{"id":1296,"date":"2012-03-27T18:55:33","date_gmt":"2012-03-27T18:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=765"},"modified":"2017-08-26T15:26:28","modified_gmt":"2017-08-26T19:26:28","slug":"signs-of-faith-individual-and-collective-by-aldred-neufeldt-march-25-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/?p=1296","title":{"rendered":"Signs of Faith \u2013 Individual and Collective by Aldred Neufeldt – March 25, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Texts: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 119:9-16; John 12:20-33<\/p>\n

In this 5th Sunday of Lent we approach Jerusalem and, with Jesus, the dawning realization that death awaits \u2013 on the cross.\u00a0 Death is no stranger to us here at TUMC.\u00a0 In the past month a number of us have lost loved ones; this past week another, as we\u2019ve heard. So it\u2019s fitting we turn once again to our preparation for Good Friday and the cross \u2013 but, in anticipation of the risen Christ. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In the past four Sundays our Lenten series has invited us to reflect on signs of faith \u2013 signs of the relationship between God and the people of God \u2013 of the different ways in which this relationship has been understood over the millenia \u2013 from God\u2019s covenant with Noah, to that with Abraham and Sarah, to the laws of Moses.\u00a0 All of these and others have been signs of God\u2019s interest in covenant relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also been told that a covenant relationship is only good if reciprocated \u2013 it requires choice on the part of people to be in relationship with God.\u00a0 And, so, the word \u2018sign\u2019 again comes into play.\u00a0 Not only are covenants \u2018signs\u2019 of God\u2019s interest in us, they also invite one to pledge one\u2019s commitment to the relationship \u2013 to \u2018sign up\u2019 in ways that strengthen us as a people of God.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s readings take these lessons in a new direction.\u00a0 Through the prophet Jeremiah, as we\u2019ve heard it read, God says real faith is not just living with a set of laws.\u00a0 Real faith looks forward, and is internalized. \u201cBehold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new convenant\u2026.\u201d (v. 31).\u00a0 It\u2019s not going to be like those old covenants set out in \u2018laws\u2019 \u2013 laws that were meant to be good for you, to help choose life over death, choose holiness over impurity \u2013 but which got interpreted as external controls and were broken.\u00a0 Not a convenant like that.\u00a0 Rather, God\u2019s new vision for the world is one where people sense the presence of the Holy Spirit \u2013 not hovering somewhere nearby, but internalized \u2013 where our faith is so intimately tied with God as if inscribed on the muscles of our hearts.<\/p>\n

And then, in the Gospel of John, Jesus says: \u201cWhoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor\u201d (12:26).\u00a0 We know how to respond to God because the covenant, should we choose to \u2018sign on\u201d to it, is written on our hearts. The Psalmist picks up on this imagery another way: \u201cWith my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments.\u00a0 I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you\u201d (Psalm 119:10-11).<\/p>\n

As I reflected on these Lectionary readings over the past week and more I was struck yet again with the power of metaphor \u2013 God\u2019s presence within me, written on my heart! \u00a0 What an evocative image of longing, of joy when one feels enveloped in God\u2019s love, of hope for the future.<\/p>\n

And yet, as I reflected, I felt a little troubled.\u00a0 There is something about this way of thinking about faith \u2013 fine and wonderful and personal as it is \u2013 there is something about this way of thinking that seems just a bit shallow \u2013 particularly in light of the death on the cross we know awaits. My comfort level crumbles when I hear Jesus say:”Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say–‘ Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour\u201d (John 12:27).<\/p>\n

Then it struck me.\u00a0 At the core of my dis-ease is that I\u2019ve been lulled into an individualistic, North American style of thinking about faith.\u00a0 Indeed, the leadership material does a rather good job of that.\u00a0 For each week of Lent the leadership material makes a great play on the word \u2018sign\u2019 \u2013 inviting us to prepare signs for our services and for Childrens\u2019s stories, to think of covenants both as \u2018signs\u2019, and also as opportunities to \u2018sign in\u2019, \u2018sign up\u2019, and \u2018sign on\u2019. \u00a0 The resource material for every week of this series is prefaced with the question \u201cWhere do I sign?\u201d<\/p>\n

To \u2018sign on with God\u2019\u2013 that seems rather individualistic and familiar, doesn\u2019t it? \u2018It\u2019s me and you, God\u2019 \u2013 as if against the rest of the universe! The point is, in North American culture, that\u2019s the way of thinking \u2013 it\u2019s all about my choice. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But, that\u2019s hardly the way people in most of the world think. In most cultures and contexts people see themselves as part of a group, to think less as individuals than as part of a collective whole.\u00a0 In much of the world the phrase \u2018in-group\u2019 means something quite different than in North America.\u00a0 Here in North America we speak about an \u2018in-group\u2019 as one that is in vogue for the moment, one that the popular set are part of \u2013 and we may well feel left out if we are not part of it. \u00a0 That\u2019s part of the attraction for \u2018Facebook\u2019 \u2013 who doesn\u2019t want to \u2018sign up\u2019 to be a friend if we\u2019re invited \u2013 so as to not miss out?\u00a0<\/p>\n

