Pub Theology 5/7/24 — Many paths, one destination?

This past Sunday at St. Mary's we celebrated the feasts of All Saints and All Souls. It was an opportunity for us to remember and pray for those who have gone on before, and to think about their witness and the witness of all the saints, whether officially designated by The Church or not. It was a beautiful service in which we welcomed new members of the congregation, experienced the joy of a baptism, and lit candles for those departed who were near and dear. But that's not what we're here to talk about this week. The service also featured a famous bit of scripture that gives us a lot to think about. And to wonder whether we're up to the task. Our Gospel reading was from Luke 6:20-31, the version of the beatitudes, or blessings, taken from Jesus Sermon on the Plain. (Matthew's version, 5:3-10, comes from the Sermon on the Mount.) In this sermon, Jesus lays out four blessings and four woes, but it's the last part that is a particularly challenging call to action. Jesus lays this charge before his apostles and the gathered crowd: "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you." This is some pretty powerful food for thought, and so we are going to spend some time thinking about and talking about this in our conversation this week. Rather than a series of questions, let's just go with this. If these words of Jesus are central to what it means to be a Christian, how well do we measure up? Join us for the conversation this Tuesday, Nov. 4, starting at 7pm at Irish Tavern in downtown Lake Orion.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

I was having coffee with a friend this morning, and they brought up an idea that I think makes for a provocative topic of conversation. The thought was both simple but also painfully complex. What would our lives and relationships be like if the burdens we all carry, the weight of our traumas, anxieties, cares, and worries, were visible for all to see? If you need a visual, imagine walking through life with a big book strapped to your back in which was written all the things that make you the person you are in the world, all the good and all the bad. Or shouldering a block of stone upon which all these things were engraved. No longer would you have to explain why you are the way you are, for it would be there for the viewing. But neither could you hide yourself from others. Your story would literally be right there, on display for everyone. It wouldn't be written on your face, per se, but it would be there, apparent to anyone who looks. Would this be a blessing, or a curse? No longer would we have to explain ourselves to others. Why we are the way we are would be plain to see. But no longer could we conceal the things about ourselves that we'd prefer not to acknowledge, or admit to ourselves or to others. What would it be like to live this way? How would it change the way you think of others? How would it change the way you think of yourself? And because this is Pub Theology, I would be remiss if I didn't bring in Jesus' words from the Gospel of Matthew (11:28-30): '“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” We'll talk about all of this in our conversation this evening. Join us for the discussion starting at 7pm at Irish Tavern in downtown Lake Orion.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

First a disclaimer: Despite appearances to the contrary, this is neither a book review nor an endorsement of the new book by actor, comedian, and political commentator John Fugelsang titled "Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds." From the title you get the general idea of where the author is going with this. Fugelsang's story is a compelling one. He was raised in a large politically, ethnically, religiously, and racially diverse family as a progressive Roman Catholic by a mother who was a former nun and a father who was a former Franciscan monk. As he puts it in the introduction to his book, "I am here because two people broke a promise to God." What he wrestles with in this book is how to come to terms with, and then fight back against, what he views as the hijacking of Christianity and the abandonment of the faith that Jesus taught by religious and political leaders who have perverted the religion in the pursuit of their own power and selfish interests. In the introduction, Fugelsang writes: "This is a book about what Christianity started out as, what it became, and why it's still worth fighting for. ... The extreme right uses Jesus' name as camouflage. This is a guide to camouflage removal." In building our conversation this week around this book, I acknowledge from the start that none of us have (probably) read it. My copy is on its way thanks to The House of Bezos. In the meantime, you can read Fugelsang's introduction by clicking on this link . You can also watch Fugelsang's appearance on The Daily Show by following this link. But I think we can still have a quality discussion around some of what he raises. First, before we talk about the message, let's talk about the messenger. Fugelsang admits that he is no member of the clergy, nor scholar, nor theologian. So what qualifies him to write this book and level the critiques he makes? In short, does the messenger matter? Some quotes from the book will also serve as spurs to our conversation. “I generally trust people who are seeking the truth; I tend to be wary of those who claim they’ve found it.” “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” (Quoting Susan B. Anthony) “In focusing on what cannot be proven, many Christians fall into the trap of a Christianity that’s more about defending the supernatural than embodying the moral teachings of Jesus. It’s not the miracles driving people away from religion, it’s the Christians who don’t live by Jesus’s words about how we’re supposed to treat each other.” “[R]emember—if your church isn’t telling you to love your enemies but keeps telling you who your enemies are, you’re not really in a church.” “And that’s the point. We’re called to follow Christ, not the Bible. In fact, please understand this: the Bible does not tell us to follow the Bible. The Bible tells us to follow Christ. But Biblical Christians follow the Bible. They do not, in fact, attempt to follow Christ.” “Not only are Christians supposed to prioritize following Jesus’s words above the other parts of the Bible, that’s also quite literally why this religion got its name.” “These were the fundamentalists, the power-hungry grifters who took advantage of the fact that most people don’t know the Bible all that well. They were charlatans, frauds, hypocrites, and villains. And they made for great TV.” “Spiritual people use religion to become better people. Fundamentalists use religion to pretend they’re better than other people.” “And I was taught—relentlessly—that Christianity was about the things Jesus prioritized: Service to others. Forgiveness. Caring for the poor, the sick, the stranger, the prisoner. Fighting injustice with nonviolence, like Dr. King and Gandhi. Standing up for the less fortunate, like Dorothy Day and Catholic Charities. Love. Empathy. Compassion.” Obviously, no collection of cherry-picked quotations can capture the totality of Fugelsang's argument. But it can be our jumping off point for discussion. Join us tomorrow evening, Tuesday Oct. 7, starting at 7pm at Irish Tavern in downtown Lake Orion.

This Sunday, all are welcome to join us for a morning of worship and fellowship. Whether you are with us in the sanctuary or joining from afar, your presence strengthens our community. Our services are at 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. We warmly welcome those who cannot attend in person to join us via our live stream.

This last Sunday's scripture readings featured one of the most oft misquoted lines in all the Bible. You've probably heard this one: Money is the root of all evil. But here's the problem. That's not actually what Paul says in his letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:10). Here's the actual line: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." A few verses later (6:17-19), Paul continues: "As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life." The disconnect between the actual quote and the regularly misquoted alternative text (I plead guilty to having made this error myself) points, I think, to the complicated relationship that many people of faith, specifically Christians, have with wealth, or perhaps their lack of it. So let's talk about this distinction, and whether it really matters. Why do you think it is the misquote that is so commonly thought to be the actual words from the Bible? What does that tell us about the way we think about the role of money in society? In short, what's the real difference between saying " money is the root of all evil" rather than " love of money is a root ..."? Can we argue that this is a distinction without an actual difference? What makes the love of money more problematic than the money itself? If you had Scrooge McDuck levels of wealth, wouldn't you be swimming in it gleefully as well? So what's the problem there? Can you accumulate McDuck-level riches and still be on the right side of Paul's advice to Timothy? Can you find yourself barely scraping by financially and be on the wrong side? What is Paul warning us against, and how does the warning hit in our own lives. We'll be talking all about it in our conversation this week, Tuesday Sept. 30, starting at 7pm at Irish Tavern in downtown Lake Orion. Join us for the discussion.