I am writing this as I am waiting to perform a wedding. As I am reflecting on the couple that I will be marrying, I can't but help think about how often this particular passage is used for the wedding ceremony. The couple that I am marrying have chosen this passage and through the counseling with them it is pertinent to their relationship. We often have difficulty focusing on what is love not only in the marital relationship but what is love for our community of faith and even for our society.
Often love can become a commodity. I will love if...fill in the blanks. Or I will be loved if ... fill in the blanks. As a therapist I could not count on both my hands, my feet, and the hands and feet of at least 20 other persons the number of times I heard that I no longer love so and so or I have fallen out of love with so and so. When I would probe, often the statement was that the feeling was no longer there as if there is any feeling that can be maintained over time. So the idea that love is a feeling creates for me a major concern. As a therapist and certainly as a pastor, I believe that Love is a choice. It is a matter of volition not emotion. That is not to say that there is not an emotional component to the choice that we make. But it is not the major component.
Paul states that love is a variety of things that we can only do partially. Yet, when everything else fails, love succeeds. Another reflection is if love is an emotion what would it mean to say that God loves us. Is that an emotion or is it a choice like what we read in John 3:16-17 that God so loved the world that he sent his son so that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life. For God did not send his son to condemn the world but to save the world through him. God has chosen us.
So when Paul sates that love is kind, patient, does not envy, boast, does not dishonor others, not self-seeking, not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs he means that these are the choices that we can make. So when we talk of love and that God is love we need to be aware of what we are saying. When Jesus states that the greatest commandments are to love God with all that we are and to love one another, God means that every day we need to make a choice and depend on how we feel that day or how we feel toward the other person.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Reflections on Luke 4:21-30
When one reads this particular passage it is important to put the passage in context with what happened prior and even to what Luke has to say in Luke 6 when he shares the sermon on the plains. The previous passage has Jesus coming to his home town to worship in the synagogue. While there he either is chosen or chooses to read from the scroll of Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor (Luke 4:18-19.)" When Isaiah wrote these words, Judah was enslaved by Babylon. The prophet was offering a word of hope in the salvation of God to release them from their bondage.
Jesus starts the next passage with the imperative Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. This is something that did not just happen 500 years ago but is happening with Jesus and even if we take it to today even now. Wherever we look there are still people who are in bondage whether economic, social, oppression, spiritual. People are still looking for the Year of Jubilee. Certainly in Jesus' time the people were once again oppressed by Rome. So no wonder their first impression was amazement of the words of grace. I think of the first time when I realized that God so loved me that Jesus came to save me from my bondage to sin. I was amazed that God would do such a thing. Where it becomes more difficult and I am certain that it was true with the original listeners, was that this grace was for all people and creation. Maybe that is where the change of attitude came from Jesus and the people. He realized they were not getting it. It wasn't just them that he came for but for the world.
Maybe as Jesus challenged their sense of superiority that infuriated them the most. Especially with the sermon illustrations that he used to make his point. A widow who was not part of the community and a general of an enemy. In the commentary that I was reading Peter Eaton quoted Peter Gomes, "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, What is the good news about the good news", "the people take offense not so much about what Jesus claims about himself, as with the claims that he makes about a God who is more than their own tribal deity (39)."
Today maybe what is difficult about this passage as we reflect on this and especially when we look at the emphasis that Luke makes on God's promises to the marginalized, outcasts, dispossessed, and poor, it can continue to challenge our sense of who God is. Sometimes it is easy to make God my personal god without considering that God is God of all. Jesus reminds us that we are to care for those who are searching for the day of Jubilee in their lives as well as ours. That we are called now today not some day to reach out to those who are hungry and thirsty not just for food and water but also for the good news.
Jesus starts the next passage with the imperative Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. This is something that did not just happen 500 years ago but is happening with Jesus and even if we take it to today even now. Wherever we look there are still people who are in bondage whether economic, social, oppression, spiritual. People are still looking for the Year of Jubilee. Certainly in Jesus' time the people were once again oppressed by Rome. So no wonder their first impression was amazement of the words of grace. I think of the first time when I realized that God so loved me that Jesus came to save me from my bondage to sin. I was amazed that God would do such a thing. Where it becomes more difficult and I am certain that it was true with the original listeners, was that this grace was for all people and creation. Maybe that is where the change of attitude came from Jesus and the people. He realized they were not getting it. It wasn't just them that he came for but for the world.
Maybe as Jesus challenged their sense of superiority that infuriated them the most. Especially with the sermon illustrations that he used to make his point. A widow who was not part of the community and a general of an enemy. In the commentary that I was reading Peter Eaton quoted Peter Gomes, "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, What is the good news about the good news", "the people take offense not so much about what Jesus claims about himself, as with the claims that he makes about a God who is more than their own tribal deity (39)."
Today maybe what is difficult about this passage as we reflect on this and especially when we look at the emphasis that Luke makes on God's promises to the marginalized, outcasts, dispossessed, and poor, it can continue to challenge our sense of who God is. Sometimes it is easy to make God my personal god without considering that God is God of all. Jesus reminds us that we are to care for those who are searching for the day of Jubilee in their lives as well as ours. That we are called now today not some day to reach out to those who are hungry and thirsty not just for food and water but also for the good news.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Jeremiah 1:4-10
I said that I wanted to offer some reflections regarding the lectionary. To start I want to talk about the Jeremiah text. I came across this passage from Feasting on the Word by George Martin.
"Imagine Jeremiah being a candidate to be pastor of your church. If asked for his qualifications to serve as a pastor or preacher, he would say he was chosen in the womb for this opportunity. He would say that he tried as a young boy to make a career change, but that God said he would give him the words he would need, thus explaining his lack of a seminary degree. The interview ends and Jeremiah, as a pastoral candidate, would disappear. Jeremiah might be muttering on his way out the door about plucking up and pulling down, adding the message to destroy and overthrow. The search committee would be thinking that is the last thing we need to hear. They would never even hear Jeremiah talk about building up and planting. Calls from God can be scary (290, Year C vol.1)."
He goes on to state that we did not choose God but God chooses us even when we would rather not be chosen. I think about my call and how I tried to ignore it and even run away from it. One thing that I have learned about my Creator is that God never gives up. So I joke that God wore me down. Even with knowing that God did call me into being a pastor, to actually take the step was scary. It meant that I had to give up some things that I thought was what I wanted. Yet, as I answered the call and put my trust in God, I have found that my priorities changed and what I thought was so important was not really all that important.
The challenge is how has God chosen you? Are you willing to believe that God choose you while you were in the womb to do God's work and will? Accepting that you have been chosen especially for unique work whether pulling up or planting is a life changing event. No wonder whenever one encounters the Divine the first words are "Fear not."
"Imagine Jeremiah being a candidate to be pastor of your church. If asked for his qualifications to serve as a pastor or preacher, he would say he was chosen in the womb for this opportunity. He would say that he tried as a young boy to make a career change, but that God said he would give him the words he would need, thus explaining his lack of a seminary degree. The interview ends and Jeremiah, as a pastoral candidate, would disappear. Jeremiah might be muttering on his way out the door about plucking up and pulling down, adding the message to destroy and overthrow. The search committee would be thinking that is the last thing we need to hear. They would never even hear Jeremiah talk about building up and planting. Calls from God can be scary (290, Year C vol.1)."
He goes on to state that we did not choose God but God chooses us even when we would rather not be chosen. I think about my call and how I tried to ignore it and even run away from it. One thing that I have learned about my Creator is that God never gives up. So I joke that God wore me down. Even with knowing that God did call me into being a pastor, to actually take the step was scary. It meant that I had to give up some things that I thought was what I wanted. Yet, as I answered the call and put my trust in God, I have found that my priorities changed and what I thought was so important was not really all that important.
The challenge is how has God chosen you? Are you willing to believe that God choose you while you were in the womb to do God's work and will? Accepting that you have been chosen especially for unique work whether pulling up or planting is a life changing event. No wonder whenever one encounters the Divine the first words are "Fear not."
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
January 25-31st bible study
I had this thought about using some of this time to look at offering some ideas about a bible study that could be brief following the lectionary. Our leadership in the church is encouraged to do devotions based on Disciplines from the Upper Room. There is also a discussion guide that goes along with it. I want to take some of what the guide says and over the week expand on it. Even though this is Tuesday I hope to be able to start on Mondays with the scriptures to read and some reflections on those. Then during the week expand on those.
