Monday's thoughts

"A Theology of Diminishment"
Reynolds Price contracted a debilitation disease and almost died. He wrote a book about his experience entitled A Whole New Life. It's a book that shows how he was able to move through the stages of detachment. It's about how he learned of his illness; how the doctors worked with him; how his friends and family rallied around him; and how he came through the experience with a very different sense of the meaning of life.

The sermon text will focus on the book of Job. Job is a man in the Old Testament who was forced to inherit illness, death, and misfortune. He was told to "curse God and die". Job maintained his faith in spite of the intervention of friends who tried to convince him to confess his sin and be done with the consequences. The point is Job's misfortune had nothing to do with his sin. Sometimes bad things happen and that's Job's story. Bad things happened to him through no fault of himself.

Most Christian theology is based upon the idea the good things happen to good people, and we get what we deserve. If we are faithful and kind we expect that we will not be punished. If we have committed some sin we expect that bad things might happen.

We develop a "theology of diminishment". We think about what happens to us and how we handle it. We think about finding a way to deal with the low points of life and the times when we can do less; not more, when life is winding down; not reaching up.

How do we face the fact of our finitude? How do we come to understand that God is in the low points as much as the high points?

More importantly, how do we learn to see that with every dimishment there is something added?

Do you find that this is important? How do you handle being able to do less than our used to be able to do? How do you deal with incapacities?

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read and respond to your ideas click on the box below?

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles