WATCHWORD:
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so, the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So, I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” John 10:11-18
Meditation:
Faith Thoughts, Part 3: Faith and the Real World
Faith and the “real” world. How does that work?
Many years ago, two of the Men’s Bible Study groups that I was part of were looking at Islam. In one, I was confronted with a sense of fear, a fear that for all intent and purpose prevented a clear and unfettered discussion of Islam. I failed to keep the conversation focused for there seemed to be such a closed mind, which surprised me. All my brothers seem to be able to concentrate on is violence and what they see as “Allah, the avenger”, out to kill all infidels (Christians, Jews, etc.). A very frustrating discussion.
I may have fallen out of favor with them as I have argued that there is only one God, over all of us. Contrary to the thinking of some, Christianity is monotheistic, and the Christian belief is that the one God is “triune” in character: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is a God that is personal, that walks with my walk, that is compassionate, merciful and, above all, forgiving.
I think Muslims see Christians as polytheistic, meaning multiple gods…Father, Son, Holy Spirit as three, not one, entity. They have a hard time understanding a personal quality to God, since Allah (their perspective) does not communicate with humans. And the concept of the Holy Spirit dwelling within each of us, for them, is a bridge too far!
My other men’s group has followed a slightly different tack. We have kept “on task” as it were as we tried to look as honestly and openly at Islam. In the back of my mind and, I think, in the minds of the other men in this group, is the hope that within Islam is the peace imperative. My limited reading of the Koran, so far, has not revealed what I had hoped I would find, but then I have not gone much beyond the Book of Cow. As a group, we have moved on to other books, but I am left with an incomplete study and deserves more attention.
I have this image of God watching all this and smiling at our human frailties. He might have given passing thought to the wisdom of giving us humans the gift of free will or free thinking. Or, perhaps, He actually sees us making progress despite all the contrariness and conflict. He may draw on his own experience as a human and understands our need and drive for certainty.
My point is this – As a Christian, fear should not be part of any exploration into religions of the world. We should not fear what the future holds, or our aging or declining health, or anything else. Christ has taken away the need for us to fear, but as a human it is hard to surrender it all.
This certainly is a topic that has focused our attention ever since 9/11 and the ill-advised attack on Iraq and then it was Afghanistan. And now, with Covid and continued violence throughout the world only fuels our fear and tests our faith.
But, how do I carry my faith into such matters as those, as well as abortion, or gay marriage, or racism, or even poverty? Without question these are among the most divisive moral and political issues of our time. For each of us, as individuals, these should not be political issues, but, rather, a matter of conscience, of how we act on our beliefs.
I am troubled by the application of rigid, and often selective, literal interpretations of the Bible applied to these issues. It calls to mind the Pharisees of old as they developed those 613 laws. If we apply rigidness to these matters, with a closed mind, how, then we do achieve peace and harmony? Think like I think, or else…is not an option.
In my mind, The Holy Bible, its entirety, holds the key to eternal life. The Jew and the Muslim parse out pieces of Holy writ. To me that is like watering down God’s Word, much like the Jeffersonian Bible does.
I don’t know if I can articulate fully what my position is on all these issues. I do know this: God gave us intellect. He gave us a conscience. He gave us His Holy Spirit. He gave us compassion and reasoning. He gave us the imperative to love. In short, God has gifted us with all we need. The solution to all these knotty human problems is right there in front of us, but we have such a hard time embracing God’s answer.
In Paul’s letter to Timothy he urges his young follower to use the gifts that God has given him in his daily work in Ephesus. The same applies to us. Our position on the issues of our time should not be influenced by external forces, but by the application of what already rests within, our gifts, our belief. And, on that point, I rest my case!
Bulletin Board:
Stan, do any of us live up to what God wants? I don’t think so, but we know we are forgiven. We do our best and leave the rest up to Him. Very simple words. Robin
You know, Robin, that is a good question. We all seem to fall short of God’s purpose. And, yes, we are forgiven. I just pray that we are making some progress along the way.
Thomas Merton Prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I
believe that the desire to please you does, in fact, please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
I surrender it all to you, Lord, in Your gracious name. Amen.
