to know what God is like as a Trinity of persons?  Who or what do we understand God to be?  Love, Grace, and Communion.

Love does not exist without grace and  communion.  Grace does not exist without love and communion.  Communion does not exist without love and grace.  Each are distinct, and yet they are inseparable. 

With such a life of love, grace, and communion, Jesus told his disciples to go and baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Go and baptize into the way, into the very life of love, grace, and communion.  We baptize and are baptized into the life of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We baptize and are baptized into the life of God who is love, grace, and communion. 

Echoing and reminding us of Jesus’ command to his disciples to go and baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I say this day to go and invite people into the life of God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Go and invite people into the life of God who is love, grace, and communion.  Live the life of love, and grace, and communion.  Life the very life of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Live that life with others in how you love them, how you offer them grace, and how you share communion with them. Say to those who are spiritual but not religious that the life of love, grace, and communion is the life of God.  Say to those who have been harmed by churches preaching an angry God who hates most of who and what we are that such a God does not exist, but is the vain invention of fearful men. 

Say to them that the God we know, the God we worship, the God whose very life we live is love, grace, and communion.  Go and teach them about God who is love, grace, and communion; God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Baptize them with your words.  Share communion with them in your actions.  Love them well, and ask for grace for those times when you don’t love them well.  Share the very life of God, the very life of Jesus, and invite them to be disciples of Jesus as well, sharing also in the life of God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; God who is love, grace, and communion.   

Love Is Gritty, Love Is Hard, Love Is an Empty Tomb

Brad Sullivan

7 Easter, Year A

May 28, 2017

Emmanuel, Houston

John 17:1-11

Love Is Gritty, Love Is Hard, Love Is an Empty Tomb

I had a conversation with a nine year old last week about this Sunday’s gospel passage.  I read it to him and then asked him what he thought.  He said that it sounded like Jesus and the Father saying, “If we get to be in heaven for ever, why don’t the people on earth get to?”  Meaning, “why shouldn’t the people on earth get to be with us in heaven forever as well?”, and of course, we do.  That was Jesus’ life’s work and his prayer for his disciples which we heard today, that they would be one and he and the Father are one. 

The Father, and the Son, and the (not mentioned in this passage) Holy Spirit want us to be one with them and each other just as they are one.  There’s nothing better in the world, nothing better in all of the universes than the unity of Jesus and the Father and that’s the unity Jesus is praying for us to have!  That unity with each other and unity with God is being with God in heaven forever, and I don’t mean because we have unity with God, then we’ll get to be with God in heaven forever.  I mean having unity with God and each other is right now being in heaven with God forever. 

Heaven is all around us.  The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven is here, now, in the very air we breathe, for in God we live and move and have our being.  Jesus was praying for our unity with each other and God now, for eternal life now.  “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”  Knowing Jesus, following in his way, believing in him is eternal life, lived in this world, in this life, and continued on after death, in the next life, for there is nothing better in the world, nothing better in all of the universes than the unity of Jesus and the Father, and that’s the unity Jesus is praying for us to have!

At the same time that Jesus was praying for his disciples, praying for us, however, did you notice how much he was talking about himself?  Glorify me so that I may glorify you?  Much of John’s Gospel has Jesus talking about himself.  There is very little teaching about God’s kingdom, few moral lessons, no parables…almost all of Jesus’ teaching involves an explanation about who he is and why people need to believe in him.  “I am one with the Father, I am the good shepherd, I am the vine, I am so humble and yet so awesome.”  Ok, that last one was made up; in John’s Gospel, we don’t get the humble, self-effacing Jesus we see in Mathew, Mark, and Luke.  Jesus is constantly talking about himself and kinda saying how great he is.  This is a bit of a side bar, but John’s Jesus often sounds to a bit to me like the rapper Eminem in the rap song Without Me:  “This looks like a job for me, so everybody, just follow me, cause we need a little controversy, and it feels so empty without me.”

I realize in saying that, I just secured about 7 more years for myself in purgatory, comparing Jesus and Eminem, (he’s a child of God), but  often, as I read John’s Gospel, I am struck by how much Jesus sounds like a rapper rapping about himself.  Rappers that I have heard tend to rap about themselves especially early on in their careers, as if to introduce themselves:  “here’s who I am, here’s my story, here’s why I’m legitimate and worth your listening to, and here’s the story within me that is screaming to get out.”

That’s kinda what Jesus was doing in John’s Gospel.  Jesus was constantly telling people about who he was, how great he was, and how much they needed to believe in him.  Of course that’s what he was doing, because of who Jesus was and because there were so many false narratives out there about life and about God.  The narrative about Jesus was screaming to get out of him.  The narrative about what life truly is, about who God truly is was screaming to get out of Jesus, and he only had that one life, that one chance to tell the narrative of God, the narrative of love.

