Friendship Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Athens, Georgia
Friendship Christian Church
285 Tallassee Road
Athens, GA 30606
ph: 706-548-3474
sandy
Online Newsletter - May 2009
False Gospel
“Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave. Know this - I am most emphatic here, friends - this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn’t receive it through the traditions, and I wasn’t taught it in some school.” Galatians 1:10 “The Message”
The Easter Season is prime time for the propagation of a false gospel. Why? In a nutshell, because we are uncomfortable with mystery. Ours is a world of facts, demonstrable cause and effect, material proof, practicality. Especially in 2009: if we step too far into the depths of mystery, we are going to look foolish, we may get stuck, we might even sink. So, what is the true Gospel? What is the truth about Easter?
Easter is the turning point of human history, where all those stories of the Nations of Judah and Israel finally had a context. The old, old story -- older than Jesus -- is our story; but without the lenses of the Resurrection, we see the differences rather than the similarities. With the clearer vision of our “Easter glasses,” we see ourselves in those saints of old, and we know that we know the One Who gave himself for us, to save us, heal us, redeem us, make us whole. But without those lenses, our vision returns to normal. And it is in removing the lenses of Resurrection that we become like those who have no hope.
The first Easter, they saw Him but didn’t recognize Him. Someone from the kingdom of God came into the kingdom of the world, and they doubted. Someone looked like him…but that’s impossible: It must have just been their imaginations, intensified by their grief and disappointment. He should just be remembered the way he was. The stories of his life when he was alive are sufficient; the miracles, if they happened, were really meant to help align theology with life as it really is. And everyone knows how you can want something so much that you can almost see it…taste it. And so that first Sunday becomes a day to celebrate, mark it on our calendars, and live in the light of a great idea. Let’s take this Easter story and turn it into something people can actually believe. But let’s not go too far with it.
But Easter didn’t just happen once. When Easter began, this side of the Resurrection, it happened over and over again, and it continues to happen still today. Turning points in human lives, in lives just like mine and just like yours, are what happen because of Easter. We either see them or we don’t, depending on whether or not we have our “Easter glasses” on. We call ourselves Christians, followers of the Living Christ, but when we look at others without the lenses of the Resurrection, what we see are the differences rather than the similarities. “He is too far gone for God; she is beyond help or hope. I have given up on him; she’s not worth any more of my time. We tried that and it didn’t work. We would look foolish if we tried it again.”
But Easter didn’t just happen to them; Easter happened to me. Resurrection changes our lives, until we remove our Resurrection lenses -- It was good while it lasted, but it’s time to move on. Besides, if I make too much of it they will think I am a Jesus-freak or a fanatic. I don’t know enough to answer their questions, so I had better not open that door; it could be embarrassing to start to tell someone about God’s love and not be able to point them to the “right” Scripture. Besides, religion is too personal -- everyone has a right to their own opinion. Why is my story any better than the one they are reading? All paths lead to the same place….don’t they? And not only that, I haven’t really been living the kind of life which I should; I had better wait until my life matches what I claim to believe. Maybe next year I will be ready. In the end, it’s all up to God anyway. I think I had better mind my own business.
But Easter didn’t just happen for me; it happened for them. What kind of friend let’s a drowning man sink? What kind of friend walks to the other side of the street to avoid an encounter with suffering? What kind of friend has an extra loaf of bread and watches his neighbor go hungry? What kind of friend finds learns that her neighbor‘s child is missing and doesn‘t join in the search? What kind of friend has a cure for a fatal disease and keeps it locked away in a safe? What kind of friend will you find at that brown brick church on the hill with the new tin roof…oh, what’s it called??
Friendship Christian Church
285 Tallassee Road
Athens, GA 30606
ph: 706-548-3474
sandy
