Preached by Winton Boyd on Sunday June 13, 2010
Opening introduction to Phoenix Affirmations
As people who are joyfully and unapologetically Christian, we pledge ourselves completely to the way of Love. We work to express our love, as Jesus teaches us, in three ways: by loving God, neighbor, and self. This includes the following affirmations:
First Affirmation
We walk fully in the path of Jesus, without denying the legitimacy of other paths God may provide humanity
For the summer, we’ll be looking at this set of faith affirmations called the Phoenix Affirmations, put forth recently by a group of Arizona pastors – troubled that when Christianity is framed or talked about in our culture, it is a version of Christianity that does not speak for all Christians, nor match their understanding of historic Christianity. They were concerned that the progressive values so many Christians espouse were not clearly articulated or appreciated.
As your pastors, we’ve decided that it will be a joyful exercise to explore these together. While we are not suggesting that even these become a litmus test for our own congregation, we hope it will be a worthwhile exercise in trying to articulate positive affirmations rather than just negative, “this is what I don’t believe” approaches to faith.
The first affirmation could be the most important for us in this culturally and religiously rich world: We affirm that we walk fully in the path of Jesus,, without denying the legitimacy of other paths God may provide humanity . You’ll notice that this affirmation comes out of an introductory statement that states, “as people who are joyfully and unapologetically Christian.”
Joyful. Unapologetic. Walking fully in the path of Jesus. Is it not true that for many progressive Christians these words or phrases are precisely why we find the Christian faith glum; and why we are not only apologetic, but also half-heartedly walking somewhere in the vicinity of the path of someone called Jesus? Isn’t it the strong armed defense of an intolerant Jesus and an exclusive God part of what makes us wear the label Christian lightly, if at all?
Faced with such frustrations or even anger at this brand of Christianity, The Phoenix Affirmations remind us that claiming a faith that fits us well is more life giving than criticizing another faith perspective. Over the years, I’ve had more traditional colleagues who roll their eyes at the books we read, the discussions we have, the perspectives we seek to understand. Every time I am questioned, I remind others that what makes my heart sing is to see the way progressive thinking and new ways of framing our faith bring life, joy and even lightness to people of faith who had been discouraged, angry, confused or disenchanted.
What I also remind critics is that the diversity of thinking within the Christian Church is not new.
In the book I’ve mentioned before, One Jesus, Many Christs, Gregory Riley points to the fact that even among the disciples there was strong disagreement about what it meant to follow Jesus. Different disciples and their followers started different churches. Significantly, there was no original and coherent set of doctrines. Creeds were a fourth century phenomenon for a church that had taken over the empire and needed a common creed. That they even needed to do this illustrates there was still a diversity of opinion. The gospels of the New Testament and the 80 other gospels or fragments present images of Jesus from the point of view of the authors and their life situation. Some are similar, different nuances of the same idea. But some are quite different.
For many of us, acknowledging the legitimate diversity within Christianity is not new. Hearing the statement someone is both “unapologetically Christian” and that they don’t deny the legitimacy of other faiths may be less of an intellectual challenge and more of a spiritual challenge. While we appreciate ambiguity and uncertainty, it is also true that saying we don’t deny other faiths is sometimes a way to avoid taking our own faith seriously? A challenge to spiritual laziness?
Isn’t it true that it is easier to distance ourselves from a spiritual tradition because of what we don’t believe than it is to embrace a heartfelt, even serous yet inclusive faith? Isn’t it tempting when we see the church or people of faith misuse or abuse Jesus, the Bible, religious language, and symbols to jettison any heartfelt examination of how we want to hold the faith? And while it isn’t a requirement that anyone be or remain a Christian, these affirmations try to remind us there still is a powerful and necessary role for thoughtful, serious, committed, progressive Christians. They remind us that it serves no one to not be bold in our openness, articulate in our nuanced faith, and above all loving in the name of Jesus.
Today’s text from John is one of the most famous lines of Jesus and one that is most often used to deny other faiths. ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’
What does this really mean? In what ways does this kind of thinking and living the Christian faith enliven the world, offer hope, or defy death?
Marcus Borg has been helpful in pointing out the context of John’s gospel was one of intense inter – Jewish conflict at the end of the first century. More and more, Jewish followers of Jesus were being forced to make a choice – to follow Jesus and his way of Judaism, or stay within the traditional synagogue religion.
There is a story in John 9, where Jesus heals the man who is blind. Even the healing demonstrates this tension. When his parents are asked who healed their son, they refuse to answer. “Let him answer for himself.” They do this because they realize to associate themselves in any way with Jesus might well result in them being “put out” of the synagogue. To be “put out” might be equated today with being shunned by the Amish. All of one’s relationships – personal and business – would have been affected. As a member of a small minority religious group in 1st century Palestine, one might lose all of their business contacts and thus their livelihood.
All of this points to the fact that Christians were facing intense social pressure from non Christian Jews. So the words “I am the way, the truth and the life” are not a statement about all world religions – but of the synagogue across the street. “Stay within this community of Jesus – don’t go back to the way you left behind.” It is not a general statement about Judaism or any other religion. It is a pastoral word in a specific historical setting.
But more importantly, given that John places these words towards the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, on the eve of his arrest and crucifixion; we know that the “way” he refers to is not a set of beliefs, but a way of life that does not shy away from pain, even death.
Jesus is not saying, “Believe these 10 things and you will have eternal life” but “follow me to the cross and you will know life. My way is a way of death — which leads to life. Death which leads to resurrection.”
So the real question isn’t, “is Jesus the one true way?” but rather “can we embrace a faith that suggests that death leads to life; that resurrection is possible even if death – in all kinds of ways – is quite real?”
And to be honest, many if not most religions espouse the necessity or reality of death leading to life. Borg tells the story of a Hindu preaching a sermon at a Christian seminary once saying, “Jesus IS the only way – and that way – of dying to an old way and being born into a new way – is known in ALL RELIGIONS of the world. The “way” of Jesus IS a universal way, even to those who don’t know Jesus.
So while Jesus pointed to a universal truth, he did not point to an exclusive claim. Do you hear the difference – universal but not exclusive? What we celebrate is that this same profound truth comes to us through the language and symbol of many traditions. The beauty of an unapologetic Christian faith is that we are not afraid to give credit to Zen Buddhism or Islam or any other way of thinking in helping us become better, more grounded Christians. We’re not afraid to adopt or adapt practices from other traditions in our effort to live more authentic and loving lives.
The real question is how intentional and conscious do we want our spirituality to be. How much are we interested in engaging our faith and the many faith practices of the world to connect with life as we experience it? What I love about these affirmations is that as they articulate a clear vision of faith, they also invite us deeper into the mystery and power of faith practices.
They invite us to ask if our reasons for holding Christianity at a distance are rooted in a well articulated Christian faith that has evolved with our lives, or are they rooted in some outdated form of Christianity we left decades ago. My experience as I sit with others facing all that life throws at us is that we long for a spiritual practice that will guide, comfort or embolden us amidst us in the swirl of life.
The blessing of these affirmations is that they help us articulate clearly, without hesitation that God works in many, many ways. The challenge is that unburdened of the baggage of an exclusive faith, we are now invited to face our own uncertainty and ambivalence; and to embrace a faith to match.
• We don’t proclaim certainty, but embrace mystery and the Spirit’s presence in ambiguity.
• We aren’t a tradition that espouses many hard beliefs; rather we embrace doubt, seeing it as part of the totality of the faith journey.
• We pull wisdom, inspiration, and gratitude from all religions, most often from beloved spiritual teachers who would counsel us to go deep in our own tradition before half heartedly adopting platitudes from another tradition.
• We acknowledge from the get go our own humanness, and the humanness of any community. While we are not perfect, we are a real live alternative to the immense loneliness and isolation of our lives and culture.
• We’re a tradition that embraces honest research, deep thinking, inquisitiveness in all fields – we don’t shy away from science, technology, best practices. The pseudo debates around science, creationism, evolution, medical research have always been understood in our tradition as diversionary smokescreens for the real issues behind them which are most often power and control.
The way of Jesus, the way of Love is indeed one of the universal ways of holding the joy and the needs in this world. May our relationships and community life, our service through work and volunteer time, and our compassion in all places help us to live this love boldly, without apologies.
John 14:1-7
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
