Wednesday Musings

[repost from Wednesday, March 28, 2007]

Good Morning Lenten Trekkers,

As we get closer and closer to Jerusalem and Jesus’ entry into that bustling and exciting city where millions are assembling for the celebration of Passover, I can’t help but continue thinking about what manner of man this Jesus was. Soon we will celebrate God’s miracle of Christ’s resurrection when our thoughts are perhaps more focused on the divinity of Jesus rather than his humanity. On a day to day basis though, I certainly find it so much easier to personally relate to Jesus’ humanity than to his divinity.

Barbara Brown Taylor, in her most recent book, Leaving Church, recalls meeting a former church member in the city where he and his family moved so that he could accept a new job. After catching up on each other’s lives she asked him where he was going to church. To which he quickly replied, “No where.” His life was full. His work was valuable. He spent time with people of other faiths and no faith at all, who gave him ample opportunity to practice his own faith.

He went on to add, “After a lot of listening, I think I finally heard the gospel…”You have everything you need to be human. There is nothing outside of you that you still need…no approval from the authorities, not attendance at temple, no key truth hidden in the 10th chapter of some sacred book. In your life right now, God has given you everything you need to be human…” (pg.219)

I’m certain that thoughts and ideas similar to these are repeated hundreds of times over in the lives of the 40-60% of those who are no longer or ever have been connected to a community of faith. I can’t disagree with the idea that God has given us everything we need to be human…but for me it doesn’t stop there. I believe we are called to be in relationship with God, to enjoy God forever and to be in relationship with one another. This is what it means for us to be human. This is what it means for God to be God.

And I take all this one step further…I also believe that the way we are in relationship with God and others is to be in community with both, as the Church. But obviously there are a whole host of folks out there who have found community in so many places other than the Church that satisfy their longings. All of this begs the question: Where has the Church gone wrong? Is the way we do church become all that irrelevant? Is the way we do church broken in so many ways? Broken beyond repair? (I hope not). I think we would greatly benefit from pondering these questions for quite some time to come.

If the need for a community of faith, the need for Church has indeed become all that irrelevant; if the way we do Church…the way we practice our faith is broken in so many ways, are we in need of a human means of life-support or is it time to focus on new life, God’s power of resurrection? What do we need to do to rise from brokenness and to steer clear of irrelevance? Taylor reminds us…”All the church has ever needed to rise from the dead is memory, bread, wine and Holy Spirit—that and care for the world that is at least equal to its care for its own preservation. Where church growth has eclipsed church depth, it is possible to hear very little about the world…”

We must continue to make our way through better understanding of not only what it means for Jesus to be human and divine; but also what it means for you and me to be human as we live and move and have our being in relationship with the power and presence of the Divine…I’ve heard there’s a community of faith called Covenant who seeks to be relevant to your life; who proclaims God’s revelation in Jesus Christ; who takes the brokenness of life and makes it whole…Come and see what God is doing…and bring another eye-witness with you! Blessings, Joanne