The Way of Jesus

The Way of Jesus Catechism Luke Kammrath Copyright © 2018 Luke Kammrath All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1987714715 CONTENTS The Story of the Way 1 The Father’s Creation 2 The Son’s Way 7 The Holy Spirit’s New Creation 12 Walking the Way 15 Baptism 16 Repentance 19 Communion 22 Liturgy for the Way 25 Morning Liturgy 26 Dinner Liturgy 27 Evening Liturgy 28 The Lord’s Day Liturgy 29 Baptism Journey Liturgy 34 Songs for the Way 35 The Gospel of the Way 59 The Way Is Born 62 The Way of Freedom 71 The Way of Trust 82 The Way of Life 93 The Way Defies Civilization 115 The Way of the Creator’s Rule 126 The Spirit Creates the Body of Christ 134 The Spirit Spreads the Way 148 The Spirit Disrupts Civilization 164 The Spirit Cannot Be Stopped 178 Maps 190 Abraham’s Journey 191 Eastern Mediterranean 192 Palestine 193 Jerusalem 194 Jerusalem Temple 195 The Story of the Way 1 The Story of the Way The Father’s Creation † Creation Versus Civilization † In the beginning, the voice of the Creator speaks into the silence. The heavens, the sea, the earth, and all plants and animals come to life. Every creature is given its proper place and role. The Creator gives the plants for food to the animals. Every habitat and relationship is built on balanced giving and receiving. The Creator, who is our Father, breathes into the earth, who is our Mother, and humans are born of spirit and soil. Humans are created to serve and care for this beautiful and wild garden planet. Humans are called to relate to each other (politics) and everything else in creation (economics) with the Creator’s own love and generosity. The Creator is pleased to live within and among his creation. The Creator joyfully provides, protects, and loves his whole creation. Heaven and earth are united as one and all creation is singing the glory of the Creator. But humans are not content to trust our heavenly Father for everything we need. Trusting in our own wisdom and smarts, humans desire to escape wilderness life. We want control. Humans want to provide for and protect ourselves. So humans start clearing land to create human-centered habitats. Farms, mines, and cities are built and food is stored up in large amounts. The Way of Civilization is born, but it comes at a great cost. Civilization is built on greedy consuming and unlimited growth that wipes out the Creator’s creation. Humans endlessly take, own, and exploit land, animals, and people. This causes destruction and death to take hold of the earth. Heartbroken, the Creator rescues all animals and the family of the last faithful human. He does this by cleansing the earth of all Civilization through a great flood. But humans do not listen to this natural disaster and instead rebuild Civilization to escape dependence on the Creator. The Creator slows and limits Civilization’s destruction by turning humans competitively against ourselves. Following this, one Civilization after another arises. Humans battle humans in an effort to rule, own, and control the creation. The whole creation is falling apart. It is waiting on the Creator to free it from the endless greed, violence, and progress of the Way of Civilization.1 1 Gen 1:1—11:9; Job 1:21; Ps 19:1-4, 96:1-13, 97:1-7, 139:1-15; Is 55:6-12; Jer 12:4-11; Hos 4:1-3; Joel 2:3; Hab 2:8-17; Sir 40:1; Rom 1:18-32, 8:19-22, 10:13-18 2 The Story of the Way † Promises to Provide † To undo Civilization, the Creator makes a promise to a childless couple living in the heart of Civilization in 2100 BC. He calls seventy-five-year-old Abraham and his infertile wife, Sarah, to leave the Way of Civilization. The Creator declares that through them he will create a new people that will help rescue the creation from its slavery to Civilization. So Abraham and Sarah trustingly journey into a wilderness land where the Creator provides for and protects them. But a food shortage scares Abraham into relying on and acquiring great wealth from Egyptian Civilization. Then, after ten years of waiting for a child, Abraham impatiently tries to control the Creator’s promise by having a child with his Egyptian servant. But the Creator rejects this human plan. After fifteen more years of waiting, the Creator finally provides a son named Isaac to Abraham’s ninety-year-old wife, Sarah. Having learned some hard lessons, Abraham is now loyal to the Creator even above his own family. Abraham trusts the Creator’s ability to provide, protect, and bring life from death. There is now hope for a new kind of