Have At It
March 29, 2006
Well, after many hours staring at a blank computer screen, here’s what I have so far for my faith statement. I don’t promise that it’s a final copy, but I’d love any comments as long as they are constructive.
In the beginning, God created. Out of nothing, through the power of her voice, God spoke into being all we see and more we cannot. With his hands, he formed us: dust from dust, rib from rib. God breathed and we came to life: connected. And God declared it all good, very good. In time, though, we fell away. We forgot we were connected: breath from breath, rib from rib. We forgot and we turned our backs on God, on one another. Yet God did not forget. God called us and loved us. God liberated us and led us through the Red Sea. He provided for us in the wilderness and made covenants with us in the desert. God came down and God dwelled with us in the Tabernacle. Time and time again, we forget and turn away. Yet God has always been faithful and continues still to call us back – her promise never fading.
We are a broken and fearful people. We desire relationships, but we build walls. We want to know God, but the distractions of the world overwhelm us. We want to do what is right and good, but even when we do our best, we fall short, lost and confused. We strive after God, but find ourselves wandering in the wilderness wondering what went wrong. Created good, we are still sinful and continually fall short.
Yet God heard our groaning. She remembered her covenant with Abraham and Sarah, with Isaac and Rebekah, with Moses and Miriam. God took notice and sent his only son: God of God, light of light, very God of very God; fully human yet redefining what it means to be human, fully divine and forever redefining divinity, fully human and fully God, the mystery we will never fully understand. Out of the depths of his love, God sent Jesus. Healing the sick, taking notice of the forgotten, teaching new understandings, Jesus transformed the way we understand what it means to be human and what it means to be God. And, out of the fullness of his humanity and the breadth of his love, Jesus endured death on the cross. Refusing to cater to the powers and principalities, he sacrificed himself for us – justifying our relationship with our Creator, bridging the gaps and tearing down the walls between us. The only one who was in a position to judge us redeemed us. Having died, Jesus was raised and exalted through the power of the Spirit, confirming the relationship between Mother and Son, opening us all to the possibility of new life with God.
From the beginning, God has been present in our midst and beyond all human boundaries. Blowing freely, inspiring creativity, pursuing justice, the Spirit has challenged and guided us throughout the generations and continues to do so today. Rousing faith within us, the Spirit connects us to the Creator and Christ, allowing us to be in relationship with the Triune God. Through the waters of Baptism, the Spirit claims us as beloved children of God. At the table, the Spirit feeds and sustains us, re-presenting Christ in our midst. Convicting us of the Scriptures, the Spirit pushes us to justice and liberation. Urging each of us individually, and all of us collectively, the Spirit calls us to be who God created us to be: free and beloved children of God. The Spirit binds us to one another and to God, in and through the Church. But the Spirit also pushes our boundaries. Refusing to be captive to the Church, the Spirit flows where it will, inspiring faith in many ways and in many places. The Spirit accomplishes the work of God in traditional and scandalous ways throughout the world.
As beloved children of God, we are called: to pursue God with faithfulness and devotion; to partner with the Spirit in the work of justice and liberation; to bring God’s kingdom to fruition here on earth. We are called to live as Christ in community with all people: clean and dirty, holy and profane, non-Christian and Christian, man and woman, gay and straight, normal and strange. We are called to be the Church, followers of our Lord and Savior, in every place and in every time, remembering that God has promised to be with us always, to the end of the age.
Posted in faith by Sarah
mark said:
March 30th, 2006 at 10:15 am
thats really awesome sarah. beautiful, compelling and moving. I love the part on the Spirit the best. no doubt. God calls us to be who God created us to be. Right on. Fully human. We forgot that we were connected. That really rings true to me. I feel that.
Nice job speaking of the life/work/event of Jesus. Weaving in aspects from various “atonement theories” to tell a story that is so much richer and bigger than those theories.
I could go on about the parts I love but Ill try a constructive comment of two..
The only reason I notice this is because it was pointed out to me that I never talk about it when I tell the story: the ascension. Apparently this is a really important doctrine to a large segment of the church but to be honest, I pretty much ignore it. I wonder how it fits into this part of the story..(maybe what you are getting at with the word “exalted”)
and just one other thing: “to bring God’s kingdom to fruition here on earth”..You mention working with the Spirit to do this, but for me, this seems close to the enlightenment type notion that we will get better and better and finally realize God’s kingdom here on earth. Or the postmillenial notion that is almost the same. Just an impression and it may be what you’re going for. I tend to think of radical inbreaking. But indeed I have challenged recently to think about this radical invasion having already happened at the cross and we look back to ressurection for hope.
Thoughts from/about Bosch (not to quote some authority as some final word but just because he has been so dang helpful to me.) The church is not the kingdom of God realized on earth. The church does offer to humanity “a glimmer of God’s imminent reign- a kingdom of reconciliation, peace and new life.” It is to this glimmer, this vision of the alternative reality, the coming kingdom, that the preacher continually invites the church to experience and to live in. The preacher and the church always remember that they will never fully embody this new kingdom, but always strive to accept invitations to experience these glimpses and to offer these glimpses to others.
But you are right on in speaking about the church working for justice/peace. As Bosch says next, the church is not about calling people into a “waiting room.” As though they are just waiting for the end of the age to come.
Your final line is to me your line of ultimate hope: that God will be with us always. The fidelity of God. I like that. Unless I cant read, I didnt see the word “salvation” in there, probably to avoid many of the foreign modern connotations but you did an amazing job of going beneath the word to show us what being saved is about.
and allow me one post-seminarian semantic comment: Is it that God calls us “back” or that call us “forward” into relationship that we moved away from? I say this not simply to be critical but I wonder if “back” implies more of the unchanging, immovable God type image while something like “forward” would speak of God’s emergence (you know I would work that word in there somewhere!).
awesome stuff sarah. for real. I would be proud to utter/sing/chant this as a creed of the church. at least to my humble non-reformed eyes!
mark
Julie Jensen said:
March 30th, 2006 at 10:35 am
I love it!!! The last paragraph reads better then it did before — the non-Christian and Christian” says it better than the other language.
Be ready for a question about the powers and principalities part. I know what it means and most of your readers in the seminary community willknow what it means, but will an elder on your COPM understand? I’m not necessairly suggesting a change, just be ready to describe and explain.
It’s gorgeous, absolutley gorgeous, and I agree with Mark that I would love to use it in church someday!
Rachel said:
April 2nd, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Spectacular! I’m not educated enough to totally follow the comments of your other commentors, so in my opinion it’s excellent just as it is. In addition to clearly expressing ideas that completely resonate for me, this is a beautiful piece of writing–poetic, evocative, and elegantly articulated. Sarah, your work is breathtaking.