We’re Not Doing Faith Wrong, We’re Doing it Right Preached at Wollaston Congregational Church On November 19th, 2017 Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 Today we read a passage from a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica. Scholars agree that this letter is the earliest writing we have in the New Testament, dating somewhere between 40 and 50 CE. That is, it was written only about 20 years after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. For us, looking back 2,000 years a 20 year difference may seem incredibly short. But for the Thessalonians, who had the expectation of seeing Jesus descend from heaven on the clouds and gather them all up, the Parousia, or the second coming, has been delayed too long. They are anxious about what happens to the ones among them who have died before Christ’s return. They are weary of waiting. They are beginning to think that they are doing the faith wrong somehow. Paul writes to encourage them in this wait. He tells them “you’re are not doing it wrong, you are doing it right.” He reminds them that they already know, in their hearts, what he is about to tell them. This is much needed reassurance, after all this congregation is birthing the very first new generation to grow up in the Christian faith. Very soon Jesus’ teachings, through the oral tradition, will be learned second hand. They’ll be passed down from those who heard them first to the next generation. Paul is beginning this tradition of writing down, and if we search the letters of Paul we will find teachings and ideas that are later reflected in the written gospels. This transition from oral to written, this maturing of understanding of what Christ coming again to the world means, is very significant. It is probably quite an upheaval for the church in Thessalonica, as they grapple with these ideas. Paul has a good pastoral instinct to assure them that they are not doing faith wrong, they are doing it right. Of course, Paul would not be Paul if he didn’t include some teaching, some exhortation for the church, as well. They are to live as children of the day, they are to live in the light. They are to remain awake and aware, noticing what is going on in their world. They are to avoid the pacifiers of quick-fix religion and overindulgence in substances. The members of the church in Thessalonica need this teaching as they grapple with this delay in the coming of Christ and what it means for them. The delay may be long, but they are not to be lulled into a false sense of security. They are not to turn to their cozy blankets, to snooze until Christ comes. Instead they are to remain aware and alert, ready to adjust their understanding. Ready to take the leap and bring the Christian faith to the next level, like a trapeze artist letting go of one swing before flying to grasp the next one. In the book “The Great Spiritual Migration” Brian McLaren talks about the natural stages of understanding God through human development. McLaren labels these understandings of God as God 1.0, 2.0 up to 5.0. [1] A newborn knows very little of the world, except that she is the center of it and her needs must be satisfied. The 1.0 understanding of God is the One who meets our needs: our hunger, our comfort, our thirst. Of course, it is the newborn’s caregivers, such as parents, who generally meet those needs in infants. But when a baby is loved and cared for and their needs are met, they develop what is called “primal trust” in God 1.0. This is the “God of loving faithfulness who will take care of you as you make your way through life.” An infant with this view of God, is not doing faith wrong, they are doing it right. The stages go on: God 2.0 comes along when a child learns to share, to say please and thank you, to play well with others. God 3.0 is the God of rules and fair play, generally learned by school-aged children. God 4.0 emerges as adolescents form romantic attachments outside the family, find communities of belonging, and recognize their own need of forgiveness. This is the God of affection, fidelity, forgiveness and family. Unfortunately, development isn’t always as smooth as it might be. Some infants do not receive the care they need, and their ability to attach and to trust is tragically undeveloped. Trauma is known to stop maturity, and so a traumatic event, such as the loss of a loved one, might cause a child or adult to become stuck in one stage. On the other hand, in healthy growth, it is the failure of one understanding of God to meet our needs in a crisis that may cause us to move to the next level. When I left home and went to college, I felt very much adrift. In my male-dominated engineering classes I was regarded as a novelty or viewed with suspicion. When it came time to pair up for lab work, the last remaining guy who had no partner shuffled silently toward me. I heard that another student had come to talk to me during a social gathering, but then had been put off by my strong northern accent. I had been a strong student in high school, but I found the engineering classes ranged from difficult to impossible. I suffered form a huge loss in confidence, and a kind of regression in development. I felt like a outcast on campus and longed for a place of belonging. Church became my refuge and I took sanctuary in the on-campus Christian group. This group, was a little cliquey, but I found that most of the members were kind and accepting toward me. There were even some fellow-northerners I could chat with without having to watch my accent. Our meetings took place in a cozy setting, sitting on the carpeted floor of the chaplaincy we’d sing praise songs accompanied by the strum of guitars. It was a safe space for me, but it also became warm snuggle blanket, a pacifier which I had long outgrown. One week, a speaker came to talk to the group and asked “how many are you converting for the Lord” each week? This speaker was scornful of students who talked about bring one or two people to Jesus. They were supposed to be reaching ten, twenty a week at least. The situation was urgent. My hackles rose. What happened to forming trusting relationships? What happened to talking about matters of faith while respecting the other’s beliefs? What happened to listening and learning from people of other faiths? I talked about the problems I was having with the group’s style with the Anglican chaplain on campus. He was not very patient with me. He quoted another letter of Paul’s, 1 Corinthians 3:2 “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.” “Liz, you are too old for milk, grow up and eat some solid food.” I didn’t take kindly to the remark at the time, but it has stuck with me all these years. McLaren says that God 4.0 inspires individuals to progress from personal selfishness of me to the social security of we. 4.0 helps young people learn adult commitments such as teamwork, sacrifice, citizenship and social responsibility. As McLaren goes on to say it “leads … to affection, fidelity and forgiveness in family, community and nation – but only for people from our religion, ethnicity, or tribe.” Teenagers and adolescents, those who have not found a place of belonging earlier in life, are not doing faith wrong when they look for a place of welcome. We, here in this church, are committed to offering that kind of place for them. But then, encouraged by Paul’s assurance that we are not doing faith wrong, we are to offer a place of growth. For others and for ourselves. Brian McLaren speaks of becoming an atheist in relation to one view of God in order to migrate to another understanding of God. Has that ever happened to you?
These lessons and hard to learn. We may feel alone and at sea, as we give up on a particular view of God. And so, I encourage you to remember that you are have a place of belonging and community here, no matter what you can believe or do not believe. And yet, let us take our reassurance from Paul, that we are not doing faith wrong and remember that there is, in McLaren’s terminology, God 5.0! We may have to give up our warm blankets. We’ll need to leave behind quick-fix religion, and the addictions that tranquilize us. It’s necessary to remain awake and alert, to see how God is emerging in human consciousness, to see how Christ would be delighted to return in this day and age. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned this view of God, as the God of “beloved community.” Mohandas Gandhi envisioned this view of God as Truth and Love, in an India that would be free from colonial rule and the oppressive caste system. Archbishop Desmond Tutu envisioned this view of God in the children’s book “God’s Dream.” For us to let go our former view of God, in order to grow to a new understanding is not doing faith wrong, it’s doing it right. Let all God’s people say… Amen [1] Brian D. McLaren, The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Btter Way to Be Christian, (New York, NY, Convergent Books, 2016)
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