Friday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon

This sermon will try to explain one of the concepts of Paul Tillich.
He said, "Nonbeing makes God a living God. Without the "No" God has to overcome in God's self and in God's creation, the divine "Yes" to God's self would be lifeless...

Where there is nonbeing there is finitude and anxiety.

If we cay that nonbeing belongs to being-itself, we say that finitude and anxiety belong to being-itself...

The infinite embraces itself and the finite, the "Yes" includes itself and the "No" which it takes into itself, blessedness comprises itself and the anxiety of which it is the conquest."

The words seem confusing when you first approach them but, on further study, they have a depth that speaks to our world with clarity and wisdom.

This is some of what it says and this is what I will try to get across on Sunday.

There are those factors and forces that put us down. We need to deal with them but more than that, we need to take them into ourselves. Most of our external problems have an internal source. People of faith have the courage to know that and to deal with the internal source that is causing the external problem.

The forces of nonbeing are not enemies to our lives but are resources that can lead to our growth if they are dealt with.

The Biblical narrative is Job. The particular text is Job 1:1-12. That text points out the mythic story between God and Satan and the bet that Job's faith would fail him if bad things happened.

How would you interpret Tillich's statement?

One of the goals I have for my life is to write a book that takes some of these theologians and to interpret them in a way people can understand. I can break their code and make their ideas available to people who are not accustomed to reading heavy theology.

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have your response available for the congregation to see and respond to click on the 'comments' box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster