AIMING FOR SPIRITUALITY RATHER THAN RELIGION
1 Corinthians 13:1-5
Rev. Paul Wrightman 8/22/21
MANY SCRIPTURE SCHOLARS AND THEOLOGIANS
CONSIDER THE INCARNATION TO BE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT
ARTICLE OF FAITH IN THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN REPERTOIRE.
THIS IS THE BELIEF THAT GOD BECAME A PERSON
IN THE PERSON OF JESUS.
WHERE DOES THIS CHRISTIAN BELIEF COME FROM?
MOST BASICALLY, IT DERIVES FROM THE FACT
THAT THROUGH THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE OF JESUS,
THE DISCIPLES – BOTH WOMEN AND MEN –
CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT IN THE PERSON
OF JESUS OF NAZARETH, GOD WAS PRESENT AND GOD WAS ACTING
IN AN UNPARALLED, UNIQUE WAY.
THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE PUSHED THE DISCIPLES INTO CLAIMING
THAT IF ONE WANTED TO SEE GOD’S TRUEST, DEEPEST NATURE,
IF ONE WANTED TO REALLY KNOW THAT GOD WAS A GOD OF
RELENTLESS COMPASSION,
EXTRAVAGANT GENEROSITY,
CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE,
AND UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS,
ONE HAD ONLY TO
GET TO KNOW JESUS, AND ONE WOULD COME TO KNOW GOD.
THE INCARNATION IS CHRISTIANITY’S ATTEMPT
TO GIVE A POSITIVE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
“IF GOD WERE TO REVEAL GODSELF TO US HUMAN BEINGS
IN A TRULY DEFINITIVE WAY, WHAT WOULD THAT WAY LOOK LIKE?”
ANOTHER WAY OF APPROACHING THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION
WOULD BE TO SEE GOD AS GETTING MORE AND MORE FRUSTRATED
WITH THE CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS OF GOD’S NATURE
PROVIDED IN CREATION, IN HOLY BOOKS, AND IN PROPHETS,
AND COMING “IN PERSON,” SO TO SPEAK,
TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.
IN OTHER WORDS, BEING SICK-AND-TIRED OF BEING PORTRAYED
AS INTO VIOLENCE AND VENGEANCE,
GOD CAME IN PERSON TO REVEAL GODSELF
AS COMPASSIONATE, FORGIVING, AND LOVING.
IN THIS CONTEXT, JESUS IS NOT SO MUCH THE FOUNDER
OF A NEW RELIGION, NAMELY CHRISTIANITY,
AS GOD’S ULTIMATE CLARIFICATION OF GODSELF TO ALL RELIGIONS.
AMONG OTHER THINGS, JESUS CAME TO TEACH US
THAT WHENEVER THE PRACTIONERS OF ANY RELIGION
ACT WITH COMPASSION, FORGIVENESS, AND LOVE,
THEY ARE CONNECTED TO THE TRUE GOD,
WHATEVER NAME THAT GOD MAY HAVE.
IN THE MAJOR JUDGMENT SCENE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT,
THE SECOND HALF OF MATTHEW CHAPTER 25,
JESUS TELLS US THAT GOD’S JUDGMENT IS NOT BASED
ON BELIEVING THE RIGHT STUFF ABOUT HIM,
BUT ON WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE FED THE HUNGRY
AND WELCOMED THE STRANGER.
IF GOD SENT JESUS TO REVEAL GOD’S TRUE NATURE
TO ALL PEOPLE, THE FIRST IMPLICATION OF INCARNATION
IS THAT JESUS DID NOT COME TO START A NEW RELIGION,
BUT TO CHALLENGE THE VIOLENCE
AND TO AFFIRM THE UNDERSTANDING
OF GOD AS COMPASSIONATE, FORGIVING, AND LOVING
WHICH IS PRESENT IN ALL RELIGIONS.
