Author: J. Barrett Lee
Link to ‘Notes From a Dragon Mom’
This NY Times article came my way through Facebook and… well, you’ll just have to read it.
This woman’s hard-won wisdom and insight reminds me of Lao-Tzu, Krishna, and Jesus. I cite these sacred texts below, but I make no claim to have obtained the wisdom.
“Therefore the sage produces without possessing, Acts without expectations And accomplishes without abiding in her accomplishments. It is precisely because she does not abide in them That they never leave her.” – Tao Te Ching
“Therefore without attachment, do thou always perform action which should be done; for by performing action without attachment man reaches the Supreme.” – Bhagavad Gita
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:34
This Magic Moment
The text is I Thessalonians 1:1-10.
Click here to listen at fpcboonville.org
Has anyone here read or seen the Harry Potter books or movies? I imagine that many of you have. Personally, I’ve seen the movies but not read the books. If you’ve not experienced them yourself, I’m sure you’re at least aware of their existence. Just about everybody in our culture has.
Certain groups of Christians have made quite a name for themselves by claiming that the Harry Potter phenomenon is part of a satanic conspiracy to promote the practice of witchcraft among children. Here’s one juicy tidbit taken from the website exposingsatanism.org (a very serious title):
Many think it is just harmless fantasy. True it is fantasy, but it is laced with witchcraft and demonology as are most books like it…
There are many books out about Witchcraft but none so cleverly packaged like the latest. Satan is up to his old tricks again and the main focus is the children of the world. The latestcraze is a series of books by author J. K. Rowling, known as Harry Potter…
The whole purpose of these books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult. What a better way to introduce tolerance and acceptance of what God calls an abomination, then in children’s books? If you can get them when they are young, then you have them for life. It’s the oldest marketing scheme there is…
Keep these books and their teachings from your child… Some teachers are reading these books to their classes. They are pagans using the school system to spread their agenda. Your tax dollars are being used to promote Witchcraft and no one is coming against it.
Even the current Pope has got in on the fun. Back when he was still a cardinal and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Inquisition), he said that the Harry Potter books’ “subtle seductions, which act unnoticed … deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly.”
Wow. Pardon the pun, but this sure sounds like a witch-hunt to me!
So, what’s the real story? Well, as it turns out the author of the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling), far from being a practitioner of the dark arts, is actually a Christian. And, while I’m not one to toot our church’s horn too loudly, it also turns out that this famous author is one of our own: she’s a Presbyterian and an active member in the Church of Scotland. She says of herself, “yes, I believe. And yes, I go to the church.” But she also says, “I don’t take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion.” Nor should she.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the plot of the Harry Potter novels, it follows the story of the title character and his friends as they pursue their magical education at the prestigious Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Along the way, their lives are continually threatened by the evil Lord Voldemort, who will stop at nothing to cheat death for himself.
Besides Harry and Voldemort, there are several other heroes and villains who come and go throughout the books. There’s one of these minor characters who everybody just loves to hate. Her name is Dolores Umbridge. Ms. Umbridge is a person who thrives on order. She likes neatness, punctuality, and good manners above all else. But underneath the surface, she is sadistic and evil. She takes a wicked delight in doling out cruel and unusual punishments on the students of Hogwart’s.
The thing about Dolores Umbridge that makes her so scary (scarier than Voldemort himself, if you ask me) is how she maintains her perfectly pressed image while being so horrible. That image of neatness, order, and propriety is nothing more than an empty shell with no substance. She reminds me of a poem by the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu:
When the Way is lost there is virtue
When virtue is lost there is humaneness
When humaneness is lost there is rightness
And when rightness is lost there is propriety.
The “Way” that Lao-Tzu mentions is more than just a path that one follows. For him, the “Way” is the supreme mystery that exists at the very heart of reality, from which all things are born. For us in the Christian tradition, we could easily say, “God”. In this poem, Lao-Tzu is describing the movement from depth to shallowness, from that which is meaningful to that which is meaningless. In the Harry Potter novels, Dolores Umbridge is a person who has completed that journey in its entirety.
Have you ever felt that way: like you’re going through the motions, being all pleasant and polite, but you wonder if there’s anything deeper than that? Do you ever wonder if there might be more to life than that? Do you ever hunger for real relationship and connection with yourself, with other people, or maybe even with something more? Do you ever wish you could find that “Way” again, as Lao-Tzu was saying, that supreme mystery at the heart of reality?
