Megan and I have been in the midst of a good conversation here and via email about faith and truth and how Christians engage with people of other traditions. Where I get tied up, a metaphor of course (sorry, still fourteen on some level), is how to get to my goal. This should clarify some of why I am confused...I hope.
See, I want to say that the absolute claim that Christ has on my life leads me to believe that every person has a claim on me. I am responsible to the life that Christ has asked me to live and that is His Life. I am to be poor. I am to sacrifice my self for the other. Why? Because Christ has claim on them as well. Whether or not this is recognised is of absolutely no consequence. This means that I worship with the Moslem. This means I marry the same-sex couple. This means that I stand in awe at the Seder meal. This means that the Mass is the Body and Blood of Christ and is present in the oppressed people of the world...and in me. He is outside my life, asking for justice. He is inside my life, transforming me in ways I cannot begin to understand.
You want to follow Christ, and not look back: remember that, as you walk in his footsteps, you will be irresistably drawn to share, and to a great smplicity of life. Perhaps you could place these Gospel words on the wall of your home; they come straight from the heart of Christ: "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you are doing to me!" Who will give the best of their creative gifts so that suffering throughout the world may be alleviated, in places where there is sickness or hunger or appalling housing conditions? Who will understand the cry of all those living in the "land of the shadow of death" [here and here]? Who will be a ferment of trust and of peace, so as to break out of a spiral of haterd and fear between individuals and between peoples?
- Brother Roger of Taize
In Matthew, neither knew it was Christ they were in relationship with. Can we know? Can we discern who is Christ? It would seem not. God so loved the world for he created it good. We should, as Christians, do the same. We are to love the world, call them brother or sister and work toward our shared redemption. This is what Christ came for...no?
Is this something that a man would have died for? Is this, if only an idea, worthy of our lives? Is there an idea so worthy? (Ask the troops...they will have opinions.) Can Christ ask the same of me? He does ask. What is my answer? If it is merely an idea then it cannot claim my life fully. Then I can deny it. If it is true, if it is real, then it must claim my life. I must be willing to lose all, even my religion, for my brother and sister. This is the cross. This is the fallen Temple. This is the oppressed Church. This is the Reformation. This is the War on Terrorism. Where there are the oppressed or victim or where there is fear and hatred, Christ asks us to be there. Christ is present. We are to witness to that.
This is the ghetto in America's city where sewage runs down stairwells in public housing projects. This is where there are metal detectors in schools. This is the white family disguising its addiction, its abuse. This is where there is any suffering or pain. Christ picks no favorites. He loves us all. Has he called you to the same? I am afraid he has called me to this. I am afraid that he has indeed asked me to die with him.
