Myth
Myth is the right word for
stories of the origin of the universe, and the origin of evil. Such questions are only
answered in stories, not by philosophy nor science, history nor psychology, The
Babylonians told a story
of a great flood; it was so bad, even the gods were scared and cowered like dogs. But in
the Genesis story, God is in charge; He sends the flood for a moral purpose. These are profound
stories in Genesis, including the origin of evil, our desire to play God (Tower
of Babel), Cain's
"Am I my brother's keeper?". Regarding the two creation stories, the second (Gen. 2:4-25) is
by far the older (ca 9th century BC). The first (Gen. 1:1-2:3), done by the
priest-writers perhaps in the 5th century BC, is stately in style indeed;
one should realize however that the intention was to underline Sabbath observance, enhancing
its importance to the ultimate,
by fixing it away back in God's act of creation.
Myths
are neither falsehoods nor fairy tales. They have become accepted
as answers for some of the deepest questions of the human mind (again, often raised by a child). Their details may be proven quite
inaccurate, like creation in six days.
The Church's doctrines are not assertions as to how God did something, but assertions that He did so. We
have no theory as to how God created the universe; nor how God became
man; nor how the bread and wine become "the Body and Blood of
Christ (chemical analysis, of course, can detect no change). Our teachings
are simply that these things have occurred (and do occur, regarding
the Eucharist), thanks to the mysterious grace of God.
Every
living religion has its mythology and its cultic practice. Christian
mythology embraces the Jewish Creation stories and the Fall, the Incarnation
stories of Jesus' appearing, his Resurrection, Ascension, and Second Coming, and the final
Consummation. According to Tillich, history shows that when people stop telling
the myth and practicing the cult, the religion dies. Are we doing our part?
Idolatry
& the Finality of Jesus
This section is derived directly from Jesus, going beyond and fulfilling the high insights of the Old
Testament. Idolatry is so common that John Calvin said the human mind is a
factory constantly engaged in the production of idols. We latch on to something
important and exalt its importance up to the ultimate level of divinity. Like the
Buffalo woman who drove her two daughters out of her home, because they had defiled her
home by violating her moral code (which she believed had divine authority).
Like the Pharisees who condemned Jesus for healing a sick person on the Sabbath Day. Like white
supremacists, or America Firsters. Like Episcopalians who think only Anglicanism is
the true Church (substitute virtually any other denomination). Like evangelists who
cannot accept anyone who disagrees with their interpretation of the Bible.
Like Christian fundamentalists who believe everybody else is going
to hell. Like Moslem fundamentalists who believe everybody else is
going to hell. Like disciples who see Paul Tillich as the final theological
word—in spite of his denial that any system can be final. Like
disciples of Adam Smith or Karl Marx who reject any modification of
their views.
In
simple definition, idolatry is the elevation of something finite to the
status of the infinite. It is an exclusive and self-righteous attitude, which
always produces disrespect and injustice (from put-downs to genocide).
The symbol of the Cross means, amongst other things, that God
alone is absolute, and absolutely nothing in all His Creation should ever
be absolutised, neither Bible nor Koran, neither Pope nor Creeds, neither
nation nor race, neither moral conviction nor scientific theory.
Then
what are we to say of the faith that sees Jesus of Nazareth as "very God of very God?" It
has to be acknowledged at once that all too few adherents and branches of the Church can
show extensive periods of consistent
non-violation of the implications of this faith. Here are suggestions
of those implications:
One
is grateful for one's faith, but does not feel superior in the sight of
God to any others.
One
rejoices in one's salvation, peace, and freedom. One looks out upon the world with love and acceptance. One is not naive
about "casting pearls before swine"
(i.e. one has a sense of timing because so often
listeners are not ready to hear). One realizes there are times to he "wise
as a serpent, harmless as a dove". But one is afraid of nothing.
One
does not live by a rigid code, but is free to do what does not harm nor deceive.
One enjoys life, both in serious depth and in light-hearted fun.
One
loves beauty, music, art, literature, languages, gardening, interior decorating....
One
seeks God's guidance as to what responsibilities to accept, including what
career to pursue, and then works at it diligently, wholeheartedly,
gladly.
