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Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40 I have been led.. many times.. and recently to ponder, saturate myself in, center my being in... my love for God. I can tell you that... these promptings at first felt odd. I mean.. I love God. I pray, I read scripture... I worship most times rather enthusiastically ...joyously in and for my love of God. I've even been blessed with brief glimpses of just a sliver of the depth of God's love .. the most recent was in Togo, Africa... it was a stillness and a celebration all at the same time.. where my heart seemed to break open in tears... for the understanding that we are all united in God's love... undoes everything ... and my heart feels as if suddenly it is home.. a home that is connected to all people... and connected to all people in love... and not love as emotion.. but love as God.. "With all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind..." Sure you know this.. I knew it.. read it many times.. but I've begun to really focus my prayers and time with God on just how big this is.. what it really asks of me...
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1 You see.. I am nothing but noise if I am not first and foremost centering my life in and on my love of and for God. I can speak about scripture and not really speak well of it, I can speak about my faith.. but.. without the love of God in my being.. it's all noise. All the arguing and debate.. all the theological and doctrinal posturing.. all noise without a heart, a mind and a soul bent on God's love. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:5 Everything hinges, everything makes 'sense' based, on this command... once we are connected to God in love, mine for Him and His for me.. then I have the ability through God, the capacity from God to love others... to be obedient, to seek God's will. How can we see others clearly without first seeing God's love .. we can only love others, once we have a love for God, and know of God's love for us... If I love others as myself... and my self doesn't know God's love... I could potentially do more damage than was intended. Indeed... Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40 "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." ~ Ephesians 3:14-21 |
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Apparently, Laura, Jesus was not right.
At least according to Us -- a church within the church.
After this past Sunday... Adult Sunday School class in particular... I found myself wondering what church I had gotten myself into...
I consider myself to have been fortunate to have been brought up in a loving, church-going family. As a young person, I did not know too much about religion... probably just enough to be comfortable. The Bible. Luther's Small Catechism. Religion class -- which could have more aptly been called the history of [Luther's] Reformation -- and oddly omitted some key players like Wycliffe, Hus, Zwingli and Calvin... looking back, this was the early 60's, and it is humerous now to note the 'concern' for historical completeness, and the rewriting of history, attributed to Lenin and Stalin and Kruschev. My point is, my youth was my first serious exposure to 'right Religion', aka 'truth'.
So, there is this 'thing' called the Lutheran church -- or is it faith? -- or is it belief? Something that decades more of exposure has revealed nagging discrepencies in theology, doctrine, and practice, among its followers. And I am troubled not by the differnces -- because, all things being equal, the differences are not of God, but of man -- or so I believe. I am troubled that the differences are believed to make a difference -- any difference -- to God. If I were He, I'd be royally pissed about that. And these are just the Lutherans!
And now, we can define some labels. A conservative Lutheran is one who is always right. Righter than rain. Righter than Jesus. Oh, they wouldn't own up to it, but let's face it -- the conservative has already studied their Catechism -- Small and Large -- and the Book of Concord -- and learned the last generation of worship liturgy by rote -- and it is so. Amen. And no matter what 'flavor' of Lutheran the right-religionists allign with, their is no other! Unacceptable. A moderate Lutheran allows for some differences among Lutheran expressions of faith, and doesn't feel remorse or guilt about swithcing to or from the WES, the MS, or the ELCA. You may be a moderate if you don't know what those initials stand for. A liberal Lutheran is one who concedes that God may find acceptable other forms of religious expression. Maybe Episcopal is OK. If only the RC church would really, completely reform itself. A heretic Lutheran is someone like me who would venture any further than that.
Now, I love the Lutheran heritage and faith, its history, the core of its being -- even though I am a heretic -- because it is way cooler than praying to Saints and listening to fire and brimstone preaching. I like the Bible, I like how Luther thought it important for people to be able to read God's Word in their own language, and I like how Luther organized the Catechism as a way for parents and children to learn the basics. I like grace, and I get the 'cheap grace' message as well. I think that Lutheran 'unplugged' is as close to my idea of what Christian church could be, IF it ever were one body.
