All Saints Day is an opportunity to give thanks for all those who have
gone before us in the faith. It is a time to celebrate our history, what United
Methodists call the tradition of the church. From the early days of
Christianity, there is a sense that the Church consists of not only all living
believers, but also all who have gone before us. For example, in Hebrews 12 the
author encourages Christians to remember that a “great cloud of witnesses”
surrounds us encouraging us, cheering us on.[1]
A sign on the Winchester cathedral
in England says, as you enter the church, “you are entering a conversation that
began long before you were born and will continue long after you’re dead.” To
be a Christian partly means that we do not have to reinvent the wheel, morally
speaking. We do not have to make up this faith as we go. The saints will teach
us, if we will listen. Moreover, for modern, North American people, it takes a
kind of studied act of humility to think that we actually have something to
learn from the saints.
As Christians, God does not abandon
us to the moment. Our faith is more than "contemporary" (literally:
with the times). We do not invent the faith or the gospel anew in each
generation. The words and lives of the saints guide and encourage. We learn to think
with them. Think of the Christian faith as extended conversation with the dead,
dialogue with the saints.
As G. K.
Chesterton said, one of the difficulties of modernity is that we keep talking
about how free we are. We have freed ourselves from our past. All that does,
said Chesterton, is that we have become slaves to that arrogant oligarchy of
those who just happen to be walking about at this moment. Chesterton also said
that being a “traditionalist” means a determination not to automatically
dismiss any man’s opinion outright just because he happens to be your father.
I am thinking
of some fathers and mothers of the faith I have had. A pastor, a SS teacher, a
youth leader, a few professors in college and even Seminary, have nourished me
in Christian faith. I feel blessed. I honor them today. I honor by biological
parents. I also honor those parents in the faith. They taught me the importance
of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As much as I may have changed in
my life, I do not want that changed. These persons always treated the Bible
with honor and respect. We rarely discussed theories about the Bible, but we
put it at the center of our attempts to understand what it means to follow Jesus
today.
The
churches always need to be contemporary in the sense that they must minister to
the needs and issues of the time. However, to do so does not mean we minister
“with the times.” We must often minister “against the times.”
You check out the Ten Commandments,
it says that thing about ‘honor your father and mother.’ This is our attempt to
do that in just this small way. Because to be a Christian is to find yourself
moving to a different rhythm, a different beat.
Built right
into Christianity is the courageous determination to be traditionalists, to sit
with the saints, and thus participate in one of the most revolutionary
activities of the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment