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All the Law and the Prophets

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 & Matthew 22:34-46

Jesus and the Pharisees are arguing in Matthew 22. They’re arguing about the core of Jewish identity in their social/geographic/temporal location (first century ce Second Temple Judaism). Testing Jesus, the Pharisees ask him about the most important commandment. Jesus gives a surprisingly straightforward answer. Jesus then hits the Pharisees with a question about the Messiah they’re unable to answer. The whole scene plays out as a conflict over what it means to be Jewish in their time, whose sect is the “true Israel,” what central confessions, commitments, or compulsions signify primary Jewishness.

Though Jesus and the Pharisees are battling over the question of true Judaism in the passage, it brought to mind a troublingly complex related question for me: What does it mean to be a Christian? Or, perhaps, an easier question to answer is: What does it mean to be a part of the Christian church? We hear a lot of messages about this very subject, especially now, as various powerful institutions (religious and political) are trying to clearly demarcate Christian identity–often in ways convenient to their continued seat in power. Many answers to the question are very rigid and simplistic, offering a low bar to clear but not a robust faithful paradigm by which to navigate our lives. Some answers are completely diffuse, as good-willed people deconstruct Christianity into dissolution. Plenty of people have died for believing the Christian church is this or that, though, so there must be an answer, right?

Seeking to explore some options and put constructive and deconstructive approaches in dialogue with one another, we’re going to talk this Sunday in worship about what it means to belong to the Christian church.

Rev. Wesley Snedeker — Community Minister