The apostle Paul, in today’s scripture reading, seems to think there is a way. If we look at it closely, we can see the drift from deep to shallow working in reverse. Paul begins with the polite and then takes it deep. The reading is taken from the very beginning of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, which is probably the oldest Christian document that we have on record. In it, Paul follows the typical format that one would find in a polite letter from the first century. When writing an important letter in that time, you wouldn’t just start right in with what you have to say. There were certain proprieties that had to be observed. First, the authors identify themselves, “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy”. Then they address their audience, “To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Then the author offers a greeting. Paul’s greeting, “Grace to you and peace” draws from Greek tradition, “Grace”, combined with a traditional Jewish greeting, “Peace”. So the opening of the letter goes like this: “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.”
Already, Paul is taking polite custom and transcending it in order to make a theological point. He’s trying to get his readers to look deeper into his words, past the niceties and into the truth. He identifies his addressees with God and Jesus and then uses his typical greeting to remind them of what God is doing in their lives through Christ. “Grace” is the unmerited favor (or unconditional love) of God and “peace” (harmony, wholeness, well-being) comes as a result of having grace in your life. So, on one level, Paul is simply and politely saying, “Hi there!” But on a deeper level he’s making a statement about who God is and how God works in peoples’ lives. God is the one who brings harmony and well-being through unconditional love.
The next item you usually find in any nicely written letter from the first century is some kind of thanksgiving. This isn’t usually offered to the letter’s recipients, but to the gods on behalf of the recipients. For example, it might be something as simple as, “I give thanks to the gods for your good health.” Most of the time, it was just that short. But one unique characteristic of Paul’s letters is that he takes these thanksgivings quite seriously and spends time on them in order to make a point. Once again, Paul is taking one of those little moments that people hardly notice in life and slowing it down in order to force them to pay attention to it and see the deeper spiritual meaning hidden within it.
Paul gives thanks to God for the Thessalonians themselves and recounts the story of how he brought his message to them “not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit”. In, with, and under his human words, Paul tells them, there was a divine voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit, which was also speaking to them. In the same way, Paul continues, that same Spirit was also present in them as they listened. Paul reminds them of how they “received the word with joy in the Holy Spirit”. So there they were, in the midst of a human conversation, but it wasn’t just a religious sales pitch. It was also a moment of divine encounter as the Spirit of God was present and working in those who spoke and those who listened. Once again the ordinary became extraordinary as it was infused with spiritual depth and meaning.
What was the result of this divine encounter? Paul points to the Thessalonians’ transformed lives. He talks about their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope”. He says they “became imitators of us and of the Lord”, they “became an example to all the believers”, and they welcomed traveling strangers as they came through town. Here too, the Spirit of God was present and speaking through them. Paul observes how “the word of the Lord has sounded forth” so powerfully in the silent message of their lives that there is “no need to speak about it”. The Holy Spirit transforming peoples’ lives toward greater harmony and wholeness through the unconditional love of God is a powerful sermon unto itself, without a single word ever being spoken. This reminds me of that catchphrase which is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel always, use words when necessary.” Eugene Peterson says it well in his paraphrase of this passage: “The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message!” Leonard Peltier says the same thing in today’s second reading: “Let who you are ring out & resonate in every word & every deed… You are the message.”
Beneath the surface of our polite, boring, and everyday lives there runs a deep current of spiritual meaning. In the midst of this ordinary day a mysterious and divine presence is working extraordinary miracles of transformation. The unconditional love of God is present in your life and guiding you toward greater harmony and wholeness. It’s there and it’s free for all whether we choose to acknowledge it as such or not.
The question I have for you today is this: Are you content to be someone like Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter, who lives life on the surface, breezing by each moment with a polite perfection that is really nothing more than an empty shell? Or are you open to the kind of deep and meaningful reality that Paul and Lao-Tzu were talking about? Are you willing to be mindful of the moment that you’re in, no matter how mundane, and recognize it as the dwelling place and workshop of the Holy Spirit? If any part of you can answer “Yes” to that last question (or even wants to say “Yes”), then you’ve already begun the journey. All that’s left to do is continually come back to that momentary awareness as often as possible during the rest of your day. Keep coming back to it, as often as you think of it, every day for the rest of your life. If you forget, don’t worry, just take that instant in which you remember that you are forgetting and momentarily bring your attention back to the moment itself. Look deeper. Pay attention. The 17th century monk Brother Lawrence called this “Practicing the Presence of God”. Jean-Pierre de Caussade called it “the Sacrament of the Present Moment”. Whatever you choose to call this exercise, however you undertake it, it’s the means to reconnecting with ourselves, with our neighbors, and with that deep, mysterious presence at the heart of all existence that we call God.
