September 1 2024, Christian Witness, Living Faith in Action

Rex McKee

Christian Witness, Living Faith in Action

Rex McKee, September 1, 2024

 

Scripture Readings: Song of Solomon 2:8-13, Psalm 45:1-2, 7-10, James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

In today’s readings, we are invited to reflect on what it means to live a life of authentic faith. A faith that transcends mere words or external observances and calls us to cultivate a transformative, intimate relationship with the Creator. We are challenged to discern whether our faith is a living, vibrant Tradition or if it has fallen into the trap of traditionalism, becoming an empty shell or a noisy gong.

 

What is our call to a genuine relationship with the Creator? Wisdom, speaking in The Song of Solomon, paints a picture of love—a lover and a beloved—that is active, passionate, and alive. The lover leaps over mountains, calling the beloved to leave behind the old seasons and embrace the new. This metaphor engages the intimacy the Creator desires with each of us—a dynamic relationship filled with life, transformation, and discovery.

 

I have a couple of questions….

When have you experienced a spiritual moment that made your heartbeat faster, when joy overwhelmed you in the morning after a long, dark night of struggle?

When have you heard or felt the Beloved inviting you to leave behind the winter, the burdens of your soul, and step into the light and new life that the Creator offers?

 

Too often, I suggest, we reduce our relationship with the Trinity to a set of rituals or doctrines. Ched Myers, in Binding the Strong Man, warns us: “Discipleship is not about mastering a doctrine, or about joining a community, or even about following a leader; it is about entering into the radical, revolutionary relationship with the Creator that Jesus modeled.”

The relationship Jesus offers invites us beyond the comfort of tradition (with a small “t”) into the dynamic and sometimes uncomfortable space of Tradition (with a capital “T”)—a living faith that continually challenges us to grow and act.

Theologian Jaroslav Pelikan suggests, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And I suppose I should add it is traditionalism that gives tradition such a bad name.”

Pelikan highlights the difference between Tradition, the core living faith passed through ancestors, generations, and tradition, which can sometimes refer to rigid, outdated practices and customs. Tradition is dynamic, regenerative, and life-giving, while traditionalism risks becoming an obstacle to true faith.

 

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus confronts the Pharisees, who had become more concerned with the traditionalism of the elders than with the beloved yearning of God. “This people honors me with their lips,” Jesus quotes from Isaiah, “but their hearts are far from me.”

Jesus is not dismissing tradition but is calling out the danger of traditionalism—where the focus on external practices can obscure the true heart of faith. As Pelikan illustrates, traditionalism—the dead faith of the living—distorts the vibrancy of Tradition.

Considering this call to a living Tradition, imagine how our faith is witnessed in today’s world. Christian practice—right action or witness—is not reduced to what we profess, but how we live out our faith and values in the world.

The photos on the screen are from a peace vigil march from St. John the Evangelist to St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2003. If you look closely, you might see a younger version of yourself; St. John’s had a significant presence in this Holy Witness for Peace.

On March 16, 2007, I participated in a Peace Witness and march from the National Cathedral to the White House; I represented The Episcopal Peace Fellowship and The Episcopal Church in the liturgy and, along with about 5,000 witnesses for peace, marched in the freezing rain. Two hundred of us were arrested for standing still and praying on the sidewalk in front of the White House. That’s another story.

 

 

I was blessed with the opportunity during the rehearsal and meal prior to the service to spend time with a significant number of faith leaders from many traditions and denominations. I was fortunate to share a box lunch and engaging conversation with Jim Wallis, Al Sharpton, and the now-Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, and our keynote preacher. Wallis started a robust conversation with the circle about what Faithful Witness meant to us within our tradition.

Thanks to this week’s leader Ginny Jacobson our centered group had a deep conversation on Christian Witness. Thank you, Ginny, and the Holy Spirit for nudge to dig deeper.

Working for justice and peace I believe is a form of witness. This can involve standing up against injustice, advocating for the oppressed, and working towards reconciliation and healing in the world. It’s about embodying the prophetic call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8).

Gustavo Gutiérrez, Liberation theologian, illuminates for us that “the condemnation of injustice also implies the rejection of the use of Christianity to legitimize the established order.”

Our witness must align with the marginalized and oppressed and challenge the status quo.

James H. Cone, Black Liberation Theologian, echoes this “The gospel of Jesus is not a rational concept to be explained in a theory of salvation but rather a narrative about the Creator’s presence in Jesus’ solidarity with the oppressed, which ended with his death on the cross.”

Our witness is a calling to engage in solidarity with those whom society has cast aside.

In this election season, we observe White Christian nationalism distorting the Gospel’s message. Our witness must be to reclaim the radical, inclusive love of Jesus. William J. Barber II asserts, “We must revive the heart of our democracy, and that means reviving the heart of our faith, our witness, and our commitment to love and justice.”

Our witness is a moral call to action rooted in Christ’s love and justice.

Walter Brueggemann teaches that the church must embody a “prophetic imagination,” one that “nurtures, nourishes, and evokes a consciousness alternative to the consciousness of the dominant culture.”

Our witness challenges the culture around us and does not merely reflect it.

The Epistle of James urges us to be “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” This is a call to witness, to action, to live out our faith in ways that reflect the Creator’s justice and love. It’s a reminder that our faith is not just about beliefs but about how we live. James gives us concrete examples of this living faith: caring for orphans and widows, welcoming strangers, immigrants, and refugees, and keeping oneself unstained by the world.

This is not a faith content with rituals and routines; it is a faith demanding justice, mercy, and action. It recognizes that true worship of the Creator cannot be separated from how we minister to society’s most vulnerable.

“The radicalism of Jesus’ message is often lost when it is domesticated into religious tradition. The real challenge of the Gospel is to live out its revolutionary implications in our daily lives,” writes Ched Myers. This calls us to examine where we have allowed traditionalism to replace the vibrant, living faith Jesus calls us to embody.

I suggest we each examine our own faith. Is it a living Tradition—a dynamic, life-giving relationship with the Creator that transforms us and the world around us? Or has it become traditionalism—a dead faith clinging to the past without bringing life to the present?

Let us be doers of the word, entering into the radical relationship with the Creator that invites us to live out the Gospel’s revolutionary implications. May our witness reflect the righteousness and integrity of Jesus—a living, regenerative ministry of witness bringing hope, justice, and love to all we encounter.

Our witness to the world is not simply what we say but in the manner in which we live. Let our lives be a living testament, yes, a witness to the vibrant, life-giving Tradition that calls us to embody Christ’s love, justice, and mercy in all that we do.

Let us pray that our Witness:

• Align with the marginalized.
• Be an engagement of solidarity.
• Reclaim the radical, inclusive love of Jesus.
• Be a moral call to action.
• embody integrity and authenticity
• serve others selflessly
• accept and love people as they are
• be present with others in their joy and sorrow

As Cornel West writes, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” May our witness to our faith be a light shining in the darkness, living the way of love, drawing others into the Creator’s transformative beloved community.

Amen

 

Jaroslav Pelikan: The Vindication of Tradition: The 1983 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities

Ched Meyers: Binding the Strong Man

Gustavo Gutiérrez: A Theology of Liberation (1971)

James H. Cone: The Cross and the Lynching Tree (2011).

William J. Barber II: speeches and writings, associated with the Moral Monday Movement and the Poor People’s Campaign.

Walter Brueggemann: The Prophetic Imagination (1978)

Cornel West: Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism

10am Service