Dear Class,
In the reading for this week I was especially interested in
Rausch’s Chapter on “Metaphors and Models of Church”. In Rausch’s section on
ekklesia he speaks in a beautiful way about the mission of the Church. “The
mission of the Church is that of Christ, to reveal God’s love through Word and
sacrament and to be itself a sacrament or instrument of communion of all people
with God and with one another” (Rausch 46). I was struck by the mission of the
Church acting as “sacrament” between all
people and God, and all people “with one another”. I found this to be a very
powerful description of how we are called to treat one another as Church. I
found myself reflecting on what it means for me as a member of Church to live in
a sacramental way so that I can bring myself and others into fullness of life
with God and with others. What does this mean? I think it means seeing the
dignity and value of others and working to let others recognize the dignity in
all human beings. I think that is just one example of how we can live in a
sacramental way as Church. What do you think other examples are of how we can
live out this mission of being sacrament?
We are also called according to Rausch to be an “instrument
of communion”, we are called as Church to bring people together with one
another and with God. Later on, Rausch
expands on this in his section, “People of God”. He says, “Salvation was always
communal, not individualistic” (50). We are called to bring one another
together in communion because that is what our salvation is about, living in
communion with one another and bringing one another closer to God and the
fullness of life through our worship as Church.
One last part of Rausch’s chapter that I was drawn to in
this same section on the Church as “People of God” was this quote which sums up
my belief on what Church is about: “The prophets never tired of reminding
Israel of the inseparability of justice and worship” (50). This is very
powerful and very true for me. Our actions must always be in line with our
belief and the Jesus we meet in the Gospels is someone who cares very deeply
about justice. I think one group that really exemplifies this description of
Church is the Catholic Worker Community here in New Orleans. I have attached a
link to their website! Can you think of other communities that exemplify your
favorite metaphor of Church?
Dear Rose, I appreciate the prophetic reminder that you echo: justice and worship are inseparable. I am humbled before the tradition in recognizing that this is nothing new, and there is some comfort in the fact that generations of believers have struggled to integrate the two. I ponder why "camps" tend to form that sometimes can seem in competition with one another: service and justice oriented faith in one camp, devotion and doctrine oriented faith in the other, suspiciously eyeing one another while striving to figure out what righteousness means.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate finding saints and models of faith that have integrated the two: Dorothy Day and her devotion to the Eucharist, Mother Teresa and the Sisters of Charity who start each dawn with Mass, etc. What do you all think? Why are these camps are what can we do toward unity?
Hi Class,
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in the Roman Catholic Church, I never gave much thought to how I perceive the Church’s function and role in the world let my own participation as a member of the Church. Reading Dulles analysis of the many ways Church has been described including church as institution, mystical communion, sacrament, herald, and servant gave me a fresh perspective on what Church really means. Being introduced to these views gave me the experience of stepping outside of what I had known and lived for so long, and offered a framework to see the Church in ways I would have not seen on my own.
Rose, you mentioned Rausch’s understanding of Church acting as sacrament. In another reading, from the chapter on “Church as Sacrament” by Dulles, we are introduced to the idea that Church is a sign representing the “historically tangible form of the redeeming grace of Christ” (63). You reflected on what it means “to live in a sacramental way.” The implications of this life require careful consideration on how my own words and actions act as a visible sign of God’s grace. In examining my own life, I feel that too often I come up short. However, my better moments seem to always be connected to community in some way. The stronger sense of “communion” I have with people who are a part of the Church, the more likely that I will have the models, habits, and support to speak and live in ways that hopefully reflect God’s grace. Finally, in response to your question about what communities exemplify my favorite model of Church, I think of the volunteer organizations like the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (http://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/). The volunteers choose to live intentionally committing themselves to social justice, simplicity, spirituality, and serving communities that are in need of social services, education, and more. I really like the notion that if Christ came in the world to serve, the Church should be modeled in that same way.
Daniella, I think your observation about these two “camps” is on point. I am not sure why I sometimes sense tension between the ideals of social justice and devotion. Perhaps it has to do with context, people’s vision of Church, understanding of their own gifts and vocation for the world.
