Saturday, January 5, 2019

Home by Another Way

Beginning the Story

I want to be honest with you. This New Year has been a bit of a struggle for me. Nothing serious… Just…. Soul Searching sort of stuff. I blame the idea of New Year’s resolutions. It makes me think too much. It makes me wonder about the point… And that makes it hard.
What sort of person are you? I am the think too much type. I know other people who are the jump right in sort of people. I envy them. Of course, both types make mistakes. Both types get along okay. It is just sometimes I wish I thought about things less.
I wonder which the wise men were? Did they look up at the night sky, see a strange star, and instantly jump on their camels? Or did they go back inside, consult the star charts, get together with colleagues., and then plan in detail and expedition?
I suppose it really does not matter. They saw something new and they decided they wanted to learn more. I think that is a good response whether you are the think too much or seat of the pants type of person.
When we see something new – we should chase after it, learn from it, allow it to influence us, allow it to change us.
And this is why the struggle. Here is the thing I have been thinking a lot about these last few weeks. The church is dying because we are not those people. I don’t just mean here. I mean in general… the church, Christianity, congregations, denominations. We do not embrace the new. In fact, we ignore the very real evidence and stick to the old so strongly that our knuckles turn white.
I asked a question on Facebook last week – since I have hundreds of people who follow me – most of whom do not go to church. I asked if you once went to church if you one considered yourself Christian, why do you not go, or believe now.
I was surprised by how many people answered. I was not as surprised by the answers, they were, in fact, what I would have expected. There were only two – I am gay, or a single mother, or different in some way and the church does not accept me. And the second answer, I do not believe in the supernatural and the church insists on making belief in magic a basis for belief.
By that they meant things like the world being created in seven days, Moses parting the red sea, the virgin birth of Jesus, Jesus as superhero… that sort of thing.
Do those answers surprise you? Cause they are the same ones I have heard over and over – and I have felt. I cannot believe in fairy tales and the church is nowhere near as accepting as Jesus.
So here is the question that keeps me up at night. We have known this for years. The churches across the world have been emptying out for years. And yet we still say that everyone else is wrong and that church is doing it right. Why do we bury our heads in the sand?

The Story Unfolds

“The Wise Men” were philosophers. They were astrologers. They were scientists from Persia – a place where running water and streetlights existed when Europe was still building mud huts. There may have been three of them traveling together, or there may have been a hundred and they brought three gifts. The story really does not tell us a lot about them – it makes who they are ambiguous except for two things – they were not Jewish, and they were wise.
Interestingly enough they saw something important in the birth of Jesus. Something so important as to leave everything behind and spend years on a journey to meet this guy. I think of it sort of like those people who go off backpacking in Europe to find themselves or go to meet the Dalai Lama. They are people who know a lot who want to know more and they are willing to do anything to get that enlightenment.
An interesting model of faith for the Bible to throw in there, is it not? They have a religion by the way – Persia was almost 100% religious, and they were Zoroastrian. Which is actually a really cool religion that has elements of Hinduism and Buddhism mixed with a lot of wisdom and astrology. But they thought to themselves – hey, something is happening in Judaism. We better go take a look.
Want to review the last 40 years of Christianity – since the ’60s let's say? Everyone started doing Yoga, a Hindu spiritual practice. But we will ignore that. Everyone started doing Transcendental Meditation. Buddhism and Taoism as popular culture. But we will ignore that. Secular Humanism and Atheism – just wrong. Islam? What would they know about anything? And now the fastest growing religion seems to be the ancient Wiccan and Druid practices of medieval Europe. Still – we have nothing to learn from any of this… right?
Sorry. I don't mean to sound bitter. It is just that I think that we really have to start being more like these wise guys. We have to start pursuing life and truth – and be willing to take more risks to get there. Even if the truth we find is not what we expected.
This story that we read today – part of the Christmas Story – so part of our most important story is chock full of people willing to buck the system in order to bring about change. The wise men leave home, journey forever, disobey a king, and hide out from the authorities because they believe that spiritual knowledge is worth it.
Mary and Joseph give birth in a stable, defy their families, go against social norms, and flee as refugees to another country – because they believe something special is happening.
But we few who remain in this tradition fight tooth and nail against anything that would mean change. Gretta Vosper tries to redefine worship so that all the supernatural and hard to accept things are gone and the powers that be try to bring her up on heresy charges. Anglicans use a prayer book from the 1800s. We mostly sing music in a style that went out in the turn of two centuries ago. I could go on and on and on and implicate every denomination, every religion, every congregation in this fear of change.
You know it is true. We do not connect with the modern era. We have refused to find a way to. It might be too late.

Ideas to Take With Us

I struggle every day with this stuff. I know I struggle more than others because it is actually my job to struggle with it. But I cannot help but feel the story of the wise men seeking out Jesus – seeking our truth at any cost – is an important one for us
I just think it might be insanity to continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Which is what I think the church has been about for a long time.
We need to accept that What we have known, been and done no longer serves the purpose of helping other people to know the love of God. We have fallen behind in making a difference. This needs to change or there is no point.
I am not offering easy answers – I have struggled with what to do for my whole life. But I think I need to work harder. And I think we have to push against the edges even more. But as someone once said, nothing worth having comes easy. Time to take that to heart.

No comments: