Helen, our more recent exchanges have centered too much, perhaps, on the church in the form of the local congregation where the way of Jesus is worked out in worship, Scripture, the sacraments, etc.
The focus will benefit by somewhat of a change, centering on Jesus himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life. You have frequently made reference to your love for Jesus and your serious desire to follow him. I am thinking now of his words, "I am he way, the truth, and the life" spoken on the night of his betrayal and crucifixion. It is a defining sentence.
What I have in mind is the priority he gives to being the Way. That comes first. Before we can know him as the Truth and Life, he calls us to follow him as the Way. "Follow me" he calls out, a radical call which is prefaced by "Repent" and "Believe". All three verbs are resonant with action. They speak not first of all of joining a congregation but experiencing a passionate trust, a commitment of soul that is unequivocal and is rich with consequences. The three-fold command to follow, repent, and believe are not abstractions. They place us squarely in the midst of human inter-relationships that are diverse and complex. That notwithstanding, the good news amidst the complications is that he walks with us, holds us to himself, leads us in paths that are not about getting ahead on our own terms, buying into one doctrine above another, or rating one congregation as the one best suited to me.
Not long ago I experienced a moment that confirmed this essential nexus of Follow/Repent, Believe. It came as a wonderful surprise. A person with whom I had struggled through years of bad relationships met me and came directly to the point. He spoke of how deeply he regretted the way his sins against me and asked for my forgiveness. My response was, of course, to offer him the same forgiveness of Christ that defines my way of following Jesus the Way, And I added my own repentance for where I have missed the mark. We exchanged a nearly rib-crushing embrace. Both of us discovered again the Truth and Life of Jesus as we followed him on the way that he himself is. It is as though as the heavens open the peace-giving Spirit descends to create something that was not there for a very long time, two people walking together along the Way.
I marvel at the power of Jesus as the Way and cite this experience as an example of not hurrying to Jesus as the Truth that can be reduced to formulas and strategies before first following him as the Way. Isn't it significant that before Christians were known as the church, they identified themselves as people of the Way (Acts 18:26). It would be a good idea to reclaim that title and all it implies. A notable woman of our time loved to quote St. Catheine: "All the way to heaven is heaven," because He had said, "I am the way."
I have some ideas, Helen, for further exploration of how Jesus is the way and hope that your will find it valuable to shift our conversation in this way.
Editor's note: A conversation on this subject between the Rev. Lueking and Helen Mildenhall has taken place in these pages for just over a year.