Good morning class! Reading you guys’ posts is making my morning. While I agree with, and share Rose's passion towards the church re-aligning its focus back to the works of Jesus, I struggle more in the area of realizing and addressing the causes which may have led to the “shift” of focus in the first place. So, this leads me to what Daniella and Moe were discussing about camps. I have had the fortunate misfortune to have a very diverse religious background. Being raised Catholic by well-intended but miss-guided partakers of the faith, along with sprinkles of Baptist ideology from occasionally going to church with friends and family members who were not catholic, to trying to find my own way into the Pentecostal faith, and then finally settling into becoming Baptist; allowed me to visit those camps which are spoken of. In the end, I realized that it was not about religion, but about relationship with God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteTo me camps were created to separate one person’s true agenda from the other. In order to cover up the fact that you have strayed away from what God called have called you to be, you start another camp. Sometimes camps are started because of the cover-ups; members do not want to be a part of it. Whatever the reason, we are losing the war, because the “church” is too busy fighting individual wars, and many are against themselves. My use of the word church refers to page 46 in Rausch’s description of the church being Trinitarian. That’s why the passage in 2 Chronicles 14 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+7%3A14&version=KJV), allows us to know that God knew we were going to turn away from one another, so He gave us the solution on how to win this battle against our enemy.
I would like to pose a question… on page 92, the 3rd paragraph of Dulles’ writings, he talks about the church not being spoken about in the bible as service oriented. If one indeed sees the church as the body of Christ, or Believers of Christ, shouldn’t it be about service? What do y’all think? As for an answer to your question Rose, unfortunately, I cannot think of a community that exemplifies a metaphor of church, because there is always a conflict of interest between God’s way, and the ways of this world (government). I don’t want to seem like gloom and doom. In fact, I am quite hopeful that god’s people will get it together, because the Lord hears the cries of His people. I am going to leave you guys with a little song that cheers me up when I am beat down. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COE6YHIK-pU&noredirect=1)
Hi Simone, Thanks for the YouTube and this hopeful song. :-)
DeleteI think Dulles is looking to test whether the servant Church as we understand it today was understood the same way as a concept in the self-understanding of the early Christian community. The paragraph right above what you are referring to is helpful here. According to Dulles: "It would be surprising to find in the Bible any statement that the Church as such is called upon to perform diakonia toward the world. It would not have entered the mind of any New Testament writer to imagine that the Church has a mandate to transform the existing social institutions, such as slavery, war, or the Roman rule over Palestine." (92) I think today the Church does think of these societal realities, and as such, perhaps this is a difference in scope.
Dear Rose and Class,
ReplyDeleteLike you I was strongly moved by this week’s readings, especially the multi-dimensional expositions of what it means to be “church” and realize that their depth requires much more reflection than one week allows. For me the unifying and underlying (hypostatic) power that connects all of these insights is the consistently referenced work of Dulles, “Models of the Church.” These perspectives challenged me to further refine and formulate my own beliefs and encouraged me to be more open toward those perspectives with which I do not fully concur. This was made possible by the various treatments of these five models, which include 1) Church as Institution, 2) Church as Mystical Communion 3) Church as Sacrament, 4) Church as Herald and 5) Church as Servant. In unpacking of these models a beautiful occurrence emerged whereby what once appeared to be categories bound by walls of incompatibility, suddenly revealed themselves as an opportunities for integration, and if not degrees of integration, then a least a profound sense of appreciation. This receptivity gave rise to a vision of co-mingling, wherein each of the models are not seen as independent or autonomous entities, but as inter-dependently coexistent, differing more in emphasis than in substance. After exploring some of the dynamics of this dialectic, historically prolific in the annals of Church councils, I pray that this is not just a dream. This concern is contemporarily evident in what I perceive, in comparison to the dawning of Vatican II, as a distancing of denominations. Here I find myself in that all-too-familiar place of asking, “If the church in-itself can’t come together…what hope is there of One?” These thoughts, these longings for the heartfelt fusion of church model assimilation, more contemplative than deductive, aspire to reveal the all-important universality of being in communion with community. Perhaps by inclusively answering the unitive call of the Christ we will see Him in each other – individually, communally, denominationally, ecumenically, universally and cosmologically.
~ Walter Jr.