ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
March 20, 2022
From her book, Christianity After Religion, Diana Butler Bass wrote the following:
“All Christian practices work in this way. The practice of hospitality opens our hearts to those who are strangers; it anticipates that, in God’s kingdom, there will one day be no strangers. The practice of forgiveness cleanses our souls from guilt and shame; it anticipates that, in God’s kingdom, all will be forgiven. The practice of charity shares what we have with those who suffer want; it anticipates that, in God’s kingdom, there will be no more hunger, pain, sorrow, or fear. The practice of stewardship creates a generous spirit; it anticipates that, in God’s kingdom, money and possessions will cease to exist and that all is God’s. Practices shape us to be better, wiser, more gracious people now, even as these very practices anticipate in our lives and communities the reality of God’s kingdom that has entered into the world and will one day be experienced in its fullness.”
Christian practices allow us to put one foot into God’s Kin(g)dom, to both experience and anticipate this divine reality. I am reminded of the text from the hymn, All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly. It reads: “Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.” Like all faithful practices, the Lord’s Supper enacts a reality that entered the world in Jesus, yet remains not fully present even today – still work to be done.
May the very thing for which we hope be the very thing made real through the many practices of the faith. It is your Reign of Love, O Lord, we seek to make real. Amen.
