The Wonder Years, Confession, and God's Immeasurable Love

Lent 1, Year, A, 2014, All Saints’ (click here to find readings)

A long, long, long time before I met my beautiful, intelligent, amazing wife Jamie, I thought a girl named Sally Baker was the prettiest girl I had ever met.  I was in the third grade, and Sally and I were both in Ms. Mayfield’s class.  I liked Sally, and I wanted Sally to like me too. 

As I was considering how to make my move, I remember watching an episode of the Wonder Years.  If you have never seen the show, this series dramatizes what it was like to be in middle school and high school during the late 60s and early 70s.  In that particular episode, the main characters, Kevin and Winnie bumped into each other in the hallway and this resulted in Winnie dropping all of her books on the ground.  Kevin quickly knelt down to help Winnie pick up her books.  Winnie seemed to be swept off her feet by this gesture.  Kevin and Winnie exchanged a smile and the rest, as they say, was history.  A light bulb went off in my head!  (you see where this is going don’t you?)

So the next day, as I passed Sally in the classroom, I tried to “accidentally” bump into her so that all of her books would fall on the ground.  Well, the accidental bump ended up being more like an intentional trip/push to the ground.  We both ended up on the floor and the classroom fell silent.  I looked at Sally and Sally looked at me.  Instead of saying something like, “I’m sorry or let me help you with that,” I cut right to the chase and asked Sally, “Do you like me?”  And to this day I’ll never forget the look on her face when she blurted out, “No!” 

I don’t think I have ever been as embarrassed as I was that day.  That moment haunted me for years to come.  Eventually, I recounted the story to Sally when we were in high school and she had no idea what I was talking about.  I guess that is just another reminder that we are always our own worst critic.

All jokes aside, I confess that I didn’t treat Sally with dignity and respect.  I tried to make her like me.  I tried to take away her choice to choose (as if I could).  I tried to control the situation so that I would get a desired outcome.  I believe all of our mistakes and failures and disappointments start here—when we try too hard to be in control, when we try too hard to have power over the situation.  Sound familiar?

This inability to resist power and control is exactly what got Adam and Even in trouble in the garden.   We are reminded of the serpent’s temptation in Genesis when he says to Eve, “You will not die (even though God says they will die); for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.”  In the end, Adam and Eve could not resist the temptation to be like God and neither can we. 

After Adam and Eve ate from the tree scripture says, “They knew they were naked.”  We know what this nakedness feels like too.  For me, it feels a lot like the embarrassment I felt after shoving Sally Baker to the ground.  There are two ways we can deal with our nakedness, with our guilt, with our embarrassment.  We can try to cover ourselves up with good works in order to find favor again with God and neighbor.  Or we can admit that we are vulnerable, we can admit to our mistakes and that we are powerless in the face of temptation and seek the forgiveness of God and others.     

Timothy Keller would respond to these two options in this way, “God cannot be manipulated by religious and moral performance—God can only be reached through repentance, through the giving up of power.  If we are saved by sheer grace we can only become grateful, willing servants of God and everyone around us.”  In other words, the experience of God’s love and forgiveness is what will transform us and help us love God and others better.  It is not about trying harder in order to change God’s mind.  It is about repentance and being changed by God’s love and forgiveness. 

Christianity has never been about making God love us through our good deeds.  God can’t even make us love Him so how can we expect to make God love us?  The simple truth of the gospel is this—there is nothing we can do that will make us anything less than children of God.  God sent Jesus to die on the cross to tell us this.  Through God’s sacrifice of his only Son, we know that we have a God who will go to any measure to ensure that we are not abandoned to the power of sin and death.     

Yesterday, our 3^rd graders experienced this truth about God as they completed their preparation for Solemn Communion.  Solemn Communion is way to enter a more intentional relationship with God through the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.  In preparation for today’s Solemn Communion, our 3^rd graders made confessions and received assurance that they are forgiven by God.  While I didn’t hear any of these confessions, I imagine some of the confessions were similar to the Sally Baker story.  I imagine some of the confessions were much more serious than the confession I gave above.  Just because you are in the 3^rd grade doesn’t mean you don’t deal with the same issues that adults deal with.

In case you don’t know, the Episcopal Church has a Rite of Reconciliation or private confession.  While we do not have any confessional booths like you see in Roman Catholic churches, we still hear private confessions and announce absolution.  The motto in the Episcopal Church says, “all can, none must, some should.”  What does this mean? 

