A Good Friday Sermon 2

Now that I have a real life follower I suppose I should post more often to let them and you know that I am still alive, though I know there is at least one person who reads this blog who also reads my Idol blog quite regularly....

Back in 2006 in my past blog I posted a sermon on Good Friday that was critical of the church that I was born and baptized in. What prompted this was a delicious sausage that I had for lunch that day and the guilt trip that I went through afterwards, since when I was a kid I was told that people who eat meat on Lenten Fridays, especially Good Friday, were doomed to Hell. I still cannot understand how ignoring a meaningless rule established not by God but by mortal human beings was tantamount to committing murder or engaging in devil worship. I also still believe that the path to God is through a person's heart and not through their stomach.

Oh, BTW, I had a nice club sandwich with turkey for lunch today, and a beer.

One of the quotes that I found in my research for that post was this gem from theologian Grace McKinnon: "Not eating meat on Friday is but a small thing compared to the sacrifice He (Jesus) made by laying down His own life willingly so that we might live." This leads me to today's sermon. How exactly did Jesus' sacrifice allow me to live? I have been told as far back as I can remember that Jesus died for our sins but I have never really understood the logic behind this.

A few of you, including the affore mentioned follower (who I bet wants me to note that she is not the same person who reads the Idol blog), know that I attended a Catholic high school, and in my sophomore year there I had a priest for religion class that every once in a while would pass out index cards and ask us to write down any question about religion that we wanted to and that he would attempt to answer them. So one day I wrote down "how did Jesus die for our sins?" The teacher read this question aloud and laughed, then said that he thought it was a trick question and didn't answer it. "I think we all know the answer to that," he said. Thankfully we were not required to write down our names on the cards so I was spared the embarrassment of being exposed as an apparent heretic in front of my classmates, but I was upset that he did not answer the question. I did not press the issue, mostly because I was embarrassed to do so and also because the priest was pretty cool and would break up the lectures by showing us one of the Rocky movies. But to this day I wonder why he refused to answer the question. After all, it is one of the basic, heck the basic tenet of the Catholic Church but I was never given a basic, logical explanation for how it all works.

A few years ago one of my co-workers who is Hindu asked me what Easter was all about, which I thought posed an interesting dilemma, how do you explain Easter to a Hindu?

Christian: Easter celebrated the day that the Messiah Jesus rose from the dead.

Hindu: Like reincarnation?

Christian: No, Jesus came back as himself.

Hindu: Why is that important?

Christian: Because Jesus died for our sins.

Hindu: How?

Christian: Uhh..... did you notice how cold it was this morning?

I suppose that it is not a coincidence that my confirmation name was Thomas, not in the sense that I am a doubter but in the sense that I find it difficult to accept things on faith alone. OK, maybe I am a doubter. This may also explain why I was such a bad Republican and had to leave the party and the county that I was raised in. Why can't the church that claims to speak for God on matters of faith and morals offer a rational explanation for a belief that goes to the core of the religion? It's like getting into a taxi in a third world country, they ask you to just take it on faith that you will end up at your hotel with your wallet still in your pocket.

Which, BTW, I will find out about in about a month when I go to Peru. More on that in a later post.

So here I was a couple of months ago with all these doubts about the religion that I was raised in talking to my 6-year old niece about that same religion. She goes to Sunday school and on this occasion she told me all the things she is learning in this school, and I find myself encouraging her to continue and telling her how important it was for her to go to these classes. I thought afterwards about how odd this was and whether or not I was being a hypocrite, but I think I have come to terms with this. The faith that I have and the questions that I ask come from all those years in church and religion classes. I'm not looking to tear down the house, just remodel it. The foundation is still there, and I think it is important for my niece to get that foundation before she starts asking the questions. Does this make any sense?

I still wonder what the connection was between the New Testament and Rocky Balboa, but I guess some mysteries are better left unknown....