The Ubiquitous Other

by Brad Duncan

Pure, unstained religion, according to God our Father, is to take care of orphans and widows when they suffer and to remain uncorrupted by this world. (James 1:27, God’s Word)

There is a group of people that have a background role in the gospels and epistles, a group of people we can call "the ubiquitous other."  They are everywhere.  They are the common man.  

They are the widows and orphans.  They are the brother or sister that is naked or hungry.  They are the least of these.  They are the world.  They are the context in which we live our lives.  

The ubiquitous other, according to the book of James, is the recipient of the kindness of believers showing the true colors of their faith, and showing pure unstained religion.

The ubiquitous other, in Matthew 25:31-46 (the parable of the sheep and goats), is the "least of these", the seemingly unimportant, the hungry, thirsty, homeless and naked. They are background to Jesus's parable about how having faith is pretty much meaningless if it doesn't cause us to care when we see someone in need.

The ubiquitous other also appears in the beatitudes. He/she is the poor, the hungry, the crying, the oppressed. The poetic imagery in the beatitudes describes both a physical and a spiritual need, describing those that need compassion from us and those that are aware of their spiritual poverty and need for God.

In the Lord’s prayer the ubiquitous other is behind the scenes.  The other should be forgiven.  He/she should receive daily bread.  As God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven, the other should see God's kingdom. He/she should experience compassion as believers help to fulfill God's desire to bring daily bread to the entire world.  God doesn't work solo!  Where's the daily bread going to come from?

The ubiquitous other is the ever-present object in I Corinthians 13, the treatise on love (charity, unconditional love) written by Paul.  To love requires an object of love. Who should believers love? Who does God love?  The recipient is once again the seemingly unimportant, the undeserving, the one needing love, the one of unknown faith. If the love in I Corinthians 13 is reserved for the lovely, its significance is reduced. When applied to the ubiquitous other, this type of love is unconditional and beautiful.  It defines the life of transformed believers.

In the most famous passage in scripture, John 3:16, the concept of the needy other is represented with the word “the world”. God loved “the world”, mankind, who is desperately in need of God’s love. God loved and loves those that love him back as well as those that do not. He shines his light equally on the good and evil.  He loves us actively and preemptively (loving us first, before we have any chance to deserve it).  Our faith, our understanding of God, is possible because of this love.  

In Luke 4, the quotation from Isaiah 61 reveals the ubiquitous other as a captive needing liberation, as a poor or blind person needing the Messiah to rescue him. The ministry of Jesus starting in Luke 4 was an active demonstration of this role of the Messiah, and he healed countless needy people, forgiving their sins, and proclaiming that he was there to bring them the good news from God.  The ubiquitous other was the context of his ministry, forming the crowds that gathered around him.

Did these poor and needy recipients of the favor of Jesus have a measure of faith that merited this favor? Did they do good works that deserved reward? Did Jesus always and only heal those that had sufficient faith? Actually, the faith of the crowds of people is not mentioned as a positive attribute. In Luke 7, Jesus says to the crowd that a Roman centurion has more faith than he has found “in all of Israel.” Certainly Jesus did not base his outpouring of love and acts of liberation on the faith of the needy in Israel.

Finally, who are the “others” that are the recipients of love in the Greatest Commandment to 

"love God, love others" (Matthew 22:36-40, Luke 10:25-37)? Jesus says to love your neighbor as you love yourself.  He demonstrates this concept in the parable of the good Samaritan.

And who are the recipients of the good news in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)?  The people who will be found throughout the world that will hear the good news, be baptized and become disciples?

The ubiquitous other. The one who needs God. The one who receives love from believers, the one who hears the good news. As the angels declared, in Luke 2:10, this good news is “wonderful, joyous news for all people.” All people, lovely and unlovely. Those with great needs.  Those with great potential.  In other words, all of us.

An Easter Reflection

by Brad Duncan

As I reflect on what Jesus did in his ministry on Earth and with his death on the cross, I can't help but see human nature through God's eyes.  At the same time I see God's nature through Jesus.

