Do we ever really think about what we believe and why?
I mean really think about what it is that binds us together in community as the Church, and why we hold to those beliefs?
In truth, in the Church today pretty much the only time we begin to reflect on what we believe is when we are in a place of crisis …something has happened that has jarred us in our comfort and has made us think about what we believe and how we will live out our faith.
The last thirty years within this United Church of ours is marked by what at times seems like an unending series of crises that have challenged us over and over and over … each time the tendancy has been to have battle lines drawn between the ‘faithful’ and the ‘less so’, and we engage in debilitating and distruptive rhetorical exchanges that have all the civility of a school yard brawl … I’ve stood in Church courts where the ‘debate’ degenerated into something very close to shouting – “Yeah, well your mother dresses you funny …”
Yet, knowing what we believe is also foundational in bringing us together and sending us out into the world to BE The Church – the witness to the Good News.
And what we believe is more than a similar taste in music, a common socio-economic background and a convenient and comfortable take on the old stories we share in the Scripture. What we believe is the heart of who and what we are as a Church.
We are by EVERY indication a community of the Resurrection – the very Body of Christ risen and incarnate in the world, and sent out to proclaim not only the message of the Kingdom of God, but to BE the very Kingdom of God in our world.
And the reality is that no matter how powerful those words may be, for the majority of folks in the pews, and for an even bigger majority of people out there (…), they are simply words … quaint and interesting words, but simply words because we’ve forgotten what they mean, and we’ve forgotten what we believe …
If you ask the average American what they believe they will offer an answer that includes God, Mom, apple pie, and the flag … whether we agree or not, our American cousins have a good sense of what they believe – at least on the surface.
Ask the average Canadian and I doubt there would be a commonality of images or ideas … many may cite our multiculturalism as a touchstone … some may note the wilderness and the arctic … others may still offer the politeness we embody … but sadly we have no axis mundi around which we can rally in the same way our southern neighbours do. And that’s okay – it’s how we’ve lived and existed as Canadians – our national identity is such that we know what we are NOT and we’re proud of the diversity of who and what we are …
And this distinctly Canadian entity of which we are a part – the United Church of Canada is a reflection of that. There are parts of us that are most definitely Presbyterian, and other parts that are clearly Methodist, and other parts that reflect the other partners that came into Church Union from 1925 through to today. We are as Canadian as you can get – there is room for all, and we welcome each other accordingly.
But the challenge is that along the way, our Canadian niceness has left us forgetful about what it is that we really believe … We can hold up the New Creed, and say the words “we are not alone, we live in God’s world …” and say “this is what we believe.”
But there is more to our belief that that … we have the Basis of Union and the Doctrine of Faith that brought us into being in 1925 … we have the New Creed … and along the way we have other documents and proclamations of faith that have shaped us and how we move in the world. That is why we engaged in the Remit Study recently and looked at our Words of Faith and discussed them … That is why we struggle as a Church, because we span the breadth of our nation, and in the process we have a HUGE diversity of views that encompass a myriad of points of view and opinions on everything from Scripture through to Poverty and Politics.
And like any good family sometimes we don’t always agree.
And so into that diversity steps the Risen Christ who speaks the words – “Shalom Alokhum” My peace be with you …
The Risen Christ appears FIRST with the gift of Shalom – the peace that surpasses all understanding – the peace that radically alters the moment and delivers more than a cessation of conflict.
When we consider the text we shared this morning what should strike us first is the language used to describe the scene.
The disciples and the others were gathered behind locked doors – they were hiding – they had come together out of fear of the authorities, This was not simply a social gathering, this was a gathering of people in crisis – they were terrified. They were afraid for their own lives. They knew what had happened to Jesus, and despite the words of Mary, Peter and the other disciple that Jesus was Risen, they had their doubts and they were Scared.
Then suddenly, there he is – The Risen Christ standing before them!
And the first words out of his mouth are the words:
PEACE BE WITH YOU.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think ANY OF THIS would be comforting for me … I would be looking for a window to dive out of and to get away from ALL of this as far and as fast as my feet would carry me.
