4 Easter 2014 Sandra Bullock once remarked that after filming the movie Blind Side, she once again discovered faith. How? Because in her words she finally met someone whose beliefs and actions were consistent with each other, namely, the lady who she portrayed in the movie. Adopting a child and dedicating ones life to his development, allowed Miss Bullock to see a definite link between words and deeds. Consistency on the part of Christians who profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior is what we all look for. Striving for such consistency is a partial explanation of our first reading for today from the Acts of the Apostles. How could the first followers of Jesus keep his Spirit alive in word and deed? Now, I will admit I see two sides to Miss Bullocks observation. One side says yes, I understand her view. It is quite disconcerting to rub elbows with people who tout themselves as Christian but who would not lift a finger to help someone really in need. They do not have the consistency of character that Jesus had. The first time the helping becomes an obstacle to their personal life, they are gone. Some of those people use this first reading as a sort of support for political gain by tagging the first Christ and the first Christians as socialists---hand over your money to us and we will trickle it down according to need. Of course, we will determine what you must hand over and we will determine the need. I lived in a religious community for many years and we were dependent not on taxation but on the free will offering of others and when those free will offerings were not coming in we had to find a way to support ourselves. What happened was some of those who loved community life when it was supported by others, didnt care for the working part. In time they were asked to leave the community. Prayer and work, politics aside. Anything other than combining prayer and work is deemed unhealthy. The other side of the coin is that it is easy for people to use other peoples failings as a bench mark for whether she believes in Christianity or not. The people in the book of Acts were some of the first to try and capture in their lives the spirit of the resurrected Christ. They did not do this without their personal faults and failings. As we read in Pauls letters the early Christians had a hard time not falling back into their pagan ways. The same for us today who go to church; perfection and consistency is probably not our strongest suit. But then, say, for me to criticize someone or some group because I see their faults and failings is a bit over the top. As the old saying goes when I compare myself to other humans I start with zero and count up, but when I compare myself to Jesus I have to start with 100 and count down. True Christianity uses Jesus as the point of comparison. When we read Johns gospel and it speaks of coming through the narrow gate, and following the voice of the good shepherd, we are not speaking of an elitist group of people, that is a group of people who consider themselves above human foibles and faults. Such people are the false voice, the voice of the thief and bandit who tries to sell the follower of Jesus an easier formula for living. Likewise, followers of Christ try to follow the principle of less is more, for reasons other than there is less furniture to dust and move around, less space to clean, less lawn to mow. Followers of Christ subscribe to the principle of less is more because they have a purpose in life outside of themselves that challenges them to use their energies in assisting others to have life and have it abundantly, whether that be spiritual life, physical life or both. Followers of Jesus subscribe to a four fold plan: 1. Knowing who Jesus is through study of the scripture, not as some emotional guru but as someone who challenges them to believe the words of the Lords prayer.....your kingdom on earth as in heaven; 2. develop community life where the sinful and truly sorrowful find understanding and forgiveness ; 3. strengthening communal worship around the Lords table; and finally, strengthening prayer life as an individual and as a community, again going back to the Lords prayer, the most perfect prayer for sustaining church life---praying for daily bread, forgiving trespasses, and avoiding the tendency to regress to an easier way of life—all for the purpose of somehow in some small way making the kingdom of Jesus present on this earth. We may never please all the critics, but it might be that all the critics, and that can include us, might find that when we try to live out the ideals of Christ, it is every easy to fall short, but very fulfilling to get up and try again.
Posted on: Sat, 10 May 2014 11:33:19 +0000
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