rise, my love, show me paradise
nothing seems so simple anymore
I want credit for predicting this; it’s about to get busy. Yes, you heard me right, it’s about to get busy. Before this month is over, remember, it’s November now, but anyway, before this month is over, you’ll be caught in a dead sprint that will last all the way through December and into a good part of January, too.
It’s about to get hectic. And I want credit for calling it! In the coming days, when, not if, when you find yourself at sixes and sevens, I want you to remember this moment. And when that happens, I hope the depth of intuition of yours truly strikes you with a newfound profundity…
Ok. You don’t have to be a prophet to make that prediction. Do you? No, that’s the way it always goes. Doesn’t it? Come a week before Thanksgiving, our already crowded calendars will be filled past brimming.
And is it any wonder so many people are so apprehensive about the coming days? They’re overwhelming! Plus, it’s a minefield! Every social gathering is full of overwhelmed people, with complicated histories, engaging in emotionally loaded activities! Is it any wonder there’s occasional hysterics?!? The real miracle, if you think about it, is that more of us aren’t losing it more often!
It begs the question, though. Doesn’t it? Why do we put ourselves through this year after year? Why do we stress-test fragile relationships and congested calendars?
Of course, to some degree, that question barely seems worth asking. Doesn’t it? Well, that’s just how it is, replies the prevailing logic.
And sure, there’s enough truth to that. But the capital-T truth is a lot more complicated. In fact, our very aversion to even entertaining the question tells you plenty.
But you know what? I’m not interested in diagnosing our neuroses. For one thing, it’s too easy. For another, it’s too dismal. Who wants to hear another jeremiad about what wrecks we are? Not me!
So, suffice it to say, we’re mixed bags. On the one hand, we like to share our goodwill. And on the other, we’re not very good at it. Accordingly, the coming days will be ambiguous, too. They’re liable to be delightful. And they’re equally likely to be disastrous.
So take your chances! That’s just the way it is. It’s a gamble. It’s what you have to do if you want half a shot at having an ample Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, too.
…Except that’s not true! At least, not for you. Sure, the rest of the world may have no greater recourses than the present arrangements. But that’s not all you have. Not by a long shot!
No, you are a Christian. And as a Christian, you belong to a society whose history stretches throughout the ages and whose domain spans the entire globe! That means we, as Christians, are not self-made! We do not have to make this up as we go! No, as Christians, we have access to a vast community and an ancient record, to boot!
Accordingly, it’s perfectly reasonable to examine how Christians in other countries navigate the maze of secular and religious holidays. As a Christian, it is within your full right to celebrate as your sisters and brothers in, say, Sweden, Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, Germany, New York, and even China, Russia, Israel, and Gaza, too!
God is no respecter of persons! And Christ, God’s only son, plays just as fast and loose with borders. And the Holy Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son is pleased a punch to unite God’s people across boundaries, too! As a Christian, you belong to a kingdom that knows no walls!
And that’s not all, either! As a Christian, you can also consider how Christians in the past have celebrated, too! Should you discern, you can celebrate as your ancestors who lived during the Middle Ages or even the very first centuries of Christianity itself!
In Christ, the past is not finished! And neither is the future closed! No, in Christ, the past and the future both stand wide open to you! You belong to a people whose timeline stretches far into the past and forever into the future, too!
This, by the way, is what it means to say, “I believe in the communion of saints!” In Christ, the dead are not dead! No, they’re alive! And in Christ, you have full communion with those saints who now stand on the other side of eternity! In fact, in Christ, your loved ones who have died are less than a hair’s breadth away! On account of Christ and his resurrection, that veil that separates you from your loved ones is now permeable! Christ has defiantly crossed it once and for all!
And still, there is more! In your baptism, you have already died with Christ, too! By your baptism, you live with death behind you! By baptism, you already live on the other side of that veil! In Christ, you live day-to-day life with one foot in time and the other planted firmly in eternity!
But do you want to know something even more breathtaking? You are already with those who have died in eternity, too! Those in heaven are not waiting for you to join them! No, Christ has already fulfilled every last promise for them! And that means you are, for them, as good as in eternity right now!
Yeah. Wrap your head around that.
In Christ, the present is not just the way it is. No, in Christ, time is not a confinement. It’s a conferral. In Christ, time is a gift unfurling from the very hand of God in real time!
