October 8th, 2019

Are you religious? I’m not! It’s true that you are reading (and I’m writing) this devotional because we both wish to have a deeper connection to God. Obviously, that is a good thing and the very source of true joy in this life. But just as Stevie Wonder told us that “superstition ain’t the way”, religion ain’t the way, either.

Remember our devotion about “spirituality”? (September 24th) Same rules apply here. Our friend Fleming Rutledge reminds us that religion is either an “organized system of belief or, alternatively, a loose collection of ideas and practices, projected out of humanity’s needs and wishes.” Freud famously called religion the “opiate of the people.” A better description might be the “burden of the people” – an endless striving to make ourselves acceptable to God.

Is eschewing religion an odd stance for church people? Well, there was a group of people in the early church who thought so. They tried to pile all kinds of religious practices on the new Christians. But St. Paul took umbrage and declared “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. That means his death gave you immediate access and connection to your Father in heaven, who loves you. So, friends, I’ll see you in church on Sunday, but only so we can hear again the Good News, be nourished by Christ’s body and blood, and sing the praises of the One who has set us free.

“Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” (For the Mission of the Church – BCP p. 816)