It means that anyone who wants to experience this rite can.  Any of your priests are happy to set up an appointment.  It means that going to private confession isn’t mandatory in the Episcopal Church—your salvation doesn’t depend on it.  It also means that those who are unable to experience God’s forgiveness in their own daily prayers should experience the Rite of Reconciliation.  These people should because this rite is a way for the church to tell its members that God really does forgive the sins of all who repent—even your sins!  It also means that priests and bishops should go to confession because if you are going to hear confessions then you need to know how to give a confession.

Making a confession to someone else is hard, I know.  It takes a lot of courage because you reveal how vulnerable you really are as an imperfect human being.  If it makes you feel better you are also confessing to a priest who is, believe it or not, also an imperfect human being.  As the rite says, we are sinners too.  Making a confession is hard because it brings up feelings of guilt and feelings of guilt are hard to live with—aren’t they?   

I do not believe God wants us to remain guilty or ashamed forever.  Yes, God’s word of judgment can sometimes be harsh but God’s word of judgment is also a word of love.  God did not banish Adam and Eve from the garden just for the simple pleasure of it.  Imagine if Adam and Eve were to remain in the garden forever in their imperfect state…talk about hell on earth.  God did what was best for Adam and Eve and God wants the best for us even when God’s best doesn’t seem all that promising.

In God’s eyes, it is not the end of the world when we mess up; it is an opportunity for a new beginning—even if that new beginning starts in the wilderness.  I believe God wants us to see our mistakes and failures as an opportunity.  Yes, learning from our mistakes is very important.  But that is not what I am talking about.  Like one of the prayers in our prayer book states, “we thank you for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.”  Even more, admitting to our disappointments and failures lead us to realize that God still loves us, that God still believes in us, that God still has dreams for us.

At the Solemn Communion retreat, our 3^rd graders received a glimpse of God’s ultimate dream for us with a great banquet, with a great feast.  The best part of this great feast is that the 3^rd graders got to plan the menu.  If you are hungry, I apologize in advance…then again this list might have the opposite effect on some of you…  

For appetizers they had:  sushi, queso fountain, and super pretzels.  For the main course they had:  pasta, steak, bacon, pizza, spaghetti, shrimp, popcorn shrimp, and mac and cheese (mac and cheese counts as a vegetable right?  It did at my school cafeteria).  They saved the best for last, dessert, they had: brownies, donuts, cake, carrot, Mom’s cookies, ice cream cookie sandwich, strawberries (I think this deserves a moment of silence), chocolate fountain, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, pancakes, and it wouldn’t be a party without cotton candy.

Yes, there is a great big party that awaits but we aren’t there—not yet.  We still live in a world where there is sin and suffering and heartbreak and death.  The cross is still in front of us.  As much as we’d like to, we cannot escape the realty of the cross, the reality of death, the reality of our sin—no matter how hard we try.  But neither can we escape the reality of God’s immeasurable love for us—no matter what.  Amen.      

What is God teaching the Church through Atheists (un-churched)?

             About a month ago I stumbled upon an article entitled, “Atheist 'mega-churches' take root across US, world.”  Initially, I was confused because the word atheist and the word church usually do not play nice together in the same sentence.  I later found out that coining these atheist gatherings as church was simply media hype—these groups don’t actually use the word ‘church’ in their language.

 Hype or not, these gatherings do resemble to church.  They sing together.  They listen to motivational speakers.  They meet in small groups.  They plan Outreach projects.  They meet on Sunday mornings.  For many, these assemblies, or whatever you want to call them, are meeting a need that the church is not.  But I am getting ahead of myself… 

Before I read the article, I remarked, “Oh great, another ignorant attack on Christianity.”  I guess it comes with the collar but I am especially sensitive to those who make misinformed attacks on Christianity.  A part of me felt the need to educate these misguided souls.  But that didn’t feel right either.

That same week I came across the passage of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30).  For matters of interpretation, a woman of Syrophoenician origin basically means a woman that exists outside of the covenant community of Israel.  She is a Gentile and not a Jew. 

The passage portrays Jesus as being almost rude with this non-Jew.  Jesus is trying to take Sabbath time when this woman asks that he heal her demon-possessed daughter.  Jesus snaps back and basically says, “I must tend to the Jews before the Gentiles.”  The woman calls his bluff and says, “Even the Gentiles get to experience the grace of God through you!” 

If I didn’t know better, I would say that this woman just took Jesus to school.  This woman seems to be giving Jesus a dose of his own medicine.  Just chapters before this one Jesus healed a Gentile because he wanted to prove to his disciples that the covenant of God extends outside the borders of Israel.  Could it be that Jesus is the one who is the student and the Syrophoenician woman is the teacher?