THUS, JESUS WOULD CHALLENGE
THE VIOLENT IMAGES AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF GOD
PRESENT IN HINDUISM, JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM,
AND AFFIRM THE COMPASSIONATE WAY OF THE BUDDHA.
JESUS WOULD “TAKE-ON” THE GOD OF FEAR AND VIOLENCE
WHEREVER THAT GOD IS FOUND,
AND AFFIRM THE GOD OF COMPASSION, FORGIVENESS, AND LOVE
WHEREVER THAT GOD IS FOUND.
A MORE CONTEMPORARY WAY OF STATING THIS
WOULD BE TO SAY THAT JESUS TEACHES US
THAT GOD IS WAY MORE INTO SPIRITUALITY THAN RELIGION.
THE SPIRITUALITY OF JESUS IS PROFOUNDLY ILLUSTRATED
IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING,
WHERE THE APOSTLE PAUL PROVIDES
THE FULLEST PICTURE OF THE NATURE OF LOVE
THAT WE FIND IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE.
ALMOSY ALL BIBLICAL SCHOLARS AGREE
THAT PAUL’S DESCRIPTION OF LOVE
IS BASED ON THE LIFE, DEATH,
AND CONTINUING PRESENCE OF JESUS HIMSELF.
THIS MIGHT BE A GOOD PLACE FOR ME TO PROVIDE
A THUMBNAIL SKETCH OF WHERE I’M COMING FROM
AS A PASTOR AND THEOLOGIAN.
MANY IN THE CONGREGATION HAVE ASKED ME ABOUT THIS,
NOTICING THAT I EMPHASIZE CERTAIN ELEMENTS
IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION AS A WHOLE
WHILE IGNORING OR CRITICIZING OTHERS.
THIS IS BECAUSE I BASE MY FAITH
ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS
DEVELOPED BY THE EARLY CHURCH
DURING THE FIRST THREE HUNDRED YEARS
OF CHRISTAIN HISTORY.
I CONSIDER THOSE FIRST THREE HUNDRED YEARS
THE STANDARD AGAINST WHICH ALL OTHER
EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY MUST BE MEASURED.
THE EARLY CHURCH ACKNOWLEDGED WOMEN
AS DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES JUST AS MUCH AS MEN,
AT LEAST DURING THE FIRST TWO GENERATIONS OR SO.
FOLLOWING JESUS’ OWN EXAMPLE,
IT PRACTICED NONVIOLENCE AS AN ABSOLUTE.
INCARNATION WAS THE CENTERING POINT
OF ITS THEOLOGY.
THE EARLY CHURCH DID NOT PUSH
A “ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL” APPROACH TO THE BIBLE OR THEOLOGY,
BUT CELEBRATED THEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY.
WHEN MEASURED AGAINST THE STANDARD
OF THOSE FIRST THREE HUNDRED YEARS,
I SEE ALL OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY
AS MISSING THE BOAT IN VARIOUS WAYS.
ROMAN CATHOLICISM, ALONG WITH ALL OTHER MAJOR
EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY,
ABANDONED JESUS’ TEACHING ON NONVIOLENCE
AND THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF WOMEN IN MINISTRY.
THE ORTHODOX TRADITIONS BECAME OVERLY CLOSE TO THE STATE.
PROTESTANTISM, ESPECIALLY IN ITS FUNDAMENTALIST
AND EVANGELICAL EXPRESSIONS, EMPHASIZED ATONEMENT
OVER INCARNATION – THE NECESSITY OF JESUS’ DEATH
RATHER THAN THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF HIS LIFE –
AND HELD THAT ANYONE WHO DISAGREED WITH THEM ON THIS
WAS NO LONGER A “REAL” CHRISTIAN.”
OF COURSE, EACH OF THESE TRADITIONS
HAS A NUMBER OF POSITIVE DIMENSIONS
THAT NEED TO BE AFFIRMED:
ROMAN CATHOLIC AND ORTHODOX THEOLOGY AT THEIR BEST
ARE SIMPLY THE BEST.
