The Book of Acts 3:12- 19
Easter 3 / Year B
A friend encouraged
me to check out Douglas Murray’s book The
Madness of Crowds in which the British author explores why our
society is being torn apart by divisive issues such as sexuality, gender,
technology, and race. Murray contends
“we have been living through a period of more than a quarter of a century in
which all our grand narratives have collapsed.”
By grand narrative, I assume Murray means something like the
story we embrace and the truths it contains to help us make sense of
the world, of our place in it, and of our responsibility to it and to one
another.
Murray is not the
only person to observe our post-modern age is marked by suspicion of all grand
narratives, especially those once provided by religion and political
ideology. In their place, he says, what
has emerged are “new battles, ever fiercer campaigns and more niche demands.” We find meaning, he says, by constantly
waging war with anyone who “seems to be on the wrong side of the question.” Murray goes on to examine how he sees his
premise playing out through some of our most heated social debates.
I confess I have
not read the entire book, so there may be more I have missed, but it struck me
how, when examining the change in our society’s view of same gender
relationships, Murray’s biggest complaint seems to be too much has changed too
fast. I agree our world is changing
at an unprecedented pace, the rapidity of which is both astonishing and
stressful at the same time. But the
concern about pace, it seems to me, depends on which side of the change you are
on.
Did anyone see
coming the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989? One day it defined the world and the next day
it was gone. It was a rapid change long
overdue, unless of course you were invested in maintaining the Iron
Curtain. The grand narrative of Marxism,
the Soviet Union, and The Cold War collapsed in a matter of days along with the
wall so symbolic of the story it pushed.
Was the speed of it all disorienting?
Certainly. Was it a
blessing? Absolutely.
Our country’s
discourse about same gender relationships has played out largely during my
three and a half decades in the ordained ministry. Each new threshold was a cause of joy for
some and consternation for others. Much
of the time those disquieted by a recent development wondered aloud, “What is
coming next?” It is how many expressed
their concern with the fast-paced nature change manifests itself in our day. But for those on the other side of the
dominant narrative, change could not come fast enough. How long should one accept being treated
unfairly? How long should one keep silent
and accept being treated as an inferior?
What Murray sees as
“niche demands” I suspect are appreciated as cries for equality from those
whose rights and personhood had been suppressed by a now crumbling grand
narrative. I don’t have to list for you the
manifold ways this is being played out.
It ranges from vital issues such as voting rights to symbolic issues
such as Confederate statues to non-issues such as renaming Mr. Potato
Head. And while I don’t agree with
everything I have read in Murray’s book, I do think he is on to something
important when he notes all of this emanates from the loss of a grand narrative. We all seek narratives through which we can
live in and make sense of the world.
Some of us look back fondly on the grand narrative of the past (whatever
you imagine it to be) and long for its return.
Others, as Murray notes, seek to have their niche perspective endorsed
by all.
I thought about all
of this as I pondered today’s first reading from The Book of Acts. Peter and John are in Jerusalem and go to the
Temple to pray. This is quite remarkable,
given only a few weeks earlier Peter was afraid to show his face there and
admit to knowing Jesus. On their way
into the sacred space they encounter a blind beggar who asks money from
them. Neither has anything to give, so
Peter prays for him in the name of Jesus.
The beggar’s sight is restored immediately. Those who witness this are astonished and
Peter seizes the moment set the record straight. He proclaims to them who Jesus was, reminds
them of how they turned on him, and states plainly Jesus rose from the
dead. Peter then invites his audience to
repent and believe. The text goes on to
tell us 5,000 people respond to his message and are baptized.
No doubt these
people have some familiarity with Jesus.
Most likely they had seen Jesus, some even had met him. They heard his teaching and were aware of the
miracles he worked. They know the basic
facts of Holy Week and many participated in those events. They are aware of the rumors of the
Resurrection. And they are trying to
make sense of it all. In other words,
they are trying to figure out a narrative through which to understand Jesus. Peter makes a public proclamation which looks
at the existing facts about Jesus’ life and infuses them with a new
meaning. It is a meaning which has
tremendous implications on those who hold to it. Literally thousands of people willingly
embrace it as their grand narrative after listening to Peter.
This grand
narrative shaped the world until the Enlightenment, as Murray and others
note. The Christian worldview has been
on the decline for several reasons:
· It doesn’t always
square well with science.
· Its claim to
exclusive access to God seems dubious to many in our age of relativity.
· It has been used to
oppress other cultures, ideas, and people.
· At times the
teachings and the tactics of Christianity’s believers bear little resemblance
to its founder.
In our day we Christians
are just another option in a marketplace rich with possible ways to understand
and engage the world. The pace of this
change only seems to be accelerating and either we can sit back in our favorite
church pew and complain or we can be like Peter, roll up our sleeves, and get
to work by proclaiming God’s Grand Narrative to the world.
If we are looking
for a fresh voice to help us find a path forward we need look no farther than the
Presiding Bishop of our own Episcopal Church.
Michael Curry has invested his time in this world-wide role talking
about what he calls “the Jesus Movement.”
You can think of it as being code words for his grand narrative for
understanding the world and engaging with it.
Bishop Michael has described the Jesus Movement in several books which
are very accessible, even if your eyes glaze over when hearing the words "grand
narrative." He articulates his grand narrative
by positing “If it isn’t about love, it isn’t about Jesus.”
For me, this is more
than a theoretical safari on intellectual plains bearing little resemblance to
our lives. It has to do we how we
experience, understand, and live out the Christian faith. It has to do with how explain ourselves to
our friends, neighbors, and coworkers.
But even more important, it has something to do with the heritage of
faith we want to pass on to our children and to our grandchildren. They are growing up in a world devoid of a grand
narrative and will struggle to make sense of what they experience. We have the opportunity to reengage our
faith, shed ourselves of the way it has been coopted over history in the service
of lesser gods and ideas, and present it anew and afresh to those we love and
so desperately seek to guide and to point the way… the way that leads to the
life we have found in Jesus.
