I’ve come to view Jesus the way I’ve come to view Elvis. I love the guy, but some of his fan clubs terrify me.
John Fugelsang
Dear Friends in Christ,
If you read this before Good Friday, forgive me my quoted levity. Our Tenebrae worship with Taizé chants has sufficient gravity and darkness, as do the days of our lives. Plenty of serious subjects this season.
If you read this around Easter, you’ll know that with a sunrise gathering, about seven hundred eggs, then two trumpets supporting our Senior Choir, there is plenty to lift us up and celebrate, too. Harvey Cox called Easter “God’s last laugh.” It’s true.
In some ways this is the full Christian story. Paul said it well, even as an operator’s manual for Jesus’ community: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12: 15) It’s a perfect mission statement for such a time as this.
So I am thankful (rejoicing) at all the extra lay readers and participants in worship recently. Thankful for special fellowship food treats recently, the Lenten book discussion, and the early action on our Stewardship campaign, Shelter and Seeds. I am thankful for those out listening to members and friends guiding our survey. Always thankful to our musicians. Always thankful to our church school — especially around sandwich making. There is a lot of rejoicing here.
But Lent has involved a good deal of weeping this year as well. Not just at the gas pumps. There is an ascendent voice in our nation just now claiming the name “Christian.” And it’s not. Mostly it’s just the assembly that so offended Jesus: hypocrites, sexists, racists, narcissists, and idolators, who ignore the many “Thou Shalt Nots” in the Ten Commandments, and were thriving in Jesus’ day. In fact, they were quite powerful. In fact they held so much power, not only in Rome but on behalf of Rome, that they denied the resurrection. Go ahead and search Sadducee, and you’ll see that they were not only arrogant, and avaricious (wealthy), but in addition to controlling the working class (Jesus’ neighbors and relatives) here and now, they wanted to control the afterlife, too, saying there was no such thing. They thought they were — well, almighty.
Probably you don’t have to google what Jesus thought of them. (Hint: he liked the Pharisees more, since at least they were intellectually curious and did believe in God’s story of resurrection.) And given what Jesus thought of Sadducees, you can extrapolate to what he thinks of their modern version (that group calling itself Christian, with none of the actual ingredients).
What difference does this make to us?
Well, I am honored, blessed, graced, thankful, delighted to be called Christian. And while our parish is diverse, varied, many-splendored, open-minded, it is also very Christian. That is, we may not all be the same, but we’re all part of the Body of Christ, so it’s upsetting when someone sullies our faith. And we should keep affirming that: we are Biblical, prayerful, truly conservative, informed, intentional Christians at NHCC, who beg to differ with the offense to our name of late. (Were you there the week we preached about how Jesus was both offended by and offended others? Offense is very Christian, too.)
So I’m with Fugelsang, quoted above. Some of Jesus’ fan clubs are worrisome. They injure people. And I have the professional training to say this: they are evil.
If you want to explore the intersection of the rejoicing and the weeping a group of us intend to read Fugelsang’s new book, The Separation of Church and Hate. It will be online, most likely together with Second Church, UCC, in West Newton. Let me know. It is planned to begin in May.
And meanwhile, come enjoy the 700 eggs, the trumpets and sunrise. Come gather amidst Shelter and Seeds. And remember that Harvey Cox is right, too: Easter, resurrection, is God’s last laugh. You can almost hear it already.
Peace,