THE EMPHASIS ON ACTUALLY EXPERIENCING
A “PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS”
BY OUR FUNDAMENTALIST AND EVANGELICAL
BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE FAITH
IS SOMETHING THAT ALL CHRISTIANS NEED TO EMBRACE.
MAINLINE PROTESTANTS HAVE RECLAIMED
WOMEN’S RIGHTFUL PLACE IN MINISTRY.
CATHOLICISM AND MAINLINE PROTESTANTISM
ARE STRONG ON SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES.
BUT I, AND MANY OTHER CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN THINKERS,
WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT THE FIRST THREE HUNDRED YEARS
OF CHRISTIANITY WERE THE YEARS WHEN THE CHURCH
WAS THE MOST FAITHFUL TO THE TEACHINGS OF ITS FOUNDER,
JESUS OF NAZARETH.
SIGNIFICANTLY, THESE WERE PRECISELY THE YEARS
WHEN CHRISTIANITY COULD BE CHARACTERIZED
AS MOST LIKE A RADICAL NEW FORM OF SPIRITUALITY,
AND LEAST LIKE A NEW RELIGION.
DIANA BUTLER BASS IS CONSIDERED TO BE
THE LEADING SOCIOLOGIST OF RELIGION
IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY.
IN HER BOOK, CHRISTIANITY AFTER RELIGION, SHE DOCUMENTS
THE CATASTRIOPHIC DECLINE OF ALL THE MAJOR FORMS
OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN OUR COUNTRY.
SHE CITES A RAPIDLY GROWING PUBLIC PERCEPTION
OF RELIGION BEING PERCEIVED BY MORE AND MORE AMERICANS
TO BE ABOUT DOGMA, BUREAUCRACY, AUTHORITY,
RULES AND REGULATIONS, HIERARCHY, AND BUILDINGS,
WHILE SPIRITUALITY IS PERCEIVED BY MORE AND MORE AMERICANS
TO BE ABOUT EXPERIENCE, RELATIONSHIP, DIVERSITY, INCLUSIVENESS, AND ASKING QUESTIONS.
WHILE MANY – ESPECIALLY THOSE WEDDED
TO THE CHURCH AS INSTITUTION AND THOSE WHO SEE JESUS
PRIMARILY IN TERMS OF JUDGMENT –
SEE THIS GROWING DISTINCTION
BETWEEN RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY AS A GREAT DISASTER,
BASS AND MANY OTHERS SEE IT AS A GREAT BLESSING,
AS PART OF A “GREAT AWAKENING” TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW,
AN AWAKENING WHICH ENABLES US TO GET BACK IN TOUCH
WITH THE ORIGINAL JESUS AND THE EARLY CHURCH.
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE, AS THEY READ THE ORIGINAL TEXTS
AND DISCOVER THE ORIGINAL JESUS,
ARE FINDING IT MORE AND MORE DIFFICULT
TO FIND A CHURCH THAT REFLECTS
THE ACTUAL TEACHINGS OF JESUS,
AND NOT JUST LATER DOCTRINES AND DOGMAS ABOUT JESUS.
BASS POINTS OUT HOW JESUS BEGAN HIS MINISTRY
BY FORMING A COMMUNITY,
A COMMUNITY WHICH CAME TO EXPERIENCE GOD
BY DOING THE THINGS THAT JESUS DID.
EVENTUALLY THIS COMMUNITY CAME TO BELIEVE
CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT JESUS,
BUT THESE EARLY BELIEFS, SUCH AS THE REALITY OF GOD
INCARNATING GODSELF IN THE PERSON OF JESUS,
WERE BASED ON EXPERIENCE,
AND WERE ALWAYS OPEN-ENDED,
SUBJECT TO FURTHER QUESTIONING
AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.
IN THE EARLIEST CHURCH,
YOU WERE MEASURED BY HOW YOU ACTED,
NOT BY WHAT YOU BELIEVED.
BASS DESCRIBES THE MAIN DYNAMICS OF THE EARLY CHURCH
AS, FIRST, BELONGING – BELONGING TO A COMMUNITY
WHICH FOLLOWED THE WAY OF JESUS.
INDEED, HISTORICALLY SPEAKING, THE FIRST NAME
OF THESE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS WAS NOT “CHRISTIANS”
BUT “FOLLOWERS OF THE WAY.”
BELONGING RESULTED IN BEHAVING, BEHAVING LIKE JESUS,
AND IN THE PROCESS OF BEHAVING LIKE JESUS,
COMING TO EXPERIENCE GOD.
BEHAVING, IN TURN, EVENTUALLY LED TO BELIEVING,
BELIEVING CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT GOD
THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD
IN, THROUGH, AND WITH JESUS.
IN THE EARLTY CHURCH BELIEFS WERE NEVER CONSIDERED TO BE
THE “LAST WORD” ABOUT GOD IN THE ABSTRACT,
BUT HELPFUL HINTS, HELPFUL AIDS TO UNDERSTANDING
THE NEVER FULLY COMPREHENSIBLE REALITY
OF GOD’S COMPASSION, FORGIVENESS, AND LOVE.
THIS NATURAL PROGRESSION FROM BELONGING
TO BEHAVING AND BELIEVING
REFLECTS SPIRITUALITY, NOT RELIGION.
BASS POINTS OUT HOW, SINCE THE REFORMATION,
THE ESTABLISHED CHURCHES HAVE REVERSED THE PROGRESSION
TO ONE OF BELIEVING, BEHAVING, BELONGING.
IN OTHER WORDS,
FIRST, ONE HAS TO BELIEVE CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT GOD,
CERTAIN DOGMAS, CERTAIN DOCTRINES, CERTAIN CREEDS,
IN ORDER TO BECOME A MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING.
SECOND, ONE IS OBLIGATED TO BEHAVE IN CERTAIN WAYS.
FINALLY, AFTER BELIEVING THE RIGHT THINGS
AND BEHAVING THE RIGHT WAY,
ONE IS GIVEN THE GIFT OF BELONGING.
BUT THIS GIFT OF BELONGING CAN ALWAYS BE TAKEN AWAY
IF YOU DON’T BEHAVE OR BELIEVE IN THE RIGHT WAYS.
THIS IS THE PROGRESSIVE UNFOLDING OF RELIGION,
EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF THE PROGRESSIVE UNFOLDING
OF SPIRITUALITY.
IN CHRISTIANITY AFTER RELIGION, BASS TALKS ABOUT
THE STARTLING RISE IN PERCENTAGE POINTS
OF THE CATEGORY “UNAFFILIATED”
IN TERMS OF MEASURING RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
IN POLLS OVER THE LAST FIFTY YEARS.
THOSE CHECKING THE BOX “UNAFFILIATED”
COMPRISED 5% OF THE POPULATION
IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1972.
THAT PERCENTAGE HAS JUMPED TO 42% TODAY.
WHY THIS STARTLING INCREASE?
PRECISELY BECAUSE SO MANY AMERICANS
ARE NO LONGER WILLING TO PUT UP WITH
THE DISSONANCE BETWEEN WHAT JESUS ACTUALLY TAUGHT,
AND WHAT MANY CHURCHES AND DENOMINATIONS
SAY THAT JESUS TAUGHT.
BASS CALLS THIS THE “BELIEF GAP.”
WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHEN QUITE A FEW PEOPLE
READ THE GOSPELS – MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN –
FOR THEMSELVES.
WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHEN A HUGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE –
HAVING READ THE GOSPELS FOR THEMSELVES –
ARE NO LONGER WILLING TO PUT UP WITH
THE CONTRADICTION OF THE GOSPELS
PREACHED IN SO MANY CHURCHES.
THUS, THE “BELIEF GAP.”
