Last Sunday Pastor announced that we would be taking a break from Acts and delving into the Book of Matthew instead. Now, maybe it's because I grew up in a liturgical church, but I have always liked how the Gospels fit into the liturgical year (although it seems to me that Ascension and Pentecost are misplaced; they should be at the end of the cycle, because after all, it is symbolically following Jesus' life and ministry, but they are where they are for a reason. Perhaps then, it is Christmas that is misplaced.
At any rate, even though this church does not observe the liturgical seasons, we are now in Advent, a time of preparation and waiting. The Baby Jesus is still in His Mother's womb, though you'd not know it to hear all the carols announcing His birth. It's kind of odd when you think about it. After all, when do you celebrate the birth of a baby? When it is still a month or two away from being born, or after it is born? And Christmas is about (or is supposed to be about) the birth of a baby. Yet we start celebrating weeks before the birth, then the day after, down go the decorations, away goes the tree, the carols are silenced. What gives? Is it because Christmas has increasingly been divorced from Christ and has gone back to its pagan origins?
Now you may think this is an odd subject for an agnostic to write about, but Christmas makes some pretty audacious claims. It claims to be honoring the birth of a baby who is KING OVER THE WHOLE WORLD! That's right, all of us. Now, last time I looked there weren't very many kings around; monarchy as an institution seems to be dying out. So, what is this King business anyway? If you want to know why singing Christmas carols upsets some people, maybe it's because those people have actually sat down and listened to what those carols are saying.
Some years ago there was a song that had the lyrics, "What if God were one of us, just a slob like one of us?" Well, what Christianity and Christmas are saying is that God did become a slob like one of us. A God-King in disguise. Slumming. Now this idea isn't unique to Christianity; it's present in other myths and legends. But Christianity puts a different twist on it. This God-King in disguise hangs out with the most disreputable people, hookers and tax collectors and drunkards. He favors the poor over the rich. He seeks out society's outcasts, the powerless and the trampled on. He talked openly of an utopian Kingdom that was not of this world where all would be welcome. Well, we all know what happened. Except that Christianity says that was not the end of the story.
It's a seductive story. And there are many who have been attracted to it without buying into what Pastor calls its central premise, the Cross. The whole story of Fall and depravity and redemption. You might say I am in that category. The problem is, Christianity claims to be a relationship, and this is where he and I part. Because what is this relationship built on? Is it real or is it fantasy? It's certainly not flesh and blood.
Christian writer Donald Miller in his "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality" admits that "it isn't unlike having an imaginary friend," and that every time he sits down to explain his relationship with Jesus to someone he feels like a fake, like "someone at a Star Trek convention who hasn't figured out the show isn't real." Now that takes real courage for a Christian to admit this. But how does Miller resolve this issue? "When one of my friends becomes a Christian, which happens about every ten years because I am such a sheep about sharing my faith, the experience is euphoric."
Really? That is what it takes? Oh, I understand, Miller. Been there and done that. I thought if I could make one convert, just one convert, maybe my nagging doubts would be resolved and I could honestly say "Hallelujah" with the rest of them.
But if that is what it takes, then maybe he ought to take another look at what his faith is really based on. I'm just saying that while that answer might satisfy him (as it does many others), it doesn't satisfy me. Because I am not interested in a fantasy friend, whether it is my own unique fantasy friend or one shared with a group. I want to know if this whole thing is Real. I want to know if this whole thing is Truth. And there's elements I just can't buy into, unless they are True. It would mean changing my whole world-view and going back to thinking I honestly consider superstitious and not rational. The only way I could even think of doing such a thing is if I were convinced without a shadow of a doubt that the central premise of Christianity were real. I am not convinced.
Because there is not a human alive on the face of this earth that can convince me. I need a direct experience. The kind that people had 2,000 years ago. Yes, the kind Thomas had. In my mind, he was right to ask that. From Jesus' response, it sounds like He really didn't understand a whole lot about the human mind, trust, and distrust, lies and truth, and that the first thing a charlatan wants from his would-be victims is trust, unconditional, unquestioning trust. I'm really surprised that He did not acknowledge that reality. Maybe He wasn't really a slob like one of us after all.
