Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Q&R with Brad Jersak - "I struggle with prayers to the Mother of Jesus"

Question:

 

Hi Brad, I'm wondering if you would point me to some articles or resources that might help me better understand the prayers to the Theotokos ["Mother of God"]. As a pastor whose entire upbringing and training has been in the Evangelical church, I struggle most with any prayers directed toward the Mother of Jesus. 

 

Response:

 

When I think of Orthodox prayers to the Theotokos, some separate puzzle pieces come to mind that bear thinking about. Which pieces you use and how you assemble them is going to be personal to you.

Puzzle Piece 1 - John 19:25-27

And standing by the Cross of Jesus his mother, and the sister of his mother, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary, the Magdalene. Jesus, therefore, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, said to his mother: “Woman, behold thy son.” Then, he said to the disciple “Behold thy mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own [home].

The historic/apostolic tradition understood this passage to mean that Christ gave his mother to become the mother of his church family. At other times (as in Shepherd of Hermes), Mary also represents the church itself, which serves as a mother to individual disciples. But the point is that the legitimate felt-need for a 'Mother God' in Protestant Progressive movements would be redundant for Orthodox and Catholic believers who already know the love of a mother in the Theotokos. They believe Christ himself directly gifted her to us for that very purpose. How we see this passage is a major puzzle piece in our theology of Theotokos.

 

Puzzle Piece 2 - "Prayer" and "Mediation" 

 

It's important to understand what Orthodox and Catholic believers mean by "pray" in its ancient English form, which simply refers to making a request. Think Shakespeare. "I pray thee." Pray in this sense is something we do all the time, particularly if we are sending out "prayer requests." I ask friends and family and even strangers to pray for me all the time. Granted, I am more likely to ask my wife to pray for me than most other people I know because of her love for me and her track record of faith-filled, fervent and effective prayers (cf. James 5). If I ask Eden to pray for me, I am not denying my own direct access to God. I can ask God for myself. So why do I invite her to join her prayers to mine? I don't know how it 'works' but I do see the apostles modeling that same request to their congregations (e.g. Eph. 6). And so we invoke help in presenting our requests to God. Pretty normal. 

 

So why would we not invoke the prayers of the Theotokos who is (a) alive, (b) with Christ, (c) has an earthly track record of making bold requests of him, (d) and is now glorified with divinized capacities to minister as an intercessor? To seek out the best makes sense to me and who has ever modeled a greater combination of surrender and boldness before God (Father, Son, and Spirit) than Mary? 

 

The fact that Mary is a living person (we believe she's alive, right?) who continues to intercede for the saints (as we all should) shouldn't stumble us, but somehow, Protestants got fixated on the problem of mediation. Paul said, "We have one mediator between God and man--the man Christ Jesus." True! But apparently, his unique mediation does not exclude intercession by a concerned third party mother at the Throne of Grace, nor does it disqualify any of us from ministering on God's behalf to his children. We have one mediator but many intercessors before God and many ministers from God.      

 

Puzzle Piece 3 - "Save us" 

 

When I chant hymns to the Theotokos, what I notice first is that they are primarily Christological affirmations that assert the deity of Jesus Christ. The whole reason we call Mary the Theotokos was a refutation of Arianism. The human Son in her womb is also fully God. So we call her the Temple, the Holy of Holies, and the Ark of the Covenant for this reason: to proclaim that the One who she bore in her womb is none other than the Shekinah Glory of God, the Living Torah, the Living Manna, the budding Staff of Aaron. As Christological affirmations that simultaneously fulfill the angelic call to bless the Virgin, I enjoy singing them.

 

That said, when I first chanted hymns to Mary from the hymnal we call the Octoechos, I found some of them jarring as they called on her to "save us." We have one Savior ... and so does Mary. The Virgin bore her own Savior. But I habitually think of salvation exclusively in its capital S soteriological sense. But again, there's a language issue. If we can just comprehend how God employs many servant-ministers to help us, to rescue us, to 'save' us when we are in dire straights, then we don't need to become confused or offended when we ask for Mary's help. To ask for her help or your help IS to ask for God's help embodied in his willing helpers.

 

I was once on the verge of drowning and called out to my friend Bob Ekblad to stretch out his hand to save me. Oddly, God did not seem to feel slighted, nor did Bob rebuff me for heresy. In fact, God actually seemed to empower Bob to save me. "Prayers" (requests) for the Theotokos to "save (help) us" are nothing more (and nothing less) than spiritual 9-1-1 calls to our loving mother. I've had a lifetime of making regular calls to my earthly mom, Irene Jersak, invoking her prayers and her help. Likewise, I'm grateful for a heavenly mom whom God dispatches on request. 

