My first ordained call in 1993 was to a small southern church in Rural Tennessee. The town had 10,000 people during the day when the pencil and air conditioning factories were running, but it dropped to 5000 at night when those people went home.
While serving there I was blessed that some of the youth began to bring their friends. These were the children of farmers and factory workers. Their parents didn't go to church and in one case strongly objected to their children coming. They wore jeans and t-shirts and knew nothing about proper church etiquette. Many of the older, lifelong church members pressured me to teach them the proper way to behave in church or ask them to leave. My answer was always firm. They are wearing their very best. They sit in the front row because they want to hear what is said and the youth form the church talk about football, baseball, or their date from the night before on the back pew and it was too distracting. (Of course, I did not say that they also made faces at me when I was in the pulpit, trying to get me to mess up.)
I loved having these youth. Yes, they tended to stir up the youth that were brought up in the church. But, as a pastor you often tell church members to pretend you are hearing this story for the first time. These youth were.
One Sunday the sermon was from a passage in Acts 5. I can't remember if the head pastor or I was preaching. But when we came to 5:30 that says, "The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree" half a dozen faces in the front row looked up at me with mouths open in shock. You see, in the rural South hanging someone from a tree has a very specific meaning. It was usually done by those wearing white sheets.
As soon as the service was over this group of Middle Schoolers in their jeans and tennis shoes ran up the aisle dodging long time church members in suits and ties undoubtedly fueling another lecture on how I need to teach them how to behave in church. They butted in front of all the people filing out to shake the pastor's hand. The ring leader (Yes, that is a very apt description of what she was) held a pew Bible open to Acts 5:30. It would be more impressive if these youth hadn't figured out there was an index in the front, something many kids who grew up in the church don't know.
They all earnestly looked up at me, horror on their faces. "Pastor Karen, in Sunday School you said Jesus died on a cross. But here it says he was hanged! Was Jesus lynched?" I excused myself from the greeting line and went back and sat with them on the front pew.
I started with explaining that Jesus was crucified, but sometimes the cross is referred to as a tree. I went over the horrible punishment of Roman Crucifixion and what an excruciating way it was to die. These innocent youth asked the theological question of the ages, "Jesus was good. He didn't do anything wrong. Why did he have to die like that?"
I told them of the Jewish concept of atonement. For every sin, everything you did wrong you had to make a sacrifice. Sacrificing a dove, sheep, or goat would make you clean again in God's eyes, but if you sinned again it would start all over. Jesus offered himself up, innocent, to suffer and die so that all our sins would be paid for. No more sacrificing. Jesus did it once and for all. There were lots of tears and a much deeper understanding of the love of Jesus.
So, ask me why I want to re-imagine church. Why do we need new ways to tell the story? Jesus said it himself in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. If you are well you don't need a doctor. Those long time church members didn't need me to tell them what was in the Bible. They probably knew the stories as well as I did. But the story is important! What Jesus did for us, dying on the cross, is important. You don't get the real story out there in society and definitely not in the media's portrayal of the church.
Yes, the church is full of sinful people that Jesus died for. The church does make mistakes, but if that is all that the media or society tells you, then why would anyone want to walk through the doors of a church? The stories that we have are life-giving. They are freeing. They are world changing. We can't just wait for those who haven't heard to come to us, because they won't. We have to go where they are whether that is coffee houses, bars, or even comic book shops. We have to bring Jesus back out where he originally taught, among the people.
May your Holy Week open your eyes, like those Middle Schoolers and break your hearts so that you will be ready for the joy of Easter.
Blessings,
Karen
No comments:
Post a Comment