Thoughts for Lent One...

NOTE:  Tomorrow - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - is the first Sunday in Lent.  Later in the afternoon I will leave for Nashville with a team from my congregation to be a part of a "Jazz and Liturgy" workshop.  Here are my worship notes for the first of five reflections on what it means to be shaped by the Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ.  It is my belief that a spirituality grounded in the Statement of Faith is necessary for our times for it offers a healthy alternative to both the harsh fundamentism that shapes so much of contemporary religion while suggesting a progressive faith that moves beyond the moral emptiness that defines so much of liberal Christianity in the 21st century.

Introduction

One of the truths I have discovered over 30+ years of ministry is that most of the people who come to worship on Sunday mornings are uncomfortable talking about their Christian faith.  From serving God in congregations in Michigan and Ohio – as well as in Arizona and Massachusetts with time off for a stint in California – I have found these things to be true:

·         Many of us want to trust God more deeply

·        Most of us are simultaneously attracted to a life of compassion but confused and guilty about our own selfishness

·         And the vast bulk of us know what we don’t want to express as people of faith

But it seems that we have neither the language nor the training to clearly and persuasively articulate and embody our deepest spiritual convictions.  And this is true all over the Congregational and United Church of Christ.  One time at a breakfast meeting with the President of the United Church of Christ, John Thomas, he said to me:  “We have a long tradition of important and bold accomplishments. We have a proud and meaning-filled theological core. And most of our people don’t know it.”

·        So throughout Lent I want to share with you one way our tradition has used over the years to give shape and form to our way of doing and being the church. 

·        It is not the only way – that would be arrogant and untrue – and it may not be the best way. But it is our way.  And in times as profoundly confusing and troubling as our own – times when people like you and me ache to know of God’s loving and challenging presence in our ordinary lives – we need some tools.

·        We need some light within the darkness – some grace amidst the sin – some hope in our fear and some courage in our struggle for justice and peace

One of our finest traditional theologians, Roger Shinn, once put it like this:

Ever since Jesus of Nazareth called his first disciples, those touched by Christ have sought for ways to confess and express their faith.  They wanted to put their faith into words both to clarify   their own convictions and to tall others what had happened to them and why they         believed.  And we are no different 2,000 years later.

So let me introduce to you a resource that has been a blessing to me – and countless others in our tradition – something we call our Statement of Faith.  There are different versions of it floating around – one is posted in the back of your hymn book – another can be found in today’s worship bulletin.  And it is this statement that I’ll be exploring for the next month – so take a look at it, ok?

Insights

It begins with the words:

We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and to God’s deeds we testify: God calls the worlds into being, creates human beings in God’s own image and sets before us the ways of life and death.

·       Now before I unpack anything here, let’s be clear that we know the difference between a Statement of Faith and a Creed, ok?  Because, you see, our tradition is NOT a creedal church:  we listen and learn from the historic creeds, but they are not a test of our faith.

·         Do you know what that means:  test of our faith? 

It has to do with being judged by the church.  A creedal church uses a test of faith to define who is in and who is out – what membership means and looks like – and how we talk about God in Jesus Christ.  Now the upside of a creed is that it is definitive – think of either the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed – that are used in some congregations after the sermon every Sunday.  There is real clarity in a creed – We believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and all things visible and invisible – very clarifying.

But there is often a downside to tests of faith and creeds.  One wise old soul put it like this:  Although a creed starts out as essentially a poem to express belief, the history of creeds has its painful side. Arrogant people have slaughtered their neighbors on creedal grounds. Sometimes thoughtful people have been barred from the church because they questioned its creeds, while lethargic folk went on reciting the creeds without any trouble. Servants of Christ, living in his spirit, have suffered persecution by spiteful people who fanatically held to every article of their unexamined but inherited creeds.

Are you with me here?  Do you get a sense why we chose to call our organizing principles a Statement of Faith rather than a Creed?  We wanted to learn and embrace the truth of the creeds but not have them serve as a test of faith – and why is that important?

·         Why is it important for us to avoid tests of faith?

·         And what do you think about that distinction?

Given this reality – what we sometimes call celebrating our testimonies of faith rather than tests of faith – it is important to remember that we are not just some “I’m OK, you’re OK” collection of touchy, feely spiritual seekers.  The United Church of Christ – UCC – does not stand for Unitarians Considering Christ – but rather we are contemporary believers seeking to follow the way of God made flesh in Jesus Christ.

