November 28, 2005
A Christmas meditation
I remember seeing a Time magazine cover a few years
ago with a black background and the words “Is God Dead?”
I haven’t seen anything like that since and, judging by
the number of missioners of all faiths who come to Guatemala seeking
in some way to serve him, we can conclude that God is very much
alive.
Surprisingly, in our desire to serve God by responding to a call
to serve in Guatemala—or in any service—we contend
with each other or other faiths over how to do it. Our desire
actually drives us farther away from each other and from seeing
the reflection of Christ in those who have the same purpose.
The Christmas season thankfully comes and fills us with feelings
of generosity and compassion. Our differences seem less important.
We notice large and small churches and around-the-clock religious
television programs (even here in Guatemala) collecting gifts
and money for those at the edges, which proves not only our love
for God but also God’s love for us because we have something
to share. Some sense the blessing of God because we have so many
material things. Unfortunately, there is a corollary—that
God must therefore not bless those who do not share in this bounty.
When we understand some of the reasons for this global inequality,
that thinking is found to be facile at best.
We are encouraged when we learn that in the past century there
has been a trebling of the number of Christians in the world.
We are a little less sanguine when we learn that in the same time
period there has been a quadrupling in the number of adherents
to Islam. Does this excite us that more are have some sense of
who God is in their lives? Too often we rest in the confidence
of our own experience, knowing that it is the only right way to
God. We become haughty in our religious conviction that has allowed
some to define Christianity as a white, suburban, religion since
it does not seem to address the needs of those at the margins.
And yet Jesus spent his entire life with those at the margins,
and we say we follow Jesus. Maybe we need to discover new ways
of searching him out. Maybe we need to rid ourselves of the idea
of confining God to this or that denomination, or even religion.
Might the idea of social justice be a place to find God, or could
we possibly do it even in the tenets of other faiths? Is God so
measurable that he can only be found and experienced in Christianity
or in a particular denomination or way of believing? Are we so
certain that we have the only lock on truth that God cannot express
himself or his love in any of a myriad of ways? Will we be judged
by how closely we followed right doctrine, that we went to church
every Sunday, that we tithed, or how we treated our fellow human
beings, the reflection of Jesus?
We believe that every human life is important, that it has eternal
worth, that every person is as important in the timeless scheme
of things as every other person. Yet we seem to be more concerned
with souls and right believing than we are with whether a person
has enough to eat, a roof over his head, clothes on his back,
or meaningful work. If a person has eternal worth, we should be
as concerned about his material situation as we are the state
of his soul and his belief system.
It is difficult to visit a Third World country and not be moved
by the situation of those at the margins. Individually, we struggle
to offer ourselves explanations that make sense to our own limited
understanding of how these situations developed. To suggest that
this is “what they are used to” or that “they
don’t know any other way” or say “but they are
happy” glosses over the real hurt and inequity that exists
and is a barrier to real understanding and solidarity with them.
It is a challenge for us to strive not to remake them in the image
of ourselves but to help them see the image of God in themselves
and, almost harder to believe, in us.
In this fearful year we sometimes mark those we don’t understand
as enemies. Islam and its adherents (who represent about 20 percent
of the world’s people) frighten us and are associated with
terrorism in our minds. Yet we have much in common with Muslims,
not the least of which are historical connections and belief in
one God. In this season, let us care not only for those that generate
our sympathy but also those we fear. Let us give evidence to the
world that God is alive in our land and in our lives and in the
lives of those we do not comprehend. We pray with the Psalmist,
“Let your steadfast love be upon all of us, even as we hope
in you” (Ps 33:22).
Gloria and I wish all of you a blessed and meaningful Christmas
season.
Roger
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
62
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