What a fearful phrase this is when one stops to think about it, and how calamitous that Christians should have come to find themselves committed to its defence. That the Church has a concern with religion – as with every other aspect of human life – no one would doubt. That it must be organized – and efficiently organized – is equally clear. But that Christianity should be equated in the public mind, inside as well as outside the Church, with ‘organized religion’ merely shows how far we have departed from the New Testament. For the last thing the Church exists to be is an organization for the religious. Its character is to be the servant of the world.
This coming December, my wife Sarah and I will celebrate five wonderful years of marriage. Five years of growing in commitment and trust for each other. Five years of facing life’s challenges together. Five years of blessing, closeness, and love. Incidentally, it also happens to be our seventh wedding anniversary. I’ll let you do the math.
Why the discrepancy? Well, I’ll tell you. A couple of years into our marriage, I learned the secret to wedded bliss and it’s three little words. These are the three little words that everyone longs to hear. The depth of their meaning transcends history, culture, and religion. The power of these words has sustained people through the very darkest hours of life. They should be spoken as often as possible. Let them be the first words out of your mouth when you get up in the morning and the last words before you turn out the lamp at night. Say them when you leave the house and when you get home. Hold each others’ hands, gaze into each others’ eyes, and mean them when you say them. These are the three most powerful words in the English language. What do you think they are?
“I love you”? No.
It’s “You’re right, dear.”
(Pause for laughter)
I’m only joking, really. All of my nearly seven years with my wife have been fantastic. And Sarah is a wonderfully generous person, with an open mind and an open heart, who does NOT need to be right all of the time. However, most of us, at some point in our lives, have probably known someone who DOES need to be right (or at least feel like they’re in the right) all of the time. These folks can be very difficult to live with or work with.
Any personal relationship involves some kind of give and take. It also involves things like change, risk, and trust. None of that can happen when one (or both) of the people in the relationship is bent on being (or feeling) absolutely right all of the time. Nobody is that perfect.
Most of us already understand this truth when it comes to our interpersonal relationships. We know how to say “I’m sorry” when we mess things up. We know how to forgive other people when they mess things up. We don’t expect ourselves or other people to be perfect (or right) all of the time. We know this. And because we know this, we’re able to stay committed to each other in healthy relationships and grow together into the kind of people we’re meant to be.
Now, it’s pretty common for people to talk about their spiritual lives as a relationship. They talk about their “personal relationship with God”. I know of several Christians who are keen to claim that Christianity itself is “a relationship, not a religion”. But the funny thing is that, in this relationship, one party (God) is expected to be absolutely perfect all of the time while the other party (the person) is expected to simply acknowledge and appreciate the perfection of the first.
Now the expectation of perfection in this relationship, while based in God, is not usually restricted to God alone. Absolute perfection usually gets projected onto something or someone else that somehow reveals God to people. This can be some supposedly perfect person (like the Pope), a supposedly perfect institution (like the church), or a supposedly perfect book (like the Bible).
I think people tend to make these kinds of projections because they desperately long for a deep, personal relationship with God, the source of all goodness and love. However, God is also mysterious and intangible. This mysteriousness can cause some people a lot of anxiety, so they direct their devotion toward the Pope, the church, or the Bible as a stand-in for God. It’s more comforting to have a relationship with something you can see, touch, and understand. The problem is that projecting God onto someone or something that is not God is the very definition of idolatry. It would be no different if they built a statue of a golden calf and bowed down to it.
I think this is exactly what happened about a hundred years ago in the Presbyterian Church when a group of scholars at Princeton Theological Seminary felt their faith being threatened by developments in modern science and philosophy that called into question certain traditional Christian beliefs. They took it upon themselves to defend what they considered to be the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Referring to themselves as “Fundamentalists”, they developed the doctrine of biblical inerrancy. The Bible, according to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, was to be read and interpreted as a spiritually, theologically, morally, historically, and scientifically accurate book. Every single word of the Bible was absolutely true and came directly from the mouth of God. Questioning a single word in the text of the Bible was tantamount to rejecting the perfect authority of God. The absolute goodness and perfection of God was projected onto the text of the Bible. Thus, according to the Fundamentalists, we imperfect people can relate to the perfect God through this perfect book. But, as we’ve already noticed, worshiping the Bible in place of God is idolatry. Also, it’s really hard to have an honest, personal relationship with someone who has to be absolutely right all of the time.
