conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

sermon mumblings

I am preaching a sermon entitled "Who Are God's Children?" One of the things that struck me at the National Workshop was the ever present reconciling tone. I wasn't surprised by it, per se. One might assume that such a tone would be present at a Workshop on Christian Unity. A you-and-the-horse-you-rode-in-on attitude typically does little to promote unity. But the proclamations of reconciliation, the desire to come together in shared expressions of Christianity, were so sincere. I was expecting perfunctory expressions. Instead I witnessed real desire and passion for unity.

I drank the kool-ade of the ecumenical movement a long time ago. It was nice to be in the midst of similar insanity.

The passage from Acts for this Sunday challenges me to find way sto embody ecumenism in my personal work and in the congregational work at Community Church. What of our individual traditions have become idols? What of our traditions is of God?

Sometimes people read this passage as a proof for the "spiritual but not religious" approach to faithfulness. Actually, I think its more accurate to say that this passage is about being "faithful but not idolatrous." The cartoon is cute. It suggests the kind of idolatry that may exist these days. But what is more important is that it speaks to what truly had Paul's attention. He is trying to undo idolatry, not religion.

The Ecumenical Movement at its best shares this task with Paul. It can be, when lived fully, a forum for uncovering idolatry, shared and denominational. It can challenge us to be honest with ourselves and with one another. And when uncovering idolatry is our shared task, then reconciliation can occur.

God is the answer to our deepest longings.

Posted by tripp at April 24, 2008 10:58 AM