Sermon Library
“The Way of Christ”
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
January 20, 2008
Service Theme: Epiphany II - 2008
Source: Matthew 16: 24-26
Epiphany II – 2008 January 20, 2008
The Way of Christ
Matthew 16: 24 -26
Gregg Anderson
G. K. Chesterton Quote
G. K. Chesterton once reportedly observed, “Christianity isn’t a failure; it just hasn’t been tried yet.” This is the opening quote of Cynthia Bourgeault’s basic brochure introducing “The Aspen Wisdom School.” It is a most provocative statement by a most influential English writer of the early 20th century. His prolific and diverse discourses included journalism, philosophy, poetry, Christian apologetics, fantasy, and fiction. According to Chesterton’s website maintained by his many students, he is one of the few Christian thinkers who are equally admired and quoted by both liberal and conservative Christians, and by many non-Christians. In his own words he cast aspersions on the labels saying, “The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected. He routinely referred to himself as an “orthodox Christian,” and came to identify such a position with Catholicism, eventually converting to the Catholic Church. According to the “official” Gilbert Keith Chesterton” website the quote Cynthia refers to is stated a little differently. In his book entitled What’s Wrong With The World and a chapter subtitled The Unfinished Temple it is cited as “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting: it has been found difficult and left untried.” This is slightly different and I suspect is the correct quote although, he may have said it in two different ways in two different contexts.
More To Learn
Cynthia’s use of this quote, I suspect, is to emphasize that there is a great deal more to learn and experience within Christianity. I also suspect Chesterton’s statement is meant to be provocative because he was, after-all, a Christian and became Catholic. I would like to think we are trying, but there is always more we can accomplish. Cynthia writes, “In the Christian West, we live at the endpoint of one line of expression of the Christian Mystery, where unity is routinely confused with uniformity, where orthodoxy is incorrectly thought to mean ‘right belief,’ and where Jesus’ message of abundant life is all too often held hostage inside excessively narrow and rigid forms of institutional church life.” Cynthia states that the origin of orthodoxy means “right praise.” Ron James stated that the origin of orthodoxy means “right opinion.”
Purpose of Aspen Wisdom School
“The Aspen Wisdom School has two purposes. The first is to make available to Christians the breadth and depth of their own Christian heritage, paying particular attention to new resources and insights that come to us from the Near East and from our own Western mystical tradition. The second is an “assertion that the deeper Christianity cannot be known by the mind alone; it requires a transformation of the entire being. From time immemorial there have been wisdom schools to raise human consciousness and transform society, and we work with the core practices that sustain this transformation of consciousness including daily practices of mindfulness, inner observation, and surrender. Our goal is to recover the true catholicity of the Christian tradition by returning to our own wellsprings.”
In Keeping with the Aspen Chapel
These statements by Chesterton and Bourgeault are in keeping with the purposes of the Aspen Chapel. They are not the sole purpose of the Chapel, but are within the over-all purpose of the Chapel, especially the part of “re-defining spiritual values for a contemporary society.” I might also add that Ron James, Trevor Lewis and Joan Goodwin Lewis have been part of this particular purpose at the Aspen Chapel.
In keeping with these opening quotations, I think of Ron James’ great sermon given at the Chapel on January 30, 2000 entitled Castles of Orthodoxy. I would like to read a couple lines from this sermon today also in memory of this being the week of his death. Keep in mind the Chesterton Quote and Cynthia’s introduction to the Wisdom School as we hear the words of Ron said eight years ago from this pulpit. He said, “Let me give you what I consider a truly great principle. I got it from Harry Emerson Fosdick, a great preacher of Riverside Church in New York City in the 1930s and 1940. He said, ‘The drift of religion toward legalism, moralism, and petty ritualism is universal.’ It is the nature of religious institutions, over time, to crush out spirit – to forget that spiritual experience is primary, and came before moral teaching. Obedience to rules is not the chief focus of faith. When it becomes so religious institutions become castles of orthodoxy. No wonder Jesus said that love is the only commandment. The letter of the law kills.”
Ron concludes this sermon, “You know we’re made for ecstasy – not just ‘getting it right,’ or ‘muddling through.’ The God who brings into being the beauty of art, music, the glory of nature, friendship, physical and spiritual union, and the upward movement of an evolving universe certainly never intended that we live in cautious rationality. Our faith is incomplete if we have only thought about God – never danced in God’s beauty, or surrendered to the Spirit the citadel of our own soul.”
“The text says, ‘The Spirit gives life.’ What Spirit?: The spirit who brooded over the unformed world of Genesis, raising life and consciousness from the dust; the Spirit who rested with such authority upon Jesus; the Spirit who speaks unerringly to our restless human spirits. Whenever we are touched by that Spirit, which already dwells within, we come to life. So what is the Church? Not a castle of orthodoxy! But rather a community of the heart, gathered around Jesus to celebrate life, to ask great questions, to grow in wisdom, and to learn how to love. ‘The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life.’”
I trust you can hear the similarities of speech between Cynthia and Ron. They have both been trying to sort out the original teachings of Jesus from the orthodoxy and dogma of the institutional church. This is a current attempt by thousands of religious scholars today. Elaine Pagels is clearly a leader in this very precise movement today which is contributing new historical insights into the life of Jesus from the Nag Hammadi Library such as the Gospel of Thomas as well as the canonized gospels.
