FOLLOWER NOT BELIEVER

 

I am More a Follower of Jesus than a Believer

•       - Leah Forbes

The doctrines about Jesus’ life and history give me lots of trouble. Was he born of a virgin?

Did he walk on water? Did he raise Lazarus from the dead? Did he feed four or five thousand people? Was there an empty tomb? Was Jesus truly human and truly divine? Is he part of a trinity?

I regard the stories about Jesus life as story, myth and tradition. There is some historical evidence that he did exist in history. The stories have been part of my life since my birth, baptism, confirmation,Sunday School and upbringing in a Christian home.

I was challenged at New York University about the existence of God. Professor Sidney Hook, chair of the Philosophy Department, took us through the five arguments for the existence of God proclaimed by Thomas Aquinas, and then tore them to shreds.The seminary forced me to think deeply about my beliefs in the stories of Jesus.

What made me a follower of Jesus was clergy including my father who spoke and acted to feed the hungry, heal the sick and fight for justice for all. I made the connection between my religion and worship and the needs of the people of the world. I heard a white priest say it was ok if his little daughter married a black man. I heard a black priest cry with pain and frustration because he could not eat in restaurants or get a hotel room because of his skin color. I saw a priest deciding to become a therapist to aid the mentally and emotionally ill.

In 1952 I decided to become a priest because I saw that vocation as a vehicle for social change. I saw that as a follower of Jesus I had a responsibility to care for the world. 

The gospel stories of Jesus show him healing the sick, having little patience with fools, caring for the widows and women and little children who had no rights. The story shows how he fed 4 or 5 thousand people, believe it or not. He fed people. He told powerful, moving stories like the God Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, full of deep understanding of human nature and compassion. He spoke in challenging and ambiguous parables to make us think and ponder nature and human nature. He spoke of a coming time when healing and justice would imbue the world. It did not come in his lifetime as he had predicted. He had a strong connection to God as he understood it as a religious Jew of his time.

In worship and teaching we tell the rich stories of Jesus and their relevance to today. In worship we offer the context for a divine life, a sense of the sacred and holy and the deep mystery of life. With that depth, it becomes all the more important to care for  the people and the universe. In Eucharist we taste and see the human and divine in action.

I liked the stories and their impact on me and others. I soon tired of discussions of the truth or reality of the stories. I had little patience for the debates about doctrine and dogma, virgin birth, bodily resurrection, trinity, incarnation, eucharist and later the assumption, divine rights of kings and queens, infallibility and birth control, abortion, homosexuality and pre-marital sex.

Jesus was a man of love, compassion and peace.

I am more a follower of Jesus than a believer.

RWC