| |
09473
June 12, 2009
Opening doors (or flaps)
Big tent apt metaphor church as reflection of God’s intent, preacher says
Claudio Carvalhaes dons sterile clothing to illustrate how fear of germs can interfere with Christian worship and community. Photo by Erin Dunigan ATLANTA — A “big tent” is a great metaphor for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) “because this church is a place where we all gather because of, not in spite of, our differences,” the Rev. Claudio Carvalhaes told 1,500 Presbyterians gathered here today for the second day of the denomination’s first ever Big Tent event.
Preaching from John 1 — “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” — Carvalhaes, a professor of worship at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, said, “We are all here because God opened a big tent — Jesus — who made us all children of God.
“Jesus is the word of God that became a story, a story of love and hope, life and death, joys and fears, struggle and redemption,” Carvalhaes said, “that moves and transforms our own stories.
In the words of The Message author Eugene Peterson, Carvalhaes said, “’God moved into the neighborhood.’ taking on flesh and bones to come live in our tent. In Jesus we know how good God is and how we should be.”
And so, Carvaelhas — who came to faith through Presbyterian missionaries in his native Brazil — said, “We belong to a community of faith that tries to live better — a big tent. We are here because God has brought us this far, because we love this church and because we want to renew our faith and go home fired up.”
He outlined three keys to creating that “big tent”:
- “Give what you have” — he offered what he called a “stupid proposal,” that all churches take their money out of financial markets, sell all their property and spend the money to equalize all pastors salaries and create social programs that will build up families and communities. “We are all under the same tent, after all; we need to trust God more than our endowments, our budgets and our salaries.”
- “Do not fear neighbors” — donning gloves and a hospital mask and hat, Carvalhaes said, “I’m afraid of swine flu, but I’m more afraid of what it’s doing to us.” Acknowledging the need for caution, he said, “My worry, however, is that when communion and passing of the peace are dropped for fear of germs, we have sacrificed our community.”
- “Become a more diverse church” — American demographics are changing “and we must embrace them to manifest the grace, glory and truth of Jesus in more colors, classes, languages and cultures than just our own.”
|
