Year A - Second Sunday in Lent, March 5, 2023
Via Media: The Middle Way
In the name of the Loving Trinity: God, Savior, and Spirit Amen.
Is there only one way to be a Christian?
Answering the question, “YES!” is attractive. You see having a sense of certainty provides a foundation upon which you can build a fortress of protection. A narrow definition of faith beats back fear of vulnerability. A fortress closes its doors to change, self-reflection, and discovery. That foundation, however, is built on sand because it requires twisting Jesus’ teachings.
Take this statement Jesus says to Nicodemus in talking about the flesh versus the spirit:
“I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”
The flesh is a birth into a particular family or tribe. It is a restricted identity that ties you to the way you look, your culture, and the geography of your kin. If it is the flesh that grants access to relationship with God, then entry to the kingdom of God is pretty narrow. But if it is the spirit that yearns for relationship which knits you into the life of God, then God’s banquet table is limitless.
Those Christian churches that cling to human certainty over the nuanced wisdom of scripture try to restrict that divine guest list. They read the verse like this:
“No one (outside our group) can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water (the way WE define baptism) and Spirit (as conferred according to our rules).” That birth in the Spirit must use specific language of shame, adhering to a narrow theology of petty judgment.
Not exactly a life-giving perspective.
Is there only one way to be a Christian? Being raised a Roman Catholic, I thought the correct answer was “Yes!” The pope in Vatican City was keeper of The One True Church and the only authority on who could be at Christ’s banquet. Many of my friends in a variety of Christian communities had the same answer to that question. Our church leaders taught we excluded each other from joy. Is it any wonder most of them have abandoned the Church all together?
Blessedly, my husband introduced me to The Episcopal Church.
Is there only one way to be a Christian? The Anglican answer is, “No, the Church is a diverse collection of spiritual journeys knitted into the mystical unity of Christ’s Body.” The Anglican perspective places common worship in open-hearted relationship to one another in balance with church teaching. We call it the via media, or middle way. Members have a lot of spiritual breathing room to take divergent ways toward being Christian.
The Episcopal Church structure and worship spring from Western traditions and are regularly reformed using holy revelation and consensus building. Along with an interpretive tradition of Holy Scripture, The Book of Common Prayer communicates our foundational theology. This balance between strong institutional structures and flowing theology in worship can be slow, messy, and complex.
Embracing that dismantles fortresses of faith that shut out change and are reinforced by fear. Those communities abuse another verse from our Gospel John 3:16 – possibly the most welcoming passage in the New Testament: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
Rather than shouting out “God loved the entire world! God sent a precious messenger! EVERYONE is invited!” Those clinging to certainty turn it into a threat. Only people who believe their Christianity can have eternal life; questions and doubt are sin. That is wrong.
John 3:16 is part of a radical invitation to participate in the eternal joy of God’s commonwealth of peace. Our Creator so adored the universe that a part of God’s own self was loosed upon us, setting our hearts afire and drawing us into radiant existence. That’s the gospel. The message for all of us to share with the world.
But when you’re in a faith crisis and are despairing, journeys that are slow, messy, and complex can be a stumbling block. Can we make the Christian spiritual journey easy? No, but as a priest tending the souls sent to me, I can make it simple.
Is there only one way to be a Christian? “YES” and that is the Way of Love Jesus commanded:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31, BCP 1979)
Our journeys may be slow, messy, and complex, but this really is a simple faith. Simple, not easy. Amen.
Dean Vanessa Clark+