A Spiritual Center for Reaching Out

As we imagine God’s view of earth from high above, what does God’s Spirit desire for this beautiful blue jewel of a planet? …  Peace?  Cooperation?  Compassion?  Of course!!!  The Bible tells us so!  (Well, Jesus certainly does!)

But, oh, the irony!  As often as various religious groups have tried to make an exclusive claim upon this Spirit, it vanishes!  When confined or legislated by any one group (narrow-gauge fundamentalism) the end product results in the opposite: Jews reject Samaritans, Catholics hate Protestants, Sunnis despise Shiites … and vice versa.   Even children know this!  Dr. Seuss writes to them about “Star Bellied Sneetches” who reject those who don’t have “stars upon thars.”  We read these stories to our children and we know it’s true: human pride and power do poison God’s loving desire for our world.

Yet the Spirit manages to stay alive, despite all evil to the contrary.  Jesus celebrates and inspires that spirit among people regardless of their religious heritage.  He smiles, “Your faith has made you well!” J  This is the Jesus that lives on in our worship, Sunday School songs and fellowship bringing peace, cooperation and compassion through amazing forgiveness and renewing love.

Don’t we yearn for this Spirit?  Don’t we grieve with God over those other spirits in our midst that breed fear, hate and violence and infect our soul?  We long for those breaths of fresh air where we experience the joyful outpouring of the Spirit of God!

Would you like a good example of this?  Try reading The Faith Club!  Here you’ll meet three women whose lives have been changed by God’s Spirit of peace, cooperation and compassion right inside their distinctive religious backgrounds:  Jewish, Christian and Moslem.  Here we see Priscilla, Suzanne and Ranya … loving mothers with a yearning desire for peace, cooperation and compassion … come together to freely discuss their respective religious traditions.  Surprisingly, some things they courageously decry.  Yet many more, they cherish.  They challenge us with their honest questions and passion to experience God and try to listen, learn and love one another. The Faith Club does not show us easy answers but rather an honest path where God’s Spirit of peace, cooperation and compassion forge bridges of respect and friendship.  While necessarily challenging pride, ignorance and presuppositions, I think you’ll be deeply affirmed to see how they all come to revere the heart of Jesus, God with us.   

But what a process!  Could we, too, possibly admit how muddy and befuddled we sometimes feel while trusting in God’s gracious embrace of us … just as we truly are with our messed up families, school and job situations, politics and world?  Could we be safe enough to not worry about being right or wrong … needing to have the answers … or be in control (as indeed, we’re not!)?  Could we seek God’s wisdom together?

I’d like to suggest that the Spirit of humility and growing affection shared by these three women might serve as a model for helping us explore a refreshing new (and yet, not so new) form of evangelism … reaching out to others in the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord!

Pr. Dan