If you visit this site very often, you are aware that I don't spend much time talking about church issues. But, today I cannot resist.
On Sunday I sat in church taking in all the images, sounds, words and expressions designed to remind me, to call me into the season of Advent.
"Waiting"--for something, for someone extraordinary, for a force, a life that would fundamentally change the way things work in the world--occupied our thoughts and feelings throughout the time we shared together.
Words are important, aren't they?
The first hymn blew me away with its straightforward simplicity--"Hail to the Lord's Anointed"--a vintage 1821 lyric set to music out of the 18th century and adapted just after the Civil War (1868).
In part we sang,
"He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free; to take away transgression and rule in equity.
"He comes with succor speedy to those who suffer wrong; to help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong; to give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light, whose souls, condemned and dying, are precious in his sight."
It struck me as the hymn concluded, rich with images first inspired by the prophet Isaiah, that I may have been born in the wrong century!
Later, a responsive reading included these familiar words drawn from the Gospel of Luke,
"You scatter the proud in the imagination of their hearts and have mercy on those who fear you from generation to generation. You put down the mighty from their thrones and exalt those of low degree. You fill the hungry with good things, and the rich you send empty away."
There was a time when these values and this message shaped the work and mission of our churches. Every great and significant social revolution in our nation's history emanated from the lives of people of faith who believed and lived words like these. Such visions formed the stuff of faith and life lived faithfully.
The songs and the readings caused me to reflect on other church experiences I have had over the past few years.
Maybe it is just me, but much of what I have heard and experienced--even those rousing services that seemed so focused on "praising God"--seemed designed to give me and my fellow worshippers some sort of emotional high, rather than delivering guidance, providing challenge or creating space for contrition in face of a very pain-filled world, dominated by injustice and oppression.
There was a time when the church in America understood the purpose of its life in the world.
Dare we hope for a time of recovery?
Larry: I don't post to this Board often, but I read it daily. Today, however, I felt compelled to comment on my experience growing up in a church in Richardson, Texas. I was blessed to have a minister that provided me - as a teenager - with a vision, values, and faith that I have relied on heavily throughout my adult life. That minister is Larry James. Thank you Larry for your guiding hand. Even today, you make me think critically about what is really important in my life. David Deary.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that one reason why so many of our churches fail to read scripture through the lens of social justice revolves around our attachment to the current social ordering of the world? At the root of our discomfort when it comes to a liberation understanding of the gospel (and at times I wonder if there is another way of looking at it) is the perception that we will somehow lose out on all that we've "earned," if we take seriously the life of Christ. Add to this the fact that individualism in America is at such a level that we feel zero responsibility to the rest of the world. We claim that we're not the ones who enslaved thousands of Black people, we're not the ones who allowed businesses and governments to become symbiotically attached to one another, we're not the ones who __________.
ReplyDeleteHow do we reclaim a sense of our collective, communal responsibility when many of our churches preach primarily on the notion that our individual salvation is of primary importance?
In response to your last question, all we have is hope. We must continue to hope that a recovery is possible or else Christianity will simply become enmeshed in whatever is socially acceptable and self-esteem focused.
Brian Blount (NT scholar at PTS) had a great sermon I think you would like called "Pick a Fight!" that was featured in the PTS Bulletin a few months ago. I'll make a copy of it and send it your way.
Thanks again for sharing your passion and compassion.
David, wow! So good to hear from you. Your kinds words meant so much. Hope to see you soon.
ReplyDeleteKrister, you are right on here. I look forward to receiving Blount's sermon.
Larry -- this is off-subject, but I wanted you to know that I thought of you when I saw this t-shirt online. I had a feeling you might appreciate it. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt was great seeing you again at Zoe. (Originally met you at an NCYM in the early 90's.) Your challenges have continued to resonate with me.
Thanks, Matt. I love the quote. Keep the faith and love those rejected by our culture, you will be with God.
ReplyDelete"Every great and significant social revolution in our nation's history emanated from the lives of people of faith who believed and lived words like these."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughts about worship, and the hymn that I didn't recognize.
Just a question: Is your statement "documented" somewhere? We are working through a discussion with youth and adults about Christians and social justice, and we have run across several cases where the bastions of injustice were held by very "religious" people.
Any ressources? Thanks.
Brady, take a look at Richard Foster's stuff. One of his books, sorry I foget which one, has a good section on social movements--abolition, sufferage, Civil Rights, anti-war, etc.--among Christians. The heritage is rich, as is the biblical witness.
ReplyDeleteDont forget about Reinhold Neibhur.
ReplyDeleteReading his 'Moral Man Immoral Society' really changed the way I thought about these issues.