not very religious

Date: 16 March 2012 23:50:48

Forty blogs of Lent

22

In an all age worship service in church some time ago we did a song which though aimed at younger children, all were encouraged to join in. It was one of the dreaded action songs, the children were being encouraged to wiggle in time with the music and freeze at the end of each line. We've used the song a few times as the younger children enjoy it. The worship leader said she had recently spoken to a friend in another part of the country, and on having the song described looked shocked and said, "That's not very religious." Good. I'm getting more and more fed up of religious stuff. Look at the Bible story: At one point Jesus stood up at one of the religious festivals and said, "I am the light of the world." At the festival people would travel down from all over Judea and Galilee and beyond, and camp out near the temple mount. The Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of the day, would entertain the crowds by juggling flaming torches. In short it wasn't just a religious festival, it was a party. There were three main religious festivals each year, and each one was a party. It was your religious duty to party. To enjoy yourself. Yet in these times Jesus was criticised for going too far. In a culture where feasting and drinking wine were part of the national religion, the religious leaders accused him of being a wine bibber and glutton. Jesus knew how to party. So the words, "I have come that you might have life in all its fullness," of someone who believed in celebrating with people must mean more than a few hymns in a quiet church dimly lit by candles. We have forgotten as Christians how to party. We have something to celebrate. Yet it often seems that everyone else is having more fun than we are, yet without a belief in Jesus Easter is no more than a hollow excuse for eating chocolate. But let's not be spoil sports. Instead of criticising people for celebrating, let's join them in partying. Let us show them we're not afraid to let our hair down. It seems we have a distorted image of Jesus. Most Christian art shows a serene Jesus, usually out in the country, healing people, accepting children, or just standing on a hillside or on a lake. All the time there is this peaceful look on his face. While this is probably an accurate portrayal of part of his ministry, it is not the whole story.Where are the pictures of Jesus at the wedding at Cana, before the wine ran out, joining in with the party, dancing with a big grin on his face? Let's drop the false idea of a dour Jesus. Would "Gentle Jesus meek and mild" have overturned the money changers' tables? Or criticised the religious leaders so strongly? Let's celebrate God becoming man. A real man, someone with different moods, not a one dimensional character. Let us celebrate the victory over death of Jesus rising from the grave at Easter. More than anything else, let's party.

-ooo-

Originally posted in 2007 on St Pixels blogs