May 2011 newsletter article

This article is my contribution to our May 2011 parish newsletter, THE CHRONICLE.

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For God so loved the COSMOS that he gave his only begotten son...(Jn 3:16a)

You may think that the above quote is an odd rendering of everyone’s favorite memory verse—perhaps coming from the “Carl Sagan version of the Bible” (there’s no such thing), but actually this is one of several verses from John’s gospel that mention the cosmos (in Greek)—a word that is generally translated as world in our English Bibles.

The cosmic problem of sin followed by God’s cosmic solution of giving his son, and the Eucharistic connection with us, was a topic of recent discussion in my adult Sunday morning class. It’s a topic still swirling around in my mind.

We seem to live in a day and age when the very people elected or appointed to serve the public interest are letting us down. We learned, for instance, during the Gulf oil spill that the very government agency that’s supposed to look out for the public interest was, in fact, largely in bed with the oil industry. From the Savings & Loan crisis of the late 80s one would’ve thought that elected and appointed watchdogs would’ve been hyper vigilant to ensure that such a thing would never happen again. Yet, the banking crisis of our current national nightmare seems like, in the immortal words of Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, “deja-vu all over again.” The very ones who are supposed to be looking out for us...the very ones who are supposed to have the public interest in mind...the very ones who have been commissioned to ‘stand in the breach’ have, many times, proven themselves either too selfish or too careless to make a difference. Well, this isn’t intended to be a political rant; and I suppose that to a certain extent it’s always been this way....which brings me back to my current topic....God, the cosmos, and the Eucharist.

Most Christians who’ve had a smattering of Biblical training know that the life of the world to come that we talk about in the Creeds is somehow hooked to the new heaven and new earth teaching found in the book of Revelation. We don’t fully understand it, and scholars like to debate it, but the Christian Faith teaches that somehow...some way...the final reality will be different, changed, new, fixed, and redeemed by God. It’s a wonderful promise.
And yet, as wonderful of a promise as it is, wouldn’t you know it, it’s often been distorted and neutered by the very people who believe it. The eventual new heaven and new earth teaching has been often used, BY CHRISTIANS, as an excuse for in-action, complacency, and in some cases even hostility toward our present environmental issues. The fundamentalist tradition I was raised in had a quaint way of putting it: “Why polish brass on a sinking ship?” This unfortunate global perspective views the whole cosmos as one big disposable ‘paper plate’ that God has given humanity to use up and throw away. It’s an odd perspective to say the least when one is reminded that it is THIS COSMOS that God so loved so much in the first place, that he sent his only son. It’s an odd perspective that views the ultimate renewal of Creation as a job that is entirely future oriented when, in fact, Revelation 21:5 says He who sits on the throne said: ‘behold, I am making (present tense) all things new. It is, furthermore, an odd perspective that sees renewal of Creation as a task undertaken entirely by God alone, when, our “good solid Lutheran theology” teaches us that God works “through means” (aka indirectly, through people, things or stuff).

If it is truly the business of God to renew Creation; if this truly is a present tense activity being undertaken in some mystical way even today; if as St. Paul says in 2Cor 5:17 if anyone is in Christ there is new creation; everything old has passed away; see everything has become new; and if according to John 6:51 Jesus said: the bread which I will give for the life of the COSMOS is my flesh, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN for the Christian?

The flow of this thought process leads unmistakably to the thought that the Eucharistic gathering....those gathered around the table of God sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ are the very ones empowered, energized, and commissioned to be agents of New Creation; agents of COSMIC good, cosmic change, and cosmic renewal. They (we) are the very ones called to be EVIDENCE that God truly is at work in the COSMOS NOW. This line of thought is completely consistent with other sayings of Jesus, for instance, that his followers are to be “light...and salt” to the world. It’s also very consistent with Luther’s view that every believer has a ‘vocation,’ a special call from God to the world for service. This is a message I’m convinced we need to hear more often, as we are so typically tempted to reduce the Christian Life down to “doctrines that are believed,” as opposed to a “life that is lived.”
Am I saying this means you have to buy an electric car and stop using deodorant? Hopefully you know me well enough by now that you know I don’t go in for those “Shell Answer-man” type of responses. The Christian life isn’t a list of ‘do’s & don’ts.’ It’s an ongoing relationship lived with integrity and purpose toward God. But certainly, part of what it means to live with integrity and purpose toward God is to challenge ourselves **NOT** to be like those mentioned earlier; not to be like those who, though appointed to ‘stand in the breach,’ have shown themselves either too selfish or too careless to make a difference. Never forget, the believer has an advantage; for the believer it’s not simply a matter of the will or making “good decisions.” The believer, is a member of the Eucharistic gathering; the bread which is given for the life of the cosmos is *received; *taken in by the believer at Holy Communion. God’s cosmic renewal is a present work in progress... happening one believer at a time. It is most especially true in the case of the believer that you ARE.... and ARE TO BE..... what you eat! So, who benefits? You? Most certainly. But may we never forget that the bread which Christ gives, ...the bread that we eat...is for more than just us at the individual level. It’s for the life of the cosmos!
In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.