Even after a fun-filled Saturday evening, Chris and I managed get up and go to church this morning. The plan was to return to Congregational UCC, where Chris and I went two weeks ago. We had even arranged to meet my roommate and a friend there. As we walked from the parking lot and across the street to the church, Chris lamented our last visit when we heard a call to action against the genocide in Darfur from a guest speaker instead of a sermon from the regular pastor (more useful in searching for a church home). Chris joked that we'd go elsewhere if we found a guest speaker on the program again!
We entered and found Leslie and Larry waiting for us. We greeted them and sat down, whereupon Leslie pointed to the bulletin and said, "it looks like they're having a guest speaker today!" Chris and I each let out a little groan. I looked at my watch and wondered aloud whether we'd have time to go anywhere else, since it was five minutes before 11 o'clock, but after scarcely 30 seconds of discussion, the four of us were up and out of the pew and heading down the street.
We zipped down Aycock St and made it into College Park Baptist Church in the nick of time. I was glad that we made the switch, as I very much enjoyed the sermon by their pastor, Michael Usey. Based on an interesting translation (The Message) of Acts 10:34-43, the sermon focused on sharing our faith in a way to which other people can relate. College Park is a quite progressive church full of intelligent congregants who are sensitive to the pluralistic nature of our society and who respect and celebrate differences. (As was evidenced in the children's sermon, which stressed that God made all of us, that God made us different from one another, and that God loves us as we are.) Pastor Michael allowed that many in such an audience might be hesitant to speak openly about their faith because of the way in which evangelism and much talk of faith and religion in general has been co-opted, politicized, and radicalized by right-wing politico-evangelicals. "Amen!" and "That's right." came agreement and echoes of frustration from the congregation.
Progressive, open-minded, and tolerant people of faith shouldn't shy away from talking about their beliefs out of fear of being identified with the political religiosity of the radical right. Rather, they should speak all the more openly and share their perspectives to bring to an end the notion that religious matters are the intellectual property of the radical right. Let's show the masses in the middle and each other that religion and evangelism aren't the political construct that the radical right has made them out to be over the past thirty-odd years! Let's show that genuine Christianity is also tolerance, understanding, compassion, loving one's neighbor, and the pursuit of peace!
From what I know of most religions, they all have the promotion of peace and love at their hearts, though they might arrive at those ends by different means. I have long believed that whether one calls one's god Yahweh, Allah, Jesus, Buddha, or simply God, it's the same god. (That's where I got the title for this entry.) The point isn't so much that one worship in the manner prescribed by any particular sect, but that one be in touch with the higher power that runs the universe. For me, that's the benevolent, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God about which Jesus of Nazareth taught. This brings me back around to the main point of Pastor Michael's sermon and this blog entry -- that we are all children of God and that God loves all of us as we are, even when we fall short of the one in whose image we were each made -- God. :J
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