THUS, THE FACT THAT TODAY 42% OF AMERICANS
LIST THEMSELVES AS “UNAFFILIATED”
WHEN IT COMES TO CHURCHES,
BUT STILL CONSIDER THEMSELVES TO BE
FOLLOWERS OF JESUS.
TODAY WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION
OF A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE DROPPING CHURCH AFFILIATION
PRECISELY IN ORDER TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE JESUS OF THE GOSPELS.
IN ADDITION TO TALKING ABOUT A “BELIEF GAP,”
DIANA BUTLER BASS TALKS ABOUT A “PRACTICE GAP.”
PEOPLE SEEKING GOD READ THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
AND LOOK AT THE LIFE OF JESUS –
AND WONDER WHY SO MANY FOLLOWERS OF JESUS
ARE SO VIOLENT.
THE ONLY WAY TO CLOSE THIS “PRACTICE GAP”
IS TO STOP DOING WHAT JESUS CRITIQUED,
NAMELY, VARIOUS FORMS OF VIOLENCE,
AND TO START DOING WHAT JESUS ACTUALLY DID,
NAMELY, VARIOUS FORMS OF CREATIVE NONVIOLENCE.
IN SHORT, WE NEED TO FOCUS ON
BECOMING BETTER IMITATORS OF JESUS.
TO ASK THE QUESTION “WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?”
IS A GREAT MEMONIC FOR REMINDING US TO BE LIKE HIM.
I’D LIKE TO CLOSE THIS SERMON WITH AN ILLUSTRATION
TAKEN FROM THE BOOK CHRISTIANITY AFTER RELIGION.
DIANA BUTLER BASS WRITES:
“IMITATION IS A POWERFUL WAY TO LEARN SPIRITUAL PRACTICES.
AS IS THE CASE WITH MANY PEOPLE,
MY MOTHER WAS A FORMATIVE INFLUENCE ON MY FAITH.
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, SHE USED TO TELL ME,
‘DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU.’
LATER, SHE SHARED WITH ME THE STORY
OF THE DAY HER HIGH SCHOOL WAS DESEGREGATED IN 1956.
APPALLED BY THE COURT RULING OPENING WHITE SCHOOLS
TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS,
HER FRIENDS ARRANGED A STUDENT STRIKE,
REFUSING TO ATTEND SCHOOL ON THE FIRST DAY OF INTEGRATION.
THEY INVITED HER TO JOIN IN.
MY MOTHER, HOWEVER, FELT TORN BETWEEN HER FRIENDS
AND WHAT SHE KNEW TO BE RIGHT.
SHE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT RACIAL PREJUDICE WAS WRONG.
DEFYING HER FRIENDS, SHE WENT TO SCHOOL.
AND SHE DECIDED TO MEET THE BUS
AND GREET HER NEW CLASSMATES.
I ASKED, ‘MOM, WHY DID YOU DO THAT?’
SHE REPLIED, ‘WELL, I REALIZED THAT IF I WERE A STRANGER
AT A NEW SCHOOL, I’D WANT SOMEONE TO BE AT THE BUS STOP
TO WELCOME ME.’”
BASS ENDS WITH THE TELLING INSIGHT:
“FROM THAT DAY ON, ‘DO UNTO OTHERS’
WAS MORE THAN MOTHER’S MORALISM.
IT WAS A HEROIC ACT OF HOSPITALITY,
ONE THAT ECHOED JESUS’ OWN WORDS,
‘I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU WELCOMED ME.”
(Matthew 25:35)
AND AN ACTION THAT I SEEK TO IMITATE IN MY OWN LIFE.”
MAY GOD BLESS OUR EFFORTS HERE AT COMMUNITY CHURCH
TO BECOME MORE LIKE THE EARLY CHURCH.
MAY GOD BLESS OUR EFFORTS HERE AT COMMUNITY CHURCH
TO FOCUS ON SPIRITUALITY MORE THAN RELIGON.
AMEN.