And, I love Peace Lutheran Church, precisely because sometimes it can be 'big' in the P and small in the 'el'. That's not to say wishy-washy. It is to say skeptical, questioning, learning and enthusiastic -- if not bold. I like Peace when it is close to authentic, and real, and all those 'emergent' words that really belong to truth and to God, as Jesus reclaimed them 2000 years ago, and we struggle with today. I love Peace when it reaches out and hugs someone, shows kindness, listens, and gives love freely and unconditionally. And, as a parent, i know how hard it is to do that 'unconditional' thing. But it is what God commands us, and what Jesus teaches us. Not to love sin. that's not what I am saying. But I am saying... repeating Jesus' message here... not to judge.
Alert -- we are seen as judgemental -- the church that is -- and I'd venture to say that we often feel judged at church. Not on the 'big-P' days. Hallelujah!
And I consider myself a die-hard Christian to the core. It is really hard to put yourself in these shoes, but I think I'd risk my life for the faith, as some of our friends do -- I don't know that I am so bold, as I am stubborn. I believe in Christ. I believe in the Spirit. I believe in the triune God. I believe in God as creator of the universe. I believe in Christ as our Redeeemer, in his suffering, death, resurrection, and victory! I could go on, but I think you get the picture.
I just don't believe the absolute hooey that has been added in and conjured up and interpolated or extrapolated or manipulated into what stands for the 'truth'. Sorry, but if God didn't claim it, I'm not either. And if that leaves a lot of big black holes in my understanding of God... I can live with that.
So... what started this? Well, of course, Jesus is right.
As we look at the challenges of being church, I pray that we can keep it all in context. Class last Sunday was a mix. I sensed -- and I could be wrong -- a certain amount of denial. Who doesn't feel welcome here? If they are looking for something and can't find it here, I am concerned for them. There was genuine concern -- how do we attract gobs of young adults (or, even one gob'll do) -- without changing who we are and being something else (a legitimate question)? There was that strong hint of judgemental right religion overtone -- which I gather is a reflexive reaction whenever 'change' is in the air.
I'd like it [church] to be as simple as "love". |
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Laura |
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April 08, 2008 at 6:51am |
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yes.. the class... made me feel a bit re-disilllusioned.. I was most thankful you and Kim were there. But after that.. I came home and thought a lot about God.. and this is where I ended up.. God's love. Eric.... I think it is that simple. (I say ..wincing at how idealistic that probably sounds) Granted, God's love isn't an object to be hurled or magic silencer system of erroneous thinking or hurtful behavior .. or is it? I know it stayed my words hehehe. The only thing I know for sure is of my faith in God and God's love for each of us. I don't expect our church to be filled with people that have had the same experiences as I have, or think the same way I think.. that there are 20-40 out of what... 350 people ..that are on the same part of the path with me.. is by my count a miracle and a gift.
