Jesus of Mt. Finlayson
Last Sunday I ran the Finlayson Arm 28k which took me just over 5 hours to complete. The hardest climb was Mt. Finlayson itself, just over 400 meters of elevation. At the top there is a rock scramble where you need to use your hands and your feet for the last few meters. The danger in races like this is going too fast at the start and having no energy for the last leg of the race. So I took a brisk pace without pushing the envelope to get to the summit. I was tired but happy to get to the top and then I gazed upward. A voice called to me:
“I am proud of you! You can do it! I BELIEVE IN YOU!” It was Jesus. At least it looked a bit like a white Jesus who might also double as John the Baptist. His beard was enormous. Jesus was on the mountain top telling me he believed in me!
I replied, “I believe in you too, Jesus!”
Jesus replied seemingly uncomfortable, “You don’t have to say it back to me.” Now this was strange because the Jesus I know typically calls people to follow him. He wants to create disciples and encourage faith. This Jesus was apprehensive. So I said quietly to myself, “No, but I do need to say it you. I believe in you.”
This was none other than Jesus of Mt. Finlayson, so perhaps a lesser Jesus than the Jesus of the gospels. Those of you here in person can see a photo of Jesus of Mt. Finlayson on your insert. Those joining online should see a photo on-screen. There were others cheering us on atop Ft. Finlayson including a t-rex, an 80’s aerobics instructor, and more than I can remember in the thin air of the mountaintop. While not quite the same as Jesus bringing the disciples up the mountain with Elijah and Moses, it was just below that. Apparently Jesus had teamed up with Bad Ass Chicks, a women’s running group, who brought the flair.
Lifting the serpent on a pole – lifting high the cross
In my trail race Jesus was lifted high on a mountain. In our gospel reading we hear reference to the story of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness in the Book of Numbers. The people of Israel are bitten by poisonous snakes and begin dying. God instructs Moses to make the bronze serpent, lift it on a pole, so that the people who are poisoned may look upon it and live. The venom becomes the antidote. The image is so powerful it has been adopted by medical communities with the serpent wound around a pole. It’s makes us think about vaccines where the illness helps create the antibodies to protect the body.
As Christians we see a direct analogue between the bronze serpent on a pole and the cross. This is what the famous verse John 3:16 is about: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” This is about the mystery of the cross, an instrument of violence and torture, being inverted into a source of salvation through Christ. The cross transforms the sickness into medicine.
Commentator Jennifer Garcia Bashaw writes the following about this passage in John: “When people look at Jesus lifted upon the cross, they are looking at a mirrored representation of their own destruction—the veil of empire, the oppression they participate in, the violence that beats at the heart of society, the scapegoating tendencies of people who allow innocent people to suffer for sins that aren’t their own. When they truly see what Jesus’ death represents—humanity’s self-destructive nature that drives societies to fear and violence—that revelation, that recognition of the truth will be enough to help them start healing humanity. The cross is the symbol of misplaced blame and oppressive violence, and it is the means by which we repent of the cycle of blame and violence. We cannot be healed from a disease that remains hidden.”
In other words, the cross is a redemptive mirror in which we see all the hate and violence in which we participate in a broken world. How appropriate during Care of Creation for us to reflect theologically upon the cross and God’s gift of an incarnate Messiah. It is an opportunity for us to remember that we are the people who cannot free ourselves. We are the ones trapped in a carbon-based economy from which we cannot seem to escape. When we know from a majority of the scientists that we needed to shift our practices away from oil and carbon-intensive industries decades ago. And yet we struggle to escape our own self-destruction as the climate crisis worsens. And we’re all trapped in this problem of our own making. The cross offers a medicine that begins with admission that we can’t save ourselves. We can’t recycle our way to salvation. We need a radical gospel that flips our worldview upside down, that humbles us, that reminds us that our mutual-flourishing is tied together. Jesus grounds us in truth for care of creation.
So too the recent gun violence we have witnessed recently in the US. It is sad watching a place I lived for ten years fall into chaos, knowing this is affecting the lives of everyday people. Reflecting upon the cross we are reminded that demonzing trans people, immigrants, Jewish people, women, in the end rebounds upon the dominant group who asserts power and control. Even white supremacy is undone by its own violence in the end and and makes the lives of millions of people less safe. The temptation is to say, “Well, I am part of the dominant group, so I will be safe.” There is no safety amidst this level of violence. And we all live in the same world. Even here in Victoria, we can see the Olympic mountain range in Washington State from much of the city. Many of us are tied together by families and friends in the US. We are also learning that our economy and security is tied closely to the US with our resource sector and trade. Our fate is bound to that of our siblings. We cannot claim superiority as Canadians without reflecting upon our own history as we approach the National Day of Truth & Reconciliation. We are not better.
God’s Mercy
The good news in all this is Jesus’ work upon the cross. God transforms that which poisons us into that which saves us. God already knows we are the ones who aren’t dependable. God already knows we can’t save ourselves. Many of us are familiar with this concept when we need a doctor to prescribe us medicine. We may trust in all kinds of home remedies or simply taking vitamins until real illness befalls us. And then suddenly we listen to what doctors say. We know we need help when we’re really sick. We know we need a measles vaccine to save us from the measles.
The resurrected Jesus of the cross is the source of our liberation. And God’s gift of life to all of us is a reminder that we are bound together. We cannot afford to pursue paths of selfishness when our fates are bound together. None of us are free until all of us are free. The safety of our queer neighbours, immigrant neighbours, Jewish and Muslim neighbours, Indigenous neighbours, disabled neighbours, women and children, elders all matter to us. This is why early Christian communities were rooted around community helping community. That is the idea of the early house church – a model that was been revisited again and again. It’s about community caring for community.
Today we are about to welcome four new members to the congregation: Vicky, Jeremy, Allyson, and Pierce. We look forward to welcoming them into the life of the congregation. Some are already involved, and others have expressed interests of deepening their interest. We are excited to have them join the community. And we look forward to learning from them as well. Community is a two-way street, not a static constellation or way of being, but something that is always evolving. May we follow the way of the cross together as Jesus people.
In closing, let me share a story from clubs day at UVic this past Thursday, when Inclusive Christians were tabling. This is an important event held over two days in which we welcome and invite new students to consider joining the club. This includes supporting Around the Table, our weekly gathering around worship and soup. There is an ecumenical Bible study that Pr. Reba, Anglican priest leads, there are social meetups, board game nights, and more. A student at the adjacent table was recruiting writers for an online feminist magazine. She said, “Not to stir up gossip…” So you know already she’s stirring up gossip.” “Not to stir up gossip, but does the name Inclusive Christians suggest the other Christian clubs on campus are not inclusive?” I replied, “100 percent.” At least until now none of the other Christian clubs are truly inclusive. The litmus test is whether they allow student leaders, chaplains, deacons, pastors, and priests to be openly queer. For every other Christian club the answer has been “no.” And that is why being Christians who follow the cross, who advocate for people on the margins continues to matter very much.
Sometimes we think these issues are from ten or twenty years ago, but as we’re discovering protecting people’s humanity is a constant struggle. We see governments in Canada using trans kids as pawns in their culture war games. Political leaders on the island and in BC are engaging in the same kind of divisive posturing. So we remain committed as Christians proclaiming a gospel of love that swims upstream. We don’t need to be quiet. We can sing, rejoice, pray loudly, for the mutual flourishing of all our friends in Christ. Amen.
