Weekly Reflection - 11/12/24
St. Mary's Reflection: The Rev. David Erickson
The Joyous Absurdity of Christianity
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles…For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1: 22-23,25
I was grateful for our Sunday preacher’s reminder that Christianity is absurd. And not absurd in the funny sense, but in the utterly senseless, illogical, and contrary to all reason kind of way. In terms of how the world sees, this way of life rooted in love, grace, and hope is ridiculous.
St. Paul understood this in his time. A god who would be crucified made no sense. Jewish faith saw this as outside the Hebrew scriptures proclamation and Greek philosophers found it laughable. And yet, even in those days the transformative movement of the Holy Spirit had begun. Ridiculous! Preposterous! And Wonderful!!
I find it comforting, especially at this strange and uncertain times, to live into the absurdity of the Jesus way of life. To see the world, in all it’s beauty and all of its cruelty and tragedy, and to choose love, grace, and hope. And to be a part of a community, St. Mary’s that seeks to embody and witness to that love, grace, and hope. The Hebrew scriptures tell us that Abraham, “hoped against hope.” That God’s promise of a son would be fulfilled. A modern translation I once read phrased it as “hopeless, and still hoping anyway!”
What we must remember is that Hope is not a feeling, it is a worldview, a commitment, and an action towards the promise of Resurrection and God’s inbreaking into our very lives. “The Kingdom of God is at Hand,” Jesus said. It is here, right now, for the taking. The absurdity of Christianity is the invitation to see this hope, choose this hope, and move into this hope even when all looks impossible, dead even. But with God, Life is not just possible, it is present!
We will celebrate this Joyous absurdity at our Celebration Sunday! We are celebrating the faithful commitment that so many of us make through a financial pledge with a combined 10:00 a.m. service and a parish wide luncheon. It will be Joyous! I do hope all who call St. Mary’s their faith home will make an effort to attend.
Remember the Absurd promise of Christ’s resurrection. Unbelievable, Preposterous, and Awesome!
The Rev. David Erickson