The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith - People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
- If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
- If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
- The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
- Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
- The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
- People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
- What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
- People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
- Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
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Ken |
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April 08, 2008 at 11:57am |
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I guess I feel that we should stop trying to persuade and cajole, and just do whatever it is that the Spirit puts on our hearts. If conflict emerges from that, well... then there's something tangible to talk about. A lot of the well-intentioned discussion of mission and community engagement seems to happen in a vacuum (I include myself here, I'm not trying to criticize). If we were really out there doing community-based ministries in spades, then the homosexuality issue, for example, would inevitably end up being about actual people instead of a scripture war. My grandfather-in-law was a Baptist preacher. A church he preached at had indoor plumbing, but was sentimentally attached to a smelly, falling-apart outhouse next to the church building. He tried to get them to see that the outhouse was putting visitors off, and maintaining a reputation as a place for a few holdouts from the way the town used to be. But that didn't change anyone's thinking. So, one day, a backhoe was in use, working on regrading the property for better parking. And Bob found himself in the position of helping the driver back up... so he helped him back up right over the outhouse. As the saying goes, "better to ask for forgiveness than permission." A small aside: one thing that the community north of Barracks Road is missing - any art or music outside of the schools. In fact, there is basically nothing that is not residential or commercial. So what if we did an art gallery/coffeehous/acoustic music venue right in fellowship hall, and had a suggested donation that went to the Food Bank? We would be providing a cultural service and filling a mercy/justice need simultaneously, and we would be doing something to be known for beyond the stained-glass window. Any takers? |
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Laura |
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April 08, 2008 at 9:47pm |
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| Tangibility is indeed what prompted this posting. :) well spotted. The current adult ed classes gathering in the sanctuary .. discussing the Dear Church series.. to be specific. This coming Sunday will be as interesting as last's, I'm thinking. It'd be nice to have people there that can speak well to a broader understanding of God's love. (that's a direct hint/invitation, btw :) That being said... I agree with you wholeheartedly that 'doing' our faith is of the paramount, yet.. (always a yet) what we do... needs to flow from what we are... and that, in my opinion, needs to be rooted in God's love. I like the word rooted. I feel the earth.. I feel the sun.. I feel.. solid in the imagery... a tangible feeling of God's love. matching your aside... I was sitting with Ben today having lunch at quiznos and he made a comment about how if we lived in the townhouses being built there.. (on the hill) we wouldn't have to drive very much.. and I noted.. (having had English friends) there was no pub.. of course with my wine background, I imagined a wine bar.. art..poetry readings.. cool acoustic bands... art work.. sculptures.... I'm down with your idea... (I saw your face when Jane brought up Henley's food bank concert..:) |
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I guess I am a tad confused. Apparently, if its not thrust in your face it doesn't happen here. I can think of dozens of acts of kindness and thoughtful, Christlike behavior performed by members of Peace in near complete anonymity. Doing them quietly lends to an image of a do-nothing congregation which is a grossly unfair representation of Peace. The collective reality is somewhere between the best and worst of our individual attitudes and behavior. At times, I've been guilty of extolling the virtues of church and stand accused of being a cheerleader, or a fooI. At times, I've been prone to unleashing words of criticism for attitudes and behavior that look and feel wrong, and in the process, done as much harm as good. That certainly makes working in the shadows an attractive proposition, and no less powerful a witness. It is said, talk is cheap.
Were this all just an exchange of words and were we dealing with imaginary people and hypotheticals. I don't mind cajoling and persuading, if it can make a difference. There's the rub -- sometimes, speaking out sets you up for cries of hypocrisy, even among friends. Sometimes, giving voice to concerns is shrill, irritating, upsetting. What can I say? People are messy.
This -- blogging -- does appear to have limited value -- especially as it does appear to be dialogue in a near vacuum. Maybe its just so much hi-tech therapy for a few of us. :)
At least we are no longer subject to writing things in stone -- literally. I guess that meant being careful. I don't recall much 'critical' expression being committed to stone, except possibly in epitaphs on headstones. Perhaps there is some insidious humor in the depiction of the ten don't do's as two tablets that resemble tombstones.
One mouse click and all this verbage is erased.
But... one last comment... which pertains to the homosexuality issue. There are actual people involved. Gay friends and acquaintances express feeling, at best, conditional acceptance in our faith community. For some, that's just the church meeting low expectations -- but as a friend, and as a Christian, it is darn hard for me to reconcile why any group of people should be treated by the church as gays are. Our collective behavior and condemnation of the gay lifestyle has diminished and marginalized the Gospel message, the life and teachings of Christ, in a way that horrifies me. Is it worth losing souls over -- gay and straight? This issue as a non-negotiable schism in the mainstream church closes the door to reconciliation and hardly suits God's purpose. To the extent that God's word lives and reveals his intent, I don't see how one effects change in the church except through a scriptural war -- were Christ, himself, here in the flesh to speak to the issue. In two generations, max, the issue will be moot in North America, except among the most fundamentalist denominations. At that point, I gather, we can get back to being inclusive. |
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