Meeting Jesus Again
I can remember several moments in my faith journey when I have had other Christians ask me whether I knew Jesus and if I had Jesus in my heart. I remember being taken aback by these questions. I had grown up in the church, of course I knew Jesus. But upon reflection, I think what they were asking me was whether I knew the Jesus they believed to know. To be honest, these Christians made me want to walk away from my faith and from Jesus. About a decade later, a book came out written by Marcus J. Borg entitled “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.” I really appreciated this book and I felt like a shadow was lifted from my spirit. In this book, Borg argues that many people lose faith because they were taught an overly rigid or literal understanding of Christianity instead of seeing Christianity as a living relationship with the sacred. It is kind of ironic when you consider that the people who wanted me to have a relationship were also the same people who were living with a very rigid and literal understanding of who Jesus is.
I really connected with Borg’s idea that Jesus is a transformative spiritual teacher. Borg highlights Jesus as someone who modeled compassion, justice, radical inclusion, and deep connection with God. Jesus as a spiritual teacher is a guide into a transformed way of living rather than simply the founder of a religion. I believe that Jesus is inviting us to wake up spiritually and see the world differently. I think this image and approach of Jesus is even more important today being that we live in a culture that is built on distraction, performance, anxiety and consumption. We are so disconnected these days for ourselves, each other and the sacred. The world loves to divide people into categories, who is worthy, who is not, who is successful, who is not, who is safe, who is not etc. Jesus on the other hand challenged systems, not just individuals. He confronted systems that dehumanize people. Systems like religious legalism, economic exploitation, imperial power, purity culture and social hierarchy. I think that in today’s world Jesus’s teachings are challenging economic inequality, racism, loneliness, environmental destruction, consumerism,and political tribalism. Jesus is not simply teaching us to be nice. Jesus is calling us to participate in the healing of the world, with the goal of becoming more fully human.
I think we can all get onboard with these teachings. What we need to be cautious of is confronting hypocrisy with moral absolutism, or public shaming, identity- based polarization, or reducing people to categories or labels. Jesus guides us to speak hard truths while also eating with the people he critiques. Jesus never reduces human beings to their worst moment, but instead approaches people with compassion.
The question that I think we need to keep asking ourselves is: How do we heal relationships and restore humanity? The kin-dom that God envisions is one where life is transformed, and it is a world where people live as kin to one another, to creation, and to God. I hope that you will take time to meet Jesus again for the first time! I will leave you with this prayer: Loving God, meet us again through the life and spirit of Jesus. Open our hearts to compassion, our eyes to the sacred in others, and our lives to the work of justice, mercy, and peace. Help us to love boldly, welcome freely, and walk gently in this world, so that your kin-dom may be revealed through us. Amen.
Blessings, Rev. Karen