I enjoyed my time in Israel.
The most striking feature of the numerous basilicas we visited was not the beauty and historicity of the buildings themselves, but the living Christian faith still practiced within them. Modern communities of faith gather and worship in these ancient church buildings. What began many centuries ago as a small offshoot of Judaism practiced by a small number of unremarkable people continues as a living faith practiced by millions of pilgrims from across the globe in the very place where Christianity began.
At the Church of All Nations at Gethsemane, we walked first through the beautifully kept garden then through the church itself where a worship service was in progress. The ladies were singing in an Asian language but the tune was familiar. I sat along the wall to listen. Childhood memories flooded my mind; memories of sitting on the church pew with my family on a Sunday morning, reciting the Apostle’s Creed with the congregation, the comfort I used to feel when I sat and looked with a child’s eyes through the stained-glass windows or heard the church bells chiming. I have missed that sense of reverence for the sacred.
In recent years, I stopped believing in sacred places of the heart. It seemed to me as though my entire spiritual experience had been silly, foolish, childish naivete. Distasteful experiences with religion had tainted everything I thought I believed about God. But sitting in that chapel that was built to commemorate the prayers of Jesus, I realized that Jesus has never once told me that I am silly or foolish.
When I was a child, deeply impressed by the words of the creed spoken by the entire congregation in unison, Jesus prayed for me to have faith to believe. When I was a teenager searching for a genuine experience with God, Jesus heard every prayer I spoke into the sea breeze. When I was broken by grief and shame, Jesus didn’t tell me to get over it. He didn’t dismiss my pain as overly emotional sentiment. He was heart-broken too.
Didn’t Jesus go to church, observe the Sabbath, participate in the rites, rituals and festivals of his culture? Why would God incarnate feel the need to practice religion at all? Jesus came to be God With Us, to reveal the Father and lead the way to Him. Jesus made a powerful statement by sitting next to family members and neighbors in the synagogue and worshipping with God’s people.
Jesus came to earth to show us that He isn’t God above us or God beyond us or God-too-good-to-be-near-us. He is God with us… in the church, in the neighborhood, at the dinner table. In our feeble and flawed attempts to express our faith in Him on an average Sunday, Jesus comes and sits down with us and sings along with us. He’s not picky about style of music or if we sing the latest, trendiest worship song or recite creeds. He’s not grading our prayers or order of worship. He comes to be with us, to come along side us in our community. How beautiful it must be to hear Jesus sing!
I have not been a fool. I have been devoted and Jesus is not ashamed of me.
Then they went into Capernaum. As soon as it was the Sabbath, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. Mark 1:21
All content is Copyright 2020 TA Boland
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