Hello,
“We church it up a lot.”
After watching the Pittsburgh Steelers loose to the Denver Bronco’s, I
was watching 60 Minutes. They were
doing a segment, maybe you saw it, on brothers serving together in the armed
forces. One set of brothers had
enlisted against their mother’s wishes, and when they were asked by the
reporter how their mother feels about the dangers they face every day, the one
brother said that when they talk to her they, “church it up a lot.”
“Church it up?” the reported asked back.
“Yeah. We soften it
up. We tell her that everything is
fine, and it will all be ok.”
When I heard this phrase that I had never heard before, it made me sadly
ponder; is this what people think the Church, the Christian faith, is all
about? Softening up the hard
truths of life. Telling people that
everything is fine when it is really not.
Promising it will all be ok, when the future is very fragile and
ominous. “Churching it up.”
In that there is a phrase whose meaning seems to be well known amongst
many, a group from which I had been previously excluded, I can only conclude
that “churching it up” must be a rather common view of what the Church, the
Christian faith, is all about.
I wonder what Jesus, who the Bible tells us is the cornerstone of the
Church, thinks about this characterization of the church. Would he, who found himself betrayed by
his best friends, abandoned by those who said they would always have his back,
and hung on a cross having been falsely accused would want his church to soften
up the harsh realities of life that he, himself, battled to the death? Of course not. Would he, whose tears in the garden
were so heartfelt that they were as blood, want his church to be blind to the
real, human pain that he knew and felt?
Of course not. Would he,
who watched his mother cry at the foot of his cross and was who was held in the
death grip of a tomb, want his church to be the spoon full of sugar to help the
medicine go down (as in Mary Poppins)?
Of course not. Would he
want me, a pastor, or his church to lie?
Of course not.
It seems to me that Jesus, who calls himself “the truth”, would expect
the Church, to be a place where the truth….not a lie….is found. That is why when I am sitting with
someone who has found out that their spouse has been cheating on them, I don’t
say, “Now, now. It’s not that
bad.” No, what I say is that not
even the deepest hurts and betrayals can scare Jesus away from you, and by his
strength betrayal will not get the best of you. That is why when I am with someone who is sitting in a jail
cell I don’t say, “Now, now. It is
just fine.” No, what I say is that
there is no hole so deep that Jesus will not jump into it with you and will
hold you when you no one else will and will not let your actions rob you of
your name, “child of God.” That is
why when I am holding the hand of one who has just lost a dear loved one I
don’t say, “Now, now. It will all
be okay.” No, what I tell them is
that Jesus well knows the pain and emptiness of grief, and by the power of his
resurrection he will touch you with a healing balm and wrap you in his peace so
that the bitter winds of death might no longer chill your bones.
I am certain that Jesus wants the church to be a place where the
brokenness of life is not ignored, minimized or sugared. If that is what he wanted, he wouldn’t
have needed to suffer and die.
Jesus wants the church to be a place where the brokenness of life is
taken seriously, dealt with forthrightly, and mutually experienced. That is why he suffered and died….and
that is why he rose from the dead.
So, let me propose a new image for the phrase “church it up”. When you look in the mirror and see
someone who has made a mess of their life….when you find yourself in the hands
of the callous powers of the world….when you are in such a fog that you can’t
see beyond your nose…there is a place and a people and a God who will embrace
you and hold you when life is falling apart….there is a place and a people and
a God who will stand beside you battle life’s bullies with you…there is a place
and a people and a God who will be eyes of hope for you when you cannot see. That is what the church, and the
Christian faith is all about.
In this frame of mind, let me invite you in all things to “church it
up”.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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