June 2025: Second-Hand Religion or First-Hand Faith??

Throughout the summer months, whenever we don't have a main article for The Tidings, we will be digging through our archives and including a Tidings article from a former Pastor of Holy Trinity.  Today's article comes from Rev. Dave Snyder, who served our congregation in the 1990s.

Second Hand Religion or First-hand Faith??

During the long season of Pentecost the church of Jesus Christ is called to ponder the implications of the Pentecost Experience upon our lives and our churches and our world. How, specifically, is the Spirit of God renewing the face of the earth?. I would like to suggest that the Spirit (which is the mystery of God within us) renews the face of the earth when it blows through the lives of God's people and moves them from second-hand religion to first-hand faith.

I am indebted to Professor Marcus Borg in his imaginative and inspiring book entitled Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time for this understanding of the unique work of the Spirit. Borg points out that there is, a huge and important difference between second-hand religion and first-hand faith.

I would like to suggest three of the differences for you to consider during this season of grace we call Pentecost. First, there is the difference between worshipping Jesus and following Jesus. It is one thing to come to church on Sunday to sing the praises of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again. It is something else to follow this Jesus in a life which includes taking up your cross and laying down your life for the sake of the Gospel. Secondhand religion is con-tent with worshipping Jesus...first-hand faith involves following Jesus in a faithful living of the life of Christian discipleship.

Second, there is the difference between being hearers of the Word and being doers of the Word (see James 1:22-25). It is one thing to be an attentive listener (according to the. Apostle Paul, it is with a careful listening to the Word that authentic Christian faith has its genesis)...it is something else to put those words into practice...words like: love your enemy...forgive one another...sell all you have and give it to the poor then come and follow me. Second-hand religion is content to listen to the Word...firsthand faith involves the difficult and challenging work of making those words into a way of life.

Finally, there is a difference between being ministered to and being ministered through! Many people come to church in order to be ministered to. These are good, faithful, Godly people, but they are, essentially, religious consumers.

They search for a church where their special religious needs (and the needs of their families) will be met. And when those needs are no longer being adequately met (when they perceive that they are no longer "being fed") then they leave and find a new spiritual home. There are also many in the church who join the Jesus movement not to be ministered to but to be ministered through.

These folks understand that the purpose of the church is to reach out into the community and "make disciples of all nations", and that God wants to use us as instruments of God's redeeming and saving love to make Christ known in our community and to bring more and more people into the Kingdom of God.

For these folks, worship is not an end, but a means to an evangelical end (i.e. the equipping of the saints to do the work of ministry in the world). These folks understand that God does not feed God's people to make them fat ..God feeds us to make us food for a hungry world. These beloved people put into practice an ecclesiastical version of President John F. Kennedy's famous challenge in his first inaugural address... "ask not what your church can do for you...ask what you can do for your church".

The Spirit of God (which, as far as I can tell, is the same Spirit which raised Jesus from the grave on Easter morning) renews the face of the earth by gently but persistently moving God's people out of the church and into the world (just as the Spirit moved the apostles out of the upper room and into the streets of Jerusalem to proclaim the message of Jesus on Pentecost). And this gracious movement is the steady movement from second-hand religion to firsthand faith.

May the wind of God's Spirit continue to blow through our lives and through our Church during this Pentecost season...

Faithfully,

The Rev. Dr. David L. Snyder, Pastor

Published June 1997

September 1998 - "Our years come to an end like a sigh"

"The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8

We came back from our trip to the United Kingdom and our gardens and lawn looked tough. Not much rain and no one to care for the flowers and I suddenly realized it is near the end of August. Doesn't seem possible. I waited all year for summer to get here and now it's almost gone. I am at that age when I experience the reality of the old cliche "time goes faster as we get older." I read someplace that it’s because each day represents a smaller percentage of the total elapsed time we've been alive. Still, I don't like it. It reminds me too much of big issues like mortality, human limitations, the fact that "our years come to an end like a sigh" (Psalm 90).

It's not just summer that is slipping by so quickly, it's my life. I've always read the verse about the shortness and transience of human life with a limited understanding. They are beautiful poetry and clear reminders that we, should focus on what is lasting and truly important in this life, but somehow they are meaning more to me lately, When I was younger, life seemed endless and its possibilities infinite. Now that has changed, and each day seems more of a precious gift.

But I've also noticed something else. The real point of these verses about the transience of life is not to make us feel bad. On the contrary, in pointing out the truth of our lives they call us to see more clearly the wonder that there is, in fact, something that lasts. When we hear the words "from everlasting to everlasting you are God" we can be struck ever more powerfully with the fact that this is indeed the true foundation for our lives. I love the flowers, I love summer, but the coming fall doesn't frighten me because the word of God will carry me through even the snows of December.

PTL

May 1997 - What Kind of Church Are We??

(The following article was written in 1997. We've updated some terms and labels used in this article, to sound more inclusive)

Alice Vosburg called my attention to the posters which hung on the walls of the sanctuary of Bath United Church of Christ as we waited to hear Professor Marcus Borg lec¬ture about the politics and ethics of the Historical Jesus. The posters had been hung on Civil Rights Sunday (January 19th...the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day). The posters were designed to stimulate thought and reflection regarding the continued existence of racism in the church of Jesus Christ. These provoca¬tive posters caused me to ask the question "what kind of church is. Holy Trinity." I share them in the context of the church's Easter mission...the proclamation of the Good News of Christ's victory over darkness, despair and death to a hurting and lost world. In¬deed, what kind of church are we...

The panels in the sanctuary ad¬dress racism in the church. Read them and ask yourself where we are Then read them again and substitute other groups, e.g. women of all colors, disabled people, LGBTQ, poor people, old people...