The Progression of the Early Church
Jesus gave new insights into the religion of Israel. This was not an easy task. He lost his life doing so. People began to follow. New life and new spiritual or soon called Christian communities emerged. It was a transformation. For over 250 years after the time of Jesus, a new spirituality came into being. Then Emperor Constantine created the beginning of what became known as the Roman Catholic Church. This church needed to create the creeds and orthodoxy to concretize Christianity. Many “man-made” decisions were formed. This Roman Catholic Church was never without debate and tension and soon broke into two churches with the other one taking on the name, most interesting when you really think about it, the Orthodox Church. The Roman church with its so called once and for all doctrines existed for over a millennium until the Reformation created another kind of Christian called a Protestant. This movement branched into many different kinds of Protestants again vying for authenticity and authority once again, not unlike the Roman Catholic and the Easter Orthodox church. Ironically, the Protestant churches created their own forms of dogma and doctrines. Ironically, one of the protestant sects, known as Anabaptist, became non-liturgical and non-creedal, but some of the Anabaptists became literalists, substituting liturgy for literalism which became, dare I say it, their own type of orthodoxy.
This brief thumbnail history is a vast over-simplification, but I believe still accurate in the big picture of things. One of the tasks today is to re-discover the way of Jesus as initially presented from the time of his death until the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed of 325 AD. It is a period of three hundred years and right now it appears to be a most important period of time to rediscover for us constantly investigating, questioning, wondering, searching, journeying, type of Christians.
The truth is that people and various non-establishment groups have been sorting this period of time with the institutionalized church from the very beginning. For example, I would think that the way of Benedict and the Benedictine Rule did this in the sixth century. This quest for the real Jesus is not new, but just seems to take on a new type of intensity today. I suspect that the combination of recent archeology and technology creating instant information today has something to do with the more thorough sharing and comparing of information in a way unlike any other time in history.
From Oral Tradition to Written Word to Printing Press to Computers
Moving from ancient religious oral tradition to the invention of the written word on parchment and scrolls changed religion and the world. When Gutenberg printed the Bible on his invention called the Printing Press, the first mass printing of any book, it changed religion and the world. Instant communication with the telephone, television and now computers is now changing religion and the world. Most statistics I have heard recently concur that religious material on the internet is the second most content on the internet in terms of quantity. I will let you guess what the first type of content is.
Just as the written word and the printing press changed religion in the past, the computer may very well play a significant role in changing religion and the world in the beginning of this new millennium. Isn’t it amazing that we are living in the beginning of the third millennium: In essence, the very dawning of advanced technology and the computer?
Religion Progresses
I do believe that religion is progressive and advances as much as technology, mathematics, science, medicine, or any other discipline of understanding. But then again, that is a liberal and progressive theological statement. G. K. Chesterton may say that that is just a progressive statement which will go on to make another mistake, but I would still like to say that religion evolves and changes and can become more enlightened within the big picture.
The Goal and the Journey
Our goal is to discover the real Jesus amidst a plethora of perspectives. This can seem more than daunting if not impossible, but I would like to think of it as most interesting, intriguing and dynamic and part of what keeps faith alive. Religion or spirituality is always, always a journey. I still like my tongue-in-cheek statement that I am dogmatically opposed to dogmatism.
G. K. Chesterton suggests that one of the reasons that Christianity has not reached its potential is because it has been found difficult and therefore left untried. I think that this is true. Not just because it is really difficult to practice, but it is difficult to make the change, the transformation. I would like to affirm that following Jesus is easier and better than following the norms of society. What is difficult is sorting out these two norms and making radical choices in our lives. Jesus said it is both difficult and easy.
Jesus said, “if any one would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever would save their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a person, if they gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Matthew 16: 24 – 26a) Jesus also said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14) This seems to coincide with G. K. Chesterton’s statement, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting: it has been found difficult and left untried.”
In seemingly contrast to these statements, however, Jesus also said in the gospel of Matthew, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew11:28 – 30) Jesus also said in the beginning of the gospel of Matthew, in the Sermon on the Mount, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
Paradoxes and Parables
The bible is full of paradoxes and parables. Is it difficult or is it easy to follow Jesus? I guess the answer to this question is yes to both. It is difficult to make the choice and the change, but it is easy to follow once we have made the conscious decision between culture and Christ. Christianity is not hard, but being a genuine follower of Jesus in today’s society is a real challenge. I think that once we make this distinction and make the choice the best we can, the easier will be the journey.
The great theologian Richard Niebuhr wrote a classic book entitled Christ and Culture in the 1951. Without going into details, the titles of the chapters give one some idea of the discussion. They are Christ Against Culture, The Christ of Culture, Christ Above Culture, Christ and Culture in Paradox and Christ the Transformer of Culture. Ultimately, Christ is about transformation. The transformation begins within and extends without. It is personal and can then become cultural. Most significantly, it really is possible, but will necessitate a consciousness that has yet to take place – another level of tried Christianity.
It will entail a breaking through of the religious/cultural sound barrier. Just as there is a difference between earth’s gravity and the border of space, there is the border of orthodoxy and freedom. Cynthia uses the term letting go often. I think this is what Jesus meant when he said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In losing our life for Christ’s sake we will find ourselves floating more freely in spirit. Perhaps then we will come closer to what it means not just to be a Christian, but a follower of the way, the way of Christ. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
Aspen Chapel
0077 Meadowood Drive
Aspen, CO 81611
http://www.aspenchapel.org
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