April Thoughts - Questions

​April Thoughts - Questions
I have a gift for asking questions, lots of questions.  It is a way to search for the best solution to a problem, to try to find the root cause, but it also has a dark side.  Questions can make people anxious, they can sound threatening.  What if I don’t know the answer?  What if I am wrong?  What if my answer sounds dumb?  What if you don’t agree with me?  I have the same concerns.  I may not have the answer either and often because there is no one correct answer especially about what we believe.  So how do we invite someone into a conversation about an idea or a question without causing offense, putting them on the spot or making them feel anxious?
I just want to let you know, when I ask questions on Sunday morning during my sermon, I am inviting you into a conversation, I am inviting you to engage with the Scripture and the Gospel for the day, to think about what it means for you, what it might mean for St. James’ and for Albion.  I may have thoughts but I don’t have the only right answer and I think we can learn more together in conversation.  At the very least I hope that you will go home with questions to maul over and spend more time thinking about.  My Spiritual Director says questions are good because they keep us thinking; keep us a little off balance, so that we do not get too comfortable with how things are.
When I was discerning going to Seminary and becoming a priest I was asked why I would want to leave my good corporate job and leap into the unknown.  One of the answers I gave was that I wanted to learn how to articulate my faith and how to share it with others; how to understand Scripture and interpret what it means for us today.  It is not easy, but I think that it is important.  I enjoy the challenge, sometimes it is quite frustrating, but I think it is worth it.  We have spent the last couple years exploring the question of who Jesus is.  I am thinking that I want to start asking questions about the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God.  Why do we use both phrases?  Is there a difference?  What does the Kingdom of God mean to Jesus?  What did it mean to the authors of the gospels? Paul?  What does it mean to us today in the 21st century?  What is the Kingdom of Heaven?  When and where will it appear?  Is it already here?  What does it look like?  Who is part of it?  Is it here in Albion or in another place and time, another dimension?  Is it now or in some distant future?  Who will be part of it?  Who won’t be part of it?  When Jesus said that the Kingdom was near, what did he mean by near?  What did the disciples think Jesus meant?  What did Paul think?  What did the church fathers think?  Does the Old Testament talk about the Kingdom of God?  Did the writers of the Bible use the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven to mean the same thing or different things?  Are we part of the Kingdom of God?  Is it tangible or intangible? ….