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One on One "The
Glory of God is a human being full alive." This concept is not dissimilar to Jesus' words in the Gospel of John, when he says, "I come that you might have life and have it abundantly." Jesus here is yearning for us, each of us and all of us, to know the fulfillment of faith and trust and the freedom of turning deeply worrisome life issues over to God. Jesus is wishing us peace, true, deep peace. And these sayings are not dissimilar to the words found in the earliest history of our country, that each of us has a God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...think about it ---- God wants us to be fully alive, God wants us to have life and have it abundantly, and our own Declaration of Independence, a document so much more powerful than any single act of law, our own Declaration of Independence asserts that we, each and every one of us, is endowed by God our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. If we look more closely at these guarantees, we see that they mean, in everyday terms, that the government may not and cannot take us away and make us disappear, the government may not and cannot put us in prison for no good reason, and the government may not and cannot put unjustifiable roadblocks in the way of our being free to pursue a goal that we believe will bring us happiness. Now while it is true that these ideals are not always met, they are usually agreed upon. That is, there has never been a time in the United States when any significant number of citizens has favored doing away with the guaranteed right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There are times when we wonder how inviolate these freedoms are, such as during wartime when quite easily we deny those rights to certain parts of the population, but by and large these have been the bedrock of our country's ideals and laws for more than two centuries. On the other hand, there are religions and governments who stand over and against such freedom to grow, freedom to create, freedom to learn. They have gone under many names over the years, but oppressors are just that. Authoritarians are just that. Whether behind the mask of religion or government, tyrants are tyrants. A murderer is a murderer and a group of murderers is a group of murderers, whether they are called the Taliban or the Third Reich. No person, no so-called religion, no state or government has the right to violate God's laws against murder and imposition of suffering. No matter how it is disguised or fancied up, the abuse of power and the repression of innocent people offends God--every time. God believes in freedom. God is freedom. We displease God when we deny the freedom of others, whether it is in world politics or in a marriage. A few weeks ago, the Taliban dominated the Afghan City of Kabul. And then one day they were gone. And the men shaved their beards. The women they took off their veils. And they all played music. Did they lose their religion? Did they offend God? A day earlier their behavior and dress would have been an offense to God. Really? Is that true? It was their truth for some years. Many lost their freedom, their families, their lives for violating these religious laws. What is the reality here? What is the reality of what God wants? Where can we find out? Why is one thing a sin in one culture and perfectly okay in another? Why is one philosophy of family planning acceptable in one denomination and a mortal sin in another? Who is right? Who speaks for God? I will give you a hint, I have a book on my shelf in my office which I have never read but which has been a great deal of help to me over the years. That's because I have speculated as to what the title means. The title is, If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him. I think that this means we are to think for ourselves, and that if we encounter a person or a group or even a religion who purports to have all the truth, and especially if we are tempted to let him or that group do our thinking for us, that is destructive of all that we have the potential to be. In this morning's Old Testament reading from the prophet Jeremiah, we hear God condemning spiritual leaders who mislead or lead astray the Lord's sheep--those followers who are innocent and trusting, those who believe that organized religion will speak only what they believe truly to be God's Word. Jeremiah is preaching God's Word to wayward pastors of organized religion, pastors whose duty it is to comfort and guide with God's True Word the people entrusted to their charge. Instead, they mislead and manipulate their people, much to the Lord's displeasure.
Hear some
voices from the past about this: -"People are under no religious obligation to hear anything but the revealed Will of God, and are not to obey those that call to them for what that doth not call to them." John Wesley. -"Thus the Church can disturb the security of sinners only if it is not itself too secure in its belief that it has the Word of God. The prophet himself stands under the judgment, which he preaches. If he does not know that, he is a false prophet." Ray C. Steadman, author. ...The sign of real spiritual leadership is humility and service. Bossiness or authoritarianism may be part of a bona fide religion but they are not part of what God wants for his children. Some organized religions think they have answers that no human being can have. We would like to think that we know God's mind when we have urgent or burning questions. But in many cases it is not so. "I don't know," are not shameful words. I believe we will not know the answers to a great many things until an instant after our death. It is human folly and arrogance to believe that we can have all the answers to God's mysteries or even man's mysteries, in this life. Groups such as the Taliban and Jim Jones and Heaven's Gate are groups with an agenda, which they have disguised as religion. True religion has only God's Agenda, and they are willing to live out the changes and surprises that God's Agenda can bring. ... But no matter how true a religion may be, no religion is God. No religion gets it all right. And no individual must or should listen to everything a religion teaches. Ultimately our relationship with God is strictly between us and God. One on one. Religion, whether it is a small one or a huge faith or denomination, religion is still only a guide. And it is a good guide only if it makes sense to us. We must always use our minds on our journey in faith, our minds as well as our souls, our spirits and our hearts. I have done a lot of work with bereavement groups, and one thing we teach those who are trying to heal after the death of a loved one is that the time comes to let go, to finish our grieving and let go of the past, so that we can have a real life in the present. I happen to have at this time a Nurse's Aide working in my home. She was telling me about her husband, whom she loved very much, who died in 1995 while driving his 18-wheeler. When her friends come over to visit they see all these pictures that she has up of her husband, and they say, "You have not made much progress in healing because you have all these pictures still up." Her response to them is, "I will know when it is the right time." Grow, in touch with God. Let no human institution, let no mortal, be your God. Ever. Amen. Copyright 2001 The Rev. William A. Kolb Old
Testament Reading: Jeremiah 23: 1-6 |
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