As the church looks back on 100 years and looks forward at the next ten, there are some stark realities we are facing. There is grief and frustration, anxiety and a feeling of helplessness. I am reminded of when Mary and Martha bemoan Jesus’ delay at the bedside of Lazarus… “If only you had been here…” (John 11). Why does it seem like God hasn’t answered our call and has been leaving the mainline Christian denominations like the United Church to wither?
I understand the reaction to what we’re seeing in so many corners of our church. But I am reminded by the story of Lazarus that Christ wept for his dear friend’s death… and he also brought life out of the stench of death. It may smell like death all around us, and Christ is grieving the loss of what once was, but we are now called to collaborate with the Holy Spirit and follow Christ’s instructions carefully. Now, more than ever, it is time to roll away the stone, to unbind ourselves and to witness new life.
It won’t look like it did in the 1950s. It won’t even necessarily be in a church building at 10:30am on a Sunday morning. It may not even have a minister in the ways we’ve known it in the past. While we are letting go of what was, we also need to start imagining what will be.
When I walked the Camino Primitivo in Spain last summer, one of the most common discussions was about the 1200 years of pilgrimage along that route. People wondered and marveled at the many people who walked there before us, why they were doing it, and the experiences they had in times when there were far fewer services to rely upon. It also struck me that we were not only walking in their footsteps, but we were also walking a path that many more would walk in the future. In some respects, we are the ancient pilgrims of the ones who will walk that Camino in 50, 100 or 1000 years.
We sometimes need to see ourselves, not as the pinnacle of all history at this moment in time, but on a continuum of a much longer time period that extends beyond us. We not only benefit from the foundations of those who came before us, we are establishing the future of the church as well. Like the resurrection of Christ, today is not the end of the story.
This fundamental shift in posture is key for us as a church in times such as these. There is a need for us to figure out what future-shaping decisions and actions we are taking today.
If you’re a fan of science-fiction, you’ll know that one of the most common stories is time-travel. There is significant anxiety in that literature about the smallest things we might do in the past that will reshape and change the present. Maybe we need to remember to make choices today with the same care and attention… after all, these small things will have an impact and chart the course of the future.
It’s a significant change in our understanding of where we stand today. Yes, we stand on the shoulders of giants. And yes, we are the giants upon whose shoulders future generations will be standing. Are we taking that seriously enough, despite the fear and grief we feel at this moment?
Recent Comments