- CROP Walk October 6th
- Death Cafe September 21st at 4pm
- Watch for Harvest Supper November 2nd
Watch the video HERE
Who is Jesus? This is one of the questions we are asking in our Youth/Confirmation Studies. Why do we come together as Community? This is one of the questions we are asking in Sunday School this week.
Who is Jesus to you? Since we’ll be helping the kids along the way on their journey, it was nice of the liturgical calendar to be asking this same question this week: Who is Jesus? (Isaiah 50: 5-7, Mark 8: 29-34, and James 2: 14-17)
We are also uncovering and exploring: who are we in relation to Jesus, to God, to Grace? This might pretty much be the theme of these next six weeks for the kids. Who are we in relationship?
Who are we? Who is God? Who is Jesus? Who are we in relation to ourselves, God, and Jesus? Why is faith relevant and important?
These may seem to be simple and obvious questions. At the same time, they may seem to be way too big of questions to be asking the youth. But these are important questions. These are foundational questions of who and what and why? They are the foundation of our individual beliefs and the collective beliefs we share.
It is really, really easy to get distracted from these guiding principles by society, by politics, by troubles, by fighting, by too busy and too much, by shopping…you name it. It is quite easy to get distracted in man’s work that we forget God’s Work or get so lost in the man’s work that we begin to think it’s God’s Work.
These above questions help us to become solid in who we are in faith, with Jesus, with God, with one another, and yes, even with ourselves. It’s easy to get distracted from the most important reasons for being and the most important work, but when we ask ourselves these oh so simple and also oh so very big and complicated questions, we stay grounded in who we are as a people of faith.
It’s quite intriguing to discover that what we thought we believed has changed or that we’re suddenly a bit confused and conflicted. Often the more we can admit we’re unsure and a bit confused, but still strong in faith, the closer we are to God. I was reminded last week that it was discovered on Mother Teresa’s death that she had doubts and fears around her relationship with God and Jesus. For some, that put her status as a saint in question. PAUSE. To others, it felt honest and raw. That we don’t expect human beings, even saints, to be perfect or unquestioning…but that we expect them to be honest, raw, and willing to change and be changed. We expect them to be both human and also deeply dedicated to God.
Continually asking these questions: Who/what is God? Who is Jesus? How is Jesus relevant to me? What is God calling me to do? These are question that keep us on a path of faith, perhaps long and winding, perhaps with distractions and dead ends, but a path of faith. These are the questions that keep us in relationship with God and one another (which is perhaps another way of being in relationship with God). This orients us away from our little lives, our selfish desires, toward something bigger than us individually and alone.
As James puts it in our morning’s passage, we are not just meant to be “hearers” of God’s word, but “doers” of God’s word. PAUSE. This asks us to look at ourselves and who we are in community and what we have to offer as individuals. This asks us to…look in the mirror. It’s often very hard to look in the mirror.
When I was a little girl, my one memory of being in Brownies is the story about the little brownies who were supposed to come in at night and clean the house. This little girl went looking for the brownies and the wise old owl said to look into the pool on a moonlit night. There the little girl would see the brownies who come and clean at night. She looked in the pool, came back to the wise old owl and said…”but I only saw myself.”
Asking ourselves questions, reading stories, pondering grace and God and Jesus is like looking in a mirror to really see ourselves and our potential. Who are we? We are Children of God.
Death and loss often inspires us to emulate the people we have loved and lost. The people we admired. We want to carry the torch of the goodness and love that our mothers, our fathers, our grandmothers, etc. left behind. We are inspired by good people to be…better versions of ourselves. It is a time of “looking in the mirror”.
What happens when we look in the mirror and remember that we are Children of God? What torch of Goodness and Love does that ask us to carry into this world? PAUSE. Questioning can also be a time of “looking in the mirror”.
Continually asking ourselves: What is the meaning of Jesus in my life? What is the meaning of God in my life? What is the meaning of the great Stories in my life? This orients us to Grace and Goodness. It reminds us to be conscious of more than just ourselves and our own worlds.
Our experiences will, and are supposed to, change us and challenge us. These questions are like a Quest to discover where our answers change and where they always stay the same. It also encourages us to notice that when we come together as community, we may have differences, but we always have commonality. It is human work to get distracted by finding insurmountable differences with one another. It is God’s Work to find our commonality and connection with one another.
Maybe this is part of our Work, to learn to come together in a world intent on dividing. Perhaps especially as we head into the next few months. It is easy to get distracted and we can use our faiths as another place to argue and draw battle lines. But…if we are all Children of God and we know what it means to be anchored in faith and God, we can transcend that and perhaps even come together around faith and Love.
If we are all children of God, that means the lowest and the least, the biggest and the best, the ones we like and the ones we dislike, the ones we agree with and the ones we disagree with. And…perhaps like forgiveness, we aren’t ready to invite everyone over for a cup of tea, but if we can begin to shift our perspective, we’ve begun to change our world. That just might change the world.
We are reminded this week, as we ask who Jesus is, to walk the walk and not only talk the talk. We have become not just “hearers”, but “doers” of God’s work. The reading from Mark this week is a turning point for the disciples:
Jesus asks: Who do you think I am?
They answer: You are the Christ.
Jesus says, don’t tell anyone else (they are not yet ready), but He begins to teach them.
First, we must know who Jesus/God/Love is and who Jesus/God/Love is in our lives. And so we ask these questions to discover and ready ourselves. And then, we begin to learn. And then, we begin the Work as we discover what God asks of us to do in this world…the world right in front of and around you. Beginning with your neighbor and your self. We aren’t expected to wait until we are perfect (that’s a human trait), we are called to begin (that is God’s trust and Grace)…
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 