Memorization a path to church membership?

In today's (August 22, 2013) meditation on the Forward Movement Day by Day web site the  author choose the gospel for the day Mark 12:28-34 as the basis for the meditation. In the meditation he remembers the strict testing and menorization process needed before one could be confirmed in the Episcopal Church. The one thing that he retains now is the lesson about what is often referred to as the Greatest Commandment. When asked by his teacher what its meaning was he said, “If I obey the commandment, some day after I die, I will be allowed to get into the kingdom?” His teacher's replied, “Close, but a little off. ... Live the commandment, she said, and live in the kingdom.” (The complete meditation can be read here: http://prayer.forwardmovement.org/forward_day_by_day.php?d=22&m=8&y=2013).

Although the author does not expand on why, that one part of the lessons stayed with the him. I think that it is illustrative of something that several other Christian authors have been saying recently about why people seem to be leaving the church (read that as all churches). In her book Christianity Beyond Religion Diana Butler Bass says, in the chapter Belief, that " 'Belief' is the intellectual content of faith. Typically belief entails some sort of list - a rehearsal of ideas about God, Jesus, salvation, and the church." (107) She goes on to say later in the chapter, "It is not only the case that the Western world has grown weary of doctrine, but that Christianity itself is changing - shifting away from being a belief-centered religion toward an experiential faith." (108 - 109)  In the meditation that is exactly what the teacher was saying when she said, " ... Live the commandment ... and live in the kingdom." And this seems to be, according to a variety of authors (Diana Butler Bass, Phyllis Tickle and others) what people are looking for in Christian churches today and are not finding. They want to experience the faith and live it, but not be told what and who to condemn. In other words as Jesus is being quoted as saying in Mark as he answered a scribe who questioned him about, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, " 'Hear, O Israel the lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength' and the second is this; ' You must love your neighbor as yourself.'  No other commandment is greater than these." (Mark 12: 28 b - 31 REB)  In a Belief Net blog from CNN Rachel Held Evans says that Evangelicals (and I think others) want a place to ask tough questions and wrestle with doubt. (1)  With Jesus' prescription to love God and love neighbor people are able to "question and wrestle" because they must find out, in a variety of situations, how to best love (i.e.. what constitutes loving in this instance?). Questions provide the opertunity to strengthen ones beliefs and can be more affirming than simply blindly accepting dogma. This may indeed be close to what Bonhoeffer was suggesting with his idea of Contextual Ethics. The teacher in the meditation at the beginning of this post seemed to understand that.

(1) http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/27/why-millennials-are-leaving-the-church/

     

Sight

SIGHT

(Mark 10: 46-52)

The inability to see clearly comes in many forms. It can be literally the ability to see clearly or at all. I can appreciate this because several years ago I had a detached retina that required surgery to repair. The operation was marginally successful so occasionally my sight is less than perfect, somewhat blurred. But the word sight can take on a variety of meanings. An example is when we “see” something someone is trying to explain to us, and we respond, “Oh now I see what you mean.”

The incident of the blind man confronting Jesus can have meaning even for those of us who are sighted for we can be blind in other ways. Consider how the story unfolds. Bartimaeus is persistent as he calls out to Jesus; he will not be ignored. When his persistence pays off and the two men face each other, Jesus’ obvious question is, “What do you want?” or to quote the Revised English Bible directly, “What do you want me to do for you?” Can we / have we as we sit by the road of life had a desire to see more clearly? Do we like Bartimaeus call out to Jesus and persist in asking for clearer sight to the questions of life that plague us? If we get no response the first or second time are we as persistent to obtain that answer to our life’s questions. Bartimaeus’ persistence paid off for he was given back his sight. Given back is the correct phrasing because when Jesus asked him what he wanted he said, “ I want my sight BACK.” But the story doesn’t end with the restoration of sight. Bartimaeus doesn’t have his sight restored and go about his merry way with the attitude, “OK, I got that accomplished, I’m done.” Again quoting from the scripture ,it says, “And at one he recovered his sight and FOLLOWED him on the road.” (Mark 10: 52b) Early  Christians were known as Followers of the Way. Bartimaeus followed Jesus on the road. We know from the Gospels that Jesus continued to teach the disciples and others who followed him as he traveled through the countryside so we can assume that Bartimaeus continued to learn from Jesus over time. The restoration of  Bartimaeus’ sight was not a single event; for if we understand “sight” to be more than visual seeing ,we can assume that his sight became clearer and clearer over time. This can also be true for us. We can, as a song in the musical Godspell put it, “… see Thee more clearly…”

OK so we see and see more clearly as we progress along the way. What do we, each of us, do along the way? Scripture also tells us that we each have talents that can be put to use. What those talents are we each have to decide. Whatever they are I like the prayer that is part of the Episcopal literagy and comes after Communion near the end of the mass. It says, “… And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord…”

We can persist, we can follow and learn in our following, and then we can do. If we have ears to hear, aren’t we glad that Bartimaeus’ was persistent?

