Easter V
22 May 2011
+ May God show us the way, guide us into truth and bring us to life. Amen.
For some time I was not aware of the prediction of an evangelist in the United States that the Rapture was to occur on Saturday, the 21st of May. But at some point in the last couple of weeks or so, people I knew had either made jokes about it or had asked me some questions about what the Rapture was and whether it really could be predicted. All of the speculation was fuelled by the ability of the evangelist himself to fund various media campaigns and, of course, by the media itself which always enjoys this kind of ‘end of time’ prediction.
End of time predictions are a frequent occurrence in any number of religious traditions. Christianity is not unique in this regard. Some of us may remember the dire predictions of the catastrophes that awaited us as we approached the year 2000, then 2001 when someone realized that a millennium actually ends in 000 and begins in 001! There have been predictions of the end of the world throughout the history of Christianity. Most of these predictions depend upon arcane mathematical calculations, the latest one based on a calculation that yesterday marked the seven thousandth anniversary of the beginning of Noah’s Flood.
Now I had found a place of calm and had actually begun to forget about these events. After all, I had to prepare a proposal regarding the rectory to share with two diocesan committees, work with Paula about finding a new place to live, prepare for the arrival of my parents and the graduation of David and Anna from UBC on Thursday. I really did not have time to worry about the Rapture. In some ways the Rapture would have brought a form of relief. If I were taken up into heaven, then these other things would fade into insignificance. If I were left behind, then the situation was going to become so difficult that all these other matters would seem trivial.
Thursday mid-morning a producer from Steven Quinn’s afternoon programme on CBC Radio One called. He and I chatted for a little while and then he asked if I would be willing to be interviewed downtown a little after 5.30 p.m. So I went down to the studio and had an enjoyable ten minutes or so with Steven. As I drove home I thought that I was finished with the topic. Friday morning I warned Christine that we might receive a crank call or two, but the phones were fairly quiet until a producer for CBC Television called asking if I would consent to an interview with Chris Brown for the National. Friday afternoon found me at our southwest steps chatting with Chris about the Rapture. Friday evening the story aired on the National and my bit, a tiny bit, made its way into the nation’s homes.
What I tried to say to Steven Quinn and to Chris Brown is this: it is disappointing that there are Christians who spend so much time trying to figure out when the world is coming to an end that they neglect God’s call to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God today. It is even more disappointing that the stories about religious leaders and about religion in general tend to focus on our failures and our fringes and our fanatics rather than on our successes and our centre and our saints. We are held up to censure and to ridicule even as we work to house the homeless, to feed the hungry, to free the oppressed and addicted, to build neighbourhoods of caring and respect and activities too many to number.
Some of the zeal that energizes fringe Christians comes from their interpretation of one phrase in today’s reading from the gospel according to John: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14.6) To some Christians this statement is an exclusive claim by Christians to have the sole path to eternal life. Only those who can claim to be Christians will find themselves joining Jesus in the sky on the day of the Rapture.
I am not afraid to claim Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. But I do not believe this claim to be an exclusive one but rather a distinctive one. What other Christians see as a claim that describes those who are ‘in’ and those who are ‘out’, I see as our commitment, as ‘followers of the Way’, the earliest name for the Christian community, to follow the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth as the path that helps us to become fully alive as human beings made in the image and likeness of God.
What I am saying is not without precedence in the Scriptures and in the teaching of the Jewish and Christian traditions. In Judaism there has been an ancient teaching about what is sometimes called ‘The Covenant with Noah’. This covenant is “a covenant of grace, which God unilaterally grants to human beings” (comment on Isaiah 54.9-10 in The Jewish Study Bible). In the Talmud, an authoritative commentary on the scriptures, the rabbis taught that all of humanity is obligated by seven commandments: (1) to establish courts of justice, (2) to refrain from blaspheming the God of Israel, (3) to refrain from idolatry, (4) sexual perversion, (5) bloodshed and (6) robbery and (7) not to eat meat cut from a living animal (commentary on Genesis 9.8-17 in The Jewish Study Bible). Any Gentile who observes these commandments can meet with God’s full approval.
The later covenants with Abraham and Moses do not replace this covenant with Noah but are covenants that commit a particular group of people to witness to this God, a God who makes covenant with all of humanity, by following a disciplined walk of faith. Our covenant with God, made through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, does not repeal any of God’s earlier covenants but commits us to a life of witness to this generous and gracious God. This is what the writer of 1 Peter is sharing with his audience when he writes that we, the baptized, “are a (but not the only) chosen race, a (but not the only) royal priesthood, a (but not the only) holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Peter 2.9 italics inserted by RGL+)
My friends, the predictions of the Rapture and the Tribulation are made by people whom I believe to be sincere followers of Christ who are convinced that the only way to help others become fully alive is to use fear as a tool, fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of pain and suffering. They understand themselves to members of an exclusive society that will be preserved from the perils that they believe will accompany the end of the world. Their zeal and concern, however, only serve to trivialize the challenge of following Jesus as the way, the truth and the life, especially in the eyes of those who do not share our faith.
Fear is a powerful tool but like adrenaline and sugar it leaves you flat on the floor once its energy has been exhausted. What our city and our region need is not fear but hope, not exclusion but community. We who follow the way of Jesus are called to work with our sisters and brothers who struggle tirelessly in the here and now to respond to the needs of the poor and the hungry. We who believe in the truth of Jesus are called in the here and now to witness to a God whose first covenant, the covenant with Noah, was with the whole creation not with only a few chosen. We who share in the life of Jesus are called in the here and now to be beacons that illuminate the paths of all who seek the fullness of life God promises to all people.
Today there will be a small community of Christians who will be bewildered and disheartened that the Rapture has not come. My hope is that this bewilderment and disheartedness might lead to a re-discovery of what it means to proclaim Jesus as the way, the truth and the life rather than to renewed calculations or, in some cases, a disillusionment with the Christian faith. Today there will be some in the media who will file their notes only to return to them in event of the next prediction. My hope is that this event might lead them to a re-discovery of what Christians are doing in the here and now to challenge injustice, to nurture communities of care and to be good stewards of the creation that God has entrusted to us.
In the meantime let us here at Saint Faith’s do what we’ve been doing for a long time: open our hands to those in need, open our hearts to God’s love and open our minds to God’s wisdom. That should keep us busy enough for a millennium or two. Amen.
