The Most Blasphemous Post... Ever
This morning I went to the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago to see Jennie and the Alma College Choir. Chicago is the first stop of their choir spring break tour... and the Fourth Presbyterian was their first concert of the week. The choir sounded wonderful, and I had fun watching the faces of the choir members; amusing myself by figuring out who was nervous and didn't really remember the songs, who thought they were "King Shit of Poop Mountain", and who was there just having fun. And I pretty literally had to bite my tongue to stop myself from singing along with "Witness" arranged by Jack Halloran (a song I sang at Albion) ["... and my strength will come, like a natural MAN" <--last note sung as low as possible, I loved it].
I also enjoyed the sermon today. The Pastor, John Buchanan, first read from John book 4... it's the story about Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman, if you know enough to remember that story (sometimes called "The Woman at the Well"... I remembered the story). My initial reaction to hearing this story is that (bare with me) Jesus of Nazorith is an incredibly complicated literary charactor. And, if I were to have to play Jesus of Nazorith in a play or movie, and did my "actor's homework" on him... I would find it incredibly difficult. When one thinks of Jesus, one conjures thoughts of miracles and love and healing. But then, hearing a story like the one today, I'm struck with a thought like "What a dick." The story of the woman at the well starts with Jesus saying "Give me some water to drink." He doesn't ask polietly, he instructs her to give him water. When she points out that Jews normally want nothing to do with Samaritans, he says "If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, 'Give me some water to drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." Which is fairly pompous and the Biblical equavalent of Bill Gates saying, 'Yeah... when I asked you for a dollar, if you knew who I was, you would have asked ME for a dollar.' When the woman says the equavalent of "That makes no sense," Jesus then goes on to say "everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again." It would be at this point that I would say "Then why are you asking me for water if you've got water that keeps one from being thirsty forever?" But I kept thinking, "what a jerk." There are stories in the New Testament that make Jesus seem like a show-off, or cocky, or psychotic, or as if he's judging people exactly at the same time he's telling them not to judge others... and I think it's because his story is written by four different authors.
There are common threads, but you get a different perspective... a different characterization. And I think, as a Christian listening to the gospels, you're stuck with this feeling that everything in the Bible is "capital T Truth." There is little room for interpretation, particularly in passages where a story told about Jesus is presented as a factual historical biography of who this man was. I think it's tough to wrap your mind around the perceived infallibility of Jesus when you're presented with stories that seem, at times, contrary to what you heard he stood for.
But here's where everything got really interesting: Pastor Buchanan started his sermon about the passage. I've heard the woman at the well story at least half a dozen times in Catholic churches (a favorite passage during Lent), and every time I hear it, the priest would talk about the living water... and how we're all supposed to accept Jesus as savoir and we'll live forever without "thirst." But that wasn't Buchanan's message. He started talking about the tension between Jews and Samaritans... and about how a Jewish man wouldn't share anything with a Samaritan, how a Rabbi wouldn't speak with a Samaritan, and how a Jewish man certainly wouldn't speak to a Samaritan woman. He went on to talk about the woman at the well who "had no husband"--she was married five times and was currently living with a sixth man. The Pastor pointed out that she was at the well at noon (which is written in this passage)... which was probably because she was a social outcast in her village because of her marrital indescresion. Most people in the village would go to the well when it was cool, like the morning or evening... but this woman went at noon, when the sun was at it's brightest and most unforgiving, precisely BECAUSE she KNEW no one else was going to be there. And not only did a Jewish Rabbi speak to her, but he did not condemn her even though he seemed to divinely know that she had married five men and was living with a sixth. The woman then goes back to the village, tells them about a great Jewish man who knew about her but did not condemn her... and the whole village comes out to see Jesus. They are so impressed by him, and wanted to hear his words, that they ask him to stay with them. This is the equvalence of... I don't know, perhaps an American being welcomed by a town of Communists during the Cold War. It is incredible that Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, would be asked to stay by a village of Samaritans. It was the logical, human side of this story that Pastor Buchanan spoke about... and the point of the story finally hit me. It was about INCLUSION... about being human to other humans, regardless of the societal disagreements. Pastor Buchanan then went on to say that he has been criticised for saying that Christianity doesn't necessarily superceed Judism in his mind... that all differences in faith should be celebrated instead of hated. He also spoke against using God as a reason for war. All I could think, sitting in the pew was "FINALLY! Someone gets it!" And perhaps there was something about Pastor Buchanan treating the woman at the well passage as a story that really intrigues me... it's not as if the point of it is lost if I view it as a story filled with metaphor rather than biographical fact. The point of the story is... THE POINT! Isn't it? Or, should I ask, shouldn't it be?
I checked the church's website online and they have a forum that welcomes gays, lesbians, and their friends and family. I don't think you heard me, especially if you're listening as a Catholic: WELCOMING GAYS AND LESBIANS... in, what they call, the 'inclusive light of God.' Perhaps one of the most irritating, frustrating things about organized Christian religions to me is the pure hatred and disdain they have for homosexuals... and the absolute hypocrisy that is if they truly are trying to love everyone as Christians. Saying that they love all people, but being able to fairly nonchalantly condemn others to "Hell"... makes me sick.
I guess my point is that I was really interested in what the Pastor had to say... and I'm interested in seeing if the entire parish is as liberal and progressive as the pastor seemed to be today. I'll probably go back there in a couple Sundays... and I'll make sure I dress up a little better (yeah, even khaki pants and the $80 J Crew shirt Brian gave me when he moved made me feel under-dressed. Next time I go, I'm going with a full suit, baby [What? I like wearing suits]).