The scriptures for this week are Jeremiah 1:4-10, Psalm 71:1-6, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, and Luke 4:21-30. I would invite you to read these scriptures this week. Some questions to reflect on include from Jeremiah what is your sense of calling, mission and vocation? How have you responded to that call? The Psalm seems to be written from the standpoint of an someone being elderly and nostalgic. The question to reflect on is what pull does the way things used to be have on your life? Corinthians is a favorite passage on love often used in weddings. Yet Paul talks about some day we will see things more clearly. What do you hope to see more clearly when you come face to face? Luke points out how difficult it is to be willing to take a stand especially with people who know you.
I will discuss in more depth as we continue our journey together.
The scriptures for this week are Jeremiah 1:4-10, Psalm 71:1-6, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, and Luke 4:21-30. I would invite you to read these scriptures this week. Some questions to reflect on include from Jeremiah what is your sense of calling, mission and vocation? How have you responded to that call? The Psalm seems to be written from the standpoint of an someone being elderly and nostalgic. The question to reflect on is what pull does the way things used to be have on your life? Corinthians is a favorite passage on love often used in weddings. Yet Paul talks about some day we will see things more clearly. What do you hope to see more clearly when you come face to face? Luke points out how difficult it is to be willing to take a stand especially with people who know you.
I will discuss in more depth as we continue our journey together.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Committees
Our church just went through the process of getting our committees together to work on our ministries for the year. I am excited about what we are doing. The ideas that were generated give great hope. Now comes the part of actually doing them. I know that we have very dedicated people in our congregation who give of their time, talent, and even their treasure to support our ministries. I thank God for them. We are also looking at how we can extend an invitation to others to become part of our work.
We will be working hard this year especially to respond to the tragedy in Haiti. As always we are responding to the needs of the people there and to support the relief work in prayer and action.
I also want to copy some of the ideas that I read from Homelitics regarding committees. I know that these do not apply to us, but we all have had experiences that would speak to some of the ideas. I share them not as a commentary but as a time that we can laugh and enjoy as we go about our work.
Author and pastor Nancy Ortberg offers thoughts for building better teamwork into church teams. Drawing from Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Ortberg recognizes five unity destroyers and offers ideas to address them:
• Absence of trust: Make every ministry team a place where honesty and vulnerability are required. Open meetings with “shared life,” and then get to “shared mission” second.
• Fear of conflict: Conflict isn’t bad, but how we handle it can be. Require conflict-resolution training for every team in the church, and bring in an expert to help.
• Inability to commit: Once a team makes a decision, ask if everyone has “buy-in” and ask how each person will implement the decision. Without buy-in, a decision wasn’t actually made.
• Avoidance of accountability: If the cause we’re supporting with our gifts is worthwhile, then we should value accountability. It’s the natural result of trust and commitment.
• Inattention to results: The church body needs evaluation, just as the human body does. Did we do what God wanted us to do? If not, how do we improve for next time?
________________________________________
Oh, give me a pity, I’m on a committee,
Which means that from morning to night,
We attend and amend and contend and defend
Without a conclusion in sight.
We confer and concur, we defer and demur
And reiterate all of our thoughts.
We revise the agenda with frequent addenda
And consider a load of reports.
We compose and propose, we suppose and oppose
And the points of procedure are fun!
But though various notions are brought up as motions
There’s terribly little gets done.
We resolve and absolve, but never dissolve
Since it’s out of the question for us.
What a shattering pity to end our committee.
Where else could we make such a fuss?
—Phong Ngo. glenandpaula.com/quotes/index.php?quote_id=737&retrieve=1. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
________________________________________
When it comes to facing up to serious problems, each candidate will pledge to appoint a committee. And what is a committee? A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary. But it all sounds great in a campaign speech.
—Richard Long Harkness.
To get something done, a committee should consist of three men, two of whom are absent.
—Robert Copeland.
If you want to kill any idea in the world today, get a committee working on it.
—Charles F. Kettering.
A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours.
—Milton Berle.
A committee can make a decision that is dumber than any of its members.
—David Coblit.
To kill time, a committee meeting is the perfect weapon.