And that means all of time, too! It is not just the present God gives. No, God gives time and all the fullness thereof! God gives the past, future, and present, all in equal measure!
As such, you ARE perfectly free to question the current state of affairs! You are free to imagine alternatives! You are free to experiment! You are free to try different things! And what’s more, if they don’t work, you’re free to try something else, too!
And best of all, you are really free to do this! You don’t have to live a simple, meaningful, or authentic life. No, you get to! And that means if it’s not broken, you don’t have to fix it, either!
The Holy Spirit really is handing over to you life that really is life! And it’s perfectly ok for you to really try your hand at it, too! Christ has salvation in hand! And that means you’re FREE to take a crack at the rest of it!
…Not bad. Right? So let’s try it, shall we? Let’s return to the question I posed at the top of the sermon. Why do we put ourselves, friends and family, and even perfect strangers through the gauntlet of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Advent, Chanukkah, Christmas, all its twelve days, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day, too?!? Why do we do it?
Now, I want to hear your theories. I really do. So, if you have an insight, corner me during coffee hour. But for now, I want to proffer a proposal.
And I know, I’ve been talking a blue streak. But a couple of things. First of all, this insight isn’t mine. Secondly, it’s directly related to today’s Scripture. And lastly, it’s probably not something you would guess.
And let’s test that! Shall we? Who thinks the reason we put ourselves and everyone else in the vice between now and Martin Luther King Jr. Day is that we’re so religious? Who thinks religion is why we get so uptight about days like Thanksgiving and Black Friday? Anyone?
I didn’t think so.
…I chose Thanksgiving and Black Friday intentionally, by the way. I wanted to choose days we don’t usually associate with religion. And I wanted to do that for a couple of reasons. First, I want us to start thinking about religion more broadly. And secondly, I want to make the point that Christianity is not religion.
I know. That’s not what you’ve been taught. You’ve always been told Christianity is just one more product in the religion warehouse. However, when Christ said he was the end of the law, what he said was, in effect, that he is the end of religion. And I’ll say more about that in a bit. But for now, just keep that in mind as we turn to the matter of religion in general.
Now, there’s no consensus about what religion exactly means. And that’s your first clue. When it comes to religion, we’re dealing with deep stuff. But there are two main theories.
One, I just found out, comes from Cicero. But who cares about Cicero? He’s dead and in the grave! The other definition, though, comes from Augustine. And that’s the one I learned in college. Plus, in Christ, Augustine is not dead! What’s more, in Christ, we’re united with Augustine, too! And anyway, I just think Augustine is closer to the mark.
Augustine said religion comes from the word “ligare,” as in ligament. Augustine, for his part, argued that religion has to do with those matters that connect us, the way our ligaments connect bones. And as we know, what gives religion its power is that it connects us. Doesn’t it?
When you think about it like that, you start to realize just how religious we are when it comes to days like Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. Don’t you? What’s powerful about these occasions is that, in a weird way, they’re communal. We go through them together. Plus, the stated goal of these days is to buy gifts to exchange with one another. And Small Business Saturday is explicitly geared toward purchasing these goods in such a way that our larger community is supported, too!
We are religious when it comes to these occasions! Aren’t we? And it doesn’t matter that they’re secular! And it doesn’t matter that they’re materialistic, either. In fact, if I may be bold enough to suggest, those characteristics make such events especially ripe for the religious plucking!
They say we’re not religious anymore. But that’s not true. What’s really happened is that our religious impulse has migrated. Now we’re religious about our spending and socializing, our parenting and politicking, our health and hobbies, our working and resting, and the rest of it, too!
Our religious instinct can’t just be extinguished. You don’t just stop going to church and get on with the rest of your life. No, that desire to worship will just come out in other areas of your life. Only now, instead of having a clear direction, that urge will come out all willy-nilly!
And if I may venture another theory, I think that’s a big part of the reason we’re so polarized. We’ve become religious about everything! We’re trying to plug that religious hole in our hearts with whatever we can get our hands on! And that’s made us zealous, or polarized, about it all!
I mean, isn’t that what’s going on in today’s Scripture?
I did it! You forgot I said this religious business is directly connected to today’s Scripture. Didn’t you? But there it is!
