Experience & Our Theological Task
What about our own experience? We all have wisdom of our own and our own "theology" — that is, thoughts about God. That wisdom is valid. And our own experiences can help us test whether something works (is life-giving) or whether we should think again.
In fact, the Methodist tradition says that this is *our theological task* — our part to play is to bring our own perspective to help contribute to the faith life of the community, participating in a process that is critical and constructive, individual and communal, contextual and incarnational and ultimately practical.
Deep Roots, Wide Branches — Tradition & Reason
What about other things we might learn? As the early followers of Jesus taught: "All truth is God's truth". That means that if something is true, then it is true — and our assumptions must adapt. This may seem simple, but it has been a place of wrestling throughout history. Partly because we are always learning more. We need to listen to science and social science and the best of human knowledge. We need to learn from the rich community of thinkers throughout history. And we need to hold our assumptions with open hands, ready to learn and unlearn as we journey throughout our life. Richard Niebuhr's idea of "absolute relativism" has encouraged me to stay flexible even while we fix our eyes on love.
For the City — Big Plans
"What is God's plan for my life?" No question brought more anxiety to my younger life. What if I miss it? What if I don't like it? What if? We often quote Jeremiah's famous verse about God's big plans, without noticing that it is a part of this message of digging in right where we are. Plans are not about some far off future, but helping pull near the future that God dreams. When we seek the shalom of the place we are right now, we find that God has big plans for our shalom as well — now and forever.
Pray for the City
Another way Jeremiah invites us to seek the holistic universal flourishing of our community is to "pray for the city". I don't know about you, but as a person seek to be a good neighbor in a pluralistic world, the idea of praying for someone can give me the heebeegeebees. But there are two liberating secrets in this idea: 1) that our faith is to be lived for the flourishing of our neighbor; and 2) the secret found in the rest of Jeremiah's phrase: "pray to the Lord on *their* *behalf*". We do not pray for our neighbors on behalf of what we want, but on behalf of what they want — their hopes and dreams and gifts. We’re called to first listen to our neighbors so that we can know “their behalf”, and then let our hearts be moved deeply for our city, and for that to call us to reach out to a power greater than us on behalf of our neighbors and neighborhoods. Let our hearts be moved to love. Let our souls be stirred to prayer. And let our hands be called to action.
Plant Gardens
God’s invitation to us is to be "for our city"—to seek the holistic flourishing of our neighbors and communities. Jeremiah explains that that looks like planting gardens and building houses — to dig in and make a home. What does this look like in action? Jesus once shared a parable that helps unpack this idea of digging in—that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed was sowed and grew to become a tree offering shelter and life to the world. What kind of seeds are we sowing in our cities? Let’s sow seeds that give shelter, support our neighbors, and offer radical love to our world.
Seek the Shalom of the City
We don’t always know exactly what we are supposed to do — where we are, right now. We look ahead to future dreams or back to more certain times. But what about here and now?
The book of Jeremiah describes a critical time in the history of the people of Israel, when they found themselves asking the very same questions. Israel had been conquered by Babylon and many of the people had been carried off to live in exile in a new country and culture and community. Some wanted to go back, some just wanted to blend in, but God had a purpose for them then and there, just as God has for us here and now.
Through the prophet Jeremiah, direction came: Seek the shalom (that is, “universal holistic flourishing”) of the place where you are, “for in its shalom, you will find your own shalom.”
Whether we are starting a new school grade, welcoming a new group of students, or beginning our 50th year in the same neighborhood, this continues to be good direction and God's vision for each of us, wherever we might find ourselves on life journey. Dig in to our community, and seek it flourishing in all the ways we can, and we will find ourselves flourishing as well.
The Essentials: Love Your Neighbor
Jesus starts his explanation of Love in a very practical place: love in action, for others. But those who listened had all the questions we do: who? how far? how long? Jesus answered with a vision of the infinite love of God: everyone, always, as long as it takes. Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan flips the script and shows a wider vision of love than seems possible. But like the Samaritan, we are invited to let love start right where we are on our journey.
