We are busy people. It doesn't seem to matter which stage of life we are in (young and single, coupled up, re-singled, parenting, empty nest, retired, older married or single) there always appears to be more to do than we have time do. In the midst of this busyness we seldom take the time to ask deep theological questions…such as "What ought to be the foundational idea upon which I build my concept of God and the creation?" Between working, taking care of the children or grandchildren, volunteering in the community and the church, going out with friends, traveling or a host of other activities those kind of God questions simply don't seem all that important. They are better left to professional theological types who have the time to ponder such things.
The problem with such an answer is that, as I said last week, whether we want to believe it or not, each of us does theology every day. We make conscious and unconscious decisions about how to treat people, whether or not to fudge our taxes, how much truth we will tell, what we will give to the church or charity, for whom we will vote, or how we will rear and discipline our children among a host of daily decisions. On a more irregular basis we may have to come to grips with the pain and suffering of the world (why is Haiti hurting so much? Why did my best friend get cancer?) and ultimately our own deaths. How we make those daily decisions and the answers we come to about the hurt of the world and death itself are going to be based in some way (again even unconsciously) on how we understand God and God's relationship with us and with the world.
It would seem to me then (and hopefully to most of you) that it makes sense to spend some time trying to organize what we believe (our personal theological perspective) in order that the choices we make and the answers we derive have some congruence and are not simply emotional responses to the moment. In addition such a coordination of belief and action allows us to be more fully integrated and confident human beings. It also allows us, when faced with difficult decisions and personal tragedies, to have the theological and personal resources to deal with them. We are not left adrift wondering what we ought to do and believe.
Given all of this what ought the foundation of our theological world view be (assuming you are on board with all of this)? Again, as I said last week, there are many foundations upon which Christians and the church have organized their world views. What I want to offer to you this morning is one that has stuck with me ever since reading Way of Blessing, Way of Life; A Christian Theology, by Clark Williamson (Chalice Press, 1999). Williamson is a retired professor of Christian Thought at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. In Way of Blessing, Way of Life, Williamson argues that the Biblical story (which we spent the last year reviewing) is a single story in which God works to bring blessing to creation. In other words from the beginning of humanities relationship with God, God wanted people to live fully human lives; lives lived in loving relationship with God, neighbor and creation.
This way of blessing and life is ultimately and decisively demonstrated in and made possible through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus we see the possibilities of grace, love, forgiveness and reconciliation which enable blessed life. We see the possibilities for blessed communities in the life of the early church as they followed the Jesus' way. Revelation itself (though a tough book to get through) finishes the Biblical story with a vision of what blessed life looks like. So as we move forward with our theological trek the foundation upon which I will be building a theological world view will be that of a God's way of blessing and God's way of life. I hope you will join me on this journey. Next Week: Monotheism: The Heart of Judeo-Christian faith.
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