2 Lent 2016 (Year
C)
What if we’re going about this
whole thing the wrong way? Church, I mean…not St. John’s , in particular, but this whole way in which
Christianity is lived out and embodied in the world by the whole Church. I know
it’s a big question to ponder—maybe many of us have never asked ourselves such
a question before, or maybe never knew to ask such a question. However, given
the decline of congregations both in mainline denominations like ours, and even
the more Evangelical denominations; it makes me wonder if the way we’ve been going about all of this is just no
longer all that helpful.
I mean, there have been times and
places when the Gospel has been a force for hope, and even change. There have
even been times and places where the Gospel was dangerous—and whatever the
case, the Gospel was experienced as something that could inspire and transform.
At the same time, there are a
number of anthropologists and philosophers who say that our world culture needs
a “new mythology” which will call people to wake up and fix the problems of the
world. Apparently, the belief is that Scripture, the Gospel, are no longer in
the running for transformative…
But I suppose it’s a fair
criticism. Perhaps it could be said that the Church (the stewards of the
Gospel, stewards of God’s story), even when we’re sharing the faith with
people—there is always this undercurrent that we’re trying gain more members to
help pay the bills. And this is really the case across the board in churches.
We’ve fallen into this trap of what
and how the Church and congregations
are supposed to work. But, over time, we’ve missed that it’s kind of a pyramid
scheme to keep up an edifice and support an institution.
Ironically, we’ve even transformed ourselves
into a religion that practices in an almost contrary way to what Jesus, in the
Gospels, calls his followers to be… Many churches are content to keep our faith
and our traditions safely sheltered within church buildings. And while our
principles, and actions may be guided by our personal faith—our ability to
articulate our faith is a challenge. The social mechanisms we find ourselves in
make it either impossible to attend public worship, or even attend to our
personal worship.
What’s more, while we might even
call church “public worship,” it’s really not as if we’re doing this in public.
Sure, anyone is welcome to come to St. John’s to worship. But, assuming someone
would even happen to come at all, there is a particular culture in churches
that needs to be learned. This is to say nothing of trying to understand our
liturgies and our traditions—especially if someone were coming from a
non-liturgical, or even a non-Christian background. So, it’s a lot to expect of
people.
I think we could even say that for
decades, those of us within the Church and even this tradition, have taken it
for granted that we even understand
all that’s going on. Opportunities to learn about all of it, however, is
usually reserved for youth and children—with rare exceptions when adults
participate. But, even then, learning about most of this stuff can turn into a
bunch of dull history lessons, which in turn leave us wondering about the
relevance of any of it.
And then when you add to all of
this how some traditions withhold the mysteries of the faith, withhold the
sacraments…well, I suppose we would question the necessity. After all, if we
tell people that the love and grace of God are things that are freely given,
but the other things that God gives us as signs of that love and grace…are we
saying the sacraments are more sacred than Jesus? Maybe we wouldn’t say it because it’s a silly thing to
say, but the actions of some churches sure seem to express it.
So, maybe liturgy, a word which literally meant “public service,” or “public
ceremony” isn’t the right term anymore. Instead, if our worship is all for a
select group of the “initiated” who aren’t encouraged to understand our
practices—and outsiders are not encouraged to join us, or understand any of it
either; well, I believe that anthropologists have defined this as magic.
I hope that’s not where we’re at in
the Church. But as long as we continue to perpetuate a model for being God’s
People which breeds complacency and entitlement; a time will certainly come
when we can’t even pay the bills, and the pyramid scheme fails.
But, the truth is this is nothing
really new for the People of God.
After all, we see in the Gospels regularly where Israel holds on to this belief
that they are exclusively God’s People. As descendants of Abraham, they
believed their inheritance entitled them to always be the people God would use
and deliver whatever the circumstance. And while this was true, they (like
Abraham) had certain responsibilities to their relationship with God, and one
another besides…
Simply put, the summary of the Law:
Love God, Love your neighbor, was always at the core of their identity as God’s
People. And with Jesus, and the prophets who came before him, the message has
continually been that faithfulness to God is a matter of loving well. So,
regardless of the Temple, regardless of the religious laws, regardless of the
economy of priestly sacrifice—the things that Jesus said were integral to being
God’s people were Loving God and Loving our neighbor.
What’s more, Jesus makes it clear
that anybody can do this—and if
Israel wouldn’t do it, God would find others who would do it. Because this work
of redemption that God is working through Jesus is too important to be left to
the devices of people who take it for granted. And so, this is the reason we’re
all here—because God has drawn the circle wider to include people who are not “children of Abraham” to continue
the work that God has begun.
But, there is still a caution for
us as well. Because as St. Paul explains to the Romans that we have been
“grafted in” to the family tree of Israel—we have to remember that this is
likewise not an excuse for entitlement. He says if a branch can removed from
the tree to make room for a foreign branch to be added, keep in mind that the
original branch can just as easily be put right back again… The point is, we
cannot take for granted that we’re invited to be People of God because God allows
it.
So, considering the question of
whether we’re going about the Church thing all wrong—if nothing else, we can at
least say it isn’t new territory for God’s People. But that’s to say, it
remains an important question. And while I’d imagine that some of you have as
many ideas for change as I do, I have to admit that I don’t have an answer for
how get it all right…
But, perhaps this isn’t the
point—maybe just trying to get more of it right over time counts for something.
And yet, I would still say that we have the responsibility to in the meantime
to do our best to live and do our faith well. There any number of ways and
places to do altruistic works, and even counterfeit religious experience in the
world. So, claiming a true faith and only doing it part-way seems
irresponsible.
I also think the Church might do
well to take a more critical look at ourselves from an outside perspective. We
need to really think about whether this business of church being a kind of
industry for faith and morality—rather than a transformative outpost for God’s
love and mission. We also need to quit pretending that we’re somehow entitled
to all of this—that somehow because we show up once-in-a-while, and give money
that we’re somehow promised a soft place to land—a soft place that fits all of
our expectations, besides.
The point is, if the Church is not
continually being built-up, it’s falling down; it’s unraveling itself. Now, I
don’t believe there is ever the threat that the Church will die. However, this
illusion of what the Church is now probably needs to die. Because it seems to
me that this “institution” that is so unwieldy, and yet we’ve been dragging it
along behind us for decades, doesn’t work well anymore. And while I don’t know
what a different Church would look like, I can at least say that I know what
People of God doing Kingdom work looks like…and that is what we’re called to
be.
Jesus says in our Gospel reading,
in spite of the threat of Herod having him killed, that he would be out there
today, tomorrow and the next day doing the work of the Father who sent him.
Certainly we know that he’ll always be doing that work—whether the People of
God (Israel), or the People of God (the Church) are part of it or not. God will
always find the willing people to do the work of the Kingdom. I know I’d like
to be part of that work, myself—and I know there are others here who are of the
same mind. But, there remains a significant part of me that still wonders
whether or not this idea of what the Church is
now, and what we believe it to be isn’t the very idol that keeps us from doing
the work of God. If that is the case, perhaps the best place to start for all
of us is by learning again and again how to Love God and Love our neighbors.
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