Someone Stole Jesus
Rev. Debra Griffis-Woodberry, Pinnacle Associate
Ken was receiving treatment at a Catholic Cancer Facility. The all too familiar and dreaded trips for checkups and treatments had become a reluctantly accepted routine. Over the weeks of visits Ken noticed that in each room a Crucifix hung on the wall. It brought comfort to his Protestant heart, a reminder that Jesus was with him in all things. One day he noticed that the wall was empty where a crucifix once hung. At the end of the medical evaluation the nurse asked if there was anything else concerning Ken. He said, “I want you all to know that someone stole Jesus.” I chuckled at Ken’s remark. The conversation that followed led us both to affirm that nothing/ no one can steal Jesus, not even cancer.
We are living in a pivotal time in history. Daily we see things unfold before us that are unprecedented in government, technology and even the church. Change is happening. Culture is sliding, shifting, and moving in all kinds of directions.
I hear myself saying to baby boomers, “The institutional church as we know it will die with us.” When I began saying that several years ago, my comment was met with shock and sadness. Today people tend to agree with me and they respond by saying things like, “I just want to sing hymns that I know. Young people don’t care about church anymore. Most of us are retired and our congregation is getting smaller. I am worn out with all the work it takes to keep our church doors open. This is my last year to sing in the cantata, it takes too much energy.” A quick look on social media reveals the same sentiment.
To some it feels like the church as we know it has been stolen. While church expressed as organized and institutional is fading away, the church cannot be stolen because authentic timeless church is becoming the Kingdom of God on earth. Nobody can steal that. New expressions are emerging. Church breaks out wherever God wants to show up.
During the early 1980s wave of Fundamentalism many felt that much was taken from moderate followers of Christ. Amidst prayer and struggle, I realized that no one can steal the call of God in my life. It is real and it is safe in the arms of God. No one can take away from me the powerful spiritual formation of seminary. Since I choose not to go home and be silent, I can now celebrate forty years of ministry, remembering holy moments of Baptism, Communion, weddings, funerals, holy conversations, and other definitive moments of ministry.
My husband and I enjoy watching “The Voice”. When a contestant is especially good the judges often say, “You took us to church.” I think that they mean that the moments were powerful and they felt connected beyond themselves. As followers of Jesus we anticipate those moments when the Holy Spirit shows up and God’s power is felt and we are in church.
An older woman with meager income took her car to the shop. It needed some engine work and the tires were nearly thread bare. She had saved enough to get the old car serviced. When she returned to collect the car, the engine was tuned and there were four brand new tires on the old car. The mechanic said, “You can pay be a little each month. I was concerned for your safety driving on those old tires.” Church happened right there in the auto shop.
In Van Gogh’s famous Starry Night, the lights in the church building are out, but they are shinning in various homes and shops in the village. Church is breaking out all over the place. It is leaving the buildings and the routine of the ordinary and organized.
No one can steal Jesus.