Are we willing to be wrong in order to be loving?

You may know the story of what Jesus said in response to charges brought against the woman caught in adultery: "Those who are without sin cast the first stone." It is iconic in so many ways and functions for the Church as a standard for forgiveness, grace, mercy and creativity in the face of difficult situations. 

If you continue to read in John chapter 8, Jesus is engaged in a conversation with the powers that be. Here is the tail end of the conversation:

They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does.’ They said to him, ‘We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.’

As you may be picking up in the story Jesus is echoing the story of when Abraham did not kill his son. Abraham may have thought that he heard God's voice tell him to go and kill his son, but when the time came to do that he was confronted with the reality that in fact, God desires mercy and not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6).

The Pharisees and Scribes that are talking with Jesus are so convinced that they are correct in their understanding of the law and of what should happen to the woman caught in adultery and what should happen to Jesus that in their pursuit of being right they were willing to kill others in the name of "being correct". 

Abraham and the Pharisees were both convinced they were right in their understanding of the desire of God. Abraham was humble enough to recognize that he was wrong. The Pharisees were not.

Are we willing to be wrong in order to be loving? Are we able to admit we are wrong when our convictions lead us to kill, destroy, remove, scapegoat, or condemn another? 

As Ghandi said, "I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill." 

Salvation within the Church community

The following is taken and slightly adapted from a sermon delivered on October 5, 2014 at Saginaw United Methodist Church.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.””

— Acts 2:42-47

Traditionally we read Acts 2:42-47 and think that the early church was experiencing rapid numeric growth. That is to say that everyday the Lord added new people to the church community.

I am sure the early church grew in numeric "metrics".

But could it also not be the case that all this face to face time with their neighbor and face to face time with God that more people who were already in the community were being saved?

If you did not have to worry about food. If you had a group of people you could count on to be there for you when times were difficult. If you feel the Peace of Christ in your life every waking moment. If you did not have to worry about paying rent when you lost your job because a community would help you out in your time. If you did not need to worry about your medical bills because you had a community that would sell what they owned in order to ensure you were treated. If you had all these things and more, would you not be saved?

Saved from anxiety, worry, fear and isolation.

Sometimes we talk about the world needs to be saved as though we are not the ones we are talking about. We need to save those people out there by getting them in here. And if we did that then the Lord would add to the number of people being saved.

I would argue that all of us need salvation (aka: health and wholeness). All of us need a community. All of us need meaningful relationships. All of us need face to face time in the relationships that nurture healing and wholeness.

Reclaiming "I am blessed."

There are words that I do not use because of the horrible and painful history around those words. Most (all?) of these words are not in my ability or even desire to help redeem.

There are words that I do not use because they have been used and reallocated. Most (all?) of these words are in my ability or desire to help redeem. 

"I am blessed" needs to and can be redeemed. Here is my contribution.

"I am blessed" is not something that I use because it has been used and reallocated by some variations of the gospel of prosperity. The vast majority of the time I hear "I am blessed" it is in relation to how much stuff (family, experiences, money, toys, etc.) a person has. It is a statement about accumulation. It is a statement, I think, meant to remind the person that all that they have is a result of something. The American gospel of prosperity says that you got all this stuff because you personally earned it with no help. The religious gospel of prosperity says that you got all this stuff because you are doing something right that pleases the god(s).

The underlying assumption in the "I am blessed" conversations is that being blessed means being independent and not having to rely on others. Although Jesus might have said it, we typically do not think that the poor, the mourning, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted (Matthew 5). 

I would like to reclaim the "I am blessed" as I understand Jesus assuming it to be. Being blessed means you are one who is keenly aware of the interdependence of life.

Art Roy Remy

Being poor, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsty, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemakers and/or persecuted are all situations in life that require interdependence if we are going to make it through those situations. 

Being blessed, as I understand Jesus, is to be one who is aware of just how small we are in the vastness of life. It is to be aware of just how much we need one another and need God. It is to be aware of how we are all just barely making it.

You can be rich and aware of your smallness and interdependence. But, like Jesus said, it is very hard to do. It is hard to not because the accumulation of stuff is bad or evil but because the stuff allows you and I to feel independent and not interdependent.