Yet, the language then used by Jesus becomes important because it offers a template to all of us to follow … Peace – be calm, trust in God, know that God is present even in this confusing and terrifying moment, have faith that God is here and every where. This is about far more than just the end of violence and conflict – this is the gift of SHALOM, God’s ultimate gift that has been celebrated since the days of the prophets – the gift of total and overwhelming peace.
Next Jesus speaks of Forgiveness – unbind those tied to their sins – forgive them … this is a continuation of the gift of Shalom. The Church – the disciples in the upper room, those who followed – you and I – ALL of us are called to trust in God’s Shalom and then to offer it forward by unbinding those weighed down and struggling … we are called to live that forgiveness in a way that sets people free … we have the power to transform the world with God’s gift of Shalom.
So what is it that we believe?
In those moments when we are challenged to reflect on this and to consider what we believe there is a tendency to draw lines and reinforce our positions and get ready to do battle, both figurative and literal and to say “THIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE” and anyone who disagrees is wrong.
And then enters Thomas … dear fool-hearty Thomas who said he would NOT believe the witness of the others unless he himself sees and touches the Risen Christ … and the outcome of Thomas’ story is his falling to his knees and proclaiming his belief, and more importantly, the Risen One offering the blessing on all of us who have come to believe without that physical experience …
What would have happened if those gathered in the Upper Room had so quickly forgotten the whispered words of Christ … what is in response to Thomas they had forgotten to embody Shalom and Forgiveness? What if they had simply said – “you’re wrong …” and left it at that?
Instead they embodied this idea of UNBINDING and let it happen … in the Gospel of John the word we’ve rendered as Forgiveness, or in older texts as remit, means far more than just simple forgiveness. In the NT, another word is usually used for ‘forgiveness’. In this case it is the greek word aphiemi, which is more about boldly and dramatically letting go and unbinding and releasing – often in a legalistic sense, then it is about forgiveness. It’s a BIG BRASH and POWERFUL term. It’s legalistic, it’s moral, and its economic, but it is NEVER religious.
It is never religious … so why is it in the words spoken by Jesus after the resurrection is it is not a religious term?
Scholar Rudolf Bultmann suggests that it is BECAUSE it is not a religious term that lends its usage here such power:
Forgiveness is (here) an eschatological even that renews the
WHOLE person in whom sin is not just a behaviour, but an orientation
and a condition that permeates the world around us …
Aphiemi is about the release of ALL people from the sin of creation …
Aphiemi about the transformation of ALL people by the presence of the Holy …
Aphiemi is about ALL of creation experiencing the fullness of the Resurrection.
The words spoken by Jesus in this moment is not about a legalistic release, but is about the transformation of Creation by the Shalom that Jesus had just released …
There is no place for battle lines or right and wrong … aphiemi is ALL about the gift of Grace to be shared with all people …
In a time or place of crisis or uncertainty when we are struggling to understand what it is that we believe, the ONLY response is that of Thomas falling to his knees and proclaiming his faith …
In the United Church we are inspired to share the words:
We sing of a church
seeking to continue the story of Jesus
by embodying Christ’s presence in the world.
We are called together by Christ
as a community of broken but hopeful believers,
loving what he loved,
living what he taught,
striving to be faithful servants of God
in our time and place.
Our ancestors in faith
bequeath to us experiences of their faithful living;
upon their lives our lives are built.
Our living of the gospel makes us a part of this communion of saints,
experiencing the fulfillment of God’s reign
even as we actively anticipate a new heaven and a new earth.
The church has not always lived up to its vision.
It requires the Spirit to reorient it,
helping it to live an emerging faith while honouring tradition,
challenging it to live by grace rather than entitlement,
for we are called to be a blessing to the earth.
We sing of God’s good news lived out,
a church with purpose:
faith nurtured and hearts comforted,
gifts shared for the good of all,
resistance to the forces that exploit and marginalize,
fierce love in the face of violence,
human dignity defended,
members of a community held and inspired by God,
corrected and comforted,
instrument of the loving Spirit of Christ,
creation’s mending.
We sing of God’s mission.
May it be so – thanks be to God … Let us pray …
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