One is not afraid of truth,
whatever its source. One assumes that other religions and cultures have some grasp of
truth, perhaps a rich grasp,
perhaps with insights that have escaped us, yet almost surely to be in need of modification
in terms of the Christian revelation (e.g., the absence of a serious view of history
in Buddhism; the caste system in Hinduism).
One
is concerned for human suffering, in any part of the globe. Especially one is concerned where large numbers of people are victimized
by our social institutions - governments, economic systems, health
care systems, educational systems, etc.
One
is ecumenical, seeking the reunion of the Church. One prays for the World Council of Churches; for
relations with Roman Catholics; also for interfaith understanding. One is
supportive of all such efforts in one's own community. One seeks improvement in
one's own denomination
and parish.
One supports
internationalism, seeking the global unity of the human family.
One
accepts responsibility for the use of power and authority, while recognizing
that "all power belongs to God." One uses it for the good of others,
not for personal advantage over others.
One
recognizes that one's faith is received from the Church (perhaps
via a parent), and so one supports the Church wholeheartedly (not
uncritically), and seeks to share the Good News with others.
One
attends Church and receives communion, in order to keep in touch (this can be taken almost literally, if one is praying for
total sincerity) with Jesus. It is
sacramentally real, not physically.
In short, one can believe without arrogance that
we have the absolute and final revelation of
God in Jesus as the Christ. He is the one exception to the general truth that
raising anything finite to divine status is idolatry; the Jews rightly considered it the ultimate blasphemy for a
human being to claim to be God. But Jesus of Nazareth did not claim divinity
for himself (though such claims are put in his mouth, especially in the Gospel
of John). He did not claim to be the Christ. He offered his life,
and gave it in death. This finite "clue" is self-negating. Therefore the
slightest trace of arrogance on our part would amount to a betrayal of the
attitudes of love and outreach and reconciliation that are received
from him. One loves, and does not have
superiority or enmity. Genuine Christians are ambassadors of reconciliation (II Cor. 5:18-20) in
the home and worldwide, at any cost; but
also defenders of the oppressed.
For
us Jesus is not one of many religious geniuses; he is not "the greatest
of teachers". He is more. All others are judged in the light of him.
He is our criterion for truth and for ethics. He is our criterion for God
the Father, and for the Spirit that is holy and true. The Church has always
insisted that this is not just one more religion. Rather, God has come
amongst us, in the fullness of His character, changing us, redeeming
His whole Creation, commissioning us to carry the Good News to all nations.
The
Good News
Jesus
calls upon us, repeatedly, to surrender all personal ambition and desire and dreams, and to offer
ourselves without reservation in the service of God. He challenged the rich young
ruler to give up all his wealth; when the fellow walked away, that is when Jesus
commented that
it is almost impossible for a rich person to be what God wants us to be.
We allow ourselves to become attached to things in this finite world -
our property, our family, our social standing, our health and comfort, our
ideas. Jesus insists those attachments must be yielded, or we shall never
know God nor truth, our world nor ourselves. We remain enslaved,
vulnerable, threatened, and doomed to perish.
The
heart of the matter is not what we literally do, about discarding wealth,
etc. Rather, it is our attitude. Would I be willing to part with all this,
if God wanted me to? The prayer is like this: "O God, I offer You all
that I have, all that I am or hope to be. Please use me, my whole life, in
Your service." He guides us to decisions in the usual ways, through our
thoughts and values, through those of other people found in literature
or conversation, through the Bible, especially the picture of Jesus
in the Gospels.
When I finally made my surrender and said yes to
Jesus, I was immediately delivered from the
deep darkness of knowing that science had
no answer for me. I had allowed God to reveal Himself to me. It was a
life-changing experience, filling me with security, peace, knowing I was
accepted, that I had a life-purpose, and that nothing in life or death would
terminate this oneness with the Father. (I was told fellows rooming on my floor at McGill asked,
"What's happened to Ralph?" I didn't know it was visible! The first flush
wore off long since.)
Sacrament
Our
knowledge of God, our communion with Him, is not an intellectual
achievement. When I entered college, I believed it would be, and was deeply disillusioned in my fourth year of that five-year course to
realize it was beyond the grasp of the human mind.
Our
knowledge of God, our communion with Him, is not a moral achievement. Following my conversion late in
my fourth year, I was led to believe that it would be, and it was up to me. Such
teaching can only drive a
conscientious person to despair. My second conversion was made necessary by the
weak theology applied to the first one. This demonstrates the power of ideas,
and the damage to people that bad theology
can inflict. No one should pooh-pooh theology; every person has
theological ideas, even if he or she protests otherwise.
Our
knowledge of God, our communion with Him, is the gift of His grace. This is the Biblical message; it is the witness of
all truly converted and mature persons.
(Read "Amazing Grace", written by the former captain of a
slave-ship.) We speak of the Divine Initiative, because we have received the
gift of newness of life. It is God Who gives
us our faith; and it is God Who sustains us in our faith. He does this
in all sorts of ways, through all kinds of experiences on our part. But this
is a shared faith with countless other people; the Gospel song, "In the
Garden", is utterly wrong in declaring that what the singer enjoys in the
garden, "None other shall ever know." Such a description does not fit
the Christian experience, though it may be a unique moment for the individual.
We
have been initiated into a group faith, which was here before us. The
principal way in which the group is held together in communion with God is the Eucharist, the Sacrament of bread and wine.
Some rationalistic Christians try to explain
that nothing happens to the bread and wine in the sacrament, and that
they are just tokens of Christ's universal
presence. I think the Eucharist actually means much more than that
to the congregations who receive this watered-down teaching.
On the
other hand, the Roman Church has taken the course of supernatural rationalism, trying to explain
("transubstantiation") how the bread and wine
are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Our Anglican Communion
takes what I believe is the right course, of insisting that the sacrament
is beyond explaining, just as God is, but that the powerful, saving Spirit of
God does indeed reach His people via this sacrament, which
Jesus gave to His Church. Our bodies are united with his Body; our blood with his Blood; our spirits with his Spirit.
It
is significant that he so identified himself with the basic nourishments
of humans. This is the only form of worship he gave us, and we believe it
is right that the sacrament be offered to every congregation every Sunday. Of course, it is intended only for baptized Christians.
Sunday morning worship is not the time for evangelistic outreach to non-Christians; it is a celebration of the Christian community,
and the principal occasion for the strengthening of our faith (with not only the
proclamation of the Good News, but with educational sermons
touching on God's work in past history, and the "implications" for
today, such as listed above).
In Spite Of
We
know what happened to Jesus. It was not done by people who meant evil. They regarded themselves as the
defenders of all that is holy. (Of course! It was ever thus! We found this again early in
the Vietnam War.) Organized religion at its finest condemned him. Civil law at its finest
failed to protect him. He warned his followers the same might well
happen to them.
We
do not expect history to progress until the whole globe is a peaceful
fellowship. Yet it is significant, when the United Nations feel they must
respond to abuse and suffering in Somalia. It is quite in contrast to policies
throughout past history. Nonetheless, so long as human
life survives on this planet, some people will cause trouble, and many
people will have needs, sometimes desperate.
The Christian Faith does not see history as circular, meaningless, getting nowhere. We see history as straight-line,
highly meaningful and purposeful, beginning (in its faith-interpretation) with
the Exodus. God reveals Himself through history (not through
spectacular thunderbolts and
earthquakes); He is the God of history. With the advent of Jesus as the Christ, a new reality
has appeared within human history, a man in whom there appears no contradiction as over against God Himself, though
this man lived under the same conditions of existence, as do we. In
him the Kingdom of God has appeared amongst us and within us, introducing
newness of life, a new way of being.
The Kingdom of God stands
now and always in imperative and judgment over the affairs of this
world. The Church is not identical with the Kingdom, since it is subject
to all human fallacies. And yet the Church bears witness to the Kingdom.
The Church is the bearer of the meaning of history. The Church knows that the
history of our own time cannot be truly understood
and properly served, except in the light of the Kingdom of Love.
This is true, in spite of all the foibles and errors and stupidities and
sinful motives that must always distort the life of men and women, including
Christian men and women. Thus we make a general confession
in the course of every service of worship. The Church knows Sin. Its secret depths were exposed on Calvary.
Our
sense of responsibility for the ongoing history of our own era, in
the service of the Kingdom of God, is the highest of all the qualities that
distinguish the human being from other creatures. (continued)
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