—Author unknown.
If you see a snake, just kill it — don’t appoint a committee on snakes.
—Ross Perot.
________________________________________
As winter approaches, we read all kinds of suggestions for conserving fuel and making our dwelling places warm. Here are a few pointers for keeping warm in church:
Rush to the front of the church to avoid the draft in the rear.
Invite your neighbors and friends and sit 10 people to a pew.
Seat yourself near the pulpit; much hot air is emitted from that area.
Fuss and fume when you don’t like what the preacher says.
Wear thermal underwear (in the appropriate liturgical colors).
Wait for an unfamiliar hymn, and then watch the sparks fly!
Let the Holy Spirit fill you; he will warm your heart and body.
________________________________________
A man is on a boat. He is not alone, but acts as if he were. One night, without warning, he suddenly begins to cut a hole under his seat.
The other people on the boat shout and shriek at him: “What on earth are you doing? Have you gone mad? Do you want to sink us all? Are you trying to destroy us?”
Calmly, the man answers: “I don’t understand what you want. What I’m doing is none of your business. I paid my way. I’m not cutting under your seat. Leave me alone!”
What the fanatic (and the egotist) will not accept, but what you and I cannot forget, is that all of us are in the same boat.
— Elie Wiesel, “When passion is dangerous,” Parade magazine, April 19, 1992.
________________________________________
Independence ... [is] middle-class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
— George Bernard Shaw.
________________________________________
Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.
—Virginia Burden.
We will be working hard this year especially to respond to the tragedy in Haiti. As always we are responding to the needs of the people there and to support the relief work in prayer and action.
I also want to copy some of the ideas that I read from Homelitics regarding committees. I know that these do not apply to us, but we all have had experiences that would speak to some of the ideas. I share them not as a commentary but as a time that we can laugh and enjoy as we go about our work.
Author and pastor Nancy Ortberg offers thoughts for building better teamwork into church teams. Drawing from Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Ortberg recognizes five unity destroyers and offers ideas to address them:
• Absence of trust: Make every ministry team a place where honesty and vulnerability are required. Open meetings with “shared life,” and then get to “shared mission” second.
• Fear of conflict: Conflict isn’t bad, but how we handle it can be. Require conflict-resolution training for every team in the church, and bring in an expert to help.
• Inability to commit: Once a team makes a decision, ask if everyone has “buy-in” and ask how each person will implement the decision. Without buy-in, a decision wasn’t actually made.
• Avoidance of accountability: If the cause we’re supporting with our gifts is worthwhile, then we should value accountability. It’s the natural result of trust and commitment.
• Inattention to results: The church body needs evaluation, just as the human body does. Did we do what God wanted us to do? If not, how do we improve for next time?
________________________________________
Oh, give me a pity, I’m on a committee,
Which means that from morning to night,
We attend and amend and contend and defend
Without a conclusion in sight.
We confer and concur, we defer and demur
And reiterate all of our thoughts.
We revise the agenda with frequent addenda
And consider a load of reports.
We compose and propose, we suppose and oppose
And the points of procedure are fun!
But though various notions are brought up as motions
There’s terribly little gets done.
We resolve and absolve, but never dissolve
Since it’s out of the question for us.
What a shattering pity to end our committee.
Where else could we make such a fuss?
—Phong Ngo. glenandpaula.com/quotes/index.php?quote_id=737&retrieve=1. Retrieved July 27, 2009.
________________________________________
When it comes to facing up to serious problems, each candidate will pledge to appoint a committee. And what is a committee? A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary. But it all sounds great in a campaign speech.
—Richard Long Harkness.
To get something done, a committee should consist of three men, two of whom are absent.
—Robert Copeland.
If you want to kill any idea in the world today, get a committee working on it.
—Charles F. Kettering.
A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours.
—Milton Berle.
A committee can make a decision that is dumber than any of its members.
—David Coblit.
To kill time, a committee meeting is the perfect weapon.
—Author unknown.
If you see a snake, just kill it — don’t appoint a committee on snakes.
—Ross Perot.
________________________________________
As winter approaches, we read all kinds of suggestions for conserving fuel and making our dwelling places warm. Here are a few pointers for keeping warm in church:
Rush to the front of the church to avoid the draft in the rear.