In case you couldn’t tell already, this is a big pet peeve of mine. It really irks me. So, I have to admit that I really struggled with I Thessalonians 2:13 in preparation for this week’s sermon. It reads, “We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.”
At first glance, it seems like the Apostle Paul is setting himself up as an inerrant or infallible source of revelation, saying that his words are God’s word. So I read over it, I thought about it, I struggled with it, and eventually I just sat with it.
What struck me after sitting with it for a while is that Paul hardly seems to be the type to set himself up as a perfect and absolute authority. Paul is referred to elsewhere in the New Testament as the “chief of sinners”. He calls himself, “least of the apostles”. This strikes me as the voice of a humble person who knows he has been saved by grace. If Paul is drawing any kind of connection between his voice and God’s, I doubt he is doing so in the spirit of an indisputable expert.
What struck me next is the language around this verse in I Thessalonians 2. In this section, Paul is simply recounting the story of his ministry with the Thessalonians. Paul does a lot of storytelling. The story of his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus is told no less than three times in the book of Acts. Paul is also a first-rate scholar who knows the stories of his Jewish heritage. When Paul talks about delivering the “word of God” to the Thessalonian Christians in verse 13, I bet there was a lot of storytelling involved. I bet he told them about his first encounter with Jesus in a vision (and how he walked around blind as a bat for days afterward). I bet he told them about those early Christians, who were suspicious of him at first but eventually welcomed him with open arms. I bet he told them how his newfound faith in Christ and assurance of God’s unconditional love changed his life forever.
If there is a word from God to be heard here, it seems that it must be found between the lines of the story of Paul’s life. Furthermore, this word of God is not only to be heard in the lives of famous heroes like Paul, but, as Paul tells the Thessalonian Christians in verse 13, God’s word is also “at work in you believers.” Paul is adamant in declaring that his story is not unique. The word of God can be heard in their stories as well.
God’s word is not some dead text written on a page or carved into tablets of stone. God’s word is a living word that sings and dances through the lives of all people. Unlike an infallible text, the living word can lead us into an honest, personal relationship with the living God. It can handle questions, doubt, and differing interpretations. It allows our faith the freedom to trust, change, and grow into new forms of believing. If we listen for it, we can hear God’s living word in the wind that blows through the trees and the river that rolls over the rocks. We can hear it echoing between the stars and pulsing between the atoms. Reading between the lines of the poet’s verse and the physicist’s equation we listen for God’s living word.
God’s living word can be heard in your life as well, if you know where to listen for it. This can be tricky because life isn’t always pleasant. I won’t go so far as to say that everything that happens to us in life is God’s will, but I will go so far as to say that there is no person and no situation that is beyond healing and redemption. God’s living word is always present, even in the dark and chaotic times, growing us toward peace and proclaiming, “Let there be light!”
I believe God’s living word is even present in this message. If you’re hearing this today, it’s not by accident. Not that I am claiming to be perfect or infallible. In fact, God’s word might not be speaking to you through me but in spite of me this morning. Listen for whatever is going on in your mind and heart right now. Listen for any thought or feeling of blessed assurance that inspires you to keep exploring the height, depth, length, and breadth of love in this world. That’s the living word of God at work in you!
Finally, last but not least, lest you think I’m leading you to abandon the Bible entirely, we can and should listen for the living word of God in its pages as well. The Bible is a sacred book. For us Christians, it is our sacred book. I believe it is blessed and inspired. It holds an honored and central place in our tradition. It can serve as a helpful guide on the spiritual journey. We would do well to keep reading and studying it as best we can. But it’s not a perfect book. Everything God has to say is not contained within its pages. Jesus himself said in John 16:12, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, [the Spirit] will guide you into all the truth”. Personally, I like the way that comedian Gracie Allen says it, “Never put a period where God puts a comma.” God is still speaking (as our friends in the United Church of Christ like to say). Do we have ears to hear?
