As you all know, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who later became Pope Francis, died earlier this week. In 2013, when speaking to journalists, he opened up to them about why he chose the name Francis.
"Some people (he said) wanted to know why the Bishop of Rome wished to be called Francis. Some thought of Francis Xavier, Francis De Sales, and also Francis of Assisi. I will tell you the story. During the election, I was seated next to the Archbishop Emeritus of São Paolo and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes: a good friend, a good friend! When things were looking dangerous, he encouraged me. And when the votes reached two-thirds, there was the usual applause, because the Pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss, and said: “Don’t forget the poor!”
And those words came to me: the poor, the poor. Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars as the votes were still being counted.… Francis is also the man of peace.
That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. For me, he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation; these days, we do not have a very good relationship with creation, do we? He is the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man … How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!"
COUNTER-CULTURAL ORIENTATIONS
Throughout my life, Christianity has been on a decline. The death of the Church has been a narrative repeated for as long as I can remember. And the numbers generally back this up. In North America, Europe, and Australia, church attendance and those identifying as Christian have steadily decreased for decades.
There are a lot of smart, thoughtful people who believe the end of Christianity, in particular, and of religion as a whole, would be a good thing. It would give one less thing for people to fight over, one less obstacle to scientific research, one less person using scripture to justify bigotry. Mathematician Blaise Pascal remarked, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.”
It is easy to imagine, as did John Lennon, that a world without religion is a world where there is nothing for people to kill or die for, no heaven and no hell, a world of peace that could finally be shared among everyone.
On the surface, this rings true. There has always been a toxic strain of Christianity that aligns itself with the powers and principles of this world, endorsing and empowering some of the worst of human impulses. But more often than not, Christianity has been an excuse rather than a cause. Doing evil in the name of religion is not the same as doing it because of religion. Humanity’s propensity for greed and violence does not need religion to thrive.
Social scientists and keen observers are discovering that the decline of religion has not marked a decrease in wars and bigotry; it has not led to greater freedom for science and education to progress. The world is not a kinder, more open, and hospitable place. Truth has not flourished in social conversation. It is becoming apparent what ills the world has accelerated rather than de-escalated with less religion. People are more fearful, more insular, more polarized, and perhaps most surprisingly, more superstitious and vulnerable to conspiracy theories.
A world without Christianity is not the answer. But neither is a world ruled by the Christian faith the answer. The decline of the dominance of the Christian religion is a good thing! This faith was never built to rule. Calling Jesus “King" was never meant to be an affirmation of power. It is but a mockery of monarchy, a subversive jab upon whom the favour of God rests.
I don't know what the future will hold for the church, but I do know this: To have a positive impact on the world, the church must be counter-cultural. It has always been this way. This is the soul of our faith—our reason for being.
When I speak of counter-culture, I do so in terms of a moral and ethical orientation rather than specific beliefs or practices. What we believe and how we practice our faith are not unimportant, but their primary function is to guide individuals and communities into alternative ways of living in this world rather than being ends unto themselves.
Instead of being focused on the dominant culture of individualism, nationalism, meanness, grievance, and fear, Christianity holds up to the world a mirror and then offers an alternative.
This alternative way of living is a life aimed at treating every person with dignity, including the poor…. especially the poor and those whom the scriptures call “the least of these.” This approach directs us to choose the path of love when hate is easier, the path of walking on the side of the road of the Samaritan, to better see the pain in others, even if the other is supposed to be an enemy. It seeks to break down barriers rather than build them. It cares as much about the stranger as the neighbour, and invests in the next generation even when it does not benefit its own.
I believe in the power of faith. Hope for the world lies within the framework of religious ideas, beliefs, and moral instruction that are counter-culturally orientated, in ways that speak truth to power and give strength to the powerless.
And yes, I have an idealized vision of what Christianity should be, but it is the standard to which Jesus called his people. Similar standards are found in all faith traditions. We are not one religion against all others, but part of a larger collection of paths, all calling their own people to live counter-cultural oriented lives.
The church has often disappointed and failed to live up to this impossible standard. As a product of grace, it understands that being counter-cultural is not the same as moral perfection. Christianity is a wisdom tradition forged in the fire of thousands of years of failure and mistakes. Iterations of this religion have aided worse people than Donald Trump in their rise to power. And other iterations of this faith have brought down far more powerful people than him! In times such as these, Christianity has always risen to meet the needs of this world, and I believe will do so once again.
CLOSING
Tonight marks our last service of the year. I cannot express my gratitude enough for your support of this service! There have been plenty of dark subject matters dealt with this year! From Donald Trump to AI and other emerging technologies, all pose existential threats to the world.
Many weeks, it has been hard to spin messages of hope out of that dark material. It's easy to resign oneself to hopelessness.
I've been holding on to a poem called Sunflowers in Babylon for some time now. I don't even remember how I first came across it. But I must have read it at least a hundred times while preparing for these services. And whenever I've been struggling with these feelings of despair, I would return to it and read those words.
I want to close the service and the year by sharing this poem with you, read by its author, Joshua Luke Smith. May God bless you all
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