Jesus had one chance, and he didn’t want to blow it, so he taught people how to live, how to love, he taught about God’s kingdom, he showed them what life was like in God’s kingdom so they could live out God’s kingdom, and he taught about himself, because at the heart of God’s kingdom is Jesus.  The heart and soul of God’s kingdom is the new Eden, the new creation where we walk with God and each other, naked and unashamed, and the heart and soul of that new Eden is Jesus.

So Jesus did talk about himself because he wanted everyone to know and share in the eternal life  of the new Eden which is unity with him and the Father. Remember, there is nothing better in the world, nothing better in all of the universes than the unity of Jesus and the Father, and that’s the unity Jesus was praying for us to have!

That unity, known by another word is love, and not just sappy, hallmarky, pop song love.  Love is the cross.  That’s where Jesus was going just after the prayer he prayed for his disciples.  Love is sacrifice for the sake of the beloved.  Love is gritty; love is hard; love is not pouty or jealous, boastful or rude.  It makes a way for the beloved; it does the hard work of seeking peace and working through resentment.  Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing; love repents of wrongdoing and seeks to heal past hurts.  Love rejoices in kindness and truth, and love prefers having a good relationship to just being right.  Love bears the good times and hardships.  Love believes in the beloved.  Love makes its home in hope, and love endures all things for the sake of the beloved. 

Love goes to the cross for the sake of the beloved.  Love kneels at the foot of the cross to mourn for the beloved.  Love is tears and joy.  Love is laughter and pain.  Love is sticking by the beloved through sickness and death.  Love is caring about someone through their anxieties, doubts, and fears.  Love is not wanting more and more, not demanding what is deserved, but being content with enough so that another can also have enough. 

Love is also an empty tomb.  Love is new life, new creation.  Love is joy in each new day, each new moment.  Love is setting aside the past to be made new in the present.  Love is trusting in Jesus’ resurrection, trusting in his narrative about God, and life, and himself.  Love is eternal life, knowing God and Jesus Christ whom he sent. There is nothing greater in all the world, nothing greater in all of the universes than love, and love is the unity of Jesus and the Father, the unity and gritty kind of love that Jesus is praying for us to have, for us to be in heaven forever with him and the Father.

Trees, Fruit, and Small Woodland Creatures: The New Eden

Brad Sullivan

4 Easter, Year A

May 7, 2017

Emmanuel, Houston

Acts 2:42-47

John 10:1-10

Trees, Fruit, and Small Woodland Creatures: The New Eden

Jesus said, “All who came before me are thieves and bandits...The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  Those who came before Jesus were those who were seen as a messiah, an anointed one of God.  There was a messianic fervor in Jesus’ time, a great desire for one to arise who would be the messiah, the anointed one to drive Rome out of Israel and to lead Israel into a time of peace and prosperity, a time that would last forever.  They were wanting a new king over Israel as the messiah, the anointed one, because the anointed ones were the kings of Israel.  David, king David who slew Goliath was the second of these anointed ones, these kings.  David was seen as the greatest of all the kings of Israel, and by what Jesus said, he was a thief and bandit. 

See, God was not overly enamored of Israel’s desire to have a king rule over them.  God even warned Israel what would happen if they placed a king over themselves.  In 1 Samuel, God said to Israel that if you place a king over you, he will take your sons for his chariots and horsemen; your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.  He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards to give to his friends; and 1/10 of your grain and vineyards to give to his officers and his friends.  He will take your servants and the best of your cattle, 1/10 of your flocks, and “you shall be his slaves.”

Now, being that the people of Israel thought things through about as well as we do, they said, “sounds great; sign us up!”  Now, some of the kings of Israel were pretty good, some were ok, and some were rancidly terrible, but they were all anointed ones, all messiahs.  They were all seen as the new savior of Israel, and according to Jesus, they were all thieves and bandits.  They made war.  They conquered and were conquered.  They took from the people in order to bring about their conquests, and they took from the people in order to live in the opulence fitting for a king.

Jesus did something different.  Jesus did not seek conquest.  He did not kill.  He did not take from his subjects in order to live like a king, instead he lived simply.  Jesus was anointed by God, the messiah, and he led his people by being the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.  Many people had wanted to raise Jesus up as their earthly king, as their earthly anointed messiah to lead a revolt against Rome, and he could have let them.  He could have chosen that; he had every right to, being, you know, God, but he didn’t.  Jesus chose instead to be killed, rather than have thousands or even millions be killed in order to drive Rome out for the sake of some insults, some hardships, and a building. 

That’s really what it came down to, right?  Rome ruled over Israel and collected taxes from them, usually taking more than they were supposed to.  Corruption abounded.  They began appointing the high priest over Israel, desecrated the Temple in various ways, stole from the temple, and heaped contempt upon contempt for the Jewish people and their religion.  Insults, hardships, and a building.  Jews began to radicalize amidst the oppression of Rome and the messianic fervor of the age, and in the year 66, the great revolt began against Rome.  The Jews rebelled and won their first couple of battles again Rome.  After that, things did not go well.  Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed fighting in the great revolt, and in the year 70, the Temple was destroyed by Rome.

