Reconciling our Faith and Heritage
Castigated, exiled and now humbled in their return to a once proud city, the people gathered in the shadow of their restored walls and temple. For seventy years the site of the city had been desolate, barren, rubble hardly worth calling a village. Now by the grace of God this people had been allowed to come home and rebuild and rededicate the Holy place. There would be a sense of restrained celebration; more so there would be a call to repentance and confession before God.
This was the scene in Nehemiah 9 following centuries of rebellion in the face of a faithful God. Here was a people of a proud spiritual heritage clinging to their advantages in the faith: children of Abraham, descendents of the Patriarchs, possessing the Law of Moses and the words of the Prophets, and bearing the physical markings of circumcision that set them apart.
They did celebrate the return of God’s people. But first they rehearsed in prayer the long sad story of God’s calling and their wickedness, of God’s many acts of deliverance and their swift amnesia concerning God’s marvels on their behalf. “But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands,” they prayed (Neh. 9:16).
Celebrating a heritage of faith in honesty and humility will not allow only the highlights, if Nehemiah is to be considered, it will also admit the sins of our past. For what is the focus of our celebration: our accomplishments or God’s faithfulness?
Indeed, as the returning exiles recalled their spiritual heritage they remembered that God called Abram, finding his heart faithful to Him and making a covenant with him, then keeping His promise all these centuries (9:7-8). God saw the suffering of Abraham’s descendents in Egypt, heard their cry, He sent them signs and delivered them from slavery (9:9-12). As the litany continues it persistently focuses on what God has done and how the people failed. In this way it underlines the gracious action of God on behalf of His people. Even their return to Israel from the faraway land of Persia was itself an act of extreme grace, though God is faithful and always keeps His promises.
What do we celebrate in this anniversary of 200 years of the EMC? Klaas Reimer’s courageous, albeit personally heartbreaking decision to leave the Grosse Gemeinde (Large Church) in search of holiness? Or God’s mercy in permitting these sojourners to find their own way in faith? Or God’s grace in blessing the spiritual journey of these few who, though misguided in earlier times, eventually came to see the importance of sharing the treasures of their faith with non-Mennonites? In any case we must see the flaw of human effort and the power of God to take our feeble attempts and build his kingdom.
What sins need confessing if we were to follow the example of Nehemiah’s celebratory/confessional prayer? Allow me to suggest three sins:
We sin when we focus on too heavily on our Low German roots. This exclusivity is not as overt as it once was but its undertones are still evident in our circles. Who one is related to in the EMC was at one time a significant identifier and contributed to the “family” atmosphere of the conference. With the welcome influx of non-cultural Mennonites the genealogical connection tends to sideline newcomers and put them on the fringe of life in the EMC. Though less pervasive it remains important to some who your parents are and what connection you can make to other EMCers. Many whose names are not Penner, Friesen, Koop or Plett feel alienated by such terminology and classification.
We sin when we focus on cultural markers. Low German conversations have long been held over those of other backgrounds. Our great-grandparents, having immigrated to Canada for religious freedom, refused to speak English as if it were some heathen language. With subtle levity and a hint of sincere intention, many Mennonites quipped that God spoke German. After all did not the Holy Scriptures declare, “Und Gott sprach: Es werde Licht” (And God said, “Let there be light”) (Genesis 1:3)? While the German culture is a part of our past, after six generations is it not time to adopt a more inclusive conversation, especially in the church? If we are to truly be evangelical in an English-dominated nation we must repent of “lingual superiority.”
We sin when we allow Theological Triumphalism to trump our attitudes. This attitude has on various occasions hurt the testimony of the EMC. Though not taught overtly it was apparent to some of us growing up in the EMC that we had the correct faith over and above others. Other denominations, even Mennonite denominations, were a few points short of the position we had attained. Those of mainline traditions were especially suspect. We were taught in the home that Catholics were errant in their traditions. Though we are many branches of the olive tree we are all of the same root of faith. When Jesus said that the world would know his disciples by their love for each other he did not allow for denominational prejudice.
Shall we then throw out the DGR heritage altogether? No, of course not. Rather, we need to be sensitive to the fact that not all EMC members eat farmer sausage and joke in Low German. In fact, those cultural markers really have nothing to do with the principles that make our conference Evangelical Mennonite. Adult-believers’ baptism, the “Way of Love,” discipleship, Christ-centered and Bible-believing is what makes us EMC.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church he wrestled with the issue of heritage and faith. He said, “If anyone thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:4-8).
In Greek class we were taught not to translate “rubbish” in its true vernacular. Suffice to say that when Paul compared his spiritual heritage with knowing Christ he considered his pedigree excrement in comparison to exalting Jesus. If anything gets in the way of people of all walks and ethnicities coming to know Jesus let us consider it waste compared to boasting in Christ and his Cross. If in our heritage we have something worth sharing let us do so in humility and with a careful attitude in its impact on others.
We rejoice in the faithfulness of our spiritual forefathers and the faith they have handed down to us. It is a worthy inheritance. Celebrate the enduring name of Christ which will survive all tribes and tongues and crown Him Lord of all.
If you celebrate with perogies and borscht, remember, we stole those from the Ukrainians.
No comments:
Post a Comment