To My Fellow Travelers
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I am feeling the need to share with you my current place of contemplation, in that hopes that you will be able to share some insights. Thank you in advance for your prayerful response.
I read of declining numbers and diminishing effectiveness of our current Church,and I see many of us concerned by that and eager to have a positive impact not only for our own sake but the future of the faith. Yet, I see little desire to sit together in community, discerning where the Spirit is at work. I hear a lot of discussion about the means of grace, and the importance of developing a strong relationship with God, and our neighbor, yet we spend a lot of time in debate and discussion, confusion and frustration. We say this is God's Church, the Bride of Christ, yet we seem to be spending all of our energies trying to figure out how we can improve it for the current reality without asking God how to do that. Do we believe that God started the Church through Jesus and then left it in our hands? Can anyone help me with this?
We are fighting again over emotional issues, both sides with an agenda that we say represents God's truth. There are some who say there is no truth, all of life is situational. Certainly this attitude allows for all the conflict, yet is inconsistent with Jesus' teaching. The word in John 14:6 for truth is aletheia which is defined according to Strongs as: truth, but not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness. If Strongs is right, and John was right, and Jesus is right, then there is truth, and Jesus is it. Jesus as fully God and fully man. Jesus in the quiet moments of teaching and in the violent moments of temple clearing. Jesus warmly welcoming the children, and sadly letting a 'rich, young, ruler' make his own choice. Jesus who washed his disciples feet, and rebuked inappropriate behavior. Jesus who came to fulfill the law, not destroy it. Jesus who said if we even so much as call our brother a fool we are in peril of eternal death, and told us to forgive 7 x 77. Jesus who is not God 5.0 but God who was, is and is to come. This Jesus is Truth. We cannot claim our own preferences as truth, our own desires as holy, our own attitudes as righteous. We can only claim that we have been grafted into a productive vine and our chief responsibility seems to be Jesus for the world today by abiding in him continuously. Yet, we call each other names, we assume we are righteous and therefore holy. Can anyone help me with this?
At some point along my particular journey, I realized that while spending eternity with God in heaven sounds lovely, living each day in God's Kingdom is my current opportunity for transformation. The day to day presence of God in the glorious light of the Holy Spirit is what gives the greatest joy, the powerful peace, the inner hunger for more and more. It is the comfort and challenge in community to stand together in the midst of drama, trauma. celebration and tragedy. The life lived among fellow travelers who are on the way home, it is the real genuine life that makes eternal life a natural transition. It is God incarnate, who is transforming my mind, transforming my heart, transforming my vision so that this life becomes a life that not only matters, it faithfully is God's Kingdom come, God's will done. Jesus is the past, present, future life in our midst, in the desert mothers and fathers lives, in the future pilgrims who have not yet become. Jesus' life is the triumph that makes death simply another transformation. Yet, we seem to be acting as though this current state of confusion in the Church will stamp out a faith that existed long before we had as many denominations as we do flavor choices at Baskin Robbins. Can anyone help me with that?
I believe Jesus. I believe in Jesus. I believe that God who is defined in relationship wants me to be equally so. I believe that the messy frustrations of dealing with conflict, confusion, attitudes, egos, issues, drama, trauma, celebration and tragedy is essential. I just don't know why we have to do it with so many sharp edges. Why couldn't the love be so strong that we could look at one another with the curiosity of a toddler who picks things up and says, "Gramma Sue, what is that?" instead of the horror of an adult yelling "Don't touch that, it's gross!"? Why, my brothers and sisters, must we demean that which we cannot understand and somehow feel diminished by? Why oh why oh why can't we all stand with the saint of all time saying the pledge like we might at AA,"Hi. I am Sue and I am a sinner saved by grace".
With the hope of a better conversation,
Your sister in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment