Tag: Religious Faith

THE DIVINE MIRROR RESTORED

It’s true that we Lutherans certainly believe that the Lutheran branch of the Christian Faith has many wonderful gifts to offer to the whole of Christianity and indeed to the entire world, but we Lutherans also recognize that we do not have a monopoly on all theological and spiritual truths. And it’s true that we as Christians proclaim that the good news of Jesus Christ provides direct access to the fullness of God’s grace and truth, but we do not say that we have a monopoly on God’s eternal grace and truth. So if members of the Church of Jesus Christ consider those of other religions to be completely ignorant of all theological and spiritual truths, then this is just plain wrong. And if non-Christians assume that we Christians claim to be the sole purveyors of truth, then they’re wrong too.

Nevertheless, we Christians do profess and confess that Christ is “the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6), and so we earnestly proclaim the good news of his redeeming life, death and resurrection for the sake of the world. In fact, the Holy Scriptures exhort us to always be ready to share the grace and truth of Jesus Christ with our neighbors:

“So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth [of Christ] to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.” – (Ephesians 4:25)

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” – (First Peter 3:15-16)

However, we do this proclamation of Jesus’ good news within the multicultural context of human civilization. For we see throughout the history of salvation (from ancient times unto today) that there is a certain universal pattern we sinful human beings (of all times and places) seem to follow. It’s the pattern of faithfulness and apostasy, and it should be very familiar to us within the Christian Faith because the Holy Bible is filled with this pattern.

The cycle of faithfulness and apostasy is the historical pattern of civilization all over the world throughout the ages. From the very genesis of humanity, over and over again, God calls us, gathers us, instructs us and blesses us. But over and over again, people begin to reject and fall away from God’s revealed truth and grace. Therefore, God decided to send us the exact reflection of the glory of the fullness of himself — Christ Jesus our Lord, the Eternal Son of God and Bread of Heaven.

Let’s imagine that the revelation of God is one great Divine Mirror. And let’s imagine that the pattern of faithfulness and apostasy within human civilization is that Mirror breaking into a thousand pieces and scattering throughout the world. And then, after each shattering of this Mirror, a faithful remnant of believers were left to salvage as many pieces of God’s grace and truth as they could, resulting in a great diversity of faiths and spiritual traditions over time. So each time this shattering would happen in history, a group of like-minded believers would gather their particular shards of the Divine Mirror, and they would follow God’s Light reflected in these shards as best they knew how. And thousands of other groups did the same thing with the shards of truth they had collected.

But then, at the right time in human history, God revealed the fullness of his truth and grace for all people through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the entire Divine Mirror restored to humanity — for he is the clear-as-glass Living Mirror of Heaven. And it might sound presumptuous to claim that the faith, hope and love of Jesus constitute the complete Divine Mirror reflecting the fullness of God’s Heart for humanity, but that is indeed what we have been granted in Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God!

However, while we have amazing access to the entire Divine Mirror of God (in all its clarity) through Jesus our Savior, this should not by any means negate the importance of the shards of God’s grace and truth that other religions have access to. In fact, the shards of Divine Truth within non-Christian religions (although incomplete) are nevertheless reflective of God’s saving truth. Consequently, the great non-Christian religious leaders of the world such as Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad, Confucius, and Lao-Tzu (as well as philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and others) have all received pieces of God’s complete Mirror. They all have received a portion of God’s True Light — morsels of the Bread of Heaven (so to speak). So let’s genuinely appreciate the Truth of God from whichever direction it’s coming at us, even from non-Christian sources.

As we Christians share with others the fullness of God’s grace and truth in Christ Jesus our Lord, let’s remember the great Divine Mirror that every compassionate religion has pieces of — precious pieces of the universal reality and saving grace of God. Yet, our evangelical mission is to always uplift how all those shards of God’s Truth fit into the wholeness of God’s pure reflection in Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. And even if a certain non-Christian belief seems to be contrary to the gospel of Jesus, it just might be that this belief is still somehow based upon an eternal principle of God (if we look deeply enough). So maybe that shard of belief that seems to contradict Jesus simply needs a little ‘gospel windex’ to clarify it a bit.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we’re not here to trash the pieces of the Mirror (or the portions of the Bread of Heaven) that people of other belief systems possess. We are simply here to do as it says in Ephesians 4 and First Peter 3, where it says: “let all of us speak the truth [of Christ] to our neighbors, for we are members of one another” and “be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect…”

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

PASSING THE FAITH ON

As I write this article, our son Nicholas just flew the family nest for the first time in his young life. He’s done well here in California making custom lighting for the entertainment industry, including for Disney Parks both here and in Florida (for example, lighting for Disney Star Wars, Avengers, the Haunted House, Pirates of the Caribbean, Snow White and so forth). He also did custom lighting for some movie sets, and individually for celebrities here like Adam Sandler and Gary Oldman. But he’s excited to start a new chapter in life back in Wisconsin. His WI friends prevailed upon him to move back and get an apartment together, so he’s really looking forward to being on his own back up north in the deep freeze. We love you Nick, we’re very proud of you, and we hope you have a lot of fun!

So as I reflect on this major life transition for us, I’m reminded of the supreme importance of passing on the Christian Faith to new generations, and I’m reminded of the crucial part that the family plays in this mission and ministry.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord… I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.” – (from Second Timothy 1:1-5)

Just as the biblical Timothy first received his Christian Faith through the witness of his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, I also am the beneficiary of the sincere Christian Faith that was first held by my parents and then transmitted to me. Thanks be to God!

I really don’t know what I’d do without the faith and love of Christ my Savior. Without the inner peace and joy of his Holy Spirit, I don’t know what I’d do with all of the grief and loss of this life. Because of the spiritual new birth that Christ has given me, I am able to grieve my losses in life while simultaneously rejoicing in the never-failing grace and eternal hope of my Lord Jesus Christ.

Passed down to us through our ancient forebears like Peter, John, Mary, Paul, Lois, Eunice, Timothy, and so on, our Christian Faith is an amazing thing. It’s amazing because it allows us the ability to deeply grieve a loss while, at the same time, to rest in Christ’s blessed assurance of “the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” (from the Apostles’ Creed).

And just as we have benefitted from the faithful witness of our Christian forebears, we (like Olympic relay runners) are now responsible to pass the baton of Christ and his Church to the next generations. But, interestingly, we have to contend with a general shift in cultural attitudes and behaviors regarding religious faith and spiritual life.

This shift in American culture is a general move toward being a predominantly “spiritual but not religious” population. However, we are those who know (by the grace of God in our lives) that religiosity and spirituality are not mutually exclusive. As Christians, we know that being spiritual helps us to be authentically religious, and being religious helps us to be sustainably spiritual. So, spirituality without communal religious practices (which act as transmitters of God’s grace) is simply unsustainable in the long run. Therefore, despite this shift in culture, we must be faithful to our calling, duty and joy to share the good news of Jesus with others, and to pass on the Christian Faith to all those who would come after us.

Furthermore, because of this cultural shift in America, we may have to start evangelizing our grandchildren and even our great-grandchildren. If your children aren’t taking up the baton of Christian Faith, then you’ll need to pick it up and pass it on to their kids for them. So, if your children are not doing it, I encourage you to bring your grandkids and great-grandkids to Sunday worship, Sunday school, Confirmation class, and congregational events, because the greatest legacy we can leave to them is a living faith in Jesus Christ.

“Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace… For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.” – (from Second Timothy 1:8-14)

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

“HOLY ADMIRATION, BATMAN!”

As most of you probably know by now, I’m quite the nerd when it comes to sci-fi and superheroes and the like. So the title of my article plays around with this interest of mine, borrowing from the comic book character Robin’s many sayings from the Batman & Robin comic series. I Googled it, and the character Robin exclaimed everything from “Holy Alphabet, Batman!” to “Holy Love Birds, Batman!” to “Holy Zorro, Batman!” But let’s talk about why this article is entitled “Holy Admiration, Batman!”

I was recently driving by the St. Leon Armenian Cathedral in Glendale, and I decided to stop there and walk around the church grounds a bit. And I have to say that the beauty of that church structure was very uplifting. As I often do when visiting worship sites of other spiritual groups (Christian or otherwise), I felt a sense of “holy admiration” for their religious faith and spirituality, and I believe that a healthy sense of holy admiration for communities of God other than our own is a very good thing.

As Christians we follow the Ten Commandments, and among these seminal commandments of God is to “not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) which also means that we try to “interpret everything they do in the best possible light” (Martin Luther’s Small Catechism). So according to this, whenever we take part in interchurch relations or interfaith relations we are to have holy admiration for the highest aspects (the better angels) of other faith traditions, even if it is a non-Christian religion.

Of course it is much easier to do this with Christian groups, as is the case with the Armenian Orthodox Church, but this also goes for non-Christian faith expressions. However, it is important for the followers of Jesus to be spiritually discerning about harmful religious manifestations, and even to be critical of anything that might be directly opposed to the core principles of the Faith, Hope and Love of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we should always leave room in our hearts for reverent appreciation — even a kind of sacred envy — concerning anything good and Divine within other religions.

Now let me be clear, this does not mean we profess that all beliefs are equal. In fact, because all things are not equal in philosophy or science or any other discipline, therefore not all things are equal in theology and spirituality. So while we reverently appreciate and even admire aspects of various non-Christian groups, we also believe and trust in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, who is the fullest revelation of God’s Heart and the fullness of salvation for the whole world.

As the Apostles Paul and John write…

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith…”

St. Paul in Romans 1:16-17a

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.”

St. John in First John 4:9-11

So let us engage in interchurch and interfaith conversations and relations, with admiration and lovingkindness, but let us also hold fast to the universal good news of God the Son. And let us never be ashamed or hesitant to share the good news that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have everlasting life” (Jesus speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:16).

Together in Christ,  Pastor Tim

THE SON IS SHINING

As we undergo this extended quarantine due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, we find ourselves with ample opportunity (the rare opportunity) to be alone with our thoughts more and to engage in more intentional reflection and prayerful contemplation. And thankfully, because we live in sunny Southern California, our social distancing is not as claustrophobic as it is in cold grey areas of our country. So, we also have the opportunity to be outside as we use this extraordinary period of quarantine to meditate upon the Word of God in the Holy Bible and to prayerfully wrestle with the deep questions of faith and life. (I recommend any of the following biblical books:  the Book of Genesis, the Book of Psalms, the Gospel of Matthew, the Book of Acts, the Book of Romans, the Book of Hebrews, the Book of First John.)

In a way our whole society is entombed right now, awaiting a return to normalcy. But for people of faith, the eventual reopening of society can be much more than a mere return to what was before. For us it can be a kind of resurrection, a renewal of spiritual life, and a rededication to participating in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the ministry of his amazing gospel. Furthermore, as I am generally a very ecumenical person, I hope and pray that this renewal will be the case within all denominations throughout our nation — for we are a peculiar nation that has always acknowledged God (in a nonsectarian way) as the fundamental basis and very foundation of our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As we sing in “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”…

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills.
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

In addition, as we are going through the budding and flowering of Spring, transitioning toward Summer, I’m mindful of the passage of the times and seasons of our lives. Consequently, the beautiful song from the musical Fiddler On The Roof called “Sunrise, Sunset” also comes to my mind. It is a song specifically about the passage of time as it relates to children and family, but it’s also about the passage of all the times and seasons of faith and life. The following is an excerpt of the lyrics of this song…

Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as they gaze

Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

Truly, so very swiftly flow the days and so very swiftly fly the years of this life, calling us to savor each and every moment, and causing us to reflect on the life to come when we pass on from this world of “happiness and tears.” This is especially true when a loved one is nearing death. At that particular season of life (a season of tears) we contemplate our place in God’s universe and our ultimate heavenly destiny granted to us by the grace of God in, with and through Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord.

Therefore, according to the faith, hope and love of Christ, the Christian believer is able to reverse the song “Sunrise, Sunset” to “Sunset, Sunrise.” This is because of the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross for our sins and because of his glorious resurrection from the dead on the third day. In other words, through the Son-set and Son-rise of Christ our Lord, we can live this life with the deep inner joy of the living hope of forgiveness of sins and resurrection life. For as it says in First Peter…

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice,even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

First Peter 1:3-7

Thanks be to God for the risen Son of God! Even though we are going through dark times of sunset due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, the grace and truth of the gospel is that the Son is shining upon us now and forever. Amen.

Alleluia, Christ Is Risen! Pastor Tim