people who will serve the creation and trust in the Creator’s care. Isaac follows in this faithful path as he trusts in the Creator instead of relying on Civilization during a food shortage. But Isaac’s first son, Esau, wanders from this path. Esau cares more about food security than the Creator’s promise to Abraham. Jacob, the younger son, takes Esau’s place, has twelve sons, and has his name changed to Israel, meaning “wrestles with God.” Israel’s older sons are jealous of their younger brother Joseph. Joseph is Israel’s favorite son who arrogantly claims he will rule over his family. So the brothers sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. But Joseph is able to work himself into power. Eventually Israel’s family moves to Egypt to escape a food shortage and receive provision and protection from Joseph. Their worry over food and the future leads them to trust Civilization’s large storehouses of food. As Israel’s twelve sons grow into twelve tribes, they comfortably settle in Egypt under Civilization’s promise of safety and security.2 † Into the Wilderness † Trusting the Way of Civilization to provide and protect turns the people of Israel into slaves for hundreds of years. Having never forgotten them, the wild and uncontrollable Creator steps in to help. Out in the wilderness, the Creator calls eighty-year-old Moses to lead the twelve tribes of Israel out of slavery in Civilization. In response, the Egyptian Emperor distracts the people from listening to the Creator by keeping them endlessly busy and productive. But in 1450 BC, Egypt’s continued abuse of the creation backfires. Ten destructive plagues and natural disasters from the Creator fall upon their Civilization. These plagues “pass over” the people of Israel and allow Moses to lead them out of Civilization after 430 years of slavery to its Way. But the Egyptian Emperor chases down the people. Stuck between the Egyptian army and an uncrossable sea, the people of Israel are angry and scared. Moses 2 Gen 11:29—13:2, 15:1-7, 16:1—17:22, 21:1-7, 22:1-18, 25:19—26:5, 28:10-22, 32:22-32, 35:22-26, 37:1-36, 41:39—42:3, 45:4-28, 47:11-31, 50:12-26 3 The Story of the Way assures them that the Creator will fight for them. They need to stop worrying and patiently trust in the Creator to provide and protect. Suddenly, a great wind miraculously spreads apart the sea. The people enter the safety of the wilderness, leaving Civilization behind. But once they are in the wilderness, the people struggle with being free. They want to return to Civilization’s comforts. The Creator patiently cleanses them of Civilization’s Way for forty years. During this time they painfully learn how to rely on the Creator alone as ruler. They learn how to trust him for their daily needs one day at a time. Yet out of fear, the people refuse to listen directly to the Creator. So Moses becomes the interpreter of the Creator’s law, which is meant to limit the people’s violence and greed. Moses teaches them to practice sacrifice—letting go and giving back the best to the Creator and his creation. They also learn to practice Sabbath—stopping the busy pursuits of Civilization’s Way to be in harmony with people, animals, and land. There is now hope that the creation will be healed through these people who are being trained in the wilderness ways of self-restraint, love, and freedom.3 † Return to Civilization † As the twelve tribes of Israel leave the wilderness, their daily trust and reliance on the Creator disappears. Their addiction to the Way of Civilization returns. Instead of listening directly to the Creator, the people listen to the voices of Moses and his followers. Moses had tried to contain the Creator in a tent and had twisted the Creator’s commands. These voices lead the people into continual violence with their neighbors. Eventually they demand a human ruler who will take them into battle. To teach them a lesson, the Creator allows them to choose a human as their ruler. The Creator knows this will only lead them further into slavery to the Way of Civilization. In 1010 BC, the Creator chooses their second ruler, a humble and lowly sheepherder named David. He does this to show the people that even the ideal person will fail when taking power. The real problem is not the leader, but the Way of Civilization that takes control of the human heart. As expected, the power and wealth of Civilization change David’s good heart and he becomes a greedy and violent man.

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