Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Getting All the Evidence: The “Gnostic Gospels”

Reverend John Beverley Butcher
January 14, 2007
Palo Alto, CA

We Unitarian Universalists do not have a Creed, but we do have Principles and A Living Tradition which draws from many sources including “Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.”

So what about this problematic word, “Christian”? I can easily say, “I am a Unitarian-Universalist,” and “I am an Episcopal Priest” because I happen to be Bi-ecclesial. But can I say, “I am a Christian?” That is very, very difficult for me; I have to ask, “What do you mean by the word ‘Christian’?” and get into a discussion first.

Look at the bloody history of the church since it was taken over by Constantine and the Roman Empire: you know the story:

Constantine has a perverted vision of the cross with the message, “In hoc signes vinces” which means, “In this sign you will conquer!” All he has to do is to take the cross, turn it upside down, sharpen the point and he has a sword to wield with the authority of God and Empire.

Once Christianity enters into an unholy marriage with Empire, the persecution of non-Christians begins and is even extended to the persecution of other Christians who are being labeled as “heretics.”

Later on in history Crusaders ride into Jerusalem killing everyone, Jews, Muslims, anyone in their way. Still later on the Inquisition hunts down and burns heretics and witches at the stake.

Even the protestant reformers like John Calvin take their version of the truth to the level of enforcement by burning people at the stake; among their victims is Michael Servetus who is sometimes known as the First Unitarian.

Trace history to the new world and you have the Spanish Conquistadors wielding the sword and the cross against native peoples giving them the choice to believe or die. And if they believe, they become slaves to serve the invaders and build the missions.

Anti-semitism raises its ugly head again in the twentieth century and we have the Holocaust in Germany with many Christians taking part or remaining silent, all but a minority who spoke out against the atrocities or worked to save the lives of Jews.

In the present day we have apocalyptic Christians supporting wars in the Middle East saying that these are prophesied as preparations for the Coming of a Victorious Christ. Furthermore, there is no need to be concerned about global warming or ecology as the Earth itself is doomed for destruction.

I could go on, but you already understand all this and more! And with this bloody history, why would anyone with any conscience want to be part of Christianity?

I might throw in the towel myself except for one man and his partner whose shared life and teachings I find at the heart and soul of my own life.

And so I can say with heart and conviction, “I am a student of Jesus of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala.”

I grew up with the Kings James translation of the Bible being called “the word of God.” But since then I have discovered that the Bible and Sacred Scripture are not identical.

The word, “Bible” means “Library.” So am I going to say that “I believe in the Library”? There are some books in that library that are helpful and others that deserve to have the Surgeon General’s warning on them: “This material when ingested can be harmful to your health.”

There is sacred scripture outside the Bible. In addition to being a student of Jesus of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala, I am a student of Lao Tzu of China. Most mornings I start my day by going into my study, lighting a chalice, (I learned about chalice lighting right here at UU), and chanting one or two of the chapters from the Tao te Ching.

Then I read from another sacred writing; right now I am having a great time with Philo of Alexandria, a Jewish teacher and contemporary of Jesus and Mary.

I always read from a Gospel, not just Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John in the conventional New Testament, but the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary of Magdala, and the Gospel of Philip.

One thing is very clear to me: the canon of holy scripture does not contain all the holy writings. The canon has been exploded. It is time to go on a search for other holy writings.

Suppose were to take the scientific approach and gather all the data available. We would find that with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Scriptures and other exciting documents, we have a gold mine of wisdom teachings to explore.

And, as in any gold mine, once the ore is mined, it must be smelted down to extract the best minerals and dump the slag. And how do you decide which is which?

It takes some work: For those who want the easy way out, they simply follow what the preacher says or the church says or someone’s interpretation of what the Bible says.

But those who care enough to engage in what our UU principles call “A free and responsible search for truth and meaning” will choose to put our energy into the task.

In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus says, “Seek and do not stop seeking until you find. And when you find you will be disturbed. Then you will be amazed and reign over all; and then you will rest.”

If you have ever done any seeking and have found something significant, like a new idea or a new person in your life, then you know the results: it can be troubling: your time, your energies, your priorities are all rearranged!

Then you may be amazed at what has happened: then you may reign over all: in other words, you gain a new perspective. And then, you may rest: that’s not just relaxing: it means resting in this new idea, this new relationship, this new way of living, or whatever it may be.

