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faith without passion?

faith without passion?

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Faith without passion …

… is like playing soccer without the ball. You may go through all the motions, but you don’t really accomplish anything and it’s not much fun!

Faith without passion …

… is like marriage without love. All form and no substance. It may serve a purpose — for maintaining some kind of social stability and keeping people out of trouble, but has no depth or intimacy or life … or satisfaction.

Faith without passion …

… is demeaning to God. If God is God — the one whose breath is the source of life, whose power and wisdom and glory are beyond imagination, whose grace and mercy and love seek and save and lift up a wandering and broken humanity — how can we relate to this God with indifference, with a shrug of the shoulders or a nod of acknowledgment … or a lukewarm faith?

Faith without passion …

… is an oxymoron, because faith is passion!

poor in spirit

poor in spirit

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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven …

In Luke’s version, Jesus says, Blessed are you who are poor. Luke draws attention to Jesus’ offer of grace and favor to those people human society has cast aside. Luke celebrates Jesus’ stirring announcement of good news to the poor — to those who are quite literally poor. But in Matthew’s version, Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit … Meaning those who recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy, who realize their desparate need for God’s grace and forgiveness? Probably …

But what if the word poor in this instance was still understood in its primitive sense as referrring to material poverty? Then what might Jesus mean by poor in spirit? Poor … in spirit. In spirit, laying aside claim to anything we may possess. Acknowledging in our hearts and minds that whether we have much or whether we have little, all that we have we hold in trust. It belongs to someone else. It is ours to use … at the pleasure of our Master.

When we are poor in spirit, our possessions do not control us. We let go. We let go of everything. We are poor … in spirit. We have nothing. And yet, we have everything … because ours is the kingdom of heaven! When we are poor in spirit, our possessions do not get in the way of our relationship with God. And when we are poor in spirit, our possessions do not get in the way of our relationships with each other. There are no “class” differences, because we are poor alike, and since what we have we hold in trust, what we have is readily shared. When we are truly poor in spirit, it may be that no one need be poor in reality! (See Acts 4:32-35!)

jesus is lord

jesus is lord

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From the United Church of Christ newsroom:

Jesus sole head of church, Thomas affirms
Written by Will Matthews
Tuesday, 28 June 2005

Refuting claims to the contrary, the Rev. John H. Thomas, general minister and President of the UCC, unequivocally re-affirmed Monday that “Jesus Christ is the sole head of the church, Son of God and Savior.”

In a letter submitted to the Bergen County Record, Thomas responded to a story that appeared in the New Jersey newspaper June 15 that centers on a proposed General Synod resolution.

The proposed resolution, slated to be debated by close to 1,000 General Synod delegates who will gather in Atlanta this week, asks the UCC to affirm the Lordship of Jesus.

The story quotes the pastor of a New Jersey UCC church that is one of a handful of sponsors of the proposed resolution as saying that denominational leaders are “fuzzy” about their belief in God.

But Thomas in his letter said such a statement couldn’t be farther from the truth and that the UCC in fact is firmly grounded in its belief in both God and Jesus as “our crucified and risen Lord.”

“Our faith is not in a book or tradition, but a Sovereign who is risen, is present with us and thus a Word that ‘still speaks,’” Thomas wrote.

The resolution, sponsored by eight geographically-diverse congregations, asserts that the greatest issue currently facing the denomination is whether to acknowledge the Lordship and divinity of Jesus.

But Thomas in his letter said the question is a moot point.

“When the delegates to the 25th General Synod of the United Church of Christ gather for opening worship in Atlanta on July 1, they will join in an affirmation of baptism that begins with the public confession of the triune God, including belief in ‘Jesus Christ, the only one begotten of God before all worlds.’”

The full text of Thomas’ letter, as well as the link to the June 15 Bergen County Record story follows:

Letter to the Editor:

It will take more than a resolution to the General Synod and an article in a local newspaper to create an identity crisis for the United Church of Christ. The fact is, the only reason we can use a comma along side our more traditional emblem of the cross, crown, and orb, is because of our confession that “Jesus Christ is the sole head of the church, Son of God and Savior.” Our faith is not in a book or a tradition, but a Sovereign who is risen, is present to us, and thus a Word that “still speaks.”

Ask anyone baptized using the liturgical rite of the United Church of Christ Book of Worship: “Do you profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?” Ask worshipers in our local churches who Sunday after Sunday read from the United Church of Christ Statement of Faith, printed in our hymnal, “In Jesus Christ the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to God’s self.” Ask our ecumenical partners, including Lutherans, Presbyterians, Disciples, and members of the Reformed Church in America who as recently as1997 recognized the UCC as a “church where the gospel is rightly preached.” Ask Christians around the world who share fellowship with the United Church of Christ in the World Council of Churches on the basis of our common confession of “the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the scriptures.” Ask our pastors who affirm at their ordination that they “hear the word of God in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,” and who “accept the word of God as the rule of Christian faith and practice.”

When the delegates to the 25th General Synod of the United Church of Christ gather for opening worship in Atlanta on July 1, they will join in an affirmation of baptism that begins with the public confession of the triune God, including belief in “Jesus Christ, the only one begotten of God before all worlds.” In the remembrance of these baptismal vows, the delegates will begin five days of listening for the living Word from the living Christ, a Stillspeaking God whose voice is never bound by the periods of time, culture, or convention.

The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

i have a dream

i have a dream

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I have a dream …

Like the dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is a dream about reconciliation. It is a dream about two groups of people divided by history and culture and prejudice learning to live together, to respect each other, to recognize the strength and beauty in each other, to work alongside each other to make the world new.

I dream of reconciliation between “progressive” Christians and “evangelical” Christians. I use these particular terms because they are the terms the two groups use to identify themselves. I put the terms in quotes, however, because the words may not be the most apt descriptors for the two groups. “Progressive” Christians may well be evangelical in the sense that they bear a message of good news into a hurting world. And “evangelical” Christians are certainly progressive in that they seek not just to preserve the status quo, but to transform it.

Why do I dream of reconciliation? Because the antagonism and mistrust of each group for the other cripples their witness and defames the name and the way of Jesus! And Jesus is what they have in common. They are “progressive” Christians … “evangelical” Christians. The key to reconciliation must be found in what they do have in common: Jesus Christ, Jesus the Christ who prayed that his followers be one.

It may seem preposterous to think these two groups have anything at all in common. Their values and principles and practices are so much at odds that surely one must be mostly right and the other mostly wrong. Or both groups may be mostly wrong. Now, I believe, we are getting closer to the truth! Both “progressive” Christians and “evangelical” Christians need a healthy dose of the cardinal Christian virtue — humility.

“Progressive” Christians need to realize, need to BELIEVE, that they need Jesus; it is not Jesus that needs them. They need to learn from Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet, to be content with saying nothing, doing nothing, coming empty-handed to Jesus to listen, to be healed, to be given gifts of light and life. They need to work hard, yes, but know that the future rests in God’s hands, that at every moment they live in and by and for the grace of God.

“Evangelical” Christians need to realize, need to BELIEVE, that Jesus does not need them to defend him or to speak for him. Jesus can that just fine on his own, thank you! Instead of telling everyone else what Jesus wants them to do, they need to listen to Jesus themselves … and obey. Not listen to the “Jesus’ jargon,” the packaged “gospel” all done up neat and tight, but listen to the real Jesus. Read the gospel record and listen! And then … follow.

I have a dream … that all of those, all of us, who desire nothing more than to follow Jesus faithfully, will need no other title than Christian. That word will say enough. And that word, that name, will be one that brings us together and leads us into the world with news that is truly good!

jargon

jargon

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I don’t like labels and I don’t like jargon either.

Jargon is insider language, code language, technical language that is intended for and understood by “those in the know.” You can tell when jargon is being used: all the insiders are cheering and all the outsiders have no idea what everybody is so excited about!

Jargon infects and corrupts our religious language, too. When I ask, “Are you born again?,” I am using jargon. I want to know: Do you know the code word? Are you one of us?” The metaphor of spiritual rebirth is a wonderfully meaningful metaphor, but when the term is used as jargon, it does not communicate; it divides. Tell me you are born again … but tell me too what that means! Tell me of your experience of God’s healing grace in your life; tell me what you were and what you are. Tell me what new things God is teaching you day by day by day, and I will tell you too what God is teaching me. Tell me what you see and hear and taste of the grace of God is your own words!

On the other end of the religious spectrum, the word “justice” is also used as jargon. All you have to do is say the word and you are identified as one of the “good guys,” not one of “them.” Again, the word “justice” itself is a powerfully descriptive word, aptly characterizing God’s will and God’s way in relating to the human creatures God made. But used as jargon, without content, it is an overused cliche and communicates very little. Don’t just tell me to do justice. Tell me what that means in your own words. Tell me what you care about and why you care about it. Tell me what God has called you to do and to be.

In our present context, the word “patriot” is jargon. It is used not to unite people through the expression of a diversified and many-faceted love for one’s homeland. It is used to divide people and to categorize people. You’re either “for us” or “against us.” If you agree with me, you’re a patriot. If you disagree with me, you’re traitor … So don’t just tell me you’re a patriot. Tell me what it means. Tell me why you love your country and what you are doing to show that love. And I will tell you how I love my country and how I may show that love by speaking out against whatever degrades us and compromises our best values.

From the time my parents began reading aloud the books of the Narnia Chronicles to my sister and brother and me, I have appreciated the Christian witness of C. S. Lewis. He has been a lifelong tutor of my growing faith. I believe the effectiveness and enduring popularity of a book like his “Mere Christianity” is rooted in its clarity and authenticity. In other words, Lewis doesn’t use jargon! He uses fresh language, genuine and meaningful language, describing faith in terms “outsiders” as well as “insiders” can appreciate.

It has been my goal in my work as a minister to do the same, to communicate the gospel not just with cliches and code words, not just with jargon, but with language that is authentic and evocative, language that can speak both to those who have lived within the Christian context for a lifetime, and those for whom anything “religious” is utterly alien. If God is real, if our experience of God is real, we surely can find our own words to describe what we know and believe!

labels

labels

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I have never liked labels.

Liberal Christian, evangelical Christian, fundamentalist Christian, mainline Christian. Why not just plain Christian?

Open and affirming church, just peace church, Bible-believing church, Spirit-filled church. Why not just plain church?

Labels are used to divide, not to unite. When I label someone else, I put them into a box. I don’t need to pay close attention anymore to what they say or do, because I have already defined them. I already know who they are and what they are like. When I label myself, I use that label to set myself apart. I am a liberal Christian, not one of “those” evangelicals. We are an open and affirming church, not one of “those” unwelcoming churches.

Names are helpful, because they convey identity. When I call myself a Christian, you know that my relationship with Jesus is essential to who I am. Beyond that, I don’t need any label, because I reveal to you by my words and by my actions what that relationship with Jesus means to me. You will have to watch and to listen to know who I am!

Names are helpful, but labels are not. Labels inhibit and damage relationship. Show me who you are! Don’t just tell me your “label.” I am ready to listen …