Invite your neighbors and friends and sit 10 people to a pew.
Seat yourself near the pulpit; much hot air is emitted from that area.
Fuss and fume when you don’t like what the preacher says.
Wear thermal underwear (in the appropriate liturgical colors).
Wait for an unfamiliar hymn, and then watch the sparks fly!
Let the Holy Spirit fill you; he will warm your heart and body.
________________________________________
A man is on a boat. He is not alone, but acts as if he were. One night, without warning, he suddenly begins to cut a hole under his seat.
The other people on the boat shout and shriek at him: “What on earth are you doing? Have you gone mad? Do you want to sink us all? Are you trying to destroy us?”
Calmly, the man answers: “I don’t understand what you want. What I’m doing is none of your business. I paid my way. I’m not cutting under your seat. Leave me alone!”
What the fanatic (and the egotist) will not accept, but what you and I cannot forget, is that all of us are in the same boat.
— Elie Wiesel, “When passion is dangerous,” Parade magazine, April 19, 1992.
________________________________________
Independence ... [is] middle-class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
— George Bernard Shaw.
________________________________________
Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.
—Virginia Burden.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
A New Year
It seems that I have abandoned my blog and I have decided that I needed to get back into writing. Partly for my benefit as it helps me collect my thoughts and helps me be better disciplined about my life. The start of this year has been one of many diverse feelings. The very first church that I served as a student closed last Sunday. The people there had come to the difficult decision that they could no longer afford to keep the church going. They had been faithful over their 125+ years of serving Dawson. The last decade or more they have been a student charge that have shaped a number of students including myself. They have done a wonderful job but like life itself there comes a time and a season that one has to move on. An interesting event was that a former member of the Barada Church which I also served as a student asked me to baptize her son. This happened at the same service as the deconsecration service. I was honored to be asked but also I felt that there was a theological message that even in death life continues. That there really is no end only new beginnings. And so it is with the people of the Dawson Bethel United Methodist Church, their ministry did not end but only has a new beginning.
As I reflect on this event and as I prepare to talk about the church that I am serving and asking the question, What is Church? I am mindful of the tragedy that is happening in Haiti. Part of being church is responding to the need of those who have suffered such a tremendous loss in lives and property. We are preparing to do a special offering to help with those who have survived. I hope that in the future we can send volunteers to help in whatever way we can.
I also wanted to close this with some quotes that I came across from my magazine Homiletics. I hope that you enjoy and reflect on what is said.
Advertising for a new church plant: “Has the heaviness of your old-fashioned church got you weighted down? Try us! We are the New and Improved Lite Church of the Valley. Studies have shown we have 24 percent fewer commitments. We trim off guilt as we are low-Cal ... low Calvin, that is. We feature a 7.5 percent tithe and a 35-minute worship service, with seven-minute sermons. Next Sunday’s sermon is on the feeding of the 500.”
________________________________________
Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys.
—Billy Graham.
________________________________________
In their book The Ascent of a Leader (1999), Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and Ken McElrath tell of a woman who has a dream in which she wanders into a shop at the mall and finds Jesus behind a counter.
Jesus says, “You can have anything your heart desires.”
Astounded but pleased, the woman asks for peace, joy, happiness, wisdom and freedom from fear. Then she adds, “Not just for me, but for the whole earth.”
Jesus smiles and says, “I think you misunderstand me. We don’t sell fruits, only seeds.”
________________________________________
The problem is not that the churches are filled with empty pews but that the pews are filled with empty people.
—Charlie Shedd.
The church is the great lost-and-found department.
—Robert Short.
Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.
—G.K. Chesterton.
________________________________________
From an anonymous worship bulletin: “We have decided to have four worship services each Sunday. There will be one for those new to the faith. Another for those who like traditional worship. One for those who have lost their faith and are seeking to get it back. And one for those who had a bad experience with the church and are constantly complaining about it. After long discussions, we agreed to a name for each of the services: Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers!”
Kathleen Norris, in her book Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith (see the Homiletics Interview with Norris at HomileticsOnline.com), talks about “organized religion.” She writes: “I have begun to wonder what people mean, exactly, when they say they have no use for ‘organized’ religion. ... I have come to suspect that when people complain about ‘organized’ religion what they’re really saying is that they can’t stand other people. At least not enough to trust them to help work out a ‘personal’ spirituality. How can they possibly trust these unknown others, people with whom they may have little in common, to help them along on their religious journey? ...