WWJD?
For those who are uninformed about what Occupy Wall Street is all about, read this article first:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/10/14/understanding-occupy-wall-street/
Taken from a Facebook discussion, here’s why I think this joke is relevant:
Let’s look at the setting: The Temple. It’s a fair bet to say that it was in the outer court of the Temple, most likely in the Court of the Gentiles, which is the only section …of the Temple where non-Jews were allowed to worship (it reminds me of the balcony in my wife’s church, where slaves were segregated out and forced to sit apart from the rest of the congregation back in the day). The money-changers came in and set up their business in that section, forcing people to exchange foreign coin for Temple shekel (because the former had images of ‘foreign gods’ on them) in order to buy animals for sacrifice. I should add that this was done for profit.
It’s no accident that Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 on his way in: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people”. This comes from a larger section of Isaiah where the prophet describes how non-Jews will be welcomed as part of God’s people. God’s wants to be known as the one who “gathers the outcasts”. Going back to Isaiah 2:1-5, God’s ultimate goal is to make Jerusalem into a multi-cultural center for education in agriculture, nonviolence, and spiritual enlightenment.
Jesus knew all of this and was angry that the powers-that-be had taken the one small place that non-Jews had in the Temple (the one place that could fulfill the divine vision), and had taken it away from them in order to keep their profit-making machinery going. Jesus intended to give it back.
So, without the approval of the authorities, he set up an unlawful occupation of the Temple courts. Every day for that last week of his life, Jesus and his followers gathered in that section to teach and learn. He was fulfilling Isaiah’s vision to make Jerusalem a multi-cultural center for education in agriculture, nonviolence, and spiritual enlightenment. The powers-that-be questioned his authority and tried to shut it down, but were unsuccessful. In the end, the text tells us that this was the point where they started the conspiracy to have Jesus killed. He was too much of a threat to their power.
Occupy Wall Street isn’t a perfect reflection of this action. I’m not arguing that it’s particularly Christian in nature. However, it’s appropriate to note the similarities between the two: A powerful populist movement of marginalized people (i.e. “freaks and geeks”) sets up an illegal occupation of a symbolic power-center in protest against profiteering schemes that rob people of their God-given rights.
To the extent that this works, the authorities lash back with violence and death (hence the crucifixion). Or, as Gandhi put it: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
An Open Letter From Desmond Tutu
This is an open letter from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Reblogged from Derrick McQueen at Union in Dialogue.
Dear Brother in Christ,
I am writing you with the request that you share these thoughts with my brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
It is incumbent upon all of God’s children to speak out against injustice. It is sometimes equally important to speak in solidarity when justice has been done. For that reason I am writing to affirm my belief that in making room in your constitution for gay and lesbian Christians to be ordained as church leaders, you have accomplished an act of justice.
I realize that among your ecumenical partners, some voices are claiming that you have done the wrong thing, and I know that you rightly value your relationship with Christians in other parts of the world. Sadly, it is not always popular to do justice, but it is always right. People will say that the ones you are now willing to ordain are sinners. I have come to believe, through the reality shared with me by my scientist and medical friends, and confirmed to me by many who are gay, that being gay is not a choice. Like skin color or left-handedness, sexual orientation is just another feature of our diversity as a human family. How wonderful that God has made us with so much diversity, yet all in God’s image! Salvation means being called out of our narrow bonds into a broad place of welcome to all.
You are undoubtedly aware that in some countries the church has been complicit in the legal persecution of lesbians and gays. Individuals are being arrested and jailed simply because they are different in one respect from the majority. By making it possible for those in same-gender relationships to be ordained as pastors, preachers, elders, and deacons, you are being a witness to your ecumenical partners that you believe in the wideness of God’s merciful love.
For freedom Christ has set us free. In Christ we are not bound by old, narrow prejudice, but free to embrace the full humanity of our brothers and sisters in all our glorious differences. May God bless you as you live into this reality, and may you know that there are many Christians in the world who continue to stand by your side.
God bless you.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (Cape Town, South Africa)
(Just for fun, I’ll add this video -Barrett)
A Wedding in a War Zone
This week’s sermon from First Presbyterian, Boonville.
The text is Matthew 22:1-14.
Click here to listen to the sermon at fpcboonville.org
You can also tune in to hear us on the radio at 7:30 Sunday mornings on 99.3 and 101.3 FM “The Moose”.
Did anybody here happen to catch the royal wedding on TV earlier this year? Pretty impressive, wasn’t it? Of course, there’s the dress. Everybody wanted to know what Princess Kate would be wearing that day (designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen’s fashion house, in case anyone was still wondering). There was all the dazzling royal regalia and decoration. I, for one, was particularly impressed with how they managed to get so many full grown trees inside to line the center aisle of Westminster Abbey! Being the theology nerd that I am, I’m probably the only person who tuned in primarily to hear the Bishop of London’s sermon. What does one write for such an occasion? As it turns out, he did a pretty good job. I especially liked his quote from St. Catherine of Siena, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
However, there was one thing about the whole affair that I found disconcerting: my invitation seems to have gotten lost in the mail! Did this happen to anyone else? We were invited, right? I mean, why wouldn’t we be invited? We’re basically nice people, aren’t we? I’m sure we’d behave ourselves. No one would put a whoopee cushion underneath Prince Charles’ seat (at least not during the service). Who knows? We could have really shown those royal types a good time!
Alas, the reality is that regular folks like us don’t usually get invited to royal weddings. Those invitations only go out to those who possess this-worldly qualities of nobility and celebrity. The Prime Minister of England was there. Elton John was there. One of the Spice Girls was there. You know, important people, the rich and famous, the elite. Yes, it was quite a spectacle. The couple kissed, cameras flashed, and everyone had a wonderful time.
Now imagine with me, if you will, what would happen if people from London’s “elite” had started turning down their invitations. The excuses might seem innocuous at first: Elton John is busy recording his new album, Parliament is passing important legislation, the Spice Girls are getting back together. Important people have important things to do, right? But then imagine that the royal couriers start coming back with horrible stories. One by one, they burst through door of Buckingham Palace, panting and wounded. “Something’s happening,” they say, “They’re turning on us out there!” Queen Elizabeth quickly turns on the TV, just in time to see Prime Minister David Cameron on the screen, tearing up his wedding invitation and publicly executing the royal courier on live TV! With the gun still smoking in his hand, he loudly proclaims, “We’ll do the same thing to every single member of the royal family!”
Anyone who saw that bloody broadcast would have to agree that it looked an awful lot like the beginnings of a civil war in the UK and the insurgents picked the day of the royal wedding to make their move! Guards, police, and military would be immediately deployed to deal with the insurrection. Instead of riding to the wedding in a Rolls Royce, Kate pulls up in an armored jeep. Instead of elegantly striding into the church, she ducks and runs inside as soldiers lay down cover fire over her head. Machine gun fire drowns out most of the Bishop’s sermon. Explosions outside cause Westminster Abbey to rumble and shake. This would not have been the wedding day that William and Kate had hoped for. Most of us would probably feel quite sorry for them in that situation.
On the other hand, there would be something brave and admirable in the couple’s decision to continue with their wedding in a war zone. Like Bruce Cockburn said, they would be “lovers in a dangerous time”. It would be a powerful symbolic gesture, as though William and Kate were celebrating the power of love in defiance of the power of death. Fortunately though, William and Kate didn’t have to make that call on their special day together.
In our scripture reading this morning, Jesus tells us a story about a wedding where such a tragedy did happen. A king sends out wedding invitations to his noble subjects and receives rejections in return. What’s even worse is that people start beating up and killing the royal messengers as acts of rebellion against the king. The National Guard gets called and it’s an all out civil war. But the royal wedding goes ahead as planned, in spite of opposition from without and within. In fact, the king takes advantage of this crisis in order to fling wide the doors of his palace and invite all the everyday people on the street. He says, “Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” Matthew’s gospel tells us that all kinds of people, “both good and bad”, came to the wedding. Luke’s gospel goes into even more detail, telling us specifically that “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” were all welcome at this celebration of love.
Jesus tells this story in order to show us how the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding in a war zone. Now, it’s important to remember here that “the kingdom of heaven” that Jesus mentions has little or nothing to do with the afterlife. Jesus isn’t talking about “going to heaven when you die.” He’s talking about a present-day reality in this world. “Heaven” is just a Jewish euphemism for the word “God”. “Kingdom” can also mean “reign”, “dominion”, or “territory”. It’s a spiritual state of being, rather than a geographical location. The “kingdom of heaven” or “reign of God” exists wherever God’s way of love is followed rather than the ways of the world. Jesus is saying that the life of faith is an all-inclusive celebration of life and love that goes on in spite of the all-pervasive destruction that’s going on around us. Theologian William Stringfellow referred to this as “living humanly in the midst of death.”
Each one of us is cordially invited by God to live a life of faith in the present reality of the kingdom of heaven. When I say “faith” I’m not just talking about subscription to a set of doctrines, adherence to a set of morals, or participation in certain rituals. “Faith” in this sense of the word is a heart-felt response to God’s loving invitation that rises up from the very core of your being. It’s that part of you that says “Yes” inside to the all-inclusive celebration of love. It’s a radical act of defiance against the power of this world where “might makes right”, “the ends justify the means”, and “history is written by the winners”. Whenever someone chooses reconciliation over retribution, that’s the kingdom of heaven breaking through. Whenever someone chooses trust over cynicism, that’s the kingdom of heaven breaking through. Whenever the rigid armor of this world system cracks in some small way, even for just a moment, and let’s a little bit of light and humanity in, that’s the kingdom of heaven breaking through. We pray for this to happen every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
I’d like to illustrate this point with a true story taken from a book by Philip Yancey called What’s So Amazing About Grace?
Accompanied by her fiancé, a woman went to the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston and ordered the meal. The two of them pored over the menu, made selections of china and silver, and pointed to pictures of the flower arrangements they liked. They both had expensive taste, and the bill came to thirteen thousand dollars. After leaving a check for half that amount as down payment, the couple went home to flip through books of wedding announcements.
The day the announcements were supposed to hit the mailbox, the potential groom got cold feet. “I’m just not sure,” he said. “It’s a big commitment. Let’s think about this a little longer.”
When his angry fiancée returned to the Hyatt to cancel the banquet, the Events Manager could not have been more understanding. “The same thing happened to me, Honey,” she said, and told the story of her own broken engagement. But about the refund, she had bad news. “The contract is binding. You’re only entitled to thirteen hundred dollars back. You have two options: to forfeit the rest of the down payment, or go ahead with the banquet. I’m sorry. Really, I am.”
It seemed crazy, but the more the jilted bride thought about it, the more she liked the idea of going ahead with the party—–not a wedding banquet, mind you, but a big blowout. Ten years before, this same woman had been living in a homeless shelter. She had got back on her feet, found a good job, and set aside a sizable nest egg. Now she had the wild notion of using her savings to treat the down-and-outs of Boston to a night on the town.
And so it was that in June of 1990 the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston hosted a party such as it had never seen before. The hostess changed the menu to boneless chicken—–“in honor of the groom,” she said—and sent invitations to rescue missions and homeless shelters. That warm summer night, people who were used to peeling half-gnawed pizza off the cardboard dined instead on chicken cordon bleu. Hyatt waiters in tuxedos served hors d’oeuvres to senior citizens propped up by crutches and aluminum walkers. Bag ladies, vagrants and addicts took one night off from the hard life on the sidewalks outside and instead sipped champagne, ate chocolate wedding cake, and danced to big-band melodies late into the night.
That’s the kingdom of heaven on earth!
When I ask you about your faith, I honestly couldn’t care less about your religious affiliation or observance. What I want to know (and what God wants to know) is whether you are the kind of person who would go to a wedding in a war zone. Will you join in the celebration of God’s all-inclusive love in the midst of this violent and broken world?
What do you say? Are you with me in this?
If anything deep inside of you is answering “Yes” to that question right now, listen to it! That’s the power of faith, hope, and love rising up inside of you. That’s the kind of faith that has the power to sustain us through the ups and downs of life. That’s the kind of faith that has the power to renew our church. That’s the kind of faith that has the power to change the world.
Sanity Within Disagreement
I’d like to share this sound bite from a fellow Christian with whom I deeply disagree on the issue of LGBT equality in church. Tony Campolo calls himself a “conservative”, which I guess makes me a “liberal” (whatever that means).
The bottom line is that I believe a loving and committed relationship between two people of the same gender is blessed by God and should be supported by the church. Tony does not agree with me on this. He believes that “same-sex erotic behavior” is inherently inconsistent with Christian morality.