Then in 132, the Bar-Kokhba revolt began.  Shimon Bar-Kokhba was yet another messianic figure who led a three year revolt against Rome.  This revolt cost hundreds of thousands of more Jewish lives and also ended in defeat.  All told, estimates are that over a million and a half Jews were killed in these two revolts, the Temple was destroyed, and in the year 135, the entire nation of Israel was destroyed, the people taken into slavery or forced to move elsewhere.

“The thief comes in only to steal and kill and destroy,” Jesus said.  The people of Israel followed thieves and bandits, and their lives were stolen from them.  Husbands and fathers became killers.  Men with livelihoods took up the sword and were killed.  Their whole way of life, indeed their entire nation, was destroyed. 

“I came that they may have life,” Jesus said, “and have [life] abundantly.”  The earliest disciples of Jesus followed a different path than the path laid out by the thieves and bandits who led Israel.  Jesus’ small band of disciples followed him as their shepherd, as the gate to fields of life abundant.  They followed in his ways.  When they were kicked out of the Synagogue, they did not argue that they deserved to be there, they simply met in people’s homes instead.  When Rome said they couldn’t meet in the temples of the Roman gods, they did not demand a right of worship, but met elsewhere.  They followed Jesus, the good shepherd, and God added daily to their numbers.  They were a people without a nation, a people of many nations, living wherever they were, following and believing in Jesus.  They didn’t have doctrine yet.  They didn’t have a set of beliefs about Jesus other than his teachings, his death, and his resurrection.  People followed him, believed in him and his way, and they received life, abundantly. 

Like the people of Israel, the earliest Christians were living under the corrupt and oppressive government of Rome which didn’t care one whit if any of them lived or died, but rather than fight that government, they banded together and provided for each other as there was need.  They cared about each other more than they cared about their stuff, and they cared about each other more than they cared about fighting against Rome.     

They were, as we read in Psalm 1, like trees planted by streams of living water.  I know, it’s a mixed metaphor, shepherds and trees, but we’ll go with it.  Trusting in Jesus, following in his ways, and banding together to care for one another, the earliest Christians became a forest fed and nurtured by the abundant life of Jesus.  Together, this forest had fruit in abundance, and they shared their fruit with others, even the small woodland creatures who were not a part of the forest, who did not work for their fruit.  They provided shade and fruit for these creatures living in their forest, and they and even let some make their homes in their branches, and these other creatures became trees as well, sharing in the abundant life of Jesus.  They were provided for by Jesus, by their trust and faith in him and in his ways, and they shared abundantly with others.  Now, men came with axes from time to time, the oppression of Rome, and this forest of the early church even shared abundantly with them.  Some of these men became part of the forest themselves.  Others of these men came and cut down some of the trees, but the forest remained and continued to have abundant life and to share life abundant, fed by the streams of living water of Jesus and his ways. 

This forest of the early church was the new Eden of Jesus.  That was Jesus’ kingdom.  That was the place where Jesus led his disciples, the new Eden, and the new Eden of Jesus and his way could happen in any kingdom of earth, in any place and in any time.  The people of Jesus’ way, of his movement, did not look for an earthly thief or bandit to lead them to steal what others had, to force their rights upon others, to kill, be killed, and destroy.  The people of Jesus’ way, his movement, looked to Jesus to lead them beside still waters, to be for them streams of living water so that they could be planted in any place and bring forth fruit and shade to care for those around them, to give to any as there was need.  That is life, the life abundant in the Jesus movement, life with Jesus as our shepherd. 

Looking at a modern example of a thriving church with life abundant, the church in China is in a similar place as the early church was.  The government of China is not overly enamored of Christianity, so while they allow it, they have state sponsored churches, led by earnest Christians, but regulated by the state.  Sounds a little like Israel under Rome, doesn’t it.  Rather than rebel against the government, however, many Christians in China are simply forming their own churches.  They are meeting in homes or other larger building that they own.  They aren’t demanding any rights from the government; they are just going ahead and meeting, being the church, and the government is letting them.  They come by and check the roles to know who is attending these unregistered churches, but without fighting, with no thieves and bandits to steal, kill, and destroy, these unregistered churches in China are thriving and growing.  They are becoming, like the early church, a forest planted by the streams of living water of Jesus and his ways.

Now some in this country still talk about Christianity being attacked by our government.  Rather than quibble about whether such oppression is true or untrue, I would say it is irrelevant.  Where the church thrives, it thrives not because a government allows it to.  The church thrives and becomes the new Eden whenever and wherever the people of the church follow Jesus, trust in him and his ways, and band together, caring for each other more than their rights as a church.  When the church follows Jesus and his ways, and when we band together and care for one another, we become the new Eden, a forest planted by streams of living water that thrives and has life abundantly.