Reflection This Week
A RELATIONSHIP NOT A RELIGION

   My theological mentor, albeit only from his writings, Robert Capon, has always insisted that Jesus came among us not to establish a religion but simply and precisely to do away with all religion. His point is that too many of us, perhaps all of us, view religion, our religion, whatever that religion may be, as a way of life. It becomes, in fact is, a set of rules, dos and don’ts, that keep us on the straight and narrow, rules and regulations that, we believe, if we follow them to the T, we will be rewarded both in the here-and-now and, most importantly, in the hereafter.

   Those who truly think and act with that set of beliefs, who live under that kind of regimen, sooner or later give it all up and reject the God who would demand such a way of life. Religion, rules and regulations, may help us walk the straight and narrow, but sooner or later we fall off and fall away. The road is too narrow, too restrictive and never, ever a joy to walk. No wonder organized religion gets a bad name.

   Jesus, however, never came to organize anyone and the organization that developed after he left was not his idea even if much of it was and still is a good idea. He came to gather a community of people who would be in relationship with him and in relationship with one another. He gave them no rules except that they should love him and one another equally and totally, with the same love they had for their God.

   The rules only came later – as rules and laws always do. They are the result of our not loving, our insistence that we have it our way at the expense of another. Thus, in order to keep order within the community, commandments and laws and rules of conduct were written down and even enforced. If one wanted to know how one could and should be a good member of the community, one only had to read the rules.

   When I went off to seminary fifty-plus years ago, the very first order of business was for the Dean of Men, who was called The Disciplinarian (get it!?!), to read and explain the rules to us. Once we knew, understood and followed them, why we would be one happy community. What happened, of course, was that it was nothing like that. We lived in fear of breaking a rule because it could mean being put on the bus and sent home for good.

   What in fact made us a community and why my seminary brothers are true brothers to this day even though some of us have not seen each other in forty or more years is the relationships we developed – in spite of the rules. Any one of them could call me and ask for help and I would be there – and they would do the same.

   Relationships: that is what our faith is all about. It begins with the same relationship Jesus' followers had with him, he with they, and they with one another. It’s not a religion about rules and regulations to follow but a way of life. My seminary handed us a sheet of rules to follow much in the same way that so many go to the Bible to find the way to be a good Christian. That way was not in those rules and it is not in the Bible – except in following Jesus’ way of life.

   Easter is a reminder that Jesus’ death and resurrection overcame the old way, the “religious” way, the way of rules and regulations, the way that “justified” his death. His resurrection to new life gave new life to that community who gathered around him, reminding them – and us who are now part of that community – that following his way means learning the truth that it is only in loving relationship with our God and one another that we find true life. There is no other way. Happy Easter.