However, in spite of our disagreement, I offer this clip from an interview with Tony because I so deeply respect his generosity of heart and mind. I also appreciate his willingness to leave room in church and society for those who see things differently than he does.
It’s worth noting that he also leaves room for disagreement in his own home and heart: Peggy, his wife of over 50 years, is an active and outspoken advocate for LGBT equality in churches. The two of them debate publicly on the issue and still manage to live together. I could learn something from them…
I offer this video to my LGBT friends and fellow “liberal” Christians as living proof that not all “conservative” evangelicals and catholics are ignorant bigots. Many of them (like Tony Campolo) are willing to speak out and fight for civil rights.
I offer this video to those on the “conservative” end of the spectrum as living proof that having an open heart and open mind toward others does not necessarily entail the sacrifice of one’s personal convictions.
Tony himself said it best in the video:
“I don’t care where you are on the theological spectrum or what your attitudes are on this issue. When we generate fear and hatred of a group, I think we need to take a good look at ourselves.”
This is what respect in the midst of disagreement looks like.
Practical Atheism
Sermon for the 27th week in Ordinary Time at First Presbyterian, Boonville.
The text is Matthew 21:33-46.
Click here to listen to the audio at fpcboonville.org!
As many of you already know, being the pastor of First Presbyterian Church is only one of my jobs. I also teach philosophy at Utica College. Let me tell you: it’s a fun job. I love the friendly banter I get to have with my students. I love challenging them to think outside the box and grow as human beings. One of my favorite memories came on the first day of class a few semesters ago. I was sitting at the front of the room, stapling papers, when my first student arrived early and sat down. The first words out of his mouth were, “My name is Josh and I am an atheist!” Now, it’s important for you to know that the vast majority of my students don’t know that I’m a pastor. I try to keep that piece of information to myself in order to maintain an open and unbiased atmosphere in the classroom. So Josh had no idea who he was talking to. He told me about his favorite atheist authors and I recommended a few others he might like. At the end of the conversation, he told me he was glad that his philosophy class was being taught by me and not “some Christian moron”. I just smiled and kept on stapling my papers.
Over the next few weeks, Josh and I continued to develop a healthy teacher-student rapport. Then one day, he came into my office and was making small-talk. And he asked me if I was an atheist like him.
“Actually no,” I said. He looked surprised.
“Really,” he said, “What are you then?” And without saying a word, I just reached into my pocket and put my clerical collar on. For the next few seconds, he was speechless. He just sat there with his mouth hanging open. The look on his face was priceless. I’m happy to say that my newly-discovered clerical status didn’t damage my professional relationship with Josh. To this day, he and I maintain a lively connection based on mutual respect.
There are those who might say, “Barrett, how is that possible? He’s an atheist and you’re a Christian! Aren’t you afraid that this might somehow compromise the integrity of your faith?”
And my answer is no. I’m not afraid of that at all.
Honest skepticism poses no threat to Christianity whatsoever. God can handle doubt.
That being said, I do think there is a particular kind of atheism that does pose a threat to authentic faith, but it’s not the kind of atheism that you’re likely to find in the halls of the ivory tower, the ranks of the Communist Party, or the meetings of the Secular Humanist Association. The kind of atheism that poses a real threat to Christianity is the kind you find in church. I’m not talking about atheism by philosophy or belief. I’m talking about practical atheism, where otherwise religious people, even Christians, live their everyday lives as if God didn’t exist. Practical atheists read the Bible, receive the sacraments, say their prayers, and recite the creed with sincerity and devotion.
Right now, it would be easy for me to offer some example of a publicly religious personality who was caught in some major scandal or hypocrisy. Those stories certainly are tragic, but saddest of all are those who never fall prey to such public humiliation. They’re upstanding citizens and model Christians. They go through the motions so well that even they don’t realize that they are actually practical atheists.
