Pastor’s Pen (July 2010)

“...in the household of God, which is the church of the Living God, ...without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.” I Timothy 3:15-16

“Religion is unfixable.” This is a quote from one of the student final reports for an independent study I did with them on the three monotheistic faiths. I chuckled when I read it and certainly in the context of relations between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is an appropriate observation. As we spoke about what the student meant, the observation became even more to the point. “We keep judging 'religions' based on the news that we hear in the media but learning what each faith tradition teaches, it seems we should be judging the individual people who call themselves Jews, Christians or Muslims.”

This got me thinking. Religion – by definition is 'a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe'. It also can mean 'the group of people holding a set of specific beliefs'. Most often, the religion would have a code of behavior associated with it. So carrying this out further, the church is the gathering of people who have a set of beliefs in common and seek to live their lives according these beliefs. That seems simple enough ….until you put human beings in the picture! As any one of us can attest, the church is made of many different people who may agree on some core concepts, but hold differing ideas as to how this should be lived. And there are many in each religion who call themselves faithful but practice a lifestyle that is cultural, having little resemblance to the tenants of faith.

Yep. Religion is unfixable! Each will always be filled with the full measure of frailty, failures and division that plague each human organization.

Until each person is 'perfect' the church will be far less than perfect. But the glory of God's grace is the deep mystery of the church! Each month we acknowledge the shortcomings we have and accept the love God offers in Christ as we share communion. Our church can become better as each of us becomes better. The truth and full wonder of the faith our church holds will become visible to the world when we, as individuals practice the walk along with the talk.

As you get this we will be preparing for the 4 th of July celebration of our country’s founding. It seems a good time to remember that the best way we can be good citizens is by living as Jesus has shown us and asked us to live! We can't fix nations any more than we can fix religions – unless we start with ourselves. Remember the story of the little boy who spent the day with his father in his office? The father, to keep him busy cut up a map of the world and said here is a puzzle – put the world back together. A short time later, surprising his father, he came back with it all together. When his father asked how he did it so quickly he said, “It was easy. On the back was a picture of a man. I put it together then turned it over and the world was back together!” I know, its an old story and you've probably heard it before but the truth of it remains. God wants us, the Church of Jesus Christ, to be a witness to what can be.

The peace [Shalom] that God desires for all people begins with each of us becoming as Christ, whom we consider the most complete picture of God's love, grace and presence we can know as human beings. Indeed, “without a doubt, the mystery of our religion is great!” At graduation, Caroline Camara said something to the effect of, 'Creativity is greatest on the cusp of chaos.' God is at work and in these ‘chaotic’ times, perhaps our own God-given ingenuity coupled with that divine grace will bring something even better into being!

Dave