For most cultures of the world, though, an \u2018in group\u2019 means something quite different \u2013 it is what I am part of \u2013 it\u2019s my own social group, my extended family in society.\u00a0 Being part of an in-group is not about being popular, it\u2019s about where one belongs and gains a sense of identity and personal security. \u00a0 For most world cultures, the question about \u2018signing up\u2019 isn\u2019t so much a question for a person to answer, as it is a question where the person counts on the group to join in the answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So I began revisiting todays readings, and asked the question: how would someone from another culture read and understand them? \u00a0 Yes of course, faith is personal.\u00a0 A personal commitment to our God is important and essential.\u00a0 BUT, a personal commitment, a commitment based on individualistic cultural values where it\u2019s all about my choice – if that\u2019s all there is to it, then isn\u2019t that a vulnerable faith commitment that\u2019s only as good as the most recent choice made?\u00a0 What is the role of the broader faith community, I asked myself. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Mennonite Experience with Collective \u00a0<\/p>\n

We know something about community and faith as Mennonites, so in a sense I decided to go back to basics. \u00a0 Our identity is as much tied to shared, collective expressions of faith as to individualistic, personal ones. \u00a0 As a people we have had the conviction that our faith is sustained by the influences from two polar opposite forces \u2013 the personal and the collective.\u00a0 Like the magnetic field governs much of how we orient ourselves in the world, to Mennonites both the personal and collective poles are central to authentic lives of faith.\u00a0 In the remainder of this sermon I want to speak a little more clearly about these two poles \u2013 and their import for our identity and mission to extend the peace of Jesus.<\/p>\n

What serves as an anchor for me when I think about these two poles is those within our World Mennonite fellowship who provide a visible and public reminder of our collectivist and communal history \u2013 notably our cousins amongst Amish and Hutterian Brethren.\u00a0 I\u2019m always grateful for their witness. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But, a more personal connection for me is through my grandmother \u2013 Aganetha Dyck Olfert. She was born in 1880 in an \u2018old colony\u2019 Rheinlaender mennnonite community in southern Manitoba. \u00a0<\/p>\n

This kerchief belonged to her.\u00a0 It\u2019s at least 80 years old, perhaps older.\u00a0 What this kerchief reminds me of is not only my grandmother, but also the nature of the faith tradition in which she grew up.\u00a0 Though her family migrated from t
\nhe \u2018old colony\u2019 to more modern \u2018general conference\u2019 Mennonite church affiliation, my grandmother wore a black kerchief most every day to the end of her life.<\/p>\n

In her youth she lived in a traditional old colony village, with every family in the village having farmland apportioned to it by lot.\u00a0 The utmost concern of the old colony people centered around preservation of their way of life as a sign of their commitment to faith. Contact with the outside world was kept to a minimum.\u00a0 Priority was given to the idea of nonconformity with the world. \u00a0 As a people of faith we are\u00a0 \u2018in the world, but not of the world,\u2019 is how I heard it said as a child. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Nonconformity as a group of believers, from their point of view, involved the total cultural pattern \u2013 the language one used for worship; wearing clothing that was modest and not worldly; running one\u2019s own schools with too much education seen as worldly; furnishing one\u2019s home very simply; governing themselves in their community, practicing mutual aid, and so on. These were integral to their church concept \u2013 having much in common with their Amish and Hutterian cousins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This kerchief, for my grandmother, signified both a communal expression of faith as well as an individual personal one.\u00a0 The personal meaning of the kerchief was twofold.\u00a0 First, it meant she had been baptized on her personal confession of faith. Second, it also meant she was married.\u00a0 Once baptized and married, women began wearing a black or dark navy kerchief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Baptism was taken very seriously in Old Colony traditions.\u00a0 Every family Bible faithfully recorded not only the names of family members as these were added, along with birthdates; but, also the date they were baptized.\u00a0 Why enter the year of baptism, I always wondered as a child?\u00a0 Only later did I appreciate how important a symbol that was.\u00a0 One couldn\u2019t get married in an old colony without first being baptized \u2013 true for men and women.\u00a0 One wouldn\u2019t get elected to a position of \u2018schultz\u2019 (the village mayor) if one wasn\u2019t baptized.\u00a0 And, if a schulz should ever become too proud of power, the community wouldn\u2019t think twice about excommunicating him. So, baptism was important as a sign of one\u2019s commitment to live right in the eyes of God.<\/p>\n