 

Still, on occasion, I read an odd hymn that is simply over the top. To read some of these hymns (very few) literally does seem idolatrous to me. To be generous, I could just read it as the poetic excess of an overzealous, adoring child of Mary. I've noticed that some such hymns are (1) clearly not as ancient, (2) smack of Mariolatry, (3) or obviously and inappropriately hyperbolic. I shake my head and move on, just as I move on in Protestant worship services when the songs spout heresies of God's wrath being poured out on Jesus or the Father having to turn his head away. Sometimes hymnographers screw up. It happens.    

 

Puzzle Piece 4 - Experiencing Mary

 

I had a great chat with Fr. Michael Gillis (a wise Antiochian archpriest) when I was first asking the same questions. His advice was something like this: don't give too much energy worrying about Mary until you experience her. When it's time, God may grant you a spiritual experience that involves her, makes sense to you and clears the path for the rest of these questions. In other words, the topic of Mary shifts once you meet her. Happily, in my case, prior to my move to Orthodoxy, I had already encountered her in the context of an inner healing moment. It's a long story but the punchline is that "little Bradley" (a child part of me) was feeling lost and scared. As fixed my eyes fixed on his voice, I felt him putting me in his mom's arms. I felt her holding me close and I felt her intense motherly love pour an indescribable balm of solace into my soul. The Beatles' "Let It Be" and the Catholic Rosary Prayer flooded through my mind:

 

"Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. [Yes, Jesus is with her, and therefore with me].
Blessed art thou amongst women, [As we read in Luke's Gospel]
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. [Because he is the point]
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, [Inviting her intercession]
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen." [As every 'letting go' is a tiny death].

 

And I so I came to understand Jesus welcome my invocations to Mary by experience.

But I also knew to continue holding my focus on Jesus' face, even while six-year-old Bradley relaxed back into Mama's healing arms. 

 

All that to say, don't worry about it. Keep your focus on Christ just as Mary does. Pope John Paul II's corrective to Catholic Maryolatry was simple: When you come to the Throne of the Grace, set your gaze on Jesus Christ. Don't be surprised if you see her at his throne, too. But if you see her, don't be distracted. Rather, let her disciple you by emulating her unwavering gaze on the Son of God.

 

And if he wants to give her to you personally--to say, "Behold, your mother,"just as when he gave her to John the Beloved--he'll get to it at just the right time for you.

 

But I will repeat this reminder and clarify: the impulse or longing in our heart for Mother God is holy. I experienced it when reading Paul Young's The Shack. To experience the Mother heart of God is a divine gift. Receive it! But also, understand how for the 'Mother

Church Tradition,' the Mother heart of God is most often experienced through the divinized empathy and affection of Jesus' own precious mom, whom he so generously shared with us from his Cross.

Consent & Participation in Democracy & Theology - Brad Jersak

“Let the Process Play Out”?

In a recent podcast from the pollsters at FiveThirtyEight.com, Galen Druke asked Clare Malone (the senior politics writer) about the values and dangers of a “Let the process play out” stance on court challenges to the 2020 American election. Her response was telling:

“What Divided the Electorate in 2020,” Fivethirtyeight.com (11-16-2020)

Galen Druke: “They’ve said, ‘Let’s let the process play out. President Trump has the right to bring these legal challenges, etc.’ and in some ways giving credibility to these conspiracy theories surrounding voter fraud instead of saying ‘all the secretaries of state said that this an election that has been conducted with integrity, a secure election, etc.’ Are there any long-term problems for small-d democracy in the broader Republican apparatus not forcefully rebutting this?”   

Clare Malone

Clare Malone: “For sure. Even though we all know to read through the lines that ‘he should get security briefings’ means ‘we think he won the election,’ there’s a big difference between saying that and saying, ‘He won the election; let’s move on.’” It’s not a healthy sign, it’s not a good thing. This is not me saying American democracy is over, but it is me saying, “In order to stay healthy, you eat well and exercise.” This is people, like, smashing hamburgers and shooting heroin into their veins.”

Later in the podcast, Clare Malone goes on to describe the essential problem as the necessity of consent in a democratic social contract, which I’ll restate and expand on here:

Consent & Participation: Essential to Democracy  

Political Science Fact: Consent is an essential pillar of small-d democracy. Refusal of candidates to concede an election is not merely an exercise in bad sportsmanship. It breaks a central feature of the social contract—rule by consent. Yes, we must do everything possible to ensure fair and legal elections. But opting to battle election results in court, based on unfounded claims of voter fraud, is not consent. Even when the losing party loses the election a second time in court, the ‘consent fundamental’ has still been effectively removed and democracy is crippled. Without consent, elections become just another form of coercion and there’s nothing exceptional about that.

Further, without consent, the outcomes of the election move from the electorate to the courts. In the worst case, the courts may overrule the will (participation) of the people. And even in the best case, the decision to confirm or veto the will of the electorate is still relocated to the judiciary. Participation of the people is subordinated to decisions by the gavel. Surely that is not what the founders imagined.  

One American commentator said to me, “We’ve reached the point where more than half of Republicans are just about ready to say it out loud: ‘We don’t give a damn about democracy.” That’s to be expected when one’s primary aim and political platform is reduced to securing power (by admission). At the very least, it’s a revisioning of democracy without consent, a phenomenon in other nations that Americans have historically called out, as in Russia and Iran for instance.

Please note carefully: democracy in America does not turn on whether Biden or Trump ‘won.’ What matters here is whether whoever loses (Trump, in this case) is willing to play their role to maintain democratic consent by willingly conceding. We see in retrospect why it was so important for Al Gore to concede to George Bush despite the kafuffle around Florida recounts in 2000. Gore’s concession meant that Bush’s presidency and American democracy were ultimately consensual. That didn’t happen this time.¹ And now it can’t—because even if President Trump concedes after losing in court, it’s no longer conceding by consent. It’s a downgrade for sure—so obvious to the rest of the world—but if that’s the future she chooses, we’ll have to accept and adapt to America’s new political reality. We’ll be okay.

Consent & Participation: Essential to Theology

Sadly, a (the?) dominant force in the erosion of democracy in the U.S.A. has come via the efforts of American(ized) Christianity to marry politics with faith. I think FiveThirtyEight saw this but what follows are my own conclusions.

 

Paula White

Yes, please, let your faith guide your political choices with integrity and truth. But when the President’s ‘spiritual advisor’ prophesies that God told her angels have been dispatched from Africa and South America to change election results—that victory has already been secured in the heavenlies—we’ve entered Christian voodoo territory. It’s a partisan political appeal to divine sovereignty sans the crucial (literally) doctrine of divine consent, and therefore a critical crack in Christianity’s theological foundations.  

 

How do consent and participation figure into Christian theology or our political theology? Simone Weil and George Grant (both political philosophers) saw the Cross as a revelation of divine consent and participation:

• The Cross reminds us of God’s consent in creation, making kenotic space for authentic otherness. Creation itself is a manifestation of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

• Thus, God consents to the reality of secondary causes, including natural law and human freedom, without direct interference in the shadow sides of tragedy and evil … or elections.

• At the Cross God even consents to our defiance as we reject and crucify Jesus Christ (or truth and justice) even while harnessing the great crime of deicide for our redemption.

• At the Cross (and really, beginning with Gethsemane), we see Christ consent to the will of his Father in drinking the cup of affliction for our sake, bearing the worst of human history in himself (to become the Lord of history).

• At the Cross, we come to the end of ourselves, fall to our knees and consent to the healing grace that flows from the wounds of Christ.

• The Cross reveals God as far different from that of the Deists who penned the Constitution. This is the crucified God who fully participates in the human condition, undergoing our limitations, our injustice, and even our death.

• The Cross reveals the path of redemption that calls not only for our consent but also our full participation in his project (‘the kingdom of God’)—God’s rule and reign by love (i.e. consent and participation) rather than by coercion.

In the end, it’s no surprise that when a nation-state becomes a global empire, we would inevitably see slippage away from democracy by consent and participation into partisan will-to-power. It may be disappointing, but apart from historical amnesia, not unexpected. But for Christianity itself to stray from the cruciform theology of consent and participation into theocratic delusions is simply tragic—and as I’ve said elsewhere, attaching Jesus' name to such ambitions is blasphemous.

It may be odd, then, to hear a word of hope. But those willing to acknowledge and abandon the lose-lose cul-de-sacs into which our culture has wandered may still find an exit. Alternative paths may present themselves, but they will look nothing like the powerplays of spectrum ideology or bastardized faith. Personally, I’m watching for cues from those on the margins who embody the Beatitudes of Jesus. Here’s hoping.   

NOTES:

[1] Barry Richard—George Bush’s top Florida lawyer in the case that went to the Supreme Court—denies any claims that the current barrage of 30+ lawsuits in 6 different states are in any way similar to 2000. https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/politics/decision-2020/bush-v-gore-lawyers-2020-court-fight-is-not-similar-to-2000/2326866/.

