This morning I was having a conversation with a fellow pastor about our sermons for this fall. I mentioned that I am following the lectionary passages through Exodus, the story of the Israelites journey from Egypt to the Promise Land. I said this week we are at the Red Sea, or the Reed Sea, or the sea at the end. (You will have to listen for which I prefer!). Then I talked about last week’s sermon, about Passover.
And that was when it hit me!
I left it out!
I had a wonderful paragraph/thought that I meant to include, but somehow it didn’t make the sermon.
What I wanted to say was that an amazing this about this wonderful story, the one that sits at the very foundation of Jewish faith, that we reflect every time we share communion took place with no religious leader. There was not a rabbi, or a teacher present. Even at the Last Supper there wasn’t a priest, bishop, or a pastor present. No, all of these epoch shaping meals took place in homes.
Through the years we have lost that. As we have “professionalized” ministry we have fallen into the fallacy that we are not qualified to teach our children the stories, to guide their faith development. Something that important is something that must be left to the “experts.”
Can I apologize for the ways in which we in the church have allowed that heresy to be perpetuated? That is not the case! Sure, we went to seminary and have thought about faith development, but to think that we are the best? Remember my story about Jame Doty?
Truth be told, the church is here to backup what is taught at home! Parents, in a time where you are often having to teach math and science and English and French, I hate to tell you that you must add religion and faith to the list! The good news is that you already are!
You are teaching about God and faith every time you sit down for a meal. Do you say a blessing? Is it a rote set of words that seldom have any meaning? How do you speak of God? What kind of God are you talking about? One who controls everything that happens, or one that is seeking to bring the best out of every situation? Is God a spirit of love, or correction? What kind of God do you talk about?
And is church, community important? Do we need others to help us in our faith, or can we do it alone? What is the importance of being a part of a church? Why do we/should we go to worship?
This is one of the thoughts I wanted to raise in the sermon last week! If I had included it, the sermon would have been even longer, but maybe it would have given you something else to ponder this week. It is also a thought that many others are asking in this age of Coronavirus. How is this virus shifting our theology? What does our faith have to say in this moment? What is our faith saying to this moment?
In this time we find ourselves like the Hebrew children in the wilderness, in a place we never expected to be. It is going to take some re-evaluation, some re-theologizing, some reworking the way we do faith and church. It means we need to be asking some important questions on this side of liberation.