…In today’s passage, there couldn’t be a bigger difference between the prophets of Baal and Elijah. Could there? Whereas Elijah is methodical and poised, the prophets of Baal are helter-skelter and bedraggled.
Now, the holy writ takes it as self-evident why this should be the case. But I’m not so subtle. So, allow me to state the obvious. The reason Elijah is assured while the prophets of Baal are anxious is that Elijah’s supplications are aimed toward the one true God, not some religious pretender.
The prophets of Baal have got to make religion happen. That’s why they’re carrying on like that. As any good pagan knows, it’s all just a roll of the dice. You’ve got to take whatever chances you can to try and turn the tide in your favor.
And that’s how it is for us and our so-called secular holidays, too. Isn’t it? We’re desperate to make religion out of them. Aren’t we? And you know what? That’s why they get us over a barrel!
Of course, there’s nothing wrong, in itself, with the aspirations we put on our gatherings, religious or otherwise. The trouble crops up, though, when we’ve got to make it happen. That’s when things go sideways! That’s when otherwise ordinary occasions get saddled with unrealistic expectations.
But you know what? The gamut of the days ahead is just that. They’re only a gamut. That’s all. And you can handle it! Sure, the crust may not come out right every time, or you might spill on your dress shirt nearly every time; those are two that hit home for Amanda and me, by the way. But, so long as those are just things, that’s all they’ll be!
The trouble only comes when everything has to come out right, everyone has to be happy, and it all has to be just like the good ol’ days. When that happens, you’re dabbling in religion. And the thing about religion is, it’s never enough! You’ll always have more to do, you’ll never be sure it’s enough, and as such, you’ll be anxious as all get out about the rest of it, too!
…Christ, though, has really come to bring an end to all that! When Christ said, “It is finished,” he meant it! And he wasn’t fooling when he said he had come to fulfill the law, either! In fact, in Christ, it’s all really all in hand, too religious or otherwise!
In Christ, existence is no longer a burden! No, now it’s the blessing it’s been all along! In Christ, you already have everything and eternity, too! And when you have it all, there’s nothing more to do!
In Christ, you no longer have to make religion happen here or anywhere else in your life! On the contrary, Christ is already making it happen all around you, especially where you least expect it! As the old saying goes, if you’re having trouble seeing God, you’re probably just not looking low enough.
Religion is what connects us. And in Christ, you are! In Christ, we are! In Christ, that religious desire of ours is bridged once and for all! But the bridge is one-way. It goes from God to us!
Christ is God’s one-way love! And in this meal, you are given ALL of Christ! In Christ, God is not holding back on you. No, in Christ, God gives you all of Thyself!
You no longer have to reach up to God. Instead, in Christ, God has definitively reached down to you! In Christ, that religious project has been flipped on its head! As such, it has finally been completed!
In Christ, the sacrifices of religion are no longer needed! No, now Christ, the final sacrifice, brings the fullness of his offering to this altar by the fire of the Holy Spirit! And it is you who consumes it!
But in the process, you, too, will be consumed! People, look up! God’s holy love, Christ incarnate, comes to consume you! You, too, burn with the holy fire that alights the cosmos and sets the stars in their courses above!
But that’s not all! When you take Christ’s very body and blood into yourself, you receive ALL of him! And you receive everything he has to offer, too! And I mean everything!
It isn’t just the fullness of religion Christ comes to give you! No, he’s also come to give you the rest of your life back to you, too! Now, the days ahead are no longer something to be completed. No, now they are one more gift from the very hand of God. One more gift smoldering with God’s boundless benevolence!
Now, the days ahead, and the days behind, are finally free to be the delight God’s always intended for them to be! And here’s another boon: when you don’t have to make the holidays sacred anymore, they begin to gleam with the god-given holiness they’ve always held! And so will even your past. Christ can reconcile your past! He can wipe away all the tears and fill every tear with himself and all his promises!
…But we’re getting away from ourselves. And I’ve gone on long enough, too. So, let’s just enjoy everything God has done!
And here’s how: sing! And don’t worry about doing it right. God has that in hand. What you get to do instead is make a joyful noise to the Lord! The Lord will take care of the rest!
Borning Cry, ELW 732
Comments
Post a Comment