The kerchief also says something about how my grandmother saw herself in relation to the larger world. You didn\u2019t dress in a worldly way \u2013 dressing simply, and modestly. In a similar manner, my grandfather never wore a tie \u2013 that was too worldly. You kept yourself apart from the larger world if at all possible.\u00a0 You sought to do what was right, and not do what was wrong.\u00a0 You went to church every Sunday, where you participated in the service quietly and reverently.\u00a0 Children were expected to be still.\u00a0 On those two or three occasions during a year when communion was observed, you received the elements in a white hankerchief as that symbolized purity of the spirit.\u00a0 These are just a few of many ways in which faith was viewed corporately and collectively.<\/p>\n

Our old colony brothers and sisters are not without fault, and sometimes are vulnerable to criticism as being overly rigid, overly concerned about the centrality of the group and not enough concerned about the individual; and, sometimes their faith is interpreted as too shallow. \u00a0 These traits can and do get their communities into trouble.\u00a0 Yet, I am not convinced our urban, educated congregations are any less vulnerable to criticisms.\u00a0 Sometimes their emphasis leans too far towards towards the \u2018collective\u2019 end of the two poles.\u00a0 Yet, I am grateful that my grandmother\u2019s community continues to set out an example of what it means to be non-conformist.\u00a0 It provides an important corrective to the powerfully seductive forces of individualism that North American culture around us exhudes.\u00a0 It gives an anchor to the rest of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Balancing the Personal and the Collective<\/p>\n

So, as I think on today\u2019s Lectionary readings in light of my grandmother\u2019s faith tradition, it strikes me that one can read them with a collectivist sensibility at least as easily as an individualistic one. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Take the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah.\u00a0 When the prophet speaks to God\u2019s covenant written on the heart, our North American minds almost automatically convert this to mean \u2018on my heart\u2019.\u00a0 That\u2019s a powerful and romantic interpretation.\u00a0 Yet, that is not what the passage says. It\u2019s speaks to house of Israel as a collective: \u201dFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people\u201d(31:33).<\/p>\n

Our readings from the Gospel of John are a little more ambigous, but even here there is ample room for a collectivist understanding.\u00a0 In verse 26, when Jesus says \u201cwhoever serves me the Father will honor\u201d, there certainly is a personal invitation.\u00a0 Yet, my experience with the Middle Eastern tradition suggests even this verse would also have been interpreted in a more collectivist sense \u2013 that, together, you and I and our people, we will serve.<\/p>\n

What I am reminded of is that both poles \u2013 the collective as well as the individual \u2013 are important to our expression of faith.\u00a0 They both need to be held simultaneously, in some tension with each other.<\/p>\n

A robust faith can\u2019t just be personal.\u00a0 It must be embedded within, and supported by, a group of people we trust and have confidence in. That\u2019s when faith becomes robust and firm and able to withstand challenge.<\/p>\n

A collective faith involves the mutual hope of a group. It\u2019s not merely the concern of an individual, although it can begin with the thinking of individuals.\u00a0 In a healthy tension, the thinking of an individual about faith issues is tested against the collective expression of faith.\u00a0 We know this at TUMC \u2013 at least at a cognitive level; yet, it is always important to remind ourselves of it. \u00a0<\/p>\n

More importantly, to grow morally and spiritually, or to aid others in their growth, and to make a coherent witness to the world, I need a group with focus and purpose within which my personal faith can rest.\u00a0 And, if my faith is challenged by forces from the individualistic world about me, the collective \u2013 the faith community \u2013 is a place of support and affirmation.<\/p>\n

Collective faith provides more than a testing ground and a source of support, though.\u00a0 Collective faith represents a unified vision that can fuel the activities of an entire congregation, indeed, the much larger Mennonite fellowship, in order that a collective dream may be realized in history. What a collective expression of faith does is provide a corporately inter-connected spiritual path for a group of believers to practice seriously their faith \u2013 you, I, each one of us, together. \u00a0 Without such shared vision neither worship nor ministry can reasonably reach any depth. \u00a0<\/p>\n

So, what I\u2019ve come to in thinking about my grandmother\u2019s faith tradition, and the North American individualistic context we are in, is the conviction that it is only when we balance the personal and the collective \u2013 that we consciously hold them in tension with each other \u2013 it\u2019s only then that we as Mennonite Anabaptists can claim a unique Christian witness.\u00a0 It is then that we speak with an authentic and coherent voice, somewhat different from most others, to the powers of our age. \u00a0<\/p>\n

God be with us!\u00a0 Amen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

View Archived Sermons Listen to This Sermon\u00a0 \u00a0 Texts: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 119:9-16; John 12:20-33 In this 5th Sunday of Lent we approach Jerusalem and, with Jesus, the dawning realization that death awaits \u2013 on the cross.\u00a0 Death is no stranger to us here at TUMC.\u00a0 In the past month a number of us have lost loved ones; this past week another, as we\u2019ve heard. So it\u2019s fitting we turn once again to our preparation for Good Friday and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons-a-worship-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3942,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions\/3942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}