Everyday they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone...
Back in the mid-1960's, some of us were surprised to learn we were singing a Protestant hymn -- A Might Fortress is our God -- written by no less than Martin Luther. It has been called the "Battle Hymn of the Reformation'' for the effect it had in increasing the support for the Reformers' cause.
Amazing Grace and Precious Lord take my hand were also written by Protestants. Some of the best songs in our hymnal appeal to us because they were written with American sensibilities. One of my favorites is, It is well with my soul. Very often, grief and tragedy inspire such writing. They speak to our experience of sorrow, an experience both universal and personal.
Nor could anyone say, had the Protestant Reformation never happened, these songs would have been written by Catholics. The unique spirit of different traditions cannot be so easily dismissed. Catholics have our own history and tradition of wonderful songs but they could not have been written by Martin Luther, John Newton, Thomas Dorsey, or Horatio Spafford.
When Jesus's "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church" splits into parts, each part takes a piece of its truth and a measure of its spirit with them. The truth is especially divided if the "mother" church dismisses or denies the truths the reformers took with them. When Protestants claimed ownership of the Bible, Catholics were discouraged from reading it. And some Protestant churches refused to reverence an altar, cross, or the breaking of bread, because Roman Catholics love them. The faith was weakened by the unfortunate, unnecessary rent in the Lord's seamless garment and everyone lost.
In our time, when Catholics and mainline Protestant Churches have quit demonizing one another and sought common cause, polarization has moved out of religion into politics. The United States is sorely troubled by this spiritual disease.
The angry rhetoric becomes more tiresome when rivals, desperate to claim and own the truth, colonize new and more remote territories. Abortion was new territory but a divisive issue when President Nixon cleverly purged the Republican party of pro-abortion candidates and left the unsavory cause to his Democratic opponents. Homosexuality was never a political issue, and transsexuality was unheard of, until liberals adopted and coined the phrase sexual preference, and embraced homosexuals and transsexuals as unfortunate "victims." Neither party is eager to embrace America's original victims who still reside in stricken neighborhoods and tribal reservations.
It may take a very long time to rediscover the truths that bind us together. But there is in fact,
One Truth to rule us all, One Truth to find us, One Truth to bring us all and in the daylight bind us.
Just as Christians the world over are passionate for Jesus Christ, Americans are passionately patriotic. We share that communion with one another, but many are unwilling to recognize their opponents' loyalty. Disagreement on minor issues become antagonism, suspicion, harassment, and absurd accusations.
The truth challenges us first to enter a silent place in our hearts where we encounter both self-respect and personal mischief. As one fellow said, "I don't agree with everything you say; but then, I don't agree with everything I say." We can do better.
In the silence, honesty allows us to discover our own exaggerated fears and their power over us, and to turn more confidently to our faith. "Nothing will happen today that God and I cannot handle together."
Integrity insists that we respect the integrity of opponents. We are children of God and descendants of Eve. We are more alike than different. If I insist upon demonizing someone, I must have some demonic agenda of my own. It cannot be from God.
Nor does the truth permit us to agree to disagree. That formula might allow opponents to disengage for the time being and get a good night's sleep. But it settles nothing that must be settled. Coexistence and tolerance are neither harmony, hospitality, solidarity nor communion. They only forestall the inevitable schism.
On this Mercy Sunday, we remember the Lord's insistence,
"Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy."
and
"If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
In the Spirit which forgives sins and reconciles enemies, we can do better. Saint Luke reminds us of what is possible, what we remember about our communion:
Every day they devoted themselves
to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.