stop making me feel guilty....

I am called to be a pastor of this Church, the Christian one, a Lutheran persuasion.  So to be clear up front, I am well aware of the failures of the Church  - times when our humanness overshadowed any connection we might have had with the divine.  The Church has been guilty of supporting slavery, the Spanish Inquisition, burning Joan of Ark and John Hus at the stake....and a thousand other sins, large and small.

Local congregations have been guilty of moral judgmentalism, hypocrisy, petty conflict and both greed and parsimony in equal measures.  All these things are true.  If anyone should be aware of our own imperfection, it is the Church.

That however, doesn't change the perfect gift that is the grace of God in Jesus.  God called Jesus beloved and Jesus calls us the same.  The connection between the Divine and the Human was broken open through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  It's an open connection.  You are invited.  You are welcome.  You are loved.

I cannot fathom why this is not good news to folks.  I can understand that some folks think that it is irrelevant news of no interest to them.  But I cannot fathom how some can conceive of it as bad news.....but here is a possible clue.....

Stop making me feel guilty.  Stop saying I am doing stuff wrong and doing wrong stuff.  If you cannot say something that is uplifting and affirming than don't say anything at all.

OK but even if I remain silent, you will still feel guilty.  Because you already know that what you have done and what you have failed to do has caused this world to be a less friendly place.  Sometimes your actions arise from ignorance or inattentiveness.  Sometimes it's intentional, sometimes it's not.

I know this is true about you because it is true about me, and every other person I've ever met, and this kind of thing often becomes a burden we haul around everywhere.  We already know this stuff.  No one has to tell us.  But each of us does have to decide what to do with this truth about ourselves.

Jesus says, "Come, tell me the truth.  I already know it, but say it aloud so we can move past this road block.  Aren't you tired of the race to perfection?  Rest here, and let's put this behind us."  In Church language, we call that forgiveness.  You are welcome to call it whatever you like, but be assured it is a powerful release from the dance of perfection and pretending.  Say it like it is.  It will set you free.

The other option is to pretend you are not the kind of person who has ever done something that harms another.  You can use your energy to run and hide (from yourself and others) and put on a different face for the world.  You can even scold the church for making you feel guilty.  It won't work, but you can try.