(8/1713)

Food and Prayer

FOOD AND PRAYER

Food and prayer. How often do we allow them to go together; to exist side by side? The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus gave thanks for the bread and wine at the Last Supper. Matthew, Mark, and John say that Jesus gave thanks for the loaves and fish before his disciples distributed them to the multitude. Before a meal do we remember to give thanks for the food God has allowed to be provided for us from His good Earth? I must confess that sometimes I just dive right into the meal. But when my better self remembers the source of the food, at a minimum, I close my eyes and say thank you.

Have you ever been in a restaurant with someone and they want to say grace before the meal? I have, quite recently as a matter of fact. Mary Anne and I were gathering with some friends at a local restaurant. It was the occasion of a 50^th high school reunion, and we were gathering with three others (and spouses) who had been members of the same youth group at a United Methodist church. As the conversation revolved around the table it, of course, came around to religion given our original common background. Two were very quiet; one was vocal and excited to tell us all that she had been doing in her church setting; while Mary Anne and I were some where in between with how much we had to relate. Of course, when our meals were delivered by the waitress, our vocal friend asked if she could say grace out loud no less. It has been my experience that the person asking is always polite and will say something like, “Would you mind if I said grace?” Well , what is one to say; especially if you are not bashful about talking about your faith? My reaction, inside my head only, is usually, “Well OK if you must.” I feel, I think for no good reason, uncomfortable. Are other people looking at me at us? Do they think, “Look at those religious fanatics?” Those are at least some of the sources of my discomfort. Have you ever felt that way? But is that reasonable? If we profess to be Christians shouldn’t we unashamedly give thanks to God for the food we are privileged to have? That is not really a question for the answer is a resounding yes. The next time I’m in a restaurant and the food is served I think I will at least close my eyes and say a silent prayer of thanks for the abundance that God has allowed me to share in. And if I’m feeling particularly brave I may even make the sign of the cross at the end of my prayer (quite a leap for a former United Methodist where such formal gestures were at best seen as unusual).

But prayer and food have yet another dimension, I think.  Unfortunately, the abundance that I mentioned is not equally shared by everyone in our society, as it should be. After all we live in the richest society on the face of the Earth. No one should want for his or her “daily bread”. Although one church or probably even a group of churches can not solve this problem, we can at least ameliorate the problem. We need to be creative in how we ask for and provide food for those in need. Recently while I was trolling with one of those wonderful inter-web machines I happened upon a story about a church that was creative and that had encouraged people to contribute canned food for a local food bank. But instead of simply collecting the food, the people at the church constructed a prayer labyrinth using the cans of food that were contributed. People were then invited to walk and pray the labyrinth. This was a brilliant idea because it had the possibility of connecting those who walked with an opportunity to remember the real source of the food and that when we provide food for, “… one of the least of these…” we are providing food for Jesus. “Truly I say to you as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you did it to me.” (See Matthew 25: 40 b. KJV)

Food and prayer are possibly a more intimate connection than we might have at first imagined.

Why millennials are leaving the church

"I talk about how the evangelical obsession with sex can make Christian living seem like little more than sticking to a list of rules, and how millennials long for faith communities in which they are safe asking tough questions and wrestling with doubt.
I point to research that shows young evangelicals often feel they have to choose between their intellectual integrity and their faith, between science and Christianity, between compassion and holiness."


That is a quote from an article by Rachel Held Evans, on CNN's Belief Net about why, as the title suggests, Millennials leave the church. I think that the reasons she gives are reasons why those in other generation groups are also leaving the church.  To read the complete article and see the additional reasons for this exodus go to: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/27/why-millennials-are-leaving-the-church/
When I saw an interview about this question on the Sunday morning version of New Day on CNN I said to the television screen, "Try the Episcopal Church, we have already wrestled with these problems."

A topic that is related to these questions is the topic of the Emerging or Emergent Church. I hope to post an article or information about that in the future.

Christ’s Transfiguration, and Our’s

"When the vision fades and Jesus returns to them, Peter talks of building three shelters on the mountaintop and all remaining there. He wants to hold on to the “high” of revelation, to grasp it with his hands and not let it go. But Jesus leads them down the mountain and into the valley again. It is as if to say God is there in the low places as well, in the ordinary day to day of our lives. Even so, we carry the memory, the blessed assurance after we have transfiguring experiences. Sometimes our collisions with God are the very encounters that save us and keep us alive. But Jesus leads us, is always ahead of us, elusive, not always visible or comprehensible, not always easy to see. So to follow him we must at all times be awake, alert, always looking for him, looking to him to find our way, because he is our way." (From a sermon from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist.)
To read the complete sermon go to: http://ssje.org/ssje/2013/08/06/from-the-archive-christs-transfiguration-and-ours-br-eldridge-pendleton/#more-8223

5 Biblical Concepts Fundamentalists Just Don’t Understand | Alternet

Although I am somewhat uncomfortable with the BS comment in the author's introduction to this article and what I detect is an undertone of anger; I think that the article is accurate in its understanding of the fundamental beliefs it critiques.
5 Biblical Concepts Fundamentalists Just Don’t Understand | Alternet