So please note that our Statement of Faith does not begin by saying that in the United Church of Christ anything goes; rather we start by saying:  We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and to God’s deeds we testify.   And there are some reasons for this…

First, we teach that our faith begins in community – we say WE believe not I believe – for we aspire to a faith shaped by the whole people of God.

·       Our way of being faithful recognizes that we cannot live like Jesus without the help, encouragement and presence of others.

·       Can you think of ways we help – or encourage – one another to be more faithful?

·      Same is true with correction and confession:  left to ourselves, most of us would not own our sinfulness – or our wounds – or our shadow side, right?

·       We need one another to see where we have missed the mark and caused one another pain.

·      And don’t forget that when we pray the essential prayer of our tradition – the Lord’s Prayer – how does it start?  Our Father – not MY Father – ok?

First, ours is a faith shaped and formed in community – we are no merely t a bunch of individuals waiting for the wisdom of God to come to us individually  – and we are not a New Age commune where any and everything goes.  We are shaped and formed into the image of God in community.  So we start by saying WE believe – and quickly move on to add that our belief is in God – not ourselves, not our nation, not our check books or our accomplishments – but… God!

·         We trust God…

·         And why is it important to state that right up front?

First ours is a faith shaped in community.  Second ours is a community of faith grounded in God.  And third we have some unique insights into God’s nature for we say:  WE BELIEVE IN GOD, THE ETERNAL SPIRIT, FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST…

·        What does it mean to you to call God the ETERNAL SPIRIT?

·      These words invite us to recall the beginning of the Bible, where the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the chaos and creatively brought order and shape and form and beauty into being?

·      To speak of God as Spirit also connects us to the prophets and to Jesus:  do you remember how Jesus defined his public ministry in his first sermon as recorded in Luke 4?  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach good news to the poor and release of the captives.

·      The Spirit of God is about Pentecost – and resurrection – it is about the dry bones who are brought back to life and vitality

·      What’s more, by speaking of God as the Eternal Spirit we are taught that our faith is connected to the faith that shaped and formed Jesus and the whole community we call Israel.  Ours is not an idol created out of convenience or fashioned in OUR own image.  Rather, God is the one who sets captives free in history, rescues the lost, restores sight to the blind and inspires joy in the living limbs of the broken so that they might leap and dance with amazing grace

And fourth we make certain to conclude this first insight by saying this Eternal Spirit is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a confession and naming – a trusting and celebration – of the connection we have come to know and love between God’s Eternal Spirit and Jesus.  That's what it means to speak of Jesus as the Christ: he is our Savior – not just a friend or a spiritual guide – but our Savior born of the Lord. 

·      So what does that mean to you: to confess that the God we believe in has come to us in Jesus as a savior?

·      Well, think about what a savior does, ok?  A savior brings us salvation – from the world salve – which really means health in all of its bold, radical and profound implications – health.  Did you know that?

·       Our savior shows us the way of God’s health – physically, emotionally, spiritually, economically, personally and socially – because we are a part of a healing tradition with over four thousand years of experience and insight.

Conclusion

That’s enough for one morning, right?  Four clues and insights about our tradition born of the opening lines of our Statement of Faith:

·         We believe that we are shaped and formed by God in community

·        We believe that our community must be grounded in God not self or any other idol

·       We believe that God’s Eternal Spirit brought the world into being and is still available to us today

·        And we believe that this Eternal Spirit shaped and form Jesus to be our Savior

We will, of course, go deeper into the wisdom and spirituality of all of this as Lent unfolds.  We live in dark and demanding times.  There are competing – and even destructive – notions of religion swirling all around us.  And many in our own house are afraid and confused and on the brink of hopelessness.

·        I have found great solace in the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and trust that the grace of God that raised Jesus from the dead is available to each and everyone here today – and beyond our walls, too.

·        When Jesus arose from his baptismal waters, the Lord told us:  this is my beloved – and what was proclaimed then continues to be true for us today, too:  the body of Christ is God’s beloved.

Will those who are able, please stand and join me in confessing the core of our faith in community?

Unison: We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and to God’s deeds we testify: God calls the worlds into being, creates human beings in God’s own image and sets before us the ways of life and death.

Leader:  God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.

Unison:  The Lord judges individuals and nations by a righteous will declared through prophets and apostles. 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 the Lord.

Leader:  God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ,
binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.

Unison:  God calls us into his church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole world, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table and to join him in his passion and victory.

Leader:  God promises to all who trust forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the Lord’s presence in trial and rejoicing and eternal life in the kingdom of God which has no end.

Unison:  Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto him. Amen .