This past Thursday, the people of St. James Mission officially adopted their new Mission and Vision statements during worship. Many months of thought, prayer, and discussion have gone into the production of this document. Unintentionally, this process has finished on the first Thursday after the Feast of St. James the Just (October 23), from whom our community takes its name!
St. James the Just; Brother of Jesus; Bishop of Jerusalem; Activist for equality, justice, and inclusivity in the early church; Leader, pastor, healer; Doer of the Word
Our Mission
St. James Mission is an inclusive, Christ-centered community where all people can experience the love of a living God through healing and free-spirited reverence.
Our Vision
At St. James Mission, different individuals find common ground in the context of experimental, alternative, Christ-centered worship; seek spiritual truths together through study and conversation; and embrace our spiritual commonality through weekly celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion.
We aspire to accept and include everyone, especially those who have experienced exclusion and wounding in the past. We strive to be open to voices that have yet to be heard and to the spiritually homeless.
We invite people to experience the Divine with us in community, but without any pressure. We believe it is necessary to create a space where all questions are welcome – a space that is peaceful, safe, non-violent, and non-abusive.
We will increase our visible presence in the community; facilitate healing for those in crisis; and encourage & empower people in other churches who share a similar vision.
With the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we seek first to attend to people’s physical needs and then their spiritual and other needs. We want to communicate unconditional love and peace, not only in our worship but also in our daily living.
Trusting in the Holy One who speaks through scripture, we will answer the call to do justice in the world. We are assured of divine love and seek to return that love in the way Jesus taught us, by loving others.
Driving to church last Sunday, I heard a new song on the radio called ‘I Get By’. The artist is Everlast. Here’s the video:
What struck me about this song is how similar the feel and content is to the old folk tunes by people like Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie. Their work was edgy and controversial. It spoke directly from and to the experience of marginalization. Compare the Everlast song to these:
The only place where consciously political songwriting has maintained any kind of presence is in hip hop. Nas is my favorite. Check it out:
Finally, just because I can’t resist getting theological, here’s one last comparison. The language is rough and offensive, but there are some pertinent insights, if you have ears to hear:
One of my favorite pictures of the Rev. Sarah E. Schmidt-Lee
I’m about to take a huge risk by sharing one of my wife’s sermons with my friends in the blogosphere. When it comes to preaching, Rev. Sarah Schmidt-Lee blows me out of the water. This is the woman who made me want to be a preacher. During our dating and newlywed years, her sermons shaped my spirituality at a very deep level. So I’m excited to share one of them with you today. This was preached yesterday (10/23/2011) at Westernville Presbyterian Church. The text is Matthew 22:34-46.
Have you heard the story about the pastor who asks a group of kids a question during the kids’ conversation: “what has a furry tail, lives in trees and eats nuts.” One of the kids raises his hand and says, “It sounds like a squirrel, but I know the answer is Jesus.” It’s a joke that always makes me cringe a little bit, because it feels a little too close to home—I can’t count the number of times I’ve been in a Sunday School class, either as a child or as a teacher, when I know the answer is supposed to be Jesus, or God, or maybe church or the Bible. It is so tempting to reduce our faith into a series of right answers.
The Pharisees and Sadducees who are interacting with Jesus throughout this section of Matthew seem to approach their faith in a way that assumes there are right answers. Faith or religion seems to be a puzzle and if they have all the right pieces, they can generate the right answers and teach those to people to make them into right—or righteous people.
Or, in the case of these interactions with Jesus, test him to find out if he has the right answers, and hopefully expose that he is wrong.
But Jesus refuses to play the game. He doesn’t see faith and tradition as a puzzle with one right answer. He sees it as open to interpretation—complex and mysterious and hard to pin-down. Instead of giving the “right” answer or “the wrong” answer, Jesus punches holes in all those boxes and challenges these religious leaders to ask better questions.
Last week we read how the Pharisees confronted Jesus with a question about taxes designed to force him into one political camp or another—to test him. After that, the Sadducees confront him with a question about resurrection—a kind of rhetorical question meant to show how illogical it is to believe in the resurrection, but Jesus pokes holes in their logic, leaving them dumbfounded. That’s when the Pharisees come in with their lawyer—the pull out the big guns.
Now, Jesus probably gave them exactly the answer they were hoping he would—it would have been fairly common for people in those days to consider the she’ma—Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength—the greatest commandment. And if there were any controversy, loving your neighbor as yourself would be the next contender. At first, it may have seemed that Jesus fell straight into their trap—giving a simple answer that they considered the wrong answer. See, it’s likely that this was a trick question to begin with—no law should be more important, or greater than any of the others, because they all come from God—that would be the right answer.
But Jesus seems to anticipate the trick, because after naming the two greatest commandments, he explains why they are the greatest—on these hang all the law and the prophets. Jesus refuses to fall into their trap—none of the other laws are less important, but they depend on these two—these two form the base or the trunk of the tree on which all the other laws hang like fruit. Not the right answer, but not the wrong answer, either, Jesus succeeds again and again at complicating the questions, reframing them.
And now, after this series of interrogations, Jesus turns the table, and he initiates a question: Whose descendant is the Messiah? The Pharisees probably rolled their eyes. Really? Everyone knows that—he is David’s descendant. But Jesus isn’t done. Okaaaay, he continues, if so, why does David refer to the Messiah as Lord—a title reserved for fathers and elders? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? If David is the Messiah’s ancestor, then shouldn’t the Messiah call David, Lord and not the other way around?
Hmmm. The Pharisees don’t have an answer for that. They leave in an embarrassed silence, and never muster up the guts to confront Jesus with questions again. Instead, we know, they plot to have him killed, because Jesus makes things complicated and mysterious, when the Pharisees want clear cut answers.
We may not identify with the questions that are getting tossed around in these confrontations—questions about resurrection, Romans taxes, and Messianic lineage are not particularly hot-button issues in 21st century North America, but the dynamic of the interaction is all too familiar. Just like the Pharisees and Sadducees, 21st century Christians still like clear cut answers, don’t we? We still want faith to boil down to right answers—clear, simple truths that we can teach to our children and use as a litmus test to determine who is right and who is wrong—or at least, who is with us and who is against us.
One of the supposedly clear-cut questions that is used to draw dividing lines in churches and denominations all over the country is the question: What does the Bible teach about same-sex relationships?
I’ll admit that I grew up thinking this question had a clear answer, but then Jesus threw a wrench in things. Through relationships with people God brought into my life, and through watching the ministry of people I grew up thinking shouldn’t be pastors, I began to read the Bible with different questions in mind. I started confronting questions like—why is the church fighting over this issue, and hurting lots of people who are already hurting, when Jesus never talks about it at all? Why aren’t we talking about the things Jesus really did spend most of his time talking about, like how we use our money—how we share our resources—how we treat the poor, outcast, and misunderstood?
And speaking of the outcast and misunderstood—didn’t Jesus spent his time hanging out with people who were kicked out of the religious life of his community—welcoming people who were considered unclean or immoral, because scripture said so? And didn’t Jesus treat those people with dignity and compassion and love?
One of the big eye-openers for me came as Barrett started a mid-week Bible study and communion service in Utica. His goal was to make it a welcoming place for people who did not feel comfortable going to a typical church on Sunday morning. He was really expecting to attract homeless people. We knew from work in Vancouver that a lot of homeless and near-homeless people are intimidated to walk into a church on a Sunday morning because they don’t feel like they can dress appropriately, or they know that they smell bad, or because when they ask for help they are usually asked to leave. And sure enough, we have had some homeless folks involved in the community over the three years we’ve been meeting.
But what neither of us could anticipate was the number of gay and lesbian folks who started showing up—every single one of them with a story of being wounded by a church—stories of being told implicitly, and sometimes explicitly that they didn’t belong at church. And every single one of them has come, longing to be a part of a community of faith—to find a place to belong—a place where they could talk about their experience of God, their love for Jesus, their search for spiritual truth. If Jesus welcomed the outcasts, the people kicked out of the synagogues, then shouldn’t our churches figure out how to do the same? And what does that look like?
These are uncomfortable questions, aren’t they? Jesus makes things more complicated—when we want to boil faith down to clear-cut answers, universal truths and straight-forward moral imperatives, Jesus throws a wrench in the well-oiled machine of our religious institutions and reminds us that faith is about knowing and loving and trusting God, and God is a mystery. We don’t trust in our answers, we trust in the mystery—the huge, complex, unfathomable, frightening mystery of God. Being a Christian is not about having the right answers—it is about loving God and loving neighbor. When we learn to do that, we might even learn to love the mystery—to delight in asking better and better questions—questions that lead us deeper into the mystery of God’s love, rather than simply settling for easy answers.
Back when I was in high school and college, the churches I went to made a particularly big deal about certain little things that weren’t such a big deal to other people. These churches were really concerned about what Christians were wearing, what they were drinking, the places where they would hang out, the people they were friends with, the TV shows and movies they were watching, and the music they were listening to. They spent a lot of time thinking and talking about this stuff because they figured that if Christians participated in any of these so-called “forbidden” activities, then people who saw them and weren’t Christians might somehow think less of Jesus (and therefore not want to become Christians themselves, thus condemning their souls to hell for all eternity… or so the argument goes). They called this process “protecting your witness.”
“Good Christians shouldn’t go out dancing,” they’d say, “because it might ruin your witness!”
Now, to their credit, there’s certain logic to this idea. Our actions, as Christians, certainly do reflect upon the God we claim to believe in. However, I think these churches focus on the wrong kinds of actions. When I talk to people who aren’t Christians and ask them why they’re not interested in Christianity, I’ve never once heard someone say, “Because I once saw a Christian dancing in a nightclub.” However, I’ve heard lots of people say, “I don’t want to be a Christian because most Christians I know are judgmental hypocrites and I don’t want to be like them.”
Sometimes, these folks will point to the headline-making scandals involving high-profile Christians. One favorite example that people mention is the infamous PTL scandal from the mid-1980s involving Jim and Tammy-Faye Bakker. For those who might not remember the story, Jim and Tammy-Faye built a huge faith-based media empire that combined evangelism with entertainment. They loudly proclaimed the power of the so-called “prosperity gospel”: that God would bless people with material wealth so long as they “planted seeds of faith” (which typically meant donating a certain sum of money to the organization in question).
After years of successful growth, the bottom fell out of Jim and Tammy-Faye’s empire when severe allegations of marital infidelity and financial malfeasance began rising to the surface. Jim Bakker went to prison for a number of years and the PTL organization went bankrupt. It’s stories like this that tend to put people off of Christianity in the long-term.
The Apostle Paul was aware of this kind of danger in his own day. In fact, people accused him of doing something very similar to Jim and Tammy-Faye Bakker. Paul’s apostolic ministry kept him on the road a lot, which was a bigger deal in those days than it is now. He came through the city of Thessalonica at one point and started some very meaningful relationships there. As we heard in last week’s reading, the Thessalonian Christians became known for their deep and open-hearted spirituality. But the Spirit moved and needs were pressing in other churches, so Paul eventually had to say goodbye.
After his departure, things continued to go (mostly) well for the new Thessalonian church. Their faith was strong, but doubts eventually began to arise about Paul himself. Was he just some fly-by-night preacher? Did he just blow out of town as soon as he had their money in the collection plate?
Word of these rumors reached Paul himself and he decided it was important enough to respond with this letter. He wasn’t just concerned about defending his own reputation. Paul knew that the life he lived would reflect upon the faith he preached. So he wanted to make darn sure that people were left with the right impression.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians saying, “you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.” The others he mentioned were Silvanus (a.k.a. Silas) and Timothy, his associates in the mission field. Paul drew the Thessalonians’ attention, not just to the content of the message, but to the character of the messengers. He goes into detail, saying “our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery”. He continues, “As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed”. We’ll have to forgive Paul for tooting his own horn here, but he seems that he had a pretty clear sense of what he was trying to do in his ministry. He appeals to the collective conscience of those who knew him personally and saw him in action. We know from other parts of the New Testament that Paul had a side-job making tents. He used this trade to support himself while he traveled and preached. This, by the way, is why some pastors (like me) who support themselves with jobs outside the church are called “tentmakers” to this day. My “tent” just happens to be my classroom at Utica College. It’s not always easy, but it helps to know that I’m following in the footsteps of those who have gone before me. In our case, tentmaking allows this church to have a regular pastor. In Paul’s case, tentmaking protected his credibility as a minister of the gospel. In fact, the only time we have any record of Paul taking up a collection anywhere is for the relief of famine victims in Judea.
As we already said, Paul knew that the life he lived would reflect upon the faith he preached. So, what kind of message about God did Paul’s lifestyle send? Paul writes, “we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. 8So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” The message that Paul was trying to send through his life was that God is gentle with us, “like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.” God gives life, love, care, affection, nourishment, guidance, and protection. Isn’t that what a nursing mother does? That’s the message about God that Paul wanted the Thessalonians to absorb.
More than that, Paul said, “So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves”. Isn’t that also a statement about God? God shared God’s own self with us in the person of Jesus Christ. The Incarnation, which we celebrate each Christmas, is the remembrance of the time when “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” To paraphrase the same idea in Paul’s words, “So deeply does God care for us that God is determined to share with us… God’s own self, because we are very dear to God.” Paul meant for his actions to be a reflection of God’s love for all people.
There can be no doubt that the lives we live reflect upon the faith we profess. Regardless of the words we use, we should pay attention to the messages our actions send to others about God. Churches like the ones I used to go to send the message that God is demanding, uptight, and watching your every move to make sure you don’t have any fun. People like Jim and Tammy-Faye Bakker reinforced the idea that God is judgmental and hypocritical. Isn’t there a better message for Christians to send about God? I think there is.
Does anyone remember that Jim and Tammy-Faye Bakker had a son named Jamie? He was still very young when scandal brought the PTL organization down. Whatever happened to him? Well, you probably wouldn’t recognize him today. He goes by “Jay” now. He looks nothing like the clean-cut little boy in a sweater-vest on his parents’ TV show. These days, he’s completely covered in tattoos and piercings. As it turns out, Jay has followed in his father’s footsteps as a minister, but of a very different kind than his dad. Jay Bakker is the pastor of an unconventional church in New York City called ‘Revolution’. It meets in a bar and attracts all kinds of misfits who would never feel comfortable in a more conventional church. The Sundance Channel did a documentary on Jay’s life in 2006 called One Punk, Under God. It’s worth watching, if you get the chance.
What kind of message do you think people absorb about God from Jay Bakker’s life? I imagine they see God as unconventional, creative, and inclusive. I think they see God as someone who will travel outside the bounds of traditional religion in order to bring good news to outcasts and misfits. Doesn’t that sound like a God worth believing in?
When people look at your life, what kinds of conclusions do they draw about God? How does the life you live reflect upon the faith you profess? Through your actions, do people see God as uptight and hypocritical? Or do they see God as creative and nurturing? What do you think people see? What do you want them to see?
May God bless us all and continually guide our lives to be more and more like Jesus, whose life perfectly reflected the love of God in every way.
Another “informed and compassionate” response from the happy elves at Crisis Magazine:
You want contraception; someone else wants easy divorce. You want easy divorce; someone else wants homosexual marriages. You want homosexual marriages; someone else wants threesomes. You want threesomes; someone else wants children. You want children; someone else wants sheep. And his reason for wanting sheep will be just as good as yours for wanting contraception or easy divorce or homosexual marriages.
You heard it here, folks:
Using condoms leads to sex with sheep.
I took this paragraph from an article entitled Gay Marriage and the Slippery Slope to Polyamory.
“Slippery Slope” is an interesting choice of words. I use this term with my Philosophy 101 students at Utica College. The “Slippery Slope” is an example of what we call an “informal fallacy” (i.e. an error in the logical process).
This next paragraph is taken from the textbook I use with that class:
Sometimes people argue that performing a specific action will inexorably lead to an additional bad action (or actions), so you should not perform the first action. An initial wrong step starts an inevitable slide toward an unpleasant result that could have been avoided if only the first step had never been taken. This way of arguing is legitimate if there is good reason to believe that the chain of actions must happen as alleged. If not, it is an example of the fallacy of slippery slope.
So, before you go looking for a hot date in a barnyard, remember that questioning one boundary does not necessarily mean eliminating all boundaries.
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
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.
Hopping Hadrian's Wall 