Put Not Your Trust in Princes - Mike Neelley

Put not your trust in princes,

In a son of man, in whom there is no salvation…

 

Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the Lord their God…

 

The Lord sets the prisoners free

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down

The Lord loves the righteous

The Lord watches over the refugee

He upholds the widow and the fatherless

Psalm 146 (excerpts)

This is a clear call to not put our trust in human political leaders, the people in ruling power (princes).

It is easy to look at this Psalm and say, of course, we don’t put our trust in President Donald Trump or the Republican party. Many have been saying that, not just these past few weeks, but for four years. Yet, it should be equally true of President-Elect Joe Biden and the Democratic party. We are not to put our trust in them, either. We are not to lift them up as the ones to bring salvation.

The word salvation is important here. When we talk about salvation, we are not talking about political solutions. It is about our hearts, our spirits, our lives. It is about coming from death into life. It is about rescue from the rule of darkness. And that rule of darkness is still very operative on the earth and in our political system. When it comes to the deep, transforming work of salvation that God is about, there isn’t a political solution for this.

And we are not to put our trust in them.

To trust something or someone for salvation means to put our full weight on them to hold us. It means that we are looking to them as solid ground, an unshakeable foundation to stand on, to build on; the bedrock that will hold the weight of our lives, our loves, our passions, our fears and concerns, our cries for justice and salvation.

The truth is that no one who has been in power, no person or party, can do this. And when it comes to the things that are God’s priorities in this Psalm, no one has truly served or benefitted, let along saved, those who are the most vulnerable, the marginalized, those from the Struggle who live with their backs to the wall. Some people and parties do better than others, but even with a change in leadership, there is a lot of work to be done because all the oppressive systems are still in place, and because of the sin and brokenness of human hearts in a country that is split down the middle regarding what is good and right and true and important. And we are also a Church that is split down the middle on what they believe is at the heart of God.

One of the reasons why we are not to put our trust in princes is that they are a human and their plans don’t last; they come to nothing. Verse 4 tells us that human plans perish along with humans, whereas the Lord “remains faithful forever,” (v.6) and “will reign forever, to all generations.” (v.10)

Human plans, political platforms declaring what they will be about, don’t last, according to this. We saw that in 2016. After President Obama spent eight years putting his plans in place, President Trump came in and has sought to overturn and undo everything that President Obama did. Chances are good, once President-Elect Biden comes into office, that he will seek to undo much of what President Trump has put in place. Human plans perish. Say it with me – human plans perish.

This isn’t a new thing. It’s not an American thing or even a modern thing. Israel had a long history of having really bad kings who oppressed the poor, sacrificed their children and worshipped other gods, and then good kings who repented and sought to follow God and reform all that the bad kings had done. The psalm doesn’t say to put our trust in the good kings but not the bad ones. It tells us to not put our trust in either of them.

Why? Because they can’t compare to God. They can’t bring salvation. And God is our King. Their political platforms and promises and plans can’t compare with God’s. While human leaders may have some good plans, they are not all God’s plans.

In the American system, we see this. Because there are two parties, we feel we must choose between goods and evils, and then argue that our choice is, somehow, God’s choice. The truth is that while it is important for us to vote, no vote is clean. Both sides have problems.

No matter who is in power, we’ve got to be consistent with our critique of the empire, of capitalism, of oppressive systems that serve only those in power on both sides. People in power (princes) will always be about staying in power, but God’s platform is not about power. God’s platform is always about the powerless.

Let’s look at it.

God executes justice for the oppressed

God gives food to the hungry

The Lord sets the prisoners free

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down

The Lord watches over the sojourner

He takes care of the widow and the orphan

This is a list of the most vulnerable in our society, those who are the most dependent on others for survival and help. Completely at the mercy of the systems. These are the ones who are often victimized rather than saved by those in power.

Who are the oppressed?

If it wasn’t clear to us before George Floyd, our black and brown brothers and sisters have been under the boot of oppression since this country was founded. While some progress has been made, we are not that far from the failed efforts at reconstruction of the South following the Civil War.

The light is being shone upon unjust systems that continually crush the poor. What we call our ‘justice system’ is actually unjust in that it is biased toward people with power, with money, and when you look at the sentencing in the “war on drugs,” biased against African-Americans. The injustice of that system includes outrageous court debt and bail systems that victimize the poor, and keep them under the oppression of debt all their days.

He lifts up those who are bowed down. What bows you down? What bends you over because of the weight you carry with you all day long? Debt. Fear. Anxiety and depression. Trauma. Mental illness. All these things weigh us down. And we see here that God is about protecting and lifting up these vulnerable, pressed down people who live in the Struggle.

