This article reflects the second of about half a dozen reasons for my faith and why I choose, on my life journey, to follow Jesus. The reason is that there is a tangible promise of abundance here and now. Jesus seems to have believed that promise and the invitation to follow Jesus involves our believing it, too. The promise of abundance is for our own lives, for our families, for our congregations, our communities, and for the whole world.
The Kingdom of God was sometimes described in the Bible as a spring in the desert or a fountain of abundance. There are deserts all around us: food deserts, educational deserts, security and safety deserts, and spiritual deserts. There are deserts within us where there is almost no moisture and very little growth-dry and desolate places where fertile soil seems to be blowing away.
There are deserts between us--relationships without passion or joy. Bitterness festers and saps energy. Sadness eats up any sense of hope. There are deserts everywhere-but why? Why are they here? More important-what will we do about them?
Many of us go to places of worship seeking answers to these questions. We come perhaps looking to find a spring - an oasis. We come, hoping against hope, to find a fountain of abundance and in our hearts, we cry, "God, what are you going to do about these deserts in our lives?" And in a response that is either deafening in its silence or, behind that silence, a quiet word, "You are not alone. We're in this together." It is not just the "we" who occupy the pews of worship, but also the Spirit of Life who lives in us and in our relationships. The God we seek in worship is already present in us and between us and is asking, "What will you and I do together to make that spring flow in those deserts?" That is the question. And we turn to our faith traditions, seek in our community relationships, and search in the depth of our own souls to find answers that satisfy.
In Charles Dickens' memorable play A Christmas Carol, the principal character Ebenezer Scrooge was a walking and talking desert. He was bitterly unhappy. He was lonely and desperately clinging for a sense of abundance to his money-hording it, taking constant inventory, and begrudging any request for him to share-to give it away. Most of us are familiar with Scrooge's journey, accompanied by three spirits, on an intense journey to a life of abundance, joy, and generosity. The pre-spirit Scrooge once famously said, "Christmas is "'a poor excuse to pick a man's pocket every 25th of December.'
Scrooge clearly learned his attitude from some of the characters the Israelite prophet Amos talked about. Those ancient Scrooges were people whose whole lives revolved around money: getting more, making more, having more. They even resented the Sabbath restrictions on business that did not allow them to be making money on that holy day once a week. You get the feeling they spent entire Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) thinking up new ways to grow their businesses, to make them more profitable, and to optimize their investments.
But what's so bad about that? Actually, they were losing three very valuable possessions in their pursuit of success-three things. They were losing their integrity by being willing to exploit, and even cheat, to increase their profit margin. In other words, they would buy low sell high by manipulating the low and high. They were losing their integrity. They were also losing their humanity by valuing efficiency about relationships. They were treating people as commodities, turning them into numbers, and dropping them when the numbers didn't add up.
Finally, they were losing a sense of priority, of what's most important. Jesus famously said "Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," but rigid religious rules were not the only way to mistreat value of Sabbath. Shabbat was commanded and observed to remind Israel from where she came-slaves in Egypt. It was set aside as a time to remember that all persons are equality loved and valued by God and called to value others the same way. The value of setting aside a day as holy is to remember that other people are part of us and we of them. They are not commodities to be bought or sold, not customers to be exploited, and not bases for our own power to be manipulated. At least for a 24-hour period, we are reminded how God views humanity. In the Israel of Amos' time, those values had largely been forgotten--much as in our own time, place, and culture.
We have arrived at a cultural crossroads - a fork in the road. Today is a time of choice and decision and the clarity of this moment comes as the result of several factors including: political polarization, economic struggle, social stratification, religious rift, and the pervading question, "In what will we place our trust?"
I have a question for you. When in your life have you felt rich? Maybe you've played the game that you have $1 million. How would you spend it? My experience playing that game is that, before long, the $1 million just doesn't feel like quite enough! You are probably familiar with the many stories about lottery winners who end up having lost everything-destitute. So, I'll repeat the question- when in your life have you felt rich?
Today we face very much the same choice as people did in Jesus' day. Individually, we have a choice about how we'll seek to be rich: how we'll seek security, safety, and happiness. It is a choice about what we'll look for from the money we make. As a nation, we face a choice as to how we'll seek prosperity and security: the Kingdom of Caesar vs. the Kingdom of God. Caesar's kingdom is one of top-down power of the "haves" over the "have-nots." Its trust is in military force to coerce. There is a desire for the kind of peace that involves no conflicts and only business-as-usual.
We can choose the Kingdom of Caesar or the Kingdom of God. God' Kingdom represents communal power with--not over, trust in shared power and access for all. Everyone has a voice. The desire for peace is for shalom (justice, compassion, love). The choice for this kingdom is not made with words or intentions, but with actions. Currently we are choosing the Kingdom of Caesar. Its power is very difficult to resist. It is very seductive and pervasive. The issues behind this choice can seem counter-intuitive. The more we strive to get more, sell more, and make more, the greater our sense of deficit.
It is also odd that the less we strive for more-the more we let that go-the greater a sense of abundance we experience. Many voices tell us that this sounds kind of un-American, anti-capitalist, and even un-Christian. That may be part of the problem. How will be measure success and abundance as churches? The most common way is through budgets (dollars), through numbers of people attending, and through the number of baptisms performed.. The assumption is that these gauges track how many are choosing faithful discipleship.
It can be dangerous to view religious faith as a commodity, something to be bought and sold. Such an approach can be problematic, but there is also some benefit in being clear about what people are actually looking for in a church and also what our church actually provides.
People seem to be looking for three things at church, though I imagine many people are seeking these consciously. The first is to be outfitted for life's journey. You may have gone to a sporting goods store to be outfitted for your favorite sport or to an outdoor store to be outfitted for camping or hiking. In a similar way, people come to church to be outfitted for life-to be equipped with the skills, knowledge, and wisdom to walk that path well. And church does that. It helps equip us for that journey with certain skills such as how to think theologically, how to listen in depth, how to share our lives cooperatively, and how to offer and receive forgiveness. Church also offers opportunities to learn skills in doing hands-on ministry with the poor, the very young, and the very old; and with those who are sick, dying, and grieving.
The second thing people are looking for at church is to be part of a community. Communities can be like the family we choose rather than the family into which we're born or adopted. Sometimes people are just looking for a community of like-minded friends. And congregations offer community that can feel like a family or like friendships. They are always a group of people with whom to practice loving and forgiving. And this community will always be available to us-at least in some form-if we want it and if we seek it.
The third thing people are seeking is to experience God, the holy, the numinous-the mysterious and mystical reality of life beyond explanation and understanding. Churches offer experiences of the holy. Sometimes these happen in the process of being outfitted and equipped-of the learning, growing, and doing. Almost always, we experience the holy through deep and intimate human relationships. And sometimes, through the maze of our relationships and experiences, we glimpse the holy itself. And we come to a crucial discovery, that the holy we're seeking out there is really living in here.
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