At Tangent tonight we talked about the Jesus Creed. The Jesus Creed is a book written by Scott McKnight. When asked by an expert in the law where to begin with spiritual formation. Jesus answers by giving what Scott McKnight calls the Jesus creed. The Jesus creed defines how spiritual formation is done Jesus style.

The Jesus Creed
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
And with all your soul,
With all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself
There is no other commandment greater than these.

Jesus takes the Shema of Judaism in Deuteronomy 6 and adds Leviticus 19 emphasising that spiritual formation is about the love of God and others.
For us to be formed spiritually as Jesus disciples then – is to love God and to love others. Spiritual formation for as followers of Jesus is about relationships – with God and for others.
At Tangent we reflected on this to a piece of writing that Kim Hammond gave me today -

“Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.

Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them.

They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a [fly].
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
So that my fleeing will have no return; So that all my hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; So that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; So that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;
So that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; Ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.
Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.

It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.
For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.”

This was written by Bishop Nikolai Velimirović, a Serbian Bishop who spoke out against Nazism, was arrested and sent to Dachau. Note that there is some dispute in wikipedia about the anti-semetic nature of the Bishop and his role with the Nazis.

I find this writing moved me incredibly as I reflected on the generations of Christians before me that have attempted to live out the Jesus creed in their way and in their own time.

May I do the same!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 18th, 2006 at 10:59 pm by phil and is filed under notes from northern. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.