I know Jesus too well; this can’t be the end of the story.  You’ve heard it said that the best teachers are our students.  Maybe Jesus is on to something.  Wasn’t it Jesus who said those who humble themselves will be exalted?  Those who want to be first must be last?  Jesus was willing to let himself be taught by a woman outside of the Jewish tradition for the sake of the gospel.

All this prompted a question that I asked my young adults at our monthly theology discussion group called WORD with Friends.  We pondered, “What is God teaching the church through atheists?  If I wasn’t confronted with this passage from scripture, the topic for the day might have been, “Why atheists are just wrong.”  I’m sure that conversation would have gone nowhere good fast.  Instead, three remarkable insights were gained about the church from this conversation.  I don’t think we said anything that hasn’t already been said but it was remarkable that we came to these conclusions free from any outside sources.

(Picture Caption:Young Adult group pondering question at WORD with Friends)

Three Conclusions from our discussion:  
 

·         The Bible has been reduced to a book that has all the answers-The Bible is not meant to be an answer book or rule book.  Don’t get me wrong—there are plenty of rules in the Bible.  Primarily, the Bible tells the story of how God is rescuing His people from sin, death, and destruction.  The Bible is the story of how God refuses to abandon the world to sin and death.  I am afraid we miss this overall trajectory when we simply look for answers and rules.   

·         Jesus has been reduced to the guy who can fix any problem-N.T. Wright said that we use Jesus like we use a computer.  We only use the parts that we need.  We take what we need and go on with our lives.  What happens to a human relationship when you only use the other person for your own needs and wants?  Eventually that relationship dissolves—the one who is being used will only put up with you for so long.  I’ll admit that Jesus is different.  I believe Jesus will let us use him as long as it takes.  But I also believe that we will never really get to know Jesus unless we treat our relationship with him like our closest human relationships.  Jesus wants to share in your joy.  Jesus wants to share in your sorrow.  Jesus wants to hear everything about you.  God the Father also wants you to know everything about Jesus.  That is why we are given scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit.  That is why God gave us the Church.  So we can meet the risen Lord Jesus even today.  Jesus does much more than fix problems.  Jesus is giving us a world that is complete, a world where “fix” is not a part of the vocabulary.        

·         Christianity has been reduced to a moral code-Timothy Keller said, “[God] cannot be manipulated by religious and moral performance—He can only be reached through repentance, through the giving up of power.  If we are saved by sheer grace we can only become grateful, wiling servants of God and everyone around us.”  In other words, Christianity is not about trying harder to be a good person so that God will love us.  It is about realizing that we are made perfect by the love of God through Christ.  I am afraid we will never know love if we try to earn love.  I guarantee we will know love if we admit to our failures and realize that “there is nothing we can do that will make God love us any more, there is nothing we can do that will make God love us any less.”      

For many, the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity have been watered down and this is the reason people stop going to church—not because Jesus is offensive or his teachings are misguided.  In other words, a lot of people are turned off from the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity because the mystery of it all has been reduced to human standards. 

As Jesus tells the authorities, his kingdom is not from this world.  We can’t understand the nature of God by human standards.  We need Jesus (fully human, fully divine) to be able to understand the nature of God and God’s kingdom.  We also need Jesus to understand what it means to be fully human.  And this can’t happen by simply finding answers in a book or through enlightenment.  This can’t happen by simply using Jesus like a vending machine.  This can’t happen by trying to build our way to heaven through good deeds. 

In the end, it is about a relationship with God.  And our relationship with God through our worship of the risen Lord gives us the grace to seek and serving Christ in all persons.  Our relationship with God gives us the grace to respect the dignity of all human beings.  Yes, we will struggle to find answers.  Yes, we will ask where God is in the midst of all this suffering.  Yes, we will stumble along the way.  But God will call us back into relationship again and again.  God will not abandon us or the world to the power of sin and death—no matter what.

Instead of pointing the finger, the young adult group was willing to learn from a group outside the church like Jesus did with the Syrophoenician woman.  The result was a sober reminder of how the church has been wrong in many cases.  In a real way, we were called to a process of repentance and amendment of life as the body of Christ.  I believe we can learn a lot about the church by looking at those who are not church goers.  In the end, I believe we can be more faithful by listening and learning from those who are not a part of the covenant community of Christ. 

Who are we willing to listen to for the sake of the gospel?  Who are we willing to learn form so that all people will know the healing power of Christ?