You and I are no strangers to fear, frustration, confusion or embarrassment. We know that fear can leave us unable to move, that frustration and confusion can blind us and make us lose our way, and that shame will eat us up. It’s hard for us to make progress when we feel like the wind’s been taken out of our sails, when it seems like we don’t know who we are anymore, when all we want to do is hide.
Yes, I am talking about the Church; thank you for wondering. Yes, I am talking about our beloved Episcopal Church, embroiled in and paralyzed by the Great Controversy of the Day. Most of us are confused, all of us are frustrated, many of us are afraid, some are even embarrassed. How can we sing the Lord’s song, how can we share the great Good News of the love of God in Jesus Christ, when we are confused, frustrated, fearful or ashamed? Nobody likes to be embarrassed.
Maybe one place to find an answer is in the story of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, and then found that it wasn’t about what he had to lose, but what he had to gain. Our hope, the hope we share with one another in a wide variety of theological assumptions and preferences, is that we are most fully who we are when we come together in God’s call to us in Christ.
We are not called to uncomplicated certainty; we are not called to hold opinions because they are shared by all or because they protect the status quo. You and I are called to truth, even when it’s complicated, even when it’s inconvenient, even when our neighbors don’t understand or approve. Because what Nicodemus saw and heard in Jesus is also offered to us and through us: love without conditions, redemption beyond our deserving, the invitation to put ourselves aside in His love and service ”“ Amazing Grace.
Um.
His primary metaphor — including quotes — was Popeye.
Words fail.
Whatever happened to “the thinking man’s church” — it doesn’t apply to Bishop Suffragan’s?