Reflections From Sunday Evening

Several of our staff attended the Church of the Resurrection Leadership Institute this week. As always there were great insights to glean. I appreciated a number of things I heard but in particular some things Leonard Sweet shared. In particular I resonated with his statement: "As I grow older my theology is getting more complex but my faith is getter more simple." In essence he shares that his faith is summed up with "Give Me Jesus." I appreciate the simplicity of faith in Jesus. Is this not where most of us begin our faith journey? "Jesus love me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We learned about Jesus in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. It seemed so simple. Accept Jesus and he will forgive your sins. (That is an odd concept for an 8 year old but we learned that.) With Jesus in our heart we are promised eternal life in heaven. That is not bad theology. As we grow older it becomes apparent that our childhood faith does not always stand up in the furnace of life experiences. Grown up issues are much more complex. That is why we develop more complex theology as we live life. We find ourselves needing to develop a theology that speaks to economic matters, war, death, loss, fear and the list goes on. We make the discovery that the more we know the less we know. This especially relates to God. The more we learn about God the more we realize how little we understand. Then we find ourselves moving back to faith. It is a simple faith. It is a faith that rests at the heart of our theology. It is faith in Jesus. We continue to look for ways to serve God. We want to be in mission. We want to do justice. We seek to understand. But at the heart of it all is Jesus. "Jesus love me this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. We are weak but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so." It's been a good day. I hope you've had a good day too. steve