"It Takes a Child to Raise a Village"
Something of the corporate nature of our faith can be found as we explore how our faith is formed. Part of how our faith is formed is the exploration into the young people who have formed it.
We are Judeo-Christians and our lives have been influenced by the Jewish tradition as well as the Christian interpretation of Judaism.
The importance of the young people stands for us a reminder of the way in which youth is directive in our faith.
Moses led the people on the Exodus and is considered the founder of the Hebrew people. Moses was threatened as a child by the king and we put in danger when there was a price paid for the murder of infant children. His mother put him in a basket and floated him down the river in order to save him from the Egyptians. Moses grew up with the attitude of striving. He taught his people what it means to strive to be better and what it means to search and find the "Promised Land" and what it means to become "The Chosen People".
Striving is an important element of faith. We have to be able to move beyond what we are in order to discover what we will be.
Jesus was a young man who had a price on his head and instead of going out of Egypt to find the Promised Land he went to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod the king. He found safety in Egypt and Matthew tells us that Mary and Joseph brought their son out of Egypt after Herod died. In a sense Moses and Jesus both came "out of Egypt".
And Jesus offered to the world what it means to "Wait". His life was a life of "waiting for the God who is with us". He saw God every place he looked, and he urged his listeners to look for the incarnate God who comes to us in the flesh.
Jesus was the incarnation of God but he believed in God incarnate in life and we can discover this as we learn the art of waiting.
It takes a child, Moses and Jesus, and who else?
If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts with the readers of the blog click on the 'comments' box below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
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1 comment:
It is interesting to compare your thoughts from Monday and Wednesday. I think it illustrates how important it is to understand the possibilities and pitfalls of both the corporate and the solitary in religion.
Moses had to buck the traditional trend, both as an adopted son of Pharaoh and as a leader of the Hebrew people. His calling to make a change was while alone tending sheep. Indeed, it seems he had to drag the Hebrew people kicking and screaming to the promised land. Time in solitary reflection allows us to question the status quo. But actions must be motivated to change and grow the community.
Jesus spent much time alone in the wilderness to seemingly define the parameters of His mission. But the mission couldn’t happen unless he became one with the crowds, and to ultimately die for the corporate.
There are so many examples of hearing the still small voice that challenges us to question the corporate culture. Samuel in the temple. Gideon in the wine vat. Mary of Bethany shedding the traditional role of housekeeper to listen at Jesus feet. Ehud using his accursed left handedness to liberate his people.
We need the corporate to encourage, to celebrate, to commiserate. We need to be part of the corporate and contribute to the corporate.
But the corporate left to its own can stagnate. So like Jesus and Moses, we return to the solitary to better contemplate the still small voice. To allow ourselves to remember that the voice of tradition can begin to depart from the voice of God. In the solitary we remember to hear God, and determine if it’s time to best support the corporate by challenging it, as did Moses and Jesus.
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