Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Church as Praxis

Praxis means practical, real life action. Praxis is about making a concrete difference. I believe this is also at the center of the Church's mission. Christ came to make a difference in people's lives, so the people would make a difference in each others' lives. This happens through the Church. The people are the Church. The Church is about praxis.

Martina McBride sings song which begins: "In this time in which we live....". I ask: What can the Church offer to life? How can the Church be "God's praxis"? What good is the Church? Recently, a TV piece focused on thriving construction projects: building churches! In some instances, building churches was keeping construction companies afloat. Not houses but churches! This must mean something.

In the words of a Ray Makeever song: "What Have We to Offer?", I build upon the FIVE PROMISES within the Affirmation of Baptism of the ELCA. The Church makes FIVE PROMISES to the world, thereby calling all the faithful to fulfill these promises.

COMMUNITY. The Church provides a people, a place, and opportunities for people to come together for fellowship and learning. Bring on the pot lucks, the Bible studies, the small groups, the opportunities to connect. No money required, no racial or gender or economic qualifications required. Just come. Come off the streets, from apartments, condos, single family homes, from all nations, just come on in. All are welcome! We are all part of the same family of God. "How sweet it is for people to dwell together in unity." (Psalm 133:1) Community is the Church's praxis.

WORSHIP: Come and worship God in Christ. Discover your purpose by yielding to Christ. Let Jesus be the central focus of life. Worship says life is not simply about "me", but instead about life discovered and re-energized through adoration of the Christ. As Bonhoeffer says: "Christ is the center" around which and through which life is lived. Call Christ the Sun in the swirling galaxy of life. Without the Sun there is no gravity holding us together. Living in Christ frees us to live for each other. Living in Christ revives the heart. Worship opens us to hear of God's grace, grace that loves us where and as we are, without qualification. Grace speaks forgiveness, reconciliation, and transformation. "Behold, I make all things new!" Worship, coupled with Word and Sacrament, ensures this renewal. Worship is the Church's praxis.

TELLING: We are graced to tell others about Jesus. Telling is sharing the Good News of God in Christ. Telling feeds the soul. Telling gives purpose to life. Verbalizing our faith gives spirit to ourselves and to others. Words matter. Words ignited the Holocaust. Words hurt each other. Words express our affections. Words enable friendship. Words in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence reflect who we are as a nation. The creeds of the Church reflect our identity as disciples of Christ. Words spark action. God's grace gives us words of God to inspire, to comfort, to give hope. Telling makes God's grace real. These words are God's promises to us. Telling is the Church's praxis.

SERVE: The Church calls and teaches us to care for each other and for the earth. We are created to serve, to be co-creators for life. We are called to give Christ to the world through giving ourselves away for the sake of others. I recall Sydney Carton in A TALE OF TWO CITIES, as he stands before the guillotine, preparing to give his life for another, saying: "It is a far, far better thing to do that I have ever done. It is a far, far better place I go than I have ever been". The faithful life is about serving others and the earth. In this time in which we live, it is easy to turn in upon ourselves in despair and hopelessness. Tolstoy writes: "The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity". The Church teaches us that in Christ we are graced to serve: to show compassion, to listen, to connect, to support, to welcome, to weep with each other, to be the hands of Jesus for each other. People all over are giving desks purchased for the children of Malawi. (See MSNBC.com Look for K.I.N.D.) Serving is the Church's praxis.

WORK FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE: Another song: "Who Will Answer?" I recall the words of Rev. Allan Boesak of South Africa: "We will go before God to be judged, and God will ask us, 'Where are your wounds?' And we will say, 'We have no wounds.' And God will ask, 'Was nothing worth fighting for?'" Someone once said: "If you give a person a fish they can eat for a day. If you teach them to fish they can eat forever. But you must also ask the question 'Who owns the lake?'" And a quote from Jean Donovan, lay missioner murdered in El Salvador: "The Peace Corps left today and my heart sank low. The danger is extreme and they are right to leave.... Now I must assess my own position, because I am not up for suicide. Several times I have decided to leave. I almost could except for the children, the poor abused victims of adult lunacy. Who would care for them? Whose heart would be so hard as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and helplessness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine." Working for justice and peace is the Church's praxis.

In this time in which we live, when a sense of purpose is often dimmed or snuffed out, it is good to know the Christ and the Church give us the grace of purpose, the grace of knowing that God has not abandoned us, because God lives for us and we are graced to live for each other.

Peace!
Ron

Sunday, December 19, 2010

A Timely Christmas

Christmas hope is particularly timely in 2010. The Light of Christ is a beacon for the future as well as shining its Light on the truth of who we are and what we have become.

I have often been intrigued by the question: Why was Jesus Christ necessary? My answer has always been: Because God wants to remind us what it means to be a human being. Or, because we forgot what it means to be created in the Image of God. So, God said: OK, I'll remind you what it means. I will become a total human being while also being God incarnate.

What is this Image of God in which we were ALL created? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness, self control. Justice is implied.

Now, juxtapose what we have become, or been all along. Take the recently passed bipartisan tax bill. The middle and lower classes got some hamburgers while the upper 2% got filets with lobster. I am reminded of the parable of the man who wanted to build more barns for his surplus grain and Jesus responded: "Fool, this night your soul is required". Also, Jesus spoke these prophetic words: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart". What have we become? "More" has become God. "I worked for it. I invested it. What is mine is mine." Forget about the common good. What have we become? The Light of Christ shines light upon the truth. Christmas is timely.

Something is wrong when trying to give support for the truly needy, one feels compelled to make a "Faustian bargain", a deal with the devil, in the spirit of bi-partisanship. We can argue the politics of the deal, that serious conversation should have been engaged months ago to work out a more equatable deal. I would agree. This is a case of poor leadership. Yet, the result was a small win for most, coupled with a big win for the few. The nation on the whole is the loser. What have we become? The Light of Christ shines light upon the truth. Christmas is timely.

The "Dream Act" was defeated. Youth who were brought into the country through no fault of their own by parents willing to work for a new future for their family, willing to make a contribution to America's future, were denied a path to citizenship. Somehow it is OK for a young person to fight and perhaps die or lose a limb for the USA, but that sacrifice is not enough for a nation to express its gratitude by opening the door to citizenship. These youth have become victims. The arrogant, powerful fat cats say thanks but no thanks, and then go home to a Christmas party feeling justified that they have once again protected America. What have we become? The Light of Christ shines light upon the truth. Christmas is timely.

Yet, thankfully, the Light of Christ also shines as a beacon for the future! The apparent passage of DADT is an act of justice. Commentators referred to the axiom: "Justice delayed is justice denied". True. Now, justice is no longer delayed or denied. A wrong is righted. We celebrate and give thanks to God and to our leaders who "saw the Light". Christmas is timely.

Now let us hope for this Light of Christ to shine in our hearts through our actions, so the START Treaty will be renewed, that Social Security and Medicare not be cut but enhanced, that our national debt be addressed with fairness and compassion, that the Dream Act be reintroduced, that immigration be addressed with justice, that our military adventurism be stopped, that energy and environmental issues be seriously engaged, that education be transformed and empowered, that infrastructure be renewed. The Light of Christ this Christmas shines to remind us who God created us to be: creators, reconcilers, peacemakers, purveyors of justice, kinder and gentler. The vision is alive! For us! For God's world! Christmas is timely.

For God so loved the world.... Merry Christmas!

Peace!
Ron


Thursday, December 9, 2010

Light in the New Dark Age

The Dark Ages (500-1000 C.E.) were not a Disneyland Time. Religious oppression, torture in the name of God, stultified learning, overwhelming poverty, plagues, military conquests, great separation between rich (the few) and the poor (the many), and more.

We are in a New Dark Age. The rich are getting richer and the middle class and poor are getting poorer. A proposed tax policy which is good for the middle class, fantastic for the rich, but adds hundreds of billions to our national debt is being debated. Then there is a proposed altering of the estate tax rate giving mega-bucks to the wealthy and eliminating billions or trillions from national common good usage. Now let's talk about three wars, slipping education opportunities, failing schools, recession, unemployment, ever increasing debt, foreclosures, pension theft, banks unwillingness to loan at decent rates, unconscionable CEO salaries, deteriorating infrastructure, no bi-partisanship, inadequate White House leadership, and.... How about the European debt crisis, Iran trying to build a bomb, North Korea rattling its missiles and starving its people, Al Qaeda still planning for the "big one", inequitable international trade agreements, and .... The New Dark Age is upon us.

There are echoes of Psalm 146:3-4: "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to earth; on that very day their plans perish." Whom can we trust? Does anybody know the truly right thing to do? Does anyone feel a passion for justice and peace and not simply profit?

I am weary, sad, and angry. Where is there light?

Again, I turn to Psalm 146: "Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob....God sets the prisoners free; God opens the eyes of the blind. God lifts up those who are bowed down; God loves the righteous. God watches over the strangers; God upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked God brings to ruin." I take heart that God's promises are alive and well. God's Word is still the Final Word.

Yet, it is we who are called to make God's Word and promises real for today. The Psalmist presages JFK's remark: "The crises of the world were created by [humankind], and can therefore be solved by [humankind] (paraphrase)". In the movie, The Devil's Arithmetic, based on Jane Yolen's book of the same name, the people within the concentration camp could still worship and celebrate Passover. They could still show compassion for each other. They could still speak up. They could still encourage one another. They could still share the little food they had. They could still imagine another, better life.

And so can we. We can pray for each other and for the stranger. Moses prayed, the People of Israel prayed, Jesus and his disciples prayed, Paul prayed: Augustine, Assisi, Luther, Aquinas, King, Wallis, Berrigan, Ann Hutchinson, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day....

We can act.

We can hope. This is Advent, the time of hoping for deliverance, liberation, in the Christ of Freedom! In the words of Paul in Romans: "Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us." (Romans 5)

Christ is Light! Christ is hope! There is Light in the New Dark Age!

Peace!
Ron