Seeing the future

This is my contribution to the Fishkill UMC December newsletter.

When I was at Tompkins Corners UMC, one of the members let me know that they were leaving the Methodist Church and the Christian faith and becoming a Muslim.  I had not had much contact with this individual before that but others in the church told me that they always seemed to be changing their denomination.  I cannot speak to why this person left the Christian faith except to speculate that they were seeking to find out who they were.

If that were the case, I would have understood their decision.  I have seen others leave the faith of their birth behind because they were searching for answers they felt were not being answered by Christianity. 

When I was in high school, I became interested in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) or Mormons.  I wasn’t thinking of leaving the Methodist church (because I had only been a member for two years) but there was something about this uniquely American faith that I found interesting, and I wanted to know more.  My own faith journey would cross the paths of the Mormons later when I was living in Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa.

Similarly, I was interested in the faith that we called the Shakers.  In this case, it was the music of the faith that I found interesting and challenging (our hymn, “Lord of the Dance” is based on the Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts”).  And I am constantly amazed that Shaker furniture, based on simplicity, can bring six figures in price at auction.

And while the Mormon faith has continued to grow, the Shaker faith has almost disappeared from the faith landscape.  No doubt, you have met one or two Mormon missionaries who are interested in bringing news of their faith to your doorstep.  But the Shakers did not have such an active plan to bring new members into the fold and it was the need for a constant influx of new members that was necessary if their faith was to survive.  Despite the uniqueness of the faith, or perhaps because of its uniqueness, the Shaker faith died, remembered only by its music and its furniture.

It is that view of the future that best defines faith.  Is there a future and does it apply to me?

In our faith tradition, Christ is born during the darkest time of the year, a time that speaks of no future.  And yet that is what the birth of Christ represents, a future.

Some have no need for such a vision.  They feel that their position in society and their wealth assures them of a fixed future.  They had no need for the vision of the future that Christ’s birth heralded.

The first to hear of Christ’s birth were the shepherds, the lowliest of society.  Treated as outcasts and with suspicion, the shepherds saw no future.  Christ’s birth and His mission would change that vision.

Those in power saw a future that was fixed and unchanging.  The Magi understood that the future was determined by a search for knowledge and wisdom.  They sought Christ to better understand the future.

In 1966 I was just beginning my faith and professional journeys and my future was cloudy and defined by others.  But others in the faith and academic communities helped me to define my future.

Each of us has had a similar experience.  We begin our journey of faith and vocation with only a vague sense of what lies before us and what we know is very much defined by others.

Had the shepherds not come down from the hills when they heard the angels singing of Christ’s birth, their lives would have never changed.  Had the Magi ignored the signs in the skies, they would have never left Baghdad and discovered a new world.

The Birth of Christ changed the world.  Today, we are the angels whose voices tell others of the Birth of Christ.  Today, we are the Magi who seek new worlds, both physical and virtual.  We are the ones whose lives were changed when Christ became a part of our life.  We are the ones who will help other see the future because Christ is born.