Friday’s thoughts
Christianity is a world view and a life style. It’s a way to relate to the other people, and it’s an ethic that enables us to live our creeds in our deeds of kindness, compassion, and caring. Unfortunately, there are aspects of our faith that tie us down and force us to act out of motives that are manipulative and manipulated.
The essence that can be distilled from the life and teaching of Jesus is an approach to life and faith that is wholistic and authentic. My guess is he was as confrontive of sick religion when he was 12 years old as he was in the later part of his life when he was living his faith and teaching people about the God of love (whom he called Abba).
If we make excuses for ourselves and blame what happens to us on other people and factors beyond our control we will waste our days.
If we worry about our critics and what they say about us and are put down by the notion that we are incompetent or inept, we will give up before we try. We have got to risk. We cannot hide our light under a basket and expect to let our light shine.
If we wonder through life without direction and purpose we will live our days without living them. We need to ask ourselves about our ultimate destination. Toward what are we moving. John Wesley spoke of the need to “move on toward perfection”. That is a very healthy concept. There are broad horizons that our lives can influence.
Jesus in the temple at age 12 asked three questions:
1. What are you doing with the days you have?
2. What is your destiny?
3. What is your ultimate destination?
“Some people who are hoping for eternal life don’t know what to do with a rainy day.” Harvey Potthoff (professor at the Iliff School of Theology)
How would you answer the three questions?
How does religion assist in your religious journey? How does religion block your religious journey?
I’d love to hear from you. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net or click on the “comments” box to allow others to read your response.
Charles Schuster
To some their religion seems to be a chore or task to be accomplished as a means to a final reward. It becomes quid pro quo that religious obedience (or an offer of faith/confession) is offered up as payment for God’s blessings. This seemed true of the stereotypical Pharisee of Jesus day, and is seemingly true of many of us today.
The records in the gospel appear to have Jesus trying to get a new message across. It speaks to me that religion is not a chore to be done for eternal reward, but a discipline that should help keep one focused on a relationship with the eternal God that is here and now.
God is no longer the entity hidden in the Holy of Holies. He is Abba, father, one to be embraced. God as a parent still provides discipline and guidance, but also love and care. Religious discipline becomes a tool for growth and not an obligation for salvation.
Matthew 5:23, 24. Our religious discipline takes us to the altar with our offering. The journey to the altar gives us pause to remember our quarrel with another. We’re instructed to fix the problem with our brother or sister, and then return to leave our offering.
Completing a religious obligation does not solve our problems. It should and does give us the strength and resolve to recognize and address the important issues in our lives.
My out door recreation takes me to both mountain summits and on canyon explorations. When climbing a mountain, the focus is often on reaching the summit. The journey, while exciting and challenging, is very much secondary to topping out.
In the canyons, each step is its own reward. The ending is anti-climactic to the journey. In the canyon, when asked what we’re doing each day, the answer is “discovering and reveling in the beauty all around us”. What is the destination? Wherever the twists and turns take us. The reward is the journey, and not the destination.
And after all, who, by worrying, can add 1 cubit to their stature?