“Joining a church is not like joining a hobby club; you will find all sorts of people there, not all of whom will share your interests, let alone your opinions. But there is a vast difference between the giant abstraction called ‘organized’ religion and religion as people actually live it .... [religion] organized enough to keep a city church going, one that offers an AIDS support group, perhaps a soup kitchen, services to the elderly and, wonder of wonders, the eucharist itself. In the rural area where I live, churches are still the only institutions capable of sustaining community ministries such as a food pantry and a domestic violence hotline. But they provide something more, that even the most well-intentioned ‘social services’ cannot replace. It is called salvation, but it begins small, at the local level, in a church that provides a time and space for people to meet a God who has promised to be there. People are encouraged to sing, whether they can or not. And they receive a special blessing, just for showing up” (258-61).
As I reflect on this event and as I prepare to talk about the church that I am serving and asking the question, What is Church? I am mindful of the tragedy that is happening in Haiti. Part of being church is responding to the need of those who have suffered such a tremendous loss in lives and property. We are preparing to do a special offering to help with those who have survived. I hope that in the future we can send volunteers to help in whatever way we can.
I also wanted to close this with some quotes that I came across from my magazine Homiletics. I hope that you enjoy and reflect on what is said.
Advertising for a new church plant: “Has the heaviness of your old-fashioned church got you weighted down? Try us! We are the New and Improved Lite Church of the Valley. Studies have shown we have 24 percent fewer commitments. We trim off guilt as we are low-Cal ... low Calvin, that is. We feature a 7.5 percent tithe and a 35-minute worship service, with seven-minute sermons. Next Sunday’s sermon is on the feeding of the 500.”
________________________________________
Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys.
—Billy Graham.
________________________________________
In their book The Ascent of a Leader (1999), Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and Ken McElrath tell of a woman who has a dream in which she wanders into a shop at the mall and finds Jesus behind a counter.
Jesus says, “You can have anything your heart desires.”
Astounded but pleased, the woman asks for peace, joy, happiness, wisdom and freedom from fear. Then she adds, “Not just for me, but for the whole earth.”
Jesus smiles and says, “I think you misunderstand me. We don’t sell fruits, only seeds.”
________________________________________
The problem is not that the churches are filled with empty pews but that the pews are filled with empty people.
—Charlie Shedd.
The church is the great lost-and-found department.
—Robert Short.
Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.
—G.K. Chesterton.
________________________________________
From an anonymous worship bulletin: “We have decided to have four worship services each Sunday. There will be one for those new to the faith. Another for those who like traditional worship. One for those who have lost their faith and are seeking to get it back. And one for those who had a bad experience with the church and are constantly complaining about it. After long discussions, we agreed to a name for each of the services: Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers!”
Kathleen Norris, in her book Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith (see the Homiletics Interview with Norris at HomileticsOnline.com), talks about “organized religion.” She writes: “I have begun to wonder what people mean, exactly, when they say they have no use for ‘organized’ religion. ... I have come to suspect that when people complain about ‘organized’ religion what they’re really saying is that they can’t stand other people. At least not enough to trust them to help work out a ‘personal’ spirituality. How can they possibly trust these unknown others, people with whom they may have little in common, to help them along on their religious journey? ...
“Joining a church is not like joining a hobby club; you will find all sorts of people there, not all of whom will share your interests, let alone your opinions. But there is a vast difference between the giant abstraction called ‘organized’ religion and religion as people actually live it .... [religion] organized enough to keep a city church going, one that offers an AIDS support group, perhaps a soup kitchen, services to the elderly and, wonder of wonders, the eucharist itself. In the rural area where I live, churches are still the only institutions capable of sustaining community ministries such as a food pantry and a domestic violence hotline. But they provide something more, that even the most well-intentioned ‘social services’ cannot replace. It is called salvation, but it begins small, at the local level, in a church that provides a time and space for people to meet a God who has promised to be there. People are encouraged to sing, whether they can or not. And they receive a special blessing, just for showing up” (258-61).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)