God, who sent his Son to be human, so he could in turn show us what the Father is like.
God whose plan from the beginning of time was to establish something good on Earth, where his creation would participate in a kingdom of his design.
God made something good when he designed us.
Jesus came to us and showed us good.
The Holy Spirit continues to be the force of good in the world, working among us and bringing about God's good intentions.

Take a look at this table: it lists some of the things that Jesus did in Luke chapters 4-7.  It challenges us to consider what these choices and actions shows us about God's nature.  As Jesus reflected God's nature, why did he do these things. what do they show us about God's nature?  Then it challenges us to consider what we should do to follow Jesus as we continue what he started through the help of the Holy Spirit.

	The Good News of the Incarnation and God’s Kingdom
God the Father: What does this show us about God’s nature and God’s view of human nature?	Jesus the Incarnation of God: What Did Jesus Do?	The Holy Spirit: What should we do with the help of the Holy Spirit as part of God’s kingdom?
	Brought good news to the poor, released the captives, healed the blind, liberated the oppressed,  proclaimed God’s favor (Luke 4:18,19, 6:20,21)
	Forgave sins, healed the sick, was compassionate and taught us compassion (Luke 5:17-26,6:36)
	Accepted the rejected, called them to follow him, led people to change their hearts and lives (Luke 5:27-31)
	Valued doing good over following traditions and rules, resisted the religious establishment (Luke 6:6-11,39-48)
	Loved his enemies, always resisted peacefully, taught that God blesses both the good and evil with kindness, taught us to do the same (Luke 6:27-35)
	Withheld judgment of sinners, outcasts and outsiders, taught us not to judge others, taught us to be generous and gracious (Luke 6:37-38, 7:36-50)

So why do I see human nature in the Incarnation?  Well we were created in God's image.  But we can't see God to know what he's like.  Instead we can see Jesus, who shows us God.  He's like a mirror of what human nature can be on its best day: forgiving, compassionate, accepting, able to resist favoritism and prejudices, kind to enemies, generous, gracious, and firmly standing for justice!

Forward Progress 2: God's Will and Purpose

Forward Progress: 

Lessons and Trends in Progressive Christian Faith

by Brad Duncan

A 6-part series on the church, faith and theology,

and how they can move forward into the next generation. 

God's Will and Purpose

There's something wrong with our religion when it leads us to try to please God instead of relate with him.

As Christians, we're all trying to do the right thing.  We're trying to believe the right thing, do God's will, give him the credit for all good gifts, honor him as holy, and sing his praises.  From a very early age I learned that the most important thing in life was to please God and do his will.  I can't knock us Christians for our good intentions :) in this regard.

So I want to challenge us on this from two directions, two ways to view the same thing.  From one side, I would ask if all of this trying to do the right thing, is really, ... the right thing?  Does God want our sacrifices, actions, songs, beliefs that are pointed in the direction of pleasing him?  Is there anything that God wants us to do? Any instructions, any right worship?  Any right individual purpose?  On the other hand, from the other side I would ask if we could describe what God really desires?  What is God really interested in, what are his passions, what are his intentions?  If we could find those, maybe we could do "his will" best by getting doing what he cares about the most.

Reflecting on the first point, is God pleased by our focus on serving him, whether through individual disciplines, worship or religious practices?  The Christian routine is to gather every week for worship in an effort to bring our collective focus on God through various acts like singing, praying, reading the Bible.  We practice and talk about traditions.  We practice our arts: orchestral, vocal, guitar riffs, PowerPoint slides, light shows, sermons, prayers.  We talk about how good it is to be in God's house and do something great that will shine our light brightly in the world by worshiping our God.  We talk about how each person can take that same "church moment" and live it all week long to be a light in the world.  The we invest a little time in shaking hands with some people, maybe having a cup of coffee.  We take an offering and use the money for good works, and to keep the lights on.

Of course I'm speaking broadly and your church may have a more people-focus than what I am describing, but can our churches answer "yes" to any of these questions: