It's been a little while since I've done this - note to self: don't plan to write a blog post while at Annual Conference. So we've got a little catching up to do. If you've been in Sunday services, you may remember reading the David and Goliath passage back on June 24. You can refresh your memory here.
It's a familiar story: Goliath, the giant of the foreign army, challenges the Israelite army to send him a champion to fight against. The idea is that whichever champion wins, that person's army wins the whole battle, and the armies don't have to fight. But because Goliath is so huge, and has such cool armor, all the Israelites are afraid of him. Nobody wants to be the Israelite champion, including Saul, the one that God had originally chosen as king (he's still king at this point, even though God has decided that David would be a better king). David happens to be delivering supplies to his brothers in the army when he hears about this. He volunteers, even though he's much smaller than Goliath, saying that he's killed lions and bears before, and in any case God will be with him. And so we have the famous story of strength beaten by weakness. This is highlighted even more because Goliath is covered in fancy armor and weapons, and David beats him without armor and with only a simple stone and sling.
It's nothing new, but it's still true: Weakness can be stronger than strength.
As I mentioned above, I intended to write this post at Annual Conference, our yearly regional gathering of pastors and church folks to learn, worship, be together, and make decisions. Looking back on Annual Conference now, I see this same idea: Weakness can be stronger than strength.
We had a speaker named Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity After Religion, which I am reading now and which I definitely recommend. Like David, Diana offered hope through God - this time to a church that has seen consistent decline for decades. The United Methodist Church, like all "mainline" denominations (think Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, etc.), has seen lower and lower numbers regarding church attendance, membership, and participation. We've had dozens and dozens of folks telling us how to "fix" our churches, usually with a new program or new way of advertising.
But Diana had a different take on it. In her view, this decline is one small indication of a wider phenomenon: a spiritual awakening. How can decline be an indication of awakening? She argues (convincingly) that people are moving away from inherited religion, religion as something that is done without depth, religion that focuses on having the right opinions about things - away from all that, toward experienced spirituality. (Some church folks are afraid of the word "spirituality," but spirituality in its truest sense is about an experience of God and community - it is actually the basis for good religion.)
In this awakening, people are seeking out and finding deep, real, substantial ways of knowing God and being together. Folks are leaving denominational churches because often these churches are towers of defense for a religion that has little meaning in their real lives. But even if the United Methodist Church - or any church - dies, God is still alive, and God will still find ways to connect with people.
That doesn't mean that the religion of denominations is bad or meaningless. Actually, if we take it seriously - by engaging in spiritual practices like prayer and hospitality, by creating loving communities, and by addressing ethically the things like consumerism that affect us everyday - then a church can be a gathering point for people seeking this awakening, a gathering point for deep, experienced spirituality. In our church's history, and in the history of faith recorded in the Bible, we have been most alive and faithful when we have been truly committed to this spiritual journey, when we have been a part of these awakenings. That is the same today.
But that doesn't look like exciting programs or advertising, which remind me of Goliath's fancy armor and weapons. It looks like David, trusting that weakness can be stronger than strength. Living in trust that the God who has healed and led and loved and transformed us through the centuries will continue to do that, even when it looks like we are up against something much bigger than ourselves.
So I invite you to be a part of this awakening. Be a part of it at Milton UMC or somewhere else, but be a part of it. Find a community of folks that will take the spiritual journey with you. Practice spirituality - you can find a good list of places to start here (it's written for Lent - the time before Easter - but you can use it anytime). And through this community and this practice, we will all be transformed.
