 | The New England Church PulpitNew England Congregational Church UCC |
"A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN MAY" | Revelation 21.1-6 | May 9, 2004 |
It is a haunting question that prompts people of faith as well. And our response has to do with our understanding of the way the universe in which we live evolves and God’s role in it. If we embrace the traditional perspective, our efforts to alter the future seem hopeless because everything is predetermined. If, however, we embrace an emerging perspective, the future is yet to be determined and we are called to help shape it.
Traditional theology looks backward, Philip Clayton reminds us. It postulates that God is the cause of all things. It sees the universe as something God created in order to produce Jesus, which means then that God has to establish predetermined laws to reliably bring about the desired outcome. When this predetermined process is insufficient to produce a theologically acceptable world, traditional theology says it is necessary for God to intervene in the natural order, setting aside the original laws in order to bring about a different outcome. Divine action then becomes the working of miracles, the breaking of laws, and God is seen as the only one who can change the future. (Context, April 2004)
Emergence theology, by contrast, looks forward. It postulates that God is not so much the cause of all things but rather the goal toward which all things are heading. Clayton, a professor of theology at Claremont, says that in this model, God sets in motion a process of ongoing creativity, the laws of which are NOT predetermined, but open-ended and responsive to change from human activity not just by intervening divine miracles.
In this new model, God is no longer the cosmic lawgiver predetermining everything but rather acts as a guide through the process of creativity. God and creatures together compose the melodies of the unfolding world. The Divine celebrates in the process and the uncertainty of particular outcomes. God is the goal, not the reason nor the cause, and all who seek this goal join in the process of creation.
God gave us an unfinished world, a world open to change, a world where the final destiny of things has not been determined, and calls us, gifts us, and empowers us to alter whatever is necessary to keep it going in the right direction. Scrooges that we are, hoarding for selfish purpose, ignoring the cries of polluted water and hungry people, the Spirit of the world yet to be invites us to change the coarse of things gone astray by showing us some successes.
Witness the many reversals that have come from our awareness of endangered animal species that are now thriving. Witness the reversal of water pollution, even here in our own Fox River, that brings fresh new life to the streams and oceans of the world when we mend our ways of pollution. Witness the new birth under the seas in the coral reefs that were being strangled to death, but are now vibrant with color and teaming with life. Witness the many activities that reverse the effects of poverty.
And yet, that same Spirit silently points us to a world with much that needs changing: the pandemic of AIDS in Africa, the wars that are waged on the gauntlet of religious extremism, and the continued starvation of people around the world in spite of our modern technology for producing food.
New England Church has always been on the cutting edge of creating a future that better reflects God’s presence. It was New England Church that opened up its doors to the homeless for many years and then became part of the founding of Hesed House for the homeless. It was New England Church that was instrumental in identifying and forming, and hosting, the Fox Valley Hospice. It was New England Church that reached out to welcome brothers and sisters of Hindu faith when other churches were condemning them. It was New England Church that had the only support group in the entire county for people living with HIV disease twenty years ago. And now New England Church has an opportunity to once again embark upon a project of vital importance for the future well-being of our world.
Our Board of Mission entreats you to embrace this project in order to alter the future of people in need of hope. Judy and I have purchased an acre of land, and I invite you to do the same. The money may stretch your budget a bit, but by comparison to those living in extreme poverty and hunger we are miserly Scrooges, counting our money day and night to make sure we won’t run out, while the world around us goes to bed hungry. The project doesn’t just feed someone a meal or two; the proceeds of the crop we will raise as a church will be used to finance equipment and know-how and seed money so others can have the dignity of providing for themselves.
Charles Dickens was a man ahead of his time, and a theologian of the first order. He got it right in his portrayal of humanity’s ability to alter the future, of being co-creators with God of an unfinished world yearning for fulfillment. Let us, in good reformed-Scrooge fashion, give in this small way this May to bring Christmas joy to a larger world. Amen.
–Gary L. McCann
PASTORAL PRAYER
Spirit of all that is and all that is yet to be, in whom we live yet do not fully comprehend, grant us sanctuary from the noise that would distract us from your call to live faithfully and from the frantic pace that exhausts us with trivial activity. Center us in the peace that passes all human understanding and focus our attentions on things holy.
Remind us of the hope of this world, that we may not be overwhelmed by the confusion and disaster of a world gone mad with selfish ambition and war. Visit our apathetic spirits with renewed energy and instill within our sagging faith a new purpose for living and giving.
On this day when we remember our mothers, we do so because of the ways you have mothered us through them. May those of us who have fond memories of mothers be sensitive to those whose childhoods were lived without a mother to love them, and mothers who must live without the children they have borne. Realizing that mothering is a divine gift not based on gender or the presence of children, but on the incarnation of unconditional love which is required of all of us. To that end, inspire us with appreciation for all who mother us and awaken us to the opportunities we have to birth justice in our world as we mother in your name.
Open us up to the possibilities of the future, inspiring us to good works and faithful living that will counter the effects of evil as your kingdom truths become known in activities of giving and caring. Save us from giving up too easily. Spare us the sorrow of selfishness by our generous living. Empower us to faithful service in the name of all that is love. Amen.
Revelation 21.1-6
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away; and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with the people of the earth. They will be God’s people, and God will be their God, wiping away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. “I am making all things new. To those who are thirsty, I will give drink without cost, from the spring of the water of life.”
Koran 18.30-45
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful:
As for those that have faith and do good works, We shall not deny them their reward. They shall dwell in the gardens of Eden, where rivers will roll at their feet.
Once there were two men, to one of whom We gave two vineyards set about with palm-trees and watered by a running stream, with a cornfield lying in between. Each of the vineyards yielded an abundant crop, and when their owner had gathered in the harvest, he said to his companion while conversing with him, “I am richer than you, and my clan is mightier than yours.”
And when, having thus wronged his soul, he entered his vineyard, he said: “Surely this will never perish! Nor do I believe that the Hour of Doom will ever come.”
His companion replied: “Have you no faith in Him who created you from dust, and fashioned you into a man? As for myself, God is my Lord. When you entered your garden, why did you not say: “What God has ordained must surely come to pass: there is no strength except in God?”
Wealth and children are the ornament of this life. But deeds of lasting merit are better rewarded by your Lord and hold for you a great hope of salvation.
(Translated by N. J. Dawood)
| Copyright © 2004 by Gary L. McCann. All rights reserved. |