Figuring It Out in Every Age
From The Pastor’s Desk—
One of my favorite TV shows was rebooted this year. When I was training as a hospital chaplain, I came to appreciate the sitcom “Scrubs”, which follows a group of doctors and nurses through all of the vagaries of working in a hospital. Like “M*A*S*H” did in a previous generation, “Scrubs” traded mostly in humor and human foibles, but also did not shy away from the seriousness of mortality. As I was learning how to be a chaplain -how to sit with people living with COPD, or cancer, or renal failure without trying to “fix” them; rather, simply to sit and be present with them- this show reflected my experience. Moments of triumph and camaraderie were mixed with sorrow and loss and the looming feeling of inevitability in the face of illness and death.
In the rebooted series, the once young and idealistic main character has come full circle: he has become the attending physician, tasked with supervising the new crop of young doctors fresh out of medical school. This affords him some new insight into his relationship with the attending who supervised him (one of the core dynamics of the original series). The mentor returns and (spoiler alert) has a diagnosis that requires his former protege’s care. While he chooses to lead in ways his mentor did not, the bonds of affection, care, and duty continue to bind them.
During the Eastertide season, our scripture lessons follow the work of the Apostles as they help to guide and nurture the early Church. The ways that they lead, though rooted in the teachings and example of Jesus, are developed and expanded in ways that were not addressed in Jesus’ time. Some of the earliest questions were about the role of Gentiles within the church. Jesus and his disciples were all Jewish; Jesus clearly understood himself in that context, and was not seeking to form a new religion. Early converts were expected to live in that Jewish milieu, and so the questions of what people should eat, how they should pray, and whether men needed to be circumcised were at the forefront of the discussion.
As Christians, we are heirs of this tradition of growth and adaptation. When we view the Bible solely as a rulebook that contains definitive answers to all questions, even (and especially) those that were unknown at the time of its development, we fail to honor the progress that is recorded within its pages. The Apostles had to figure things out; Christians in every age have to figure things out. Christians have struggled how to faithfully respond to: religious reform, slavery, sexuality, social media, and a host of other issues. Each new challenge is not a failure, but a new opportunity to root more deeply into the new life that Christ offers us.
In this season of renewal and new growth, may we all see the changes and challenges around us not as a threat to the ways we have lived, but as an invitation to find a new depth in the bottomless, boundless grace of our Gospel. May we continue to shine the light of the Resurrection into the places in this world that remain in the darkness of the tomb.
—Pastor Jon