Jesus knew people like this. He reached out to them, connected with them, and invited them into a deeper experience of who God really is. He told them this story:
Once upon a time there was an entrepreneur who started up an elaborate winery and leased it out to tenants for management. Already, in this first sentence, we have an insight about the nature of God versus the nature of practical atheism. Practical atheists are quick to use the word “my”: my church, my tradition, my house, my family, etc. But, if we take the entrepreneur to be a symbol for God, we see that God is the one who started all this. This is God’s church. Two hundred years ago, God began to do something in Boonville through the people of this church. Today, their mission has been passed to us, but we don’t own it. We are tenants here who have been given stewardship for the moment. Each of us plays a part, but God is the one with the master plan. This is a simple and obvious truth that is too easily forgotten in the fog of maintenance and administration. We need to remember that nothing in this church exists for its own sake. Everything is a tool for participating in God’s mission project here in Boonville. Just like the landowner in Jesus’ story built the vineyard for a purpose, God built this church for a purpose.
Back to the story itself, these tenants forget just whose vineyard it is anyway. The absentee landlord sends multiple employees in succession to the vineyard for a progress update and the tenants treat each one worse than the one before. When the landlord sends his own son at last, they say, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” The only way this logic makes any sense is if the tenants assume that the landlord has died. Only then would they have a shot at “get[ting] his inheritance”. In the same vein, Jesus’ audience of practical atheists must have (at some level) assumed that God is dead (or unreal), in spite of their outward religious fervency. They mistook themselves for the owners of God’s vineyard and forgot that they were merely tenants.
Any remnant of God that remains in their minds becomes shrunken and twisted so that their idea of God looks very much like their idea of themselves. When Jesus asks them what the vineyard owner (God) will do to the wicked tenants (them), they reply in no uncertain terms, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” Let’s listen to that again: this is what God looks like to them: they assume that God is the one who “will put those wretches to a miserable death”. This deity, while technically just and powerful, is small-minded and unsympathetic (not unlike the Pharisees themselves).
Jesus confronts this faulty image of God with all the care and compassion in his heart. If you look closely at the text, he never affirms the Pharisees’ idea of a God who “will put those wretches to a miserable death”. Instead, the first words out of his mouth are, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?” Jesus quotes from the sacred text of their own religious tradition and presents the living God as one who accepts unacceptable people and honors outcasts and rejects. The God of Jesus does not seem to show much interest in putting “wretches to a miserable death”. Jesus’ God would rather go looking for that tossed-aside piece of broken cement so that it can be treated with special care and honor. This is what the living God is really like, according to Jesus.
The one part of the Pharisees’ response that Jesus agrees with is the part about “leas[ing] the vineyard to other tenants”. Jesus tells them, “[T]he kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.” This sounds like punishment at first, but isn’t it liberating in the end? Isn’t Jesus setting them free from bondage to the leased vineyard that has now become a spiritual burden? Without that albatross around their necks, they will be free to see God more clearly. Perhaps this is what they need in order to stop seeing God as the one who “[puts] wretches to a miserable death” and start seeing God as the one who receives outcasts and honors rejects. By taking way their religious power, Jesus is curing the chief priests and Pharisees of their practical atheism. I think God is doing the same thing for all of us.
Honestly, I think we’re all practical atheists at some level or another. We like to trick ourselves into thinking that we’re self-made individuals who can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We like to cast ourselves as the hero in our own story. We are apt to forget that we are merely tenants in God’s vineyard and think of ourselves instead as the owners. In short, we’re trying to play God. Into this fog of delusion comes the real and living God. We’re terrified because we assume that God is coming in order to put us “wretches to a miserable death”, but instead this seeker of rejected cornerstones is coming to liberate us, not punish us.
So, how do we apply this cure for practical atheism in our own lives? How do we embrace the liberation that God has in store for us? How do we get in touch with this living God?
As it turns out, there’s not much to it at all. We don’t have to go far to find the living God because God is already here. The apostle Paul tells us Romans 11 that God is the source, guide, and goal of all things. It is in God that we all “live, move, and have our being.” As long as there is air in your lungs, the living God is present and active in your life.
We don’t need to do much of anything to get God’s attention either. Just as God is not intimidated by honest skepticism in the classroom, God is also not impressed by pious posturing in church. Jesus taught people that there’s no need to “heap up empty phrases” when they pray because God “knows what you need before you ask”.
So, in the end, the cure for practical atheism is as simple as what Jesus taught his followers in Luke 11:
Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!
So, if you feel like that’s you today: the practical atheist who is just going through the motions of spirituality, why not take some time this week for a little open-minded asking, searching, and knocking? You might just be surprised at the gifts you receive, the treasures you find, and the doors that open up for you.
Gandhi Day
Today is Gandhi Day in India.
Feel free to comment with your favorite Gandhi quote!
Hopping Hadrian's Wall 