An Excluding Church...

Enforces the racial status quo of dominance and exclusion of racial and ethnic people through its teachings, decision-making, pol¬icy, practices, and employment. Exclusion seen in absence of di¬versity of membership.

A Club Church...

Maintains the power of white advantage through teaching, deci¬sion-making, policy and practices. Tolerant of a limited number of racial and other peoples with "proper" credentials. Often heard: "We don't have a problem."

An Open Church...

Sees itself as committed to inclusion of all, but unaware of habits of privilege and paternalism. Symbolic inclusion, receptive to some but not to those who "make waves." No real change of poli¬cies and decision- making.

An Awakening Church...

Desires to eliminate discrimina¬tory practices and inherent advantage. Sensitive to differences. Expanding view of diversity may include women, disabled, elderly, children, LGBTQ and other groups. But decision-making still conforms to norms and practices derived from domi¬nant group's world view.

A Redefining Church...

Not satisfied with just, being anti-racist. Begins to see benefits of broader cultural and racial per-spectives and contributions to its mission. Commits to auditing all aspects of church's life for openness to participation and contri¬butions of racial and ethnic peo¬ples. Willing to struggle.

A Transformed Church...

Diversity is an asset. Reflects contributions of diverse racial groups in determining mission; full participation in decision-making. A real community of mutual caring. Confronts racism in church and society. Allies with others to challenge racism and oppression of all groups.

What kind of Church are we...

What kind of Church would Jesus want us to Be??

Faithfully, The Rev. David L. Snyder, Pastor.

January 1996: The meaning of Eucharist.

“They don’t have to leave,” answered Jesus. “You yourselves give them something to eat!” Matthew 14:16

It has always fascinated me that the central act of Christian worship has, traditionally, been called the EUCHARIST and Eucharist is a Greek word derived from the noun EURCHARISTIA which means gratitude. Could it be that Christians can find in this act of worship a pattern and model for our lives, not just during the Thanksgiving holidays but throughout the year? If you consider the shape and the movement of the Eucharistic liturgy you discover that the central elements involve the bringing to the table of the gifts of bread and wine and the offering of those gifts to God in a prayer of blessing followed by the redistribution of those gifts to God's people. As we think about Thanksgiving and the challenging call to exercise our faith in generous Christian stewardship, we might reflect on the action of the Eucharist meal as an outline of our life in the faith. We offer what we have to God (the ordinary gifts of time, talent and treasure...gifts that God has blessed us with), and God takes these things and transforms them into "Visible" words and acts of grace which bless and benefit the spiritual life of the world.

This is and has always been the way in which God continues to be active and present in the world. The wonderful story of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, a story which appears six times in the Gospels (twice in Matthew and Mark and once in Luke and John) and is the only miracle of Jesus to appear in all four of the New Testament Gospels, teaches that God does not miraculously use what is not available to meet the needs of the world (Jesus did not create new bread and new fish) instead, God naturally uses inadequate means which are available (five loaves of bread and two dried fish, or seven loaves of bread and some fish in the feeding of the 4000 in Matthew 15) to meet the needs the people. The good news is that God will use what his disciples give him, no matter how seemingly insignificant that offering might be, and God will use what we give to bring life (physical and spiritual life) to the world. And if you think about it, that is exactly the rhythm of the Eucharist. May God grant us, during this season of Giving Thanks and as members of the parish called upon to make responsible decisions regarding our personal stewardship for 1996, the grace and the courage to offer what we have to God and for the sake of the world.

Faithfully,

The Rev. David L. Snyder, Pastor (written in Jan. 1996)

June 1999: The Future is Called Perhaps

Among the greatest lines from Tennessee Williams is this one: 'The future is called perhaps.'

What lies ahead for Holy Trinity? What is God calling us as a congregation to be about? The answers are at the heart of what the Vision Committee is about. But its not the Vision Committee that provides the answers to those questions. Ifs the congregation, you the people of Holy Trinity that together need to discern what we believe God would have us be about as we seek to carry on Christ's work in this community.

Some of us think about Holy Trinity's future the way we think about marketing---living in the conviction that if we advertise, have a good product (i.e. the right pastor) and invest our energy in recruitment, we can continue to grow and Holy Trinity's place in the future will be assured.

Still others of us think about Holy Trinity's future the way my old neighbor thought about investments---don't taken any risks, because you might end up losing. (Sadly, he didn't end up winning either, and when he died, his once considerable nest egg was pretty depleted.)

We can learn another way to think about Holy Trinity's future from Abraham, who heard those fateful words from God: "Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to the land that I will show you." Abraham went, he overcame his fears, and he was willing to make a new beginning even at his advanced age." "Give us faith to go out with good courage", we pray, "not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us, and your love supporting us." Every time I pray that prayer, I think of Abraham. It's one of my favorite prayers and can be found at the close of the service of Evening Prayer in our Lutheran Book of Worship. Holy Trinity's future is clear in the mind of God, but none of us knows it yet. And like Abraham, we can only move out in faith that God is leading us. The process the Vision Committee is leading us into is based on the premise that all of us are in a relationship with a God who is ever more ready to communicate with us than we are to listen.

It is a process that seeks to discern God's will for our parish. At the very heart of the Christian faith lies one fundamental question: How can we understand and live the will of God? This desire, this longing to seek to do God's will, is what will be our focus as a parish this summer as we prepare to call a pastor. We can never be sure that we have truly and fully comprehended God will, but we can make it our prayer and then trust that the Holy Spirit will lead.

PTL (Paul Lindstrom)