At any rate, even though this church does not observe the liturgical seasons, we are now in Advent, a time of preparation and waiting. The Baby Jesus is still in His Mother's womb, though you'd not know it to hear all the carols announcing His birth. It's kind of odd when you think about it. After all, when do you celebrate the birth of a baby? When it is still a month or two away from being born, or after it is born? And Christmas is about (or is supposed to be about) the birth of a baby. Yet we start celebrating weeks before the birth, then the day after, down go the decorations, away goes the tree, the carols are silenced. What gives? Is it because Christmas has increasingly been divorced from Christ and has gone back to its pagan origins?
Now you may think this is an odd subject for an agnostic to write about, but Christmas makes some pretty audacious claims. It claims to be honoring the birth of a baby who is KING OVER THE WHOLE WORLD! That's right, all of us. Now, last time I looked there weren't very many kings around; monarchy as an institution seems to be dying out. So, what is this King business anyway? If you want to know why singing Christmas carols upsets some people, maybe it's because those people have actually sat down and listened to what those carols are saying.
Some years ago there was a song that had the lyrics, "What if God were one of us, just a slob like one of us?" Well, what Christianity and Christmas are saying is that God did become a slob like one of us. A God-King in disguise. Slumming. Now this idea isn't unique to Christianity; it's present in other myths and legends. But Christianity puts a different twist on it. This God-King in disguise hangs out with the most disreputable people, hookers and tax collectors and drunkards. He favors the poor over the rich. He seeks out society's outcasts, the powerless and the trampled on. He talked openly of an utopian Kingdom that was not of this world where all would be welcome. Well, we all know what happened. Except that Christianity says that was not the end of the story.
It's a seductive story. And there are many who have been attracted to it without buying into what Pastor calls its central premise, the Cross. The whole story of Fall and depravity and redemption. You might say I am in that category. The problem is, Christianity claims to be a relationship, and this is where he and I part. Because what is this relationship built on? Is it real or is it fantasy? It's certainly not flesh and blood.
Christian writer Donald Miller in his "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality" admits that "it isn't unlike having an imaginary friend," and that every time he sits down to explain his relationship with Jesus to someone he feels like a fake, like "someone at a Star Trek convention who hasn't figured out the show isn't real." Now that takes real courage for a Christian to admit this. But how does Miller resolve this issue? "When one of my friends becomes a Christian, which happens about every ten years because I am such a sheep about sharing my faith, the experience is euphoric."
Really? That is what it takes? Oh, I understand, Miller. Been there and done that. I thought if I could make one convert, just one convert, maybe my nagging doubts would be resolved and I could honestly say "Hallelujah" with the rest of them.
But if that is what it takes, then maybe he ought to take another look at what his faith is really based on. I'm just saying that while that answer might satisfy him (as it does many others), it doesn't satisfy me. Because I am not interested in a fantasy friend, whether it is my own unique fantasy friend or one shared with a group. I want to know if this whole thing is Real. I want to know if this whole thing is Truth. And there's elements I just can't buy into, unless they are True. It would mean changing my whole world-view and going back to thinking I honestly consider superstitious and not rational. The only way I could even think of doing such a thing is if I were convinced without a shadow of a doubt that the central premise of Christianity were real. I am not convinced.
Because there is not a human alive on the face of this earth that can convince me. I need a direct experience. The kind that people had 2,000 years ago. Yes, the kind Thomas had. In my mind, he was right to ask that. From Jesus' response, it sounds like He really didn't understand a whole lot about the human mind, trust, and distrust, lies and truth, and that the first thing a charlatan wants from his would-be victims is trust, unconditional, unquestioning trust. I'm really surprised that He did not acknowledge that reality. Maybe He wasn't really a slob like one of us after all.
