Easter: Facts and Fiction 4
How Many Angels?
Matthew 16:13-20
Who do you think Jesus is? Who is Jesus?
What has the church debated over the centuries? Quite often some ridiculous things:
- How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Debated during the European Middle Ages. Anders Sandberg has published a modern response to this ancient debate entitled, “Quantum Gravity Treatment of the Angel Density Problem.”
- Trinitarian formulae? Resulted in most of the famous creeds since the 3rd century on
- Nature of the church? Ongoing
- Free-will vs. sovereignty?
- Once saved, always saved? 19th century through present day in United States between Calvinist and Arminian theologies.
- Did Jesus carry a pouch when he traveled? European Middle Ages
There have been some debates which really mattered to ordinary people like the debates over slavery, women’s rights, marriage equality and who qualifies for inclusion in a nation as a citizen and in the family of God. On every one of those debates the church typically starts out on the wrong side with some (and sometimes most) Christians finding their way eventually to the just side.
Maybe we should stop seeing faith issues as something that need debating and instead see faith as something we explore. We come to conclusions along the way based on the information and experience we have but we know that there is much that we don’t know and so we allow ourselves and others the freedom of being open to further insights from Holy Spirit.
As we saw from our Easter Quiz, there were many ways that the earliest stories about Easter were told. The amazing thing about these stories is that they are rich enough that we can often find meaning for ourselves wherever we are in our lives. Who is Jesus to you? Do you need someone to save you from yourself or life? There’s guidance in these stories. Do you need healing from the wounds of your journey? These stories speak to those experiences. Are you making discoveries about your own ability to transcend evil or obstacles in life? There is much to learn from these stories. Are you worried, at times, that unconditional love and grace may be too good to be true – meant for anyone else but me – then read the stories again and learn about Jesus’ commitment to life and God’s commitment to grace. Read how the disciples were so transformed by these experiences that they changed from cowards closeted behind closed doors to persons who were able to clearly and persuasively articulate a faith perspective that “turned the world upside down.”
Ultimately each of us must take the reins of our own lives to steer a course along this faith journey. We choose to do this in community because some of us have learned along the way that going it alone isn’t very fulfilling. We choose to do this with openness because some of us have learned along the way that ideas we clutched with white-knuckles needed to be released. We choose to do this as church because some of us have experienced resurrection – we have seen our lives transformed by grace. We have had our wounds healed by the care of those who love us. You see, the Easter stories continue to unfold. They are being lived out every day in places like this, among people like us, where the Spirit of God continues to prod, cajole, and encourage.
Who is Jesus to you? Tell your Easter story by the way you live and the choices you make and the grace you offer. Let others debate the inane. We choose to live the story.
Sources:
http://www.headofapin.net/