Is the Pope Catholic?
Good Morning Friends,
I worship in a Presbyterian Church but my worship of God is not limited to such a place. I am constantly making connections and so I find it interesting that Pope Francis has really embraced a life that does not condemn others but is fundamentally a reformed tradition theology. Interestingly He does not claim the right to pass judgement on the ultimate salvation of others as the Catholic Church did hundreds of years ago. The dialog he supports seems to justify treating all people as if they could be among the elect, the chosen of God. The combination of this theology and the Pope’s concern for justice issues is appealing to many Protestants. When it comes to thoughts on heaven and earth it seems to me that the Pope takes the position that we need to be nice to everyone because we may be spending eternity with them. It seems he embraces a God who is sovereign. A God so gloriously free to even prompt the selection of the first Protestant Pope. I know it sounds a bit silly, but I’m serious. Is the Pope Catholic?
Scripture: Whatever the Lord pleases he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
Psalms 135:6 (NRSV)
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 (NRSV)
‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’
John 17:20-26 (NRSV)
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Luke 23:34 (NIV)
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
James 2:17 (NRSV)
For nothing will be impossible with God.
Luke 1:37 (NRSV)
Message: One of the signs of a mature religious faith is that the person holding it is comfortable with ambiguity. This is essential for a healthy faith and relevant today in our contemplation of the blending of Catholic’s and Protestant’s theology. Still for some there is an uncertainty that is very uncomfortable. But that number of believers who are fearful of such a unity seems to be dwindling. Only a few Protestants believe Catholics are not Christians. And that is due in part because of how Pope Francis is moving the Catholic Church a bit closer to Protestant approaches. It seems rather sudden but really it has taken centuries. Within the last few centuries, the pope has gone from anti-Christ to ‘brother in Christ’ for a lot of Protestants. Within the last few years the reconciliation has moved even faster. There is much we can learn from each other, and the learning of it might move us to some kind of reunification (at least of spirit) nearly 500 years after Martin Luther inadvertently started the Protestant Reformation. When Martin Luther confronted his life and the then practices of the church of buying indulgences for salvation, he realized that we cannot be justified by works. Unfortunately, I do not think he fully came to reconcile the scripture in James about faith without works being dead. Here Luther’s insertion of the faith “alone” theology is for me only the start and not the finish line. For what makes faith alive for me is God’s creativity in our lives and I think that at some level it was this same creativity of reformation that motivated Luther. There are, of course, pitfalls in this process of reformation, as today’s scripture makes clear, and yet I cannot deny what I experience. I hope you too have discovered, as I, that our lives can be a journey where faith and doing, love and grace that converge in the experience of reconciliation. We Protestants don’t have much to protest anymore. Up until now we have not had our own pope to negotiate a grand bargain. But if Pope Francis is really the first Protestant pope… and there is acknowledgement of this in how Protestants react in his presence… then the problem is moving toward being solved. All we need to do to start is pay attention to the times he’s standing on common ground and join in support.
So today we rejoice in the paradox of God’s omnipresence in Catholics and Protestants and how the Spirit is moving in the lives of those in leadership positions. Today we experience an ongoing prayer of the saints with God until all are saved that God is going to save. Today we seek a transformation from fear to love though faith that converses with a Jesus who prayed that we would be one. So be patient. Do not write off others. Pray constantly for God to be in your life and in the lives of everyone. Friends, God wants each precious life to be rescued from an epidemic of wandering away from God. We can honor His message when we understand that God is in charge of deciding human destiny. We honor His message when we overcome our fear so that we might share the love of Jesus in us. Friends, God’s sustaining and enduring presence in all things changes the context. We are to rejoice in the omnipresence of God in a very diverse world. We are to seek unity in Christ.
Pray that even though we live in a world of disunity we can rejoice in the reality that Jesus prayed for our unity. Pray that we desire to be one with His love…one with other disciples as a visible manifestation of His glory. Pray we not be selfish. Pray we realize that God gives grace to the willing humble. Pray we realize that God is to be reckoned with. Pray for each other so that we might live together whole and healed. Pray His Kingdom comes. Pray we have been set free to live in freedom’s spirit. Pray that we understand our faith experience involving our mind, emotions and will in the act of doing. Pray we rejoice in the power of the Word made flesh. Pray we do not fall prey to legalism or to the institutionalization of Christ. Pray we do works of God but not add them out of context as an obligation on a path to sanctification. Pray we live in grace. Pray that we realize that we cannot redeem ourselves. Pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to live in grace. Pray we recognize the source of the supernatural work in our lives. Pray we see the powerful workings of God in our midst. Pray we never take credit for what God has done. Pray we realize we have been blessed to be a blessing. Pray that we are united together because of the work of Jesus and not our own work. Pray our hearts are encouraged and strengthened by every good deed and word we do and say in and through the love of God. Pray we are not just hearers of the Word but doers as well. Pray that we experience life and worship as a collective prayer that shapes our souls in God’s continuing plan for His creation. Pray we realize that the last word is not ours but God’s.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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