In Search of a Congregation to Call Home
Weekly Essay for Jan 12, 2004 by James E. Nelson
Brenda and I are in search of a congregation to call home. It has been a strange journey because this journey "home" appears to be taking me into a far distant land. I am a Protestant with thoroughly Protestant sensibilities. Some might argue that point because the concept of Protestant has been pinched and poked and stretched and torn over the last 400 years. So let me clarify by saying that grace is at the heart and forefront of my faith. Luther's attempt to reform his beloved church had to do with grace. But that has been said so often as to become trite, so a few more thoughts about Luther and grace is in order.
Luther's faith (his pre-conversion, pre-reformation faith) was desperate, frenetic, and paranoid. It was paranoid in the sense that Luther couldn't leave it in God's hands. The fate of his own soul and future of the church lay in his hands, and if he didn't do the right things, the church would suffer. It was frenetic because his paranoia led him to believe (on a practical if not a conscious level) that God couldn't do it without him. If you think the fate of the world lies on your shoulders you tend to get a little over- anxious (unless you're Jesus or James Bond, and Martin Luther was neither one of them). Finally, in spite of all the concern and busy-ness, Luther knew he wasn't up to the task and so he was desperate. His spiritual superiors were fit to be tied because he hounded them constantly about these things.
It was within that context that Luther read Galatians and Romans. We are saved by grace, not by works, it is God's doing and not our own doing.
With that realization came a radical change. In place of desperation came repose. Frenetic activity was replaced by quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) labor, not because the church could not survive without it, but as a response to God's grace. Finally, that sense of desperation was driven out by a brand new confidence because it was no longer about himself but about God.
There may be a whole list of specific doctrines and practices that are associated with Protestantism, but in fact Protestant practice varies wildly across time and around the world. It is this "grace alone" insight that leads to confidence and repose that lies at the very heart of authentic Protestantism.
So off we went to this church and that in search of a Protestant congregation--not a congregation that held to what we think of as classically Protestant doctrines, but rather a place that oozed with confident repose springing out of the gracious presence of God. At this point I'm speaking for myself and not necessarily for Brenda, but I didn't even care about great preaching and good programming. All I wanted was a touch of grace.
Well, I'm here to report to you that modern Protestants have certainly taken after Martin Luther. The Protestant congregations we visited seemed desperate, frenetic, and paranoid. There were a million things going on and the pastor or liturgist was pleading with the congregation: They had to do this and had to come to that. It was necessary!!! As soon as we sat down, paper and pencil was shoved at us. They needed our names and addresses because if they didn't show us that they cared for us, if they didn't get us involved, if they didn't follow up, they would no doubt let God down!
It was so frighteningly tiring.
But a strange thing happened on the way to a place we might call home. Out of obligation quite frankly, we visited a Roman Catholic Church that a friend belongs to. That church was in another town, but it led to my recommending to Brenda that we check out St Michaels here in South Sioux.
We haven't made any decisions about church yet, but I will say that I did find a congregation full of confident repose. It was as if everyone was there, not because they had to be, but because God was in their midst. (Can you imagine!?) I think even Martin Luther would have said that the grace of God was in that place.
And you know, the Priest is a good preacher too.
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