Before long it will be time to start seeking again! Life is composed of repeating cycles of seeking, finding, being disturbed, becoming amazed, reigning over all, and resting. And we can help one another in our cycles of searching: Our Adult Religious Education Committee offers a variety of opportunities throughout the year.

For example, right now the course, “From Jesus to Constantine” is being offered on Sunday evening during January and February.

During March and April I am offering a seminar on the so-called “Gnostic Gospels.” That term is a problematic label, but in common usage now it refers to all the Gospels beyond the four in the conventional New Testament.

In this seminar we plan to get into the texts themselves and see how these long hidden teachings might touch our lives. Open up Thomas, open up the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary of Magdala and open up the Gospel of Philip, and open up ourselves and it can be quite amazing what we discover!

Let’s get behind the religion about Jesus and look for the religion of Jesus who lived in the context of the brutal Roman Empire that was conquering and occupying other countries in order to extract resources, get cheap labor and enforce their power and greed with torture and death. How was he able to deal with the Empire of his time? How did he get the courage to empower himself and other people nonviolently?

There is one significant difference between Jesus context and ours: he was among the oppressed; we are among the oppressors. Although that distinction is fading as our own government increases its surveillance of us and continues expanding the prison industrial complex and Homeland Security builds detention centers, each housing 5,000 people. I am tired of my friends and friends of friends being deported.

When will we take back our country from the Empire Builders who are attempting to control all of Earth and dominate Space as well? Our own Declaration of Independence reminds us “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government …”

In 1776 we took up arms against King George. Shall we do it again with this George who acts like a King and calls himself “The decider”? Or is there a better, nonviolent Way?

Perhaps it is time for another American revolution, but one that is non-violent this time. Most of you know that in addition to being a member of UU here, I was elected as one of the ministers of Pescadero Community Church where Mark Binion, our music director, has written a song calling for a Revolution, a Revolution of Love and Compassion!

It is my own conviction that Jesus of Nazareth and his Partner, Mary of Magdala and Lao Tzu of China give us Wisdom teachings to live by:

For example, Jesus says, “As you know, we once were told, ‘You are to love your neighbor’ and ‘You are to hate your enemy.’ but I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors.” ¹

Jesus gives us principles like these to live by and in addition he provides us with an understanding of the dynamics behind our behavior, often by raising profound questions like, “Why do you see the speck in your friend’s eye but do not see the timber in your own eye?”

Think about it: why do we see someone else as enemy? Why, indeed, do we then put so much money, manpower and weapons of mass destruction into killing and destroying our perceived enemies?

After raising this question about why we see the speck in another’s eye and not the log in our own, Jesus goes on to say, “When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the speck from your friend’s eye.”

Jesus is well aware of the process we now call “projection” in which we see and condemn in others those things which we are unwilling or unable to see in ourselves.

And who is this Jesus, really? Some call Jesus their “Lord and their Savior.” But nowhere in the records does Jesus refer to himself as either a lord or a savior. So if you balk at placing these identities on him, you are in good company! Jesus agrees with you.

Look at all the evidence in all the Gospels, study carefully what Jesus has to say, and you will not find him anywhere saying that he will solve all your problems for you. Instead, Jesus is showing us how to be empowered by the same Energy that empowered him so that we can face life realistically, creatively, and nonviolently.

Look carefully at all the evidence and you will see that Jesus does not promise anyone heaven or hell when they die. As a matter of fact, he focuses attention on the here and now, saying, “The kingdom of God, (that is, the Way of the TAO), is within you.”

Jesus not preach about life after death.

He teaches about life after birth.

So often human beings would like to have a savior come and save them from the mess we have made of things. Some actually expect Jesus to return, take charge, and triumph over all that is evil!

How easy it is to create illusions like this! It is so convenient to give up on our responsibilities and have a divine savior do it all for us. Whenever that happens, then perhaps Karl Marx is right when he says that “religion is the opiate of the masses.”

But just when we are about ready to chuck all of religion, Jesus of Nazareth stands there and says, so succinctly, “You are the light of the world …” “You are the salt of the Earth …” If that is true, then how in the world are we going to be light and salt? Perhaps we get in touch with the same compassionate heart and energizing Spirit that lives in Jesus and allow it to come alive within and among us.

