Eastertide
May 7, 2018
Scripture Reading: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.’ –Acts 1:15-17
I do not know if we will ever know why Judas did what he did. There have been all kinds of speculations. Was his betrayal an assigned mission from God? Was he just greedy? Did he think he should force Jesus’ hand? His actions clearly illustrate that even followers of Jesus can miss the mark regarding Jesus. That still happens today as we fail to become the One people Jesus calls us to be.
I am deeply bothered by the assignment of the word “evangelical” by the media and others to describe a political segment of our society based on a set of principles that are unrelated to evangelism. All of Christ’s followers are called to be Evangelists.
An Evangelist is someone with a vocational calling from God to announce the good news of the Gospel*. Evangelist of Christ are sharers of information by spoken words, deeds, and lives modeled after Jesus’.
Our problem is that all of God’s followers do not share the interpretation of what that good news is. To my knowledge there is no mention of abortion, homosexuality, pray in school, appropriate attire, guns, immigrants, or the role of women in any of the gospels and thus for me they are not issues I identify with the Good News. They do describe some of the issues among those designated as political evangelists. I do not question the political evangelist’s sincerity in belief or their right as a USA citizen to pursue those interest within the rule of law on which our government was founded.
This is not uncommon. The same thing happens with fundamentalist who claim to follow the literal meaning of the Bible and those who adhere to strict adherence to the original language of our constitution, without the recognition that “literal and strict” are open to interpretation which moves us back into power politics in faith as well as government which can become intermingled.
I believe the summation of the Good News is that God loves each of us and we are thus called to love God and to love one another. We are not assigned the job of judging one another. Jesus is our ultimate judge and his indications seem to be that he will judge us on how well we care for the poor, the thirsty, the sick, prisoners, and strangers. (See Matthew 25) Thus these are the subjects that drive my political viewpoints.
Followers of Christ are also called to be One in Christ. We defeat becoming One when we actively drive wedges of beliefs between each other. One way to address this conundrum is to dedicate ourselves to identifying the things on which we can agree in principle and address them together. For example, reducing poverty is a purpose at some level in most faith groups. Reducing poverty is a proven way of reducing abortions.
Prayer: Lord, you indicated that when two or more of your followers are gathered together in your name you are present with us. Heal our dividedness and bring us together in your presence to be your hands and feet throughout the world. Amen.
*See Ephesians 4:20. definition from http://biblehub.com/greek/2099.htm