Lent I
“And the Spirit
immediately drove him out into the wilderness.”
Jesus is baptized and then driven immediately into the wilderness. This is our story too. We go from baptism directly into the
wilderness of human community and human society.
This past
week Bishop Gunter posted a quotation from Lutheran pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber,
on his Facebook page that I re-posted on mine.
Nadia says: “I think God is
wanting to be known. And my experience
of God wanting to be known is much more in the person who is annoying me in the
moment rather than the sunset.”
It would be
easier if Church was simply talking a walk in nature---after all, there are no
people there who will annoy us or challenge us or frustrate us. But we are called to find God in community---in
humanity----where God dwells.
What if Christianity is all about loving Jesus?
You might be thinking, “Duh, Mother Jane. Of course, Christianity is all about loving
Jesus.”
But sometimes, we act as if Christianity is all about
believing the right things or worshipping in just the right way. Yes, knowing
the truths that God would have us know are important, and showing our thanks to
God in beautiful and meaningful ways is important too. But, what if, the absolutely most important
thing is simply loving Jesus?
What if being Church, loving Jesus, means asking others to
come and experience this love with us?
Just as they are. Not requiring
right beliefs or right worship, but just the willingness to come together and
expecting to experience the love of Jesus, expecting to feel the movement of
the Holy Spirit.
What happens if we let people who don’t know if they believe
in God join us? Or people who are pretty certain they won’t find anything of
value in Church? Or people who believe
in Allah or Buddha or Yahweh? Or people
who do believe it does really matter that you believe all the right
things---and the right things are what they believe? Or people who think it’s all about doing the
right thing---serving others, so it doesn’t really matter what you believe as
long as you serve others---what if we let them in?
Imagine this space filled with all these different kinds of
people. And the only things they have in
common are their humanity, their need for love and belonging and their desire
to live in truth. What if we said, “Here
is a place where you don’t need to wear a mask.
Come just as you are. You can
know the love of Jesus here. We may
disagree with one another; we may not all believe the same things, but we think
it’s God’s job to transform our hearts and to change our minds. Our job is simply to welcome you here. To let you know you are loved by Jesus. We may not worship all the same way. You may
think God wants to be praised in that way, and I think God wants to be praised
in this way, but we are going to agree to disagree, and believe that God will
accept both ways.
What would it mean to be a community like this? A gathering like this? What would it cost us---what understandings
would we have to set aside? What preferences? What would we learn about our rituals
and what would we come to understand about our traditions?
What would we be saying?
I wonder.
I wonder if there was a community like this if they wouldn’t
be saying something like: “I believe what I believe strongly, but I may be
wrong. And I recognize that you believe
what you believe strongly, but you may be wrong. But, we know that there is truth
in each one of us because each one of us is made in the image of God and God is
truth. Jesus says: “I am the Truth”. So, if each of us is made in the image of
God—in the image of Jesus---then each of us carries the Truth. And as we are drawn together---fragments of a
whole---we bring our splinters of truth together---creating a clearer picture
of Jesus and a sharper image of the Truth.
Perhaps, this community would be saying that we each have
something to say; we each have something to teach; we each have something to
learn---even those who don’t believe or who believe differently or those who
aren’t sure and those who are so sure that their version is THE version. Yes, even them. What if we can only come to know The Truth,
to know Jesus, by drawing close together---even with all our variations and
variegations and separations---drawing together and listening and learning and
being and loving?
What if this is what Jesus means when he says: “The Kingdom
of God has come near?”
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