Mary of Magdala, the companion of Jesus who is a teacher in her own right says, “The seed of true humanity is within you. Follow it. Those who search for it will find it.” ²

Once again: there is vitality in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary of Magdala, and Lao Tzu of China.

When taken seriously, their Wisdom teachings can have a profound effect not only on individuals but on social movements.

Mahatma Gandhi, a devout Hindu, studied the teachings of Jesus that helped him shape his own teachings and practice of nonviolence. Likewise, Dr. Martin Luther King, inspired by the Exodus liberation story and the sermon on the mount came to the forefront of the civil rights movement and the resistance to the U.S. war on Vietnam.

So here we are having to deal with same issues of poverty, racism, detentions, deportations, torture, and war. Immense cruelty and insane destruction of people and environment, all paid for by our taxes. And now a further escalation of the War on Iraq as over 100,000 Iraqis a month flee their country. Do we persist until everyone is either dead or gone?

Follow the money: who profits? Among the War Profiteers are Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackhawk, Titan and the defense contractors whose tentacles reach everywhere including our own Silicon Vallay. We need to engage in a commitment to Peace Conversion where the brains, education, and expertise of engineers and other high tech people are shifted away from building more weapons of mass destruction into peaceful purposes: revive the Peace Conversion Project that was active here on the Peninsula during the U.S. War on VietNam.

Last year I was preaching about the war profiteers in a church in San Raphael and after the service a man said to me, “I work for Bechtel; I’ll pass the word along.” I’m not sure if he was serious or sarcastic, but his tone was gentle. And this I know: we need people inside these systems and corporations to work for re-direction of corporate policies and resources. A very large order, I realize.

Those of us outside those systems also have responsibilities. On December 7th, my Bishop, Marc Andrus, invited the clergy of the Diocese of California to join him at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and walk down to the Federal Building for a Eucharist of Remembrance for all the Dead of the U.S. War on Iraq. Over two hundred responded and joined him.

Instead of the usual Chalices and pattens, Army mess kits were used to hold the bread and wine. Immedioately after receiving his communion, Bishop Marc laid down on the ground for a “Die In” and a number of us joined him. Homeland Security police arrested my bishop and me and ten others. We learned later that they stopped at a dozen because of all the paperwork involved — which I find rather amusing.

So we were released and given the choice of going to court or paying a $100 fine plus a $25.00 processing fee. Collection of fines has been privatized so the $25 goes to the company in Atlanta, Georgia. Bishop Marc and I chose to pay the fines: others are awaiting to go to court. I have been arrested for peace actions many times, but this is the first time to be arrested with my bishop: we are in solidarity and that feels very, very good!

Last Wednesday Mr. Bush spoke and we listened to him. Last Thursday over 200 people came together with Peninsula Peace and Justice on the corner of Embarcadero and El Camino Real for a rally. Many hundreds of drivers in cars passed by with horns honking and thumbs up expressing their agreement with out stand for No more War! The driver of a large cement mixing truck blew his airhorns and everyone cheered! We need to keep at it as long as it takes.

Call me naive if you like, but according to our Constitution, We, the people, are the Deciders. We elect and instruct our Representatives and Senators in Congress.

Suppose we were to tell them:
No more money for War on Iraq or any of the other CIA wars in the Philippines and oppression in Oaxaca, Mexico.
No more money for our Torture Training camps in Ft. Benning, Georgia.
No more money for walls: between the United States and Mexico and between Israel and Palestine.

Suppose we were to take President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address seriously, “that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

So how do we gain and maintain the courage to continue to deal with the issues? How do we maintain a degree of sanity and join with others in making a non violent response to the U.S. War on Iraq and all the other atrocities of institutionalized violence?

Perhaps we can discover and live from the same true humanity that is so clearly evident in Jesus and Mary and all who live in their Spirit.

“Am I Christian?” My answer sticks in my mouth, but this I know and say freely: “I am a student of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary of Magdala, and Lao Tzu of China.” My heroes include Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Desmund Tutu, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, Wangari Maathai, Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin and Katie Miranda, a young woman from this congregation with great courage working in the West Bank, and all of you who are doing your part!

 

Reflection: Not a Christian? by Phyllis Cassel

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