Reading with the Saints

Reading with the Saints

Reflections on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral - Tradition
August 25, 2024


2 Thessalonians 2:15, Hebrews 12:1, Romans 15:4, Matthew 28:19-20

see also how Jesus uses tradition - "You have heard"
Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34, 38-39, 43-45

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions we taught you, whether we taught you in person or through our letter.

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction so that we could have hope through
endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures.

 Romans 15:4

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Whether we come from a religious family or not, we all grow up with traditions.  Perhaps we remember family traditions around holidays, birthdays, trips, or other special occasions.  Maybe it was as simple as Sunday dinner at a family member’s home or a weekend movie or game night.  No matter how small or elaborate, our traditions say a lot about what our family most values and those values have shaped much of our lives. 

In addition to family traditions, we also have religious traditions.  For some, that tradition may simply be that you didn’t go to church at all, but maybe a grandparent or other family member had a church at some point.  For others, it may have just been going to church on Christmas or Easter, or perhaps you were one of those who was in church every time the door was open.  Regardless of how often or how little you were in church, you no doubt learned something about faith from members of your family or from your church.  Some of those traditions may have given you a negative view of faith or religion, others may have been very positive.  But again, all of these religious experiences helped form our value systems and our faith or lack-there-of.

My own religious tradition was a mixed bag.  I grew up in the Catholic church and hated it, but I didn’t know there was anything else.  As a teenager I was “saved” in a Baptist church.  As a college student and young adult I branched out to a number of different denominations and finally landed in a United Methodist Church when I took a job as a part time youth pastor in 2003.  I chose to remain United Methodist for a many reasons, but when I look back on my religious background, I am deeply aware of the mixture of pain and blessing from each congregation and tradition.  Some things I have grown beyond and others that I once rejected I have come to appreciate more deeply in more recent years. 

Just as our own religious experiences are part of our tradition, so the larger tradition of church history has shaped our denominations and even much of our culture.  No matter how fresh or modern a church might be, it is still rooted in a long tradition of faithful saints who have gone before us.  We are not the first to study the Bible, to worship God, or to have a relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit, and we will not be the last. 

In all of our efforts as humans to make our mark on the world and leave our legacy, it is easy to forget that we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves.  As we study the scriptures, we can find tremendous blessing and wisdom in walking with the Saints who have gone before us, both ancient and recent. 

We cannot escape it. 

The tradition is part of who we are.

The question is, how will we allow it to teach us, to shape us, and to bless our lives?

Jesus as Teacher

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Jesus as Teacher
Series: Meeting Jesus Again - Part 2
2023 - A Lenten Journey

Matthew

(based on the book Freeing Jesus, by Diana Butler Bass)

When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he was teaching them like someone with authority and not like their legal experts.

Matthew 7:28-29 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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In recent years, American teachers have been caught in the crossfire of culture wars.  By any objective standard, they are underpaid and underfunded in the classroom while at the same time navigating constant attacks from parents and politicians telling them exactly how they can and can’t do their job.  School board meetings across the nation are often more contentious, and even violent, than congress.  On the whole, it would seem that teachers are among the most under appreciated and undervalued members of our society.

Christians were once on the front lines of supporting public education, believing that everybody regardless of race, gender, geography, or economic means, should have access to high quality learning.  These days, many Christian communities support a move away from public schools toward private religious education, homeschooling, and other means of keeping their children separated from the growing diversity in the culture around us. 

So what does all of this have to do with Jesus?  Quite a bit, actually, if we are willing to acknowledge Jesus as rabbi or teacher.

I’ve heard people condemn the idea of Jesus as teacher for the same reason they struggle with Jesus as a friend.  Many feel these roles are beneath Jesus.  He is Lord and God or he is nothing.  In our well intentioned attempts to keep Jesus elevated on his throne in heaven, I wonder if we’ve missed the whole point of why Jesus came in the first place.  He didn’t come on a white horse in the clouds to enforce his Kingship.  He came among the poor and the lowly as a friend and teacher, that all might have access to the God who loved them more than they could ever imagine.  He came not just so people would “believe in him” and get into heaven, but to teach us how to make the heavenly kingdom a reality on earth. 

I can’t help but wonder if the diminished value of teachers in our society has also contributed to our diminished respect for Jesus as our teacher.  Don’t get me wrong.  We love Jesus.  We worship Jesus.  We believe in Jesus.  We are grateful that Jesus forgives our sin.  But when it really comes down to it, do we really listen to him as our teacher?

He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am.  If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet.

John 13:12-14

Are we willing to follow his teachings? 

Are we willing to serve and wash the feet of others, even our enemies, as he taught us to do by his own example?

Teachers were once highly respected.  We hung on their every word, not only the curriculum they taught, but on their example as role models in our lives.  Perhaps we should work to re-establish the honored position of teachers in our society, and while we’re at it, maybe it’s time we let Jesus be our teacher as well.

What if Jesus really meant everything he said? 

And what if we really trusted and obeyed?