The Dominant Characteristic of Human Culture

Paul describes the fundamental characteristic of human culture through the Greek word "orge," which combines the elements of wrath, conflict, and violence.  Orge pervades our social, economic, and political systems, locally and globally.

Orge is manifest in the story of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well.  The woman is at the well at a time when the woman knew that no one else would be present.  She is hiding from the exclusion and marginalization of her surrounding culture.

But orge is also manifest in Jesus' earlier encounter with Nicodemus.  He is hiding too; as a member of the religious establishment, he is concerned about becoming marginalized and excluded.  The irrationality of human systems of exclusion and violence is demonstrated by the fact that they harm everyone.

Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well evidences how the Church should respond to the wrath, conflict, and violence of human culture; he bypasses it.  He simply engages the woman at the well in conversation, which violated social norms, to bring her salvation.  God's Kingdom is characterized by the absolute absence of wrath, conflict, and violence.    When this dominant element of human culture is removed, there is only God's grace and mercy.

The Purpose of Lent

Today is the first Sunday in the Season of Lent.  The purpose of Lent, on the deepest level, is self-awareness.  It is about us being aware of ourselves.  Lent precedes Easter because Easter, on the deepest level, is an awareness of who God is and what God has accomplished in Jesus.  In order for the Church to grasp the wonder of God's salvation, it must be aware of the nature of the human race that God seeks to save.

Human culture is grounded in violence, exclusion, and casting-out.  Human culture even cast out God when God was revealed on earth in Christ.  God was cast out of the inn for lack of room.  God was cast out of Israel fleeing Herod's persecution.  God was cast out from his hometown.  God was ultimately cast out of human life and crucified.

Images of God often reflect nothing more than a projection of the human propensity to cast out.  God is perceived as arbitrary and capricious, reducing religion to the process of running around trying to figure out how to appease God.  God not only does not cast out; God seeks the redemption of those who cast God out, and continues to seek re-entry into our lives when we cast out God.