The psalmist goes on to say, in verse 9, that the Lord watches over the stranger/sojourner. Who are the sojourners? The Hebrew word is also translated as foreigner or alien. It couldn’t be more clear that it is talking about refugees and immigrants, people who are often called “illegal aliens.”

Because the foreigner would be at a natural disadvantage through not being a citizen, and vulnerable to exploitation and deportation, he becomes one of the favorites of God’s laws that gives special protection to the weak and helpless.

In Leviticus, as God is setting up laws for the establishment of the nation of Israel, God declares: "And if a foreigner comes to live with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The foreigner that lives among you shall be to you as the home-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were a foreigner in the land of Egypt" (Lev. 19:33).

In other words, the foreigner among us shall be treated as a natural-born citizen!

Verse 9 continues to highlight those vulnerable who are close to God’s heart. “He upholds the widow and the fatherless.” God has a special fondness for orphans and widows simply because they are among the most vulnerable among us. In a time when provision and protection for a family were connected to a husband and a father, being without made you especially vulnerable to oppression and set up for exploitation, because you would do anything to survive - sex trafficking and slavery. From the beginning, God called His people to take care of them.

Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

Psalm 82:3 “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.”

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

We see this in the ministry of Jesus. In Luke 7:11-15, we see Jesus raise a man from death back to life. We are told that this man is the only son of his mother, who is a widow. This means that this woman is without a husband to provide and protect, and her only son, who would have taken care of her, is now gone, as well. She is left exposed and vulnerable by his death.

Jesus’ miracle of raising anyone to life is astounding – life triumphs over death! Yet here we see the compassionate heart of God that is throughout the scriptures, caring for the widow and the vulnerable.

God loves everyone with a love beyond our comprehension, but we see throughout the bible – from the laws put in place, to the challenges of the prophets to the life and ministry of Jesus that God has a priority for the poor, the weak and the vulnerable; those from the Struggle who live with their backs against the wall.

This is the heart of God, and what followers of Jesus are called to be about. This is God’s platform. This is why we do not put our trust in princes, but our hope is in the Lord our God.

Nietzsche's 'Eternal Return' for Christians - John Ottens

A couple years ago, the night before my wedding, my best man and I chatted about theology and philosophy late into the evening, making the most of the opportunity since we see each other in person so infrequently these days.

 

There was a thought I shared with him that night which I don’t think I’ve discussed with him or anyone else, before or since. I was reminded of it this morning as I was doing a bit of reading. I’m sure the idea isn’t original to me, although in my years of studying and reading theology I can’t remember seeing it articulated in quite this way.

 

As you may have guessed from the title, I was led to this thought by trying to consider Nietzsche’s “eternal return of the same” from the standpoint of Christian faith. Part of Nietzsche’s point in that doctrine is that if every moment of your life were to repeat itself interminably, then you’d better find a way to make sure you can be proud of every moment. Is there anything comparable in the Christian imagination? I realized that there might be.

 

God is present with us in every moment of our lives, but unlike us, God doesn’t enter into those moments and then instantaneously pass through them into something else. Unlike us, God has for eternity been in every moment of our lives along with us, and will never leave those moments. That’s what it means for God to be eternal.

 

The consequence is that every time we do something good, noble, virtuous, brave, generous, beautiful, God gets to enjoy that moment with us forever. It also means that when we do something cowardly, vicious, evil, depraved, hurtful, self-centred, ugly, God is forced to witness those moments and feel them intimately, endlessly. So then here’s the really shocking thing:

 

We have the power to create the heavens and hells from which God can never escape. Indeed, we have already done so, countless times. And God has willingly handed that power over to us from before the beginning of time.

 

___

John Ottens has a Master’s degree in Theological Studies, and is a stay-at-home dad. Find him online at johnottens.ca.

Exit Polls, Evangelicalism & White Supremacy - Wayne Northey

Wayne Northey response to Robert P. Jones, "What white Christian support for Trump reveals about systemic racism," Broadview 11-12-20.

Exit polls suggest a legacy of white supremacy is still dividing the country.

Beyond tragic, this means four-fifths of American white evangelical Christians subscribe to “heresy” (an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth–Merriam-Webster). And this not limited to America! And many religious white non-evangelicals (Catholics, mainline Protestants, other faith members, etc.) also are 'heretics' in this way!

“Heresy” means in Greek (amongst variants) “a self-chosen opinion” (Strong’s). And if chosen, as with all opinions, it can be unchosen. This is what metanoia entails: “change of mind, repentance” (Strong’s).

Please see the author’s book highlighted below. Please see too my book review of Kristin Kobes du Maz’: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

CLICK HERE to continue reading Wayne's article