The world is getting smaller and, I believe, our understanding of God is becoming larger. Tribal notions of God’s reality are diminishing. A clearer understanding is emerging that there is only ONE beloved family – the human family - of the ONE God.

 

Tying the Holy One to any one particular faith community opens that community to dismissal because their version of God is just too small.    Faith communities' claims that their particular understandings of the divine are superior or complete point more to human hubris than to devotion or the knowledge of God. No matter what humans may believe and proclaim. God is always larger than the definitions, professions, theological insights, rituals, or ecclesial structures humans may design, develop, create, and perpetuate.  

The Judaeo-Christian tradition witnesses to the God who transcends all human limitations.   The Creator of the earth, of all creatures, and of the entire human family is God of ALL (Psalm 24:1f.). 

The Bible’s Genesis narrative  proclaims the universality of the one God, Creator of the heavens and the earth (Chapter 1 & 2). The rainbow covenant of Genesis 9 is between the Holy One and humanity, represented by Noah, “and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations….”  Christians hold firm to the belief that Christ’s life, death, and rising was an expression of God’s self-giving love for the entire human family and all Creation.  (John 3:16)

  

Throughout history, Christians have arrogated to themselves unimpeachable knowledge of God.  As a Christian, I confess that through the 2000 years of Christianity, we have lived in various forms of aggressive competition with peoples of other faiths and none. Even among Christians themselves, competition for dominance has been fierce, rancorous, and costly.  Individually and collectively we were all to ready to judge others who did not subscribe to our understanding of God and our ways of faithfulness.   

The European wars of religion fought with "God on our side" and far too many other conflicts remain as bloodstains on our history.  Missionary endeavors too often  accompanied or piggy-backed on the armed might which traders and politicians employed to subdue and oppress indigenous peoples. This long and costly history of competing and dominating faiths can only grieve God.

But gradually signs of a more hopeful recognition of God's universal presence and purpose have been emerging.  In the Christian branch of the family, the ecumenical movement has to a large extent reduced the antagonisms of difference between Christians.  There is a growing awareness that diversity must be cherished as a gift of God  and Christian family unity must faithfully be pursued with respect and love.  Faithfulness to Jesus’ prayer that “they may all be one” requires no less.   Humility, respect, and love must abound if lived reality is to reflect theology rooted in the conviction that God is love..

With similar awareness, many Christians are moving beyond the prejudicial assumption that the unbaptized are “heathen” and therefore beyond the reach of God’s love.  In 1966, The United Church of Canada  turned a very large corner when it approved the Report of the Commission on World Mission. The crucial question the Commission addressed was how to relate to other faiths in increasingly pluralistic cultures and in a world shrunken by rapid travel and means of immediate community. 

The answer: to recognize that “we cannot help but be aware of the growing involvement of each of us in the religious life of the other.” [Honouring the Divine in Each Other – United Church-Hindu Relations Today, draft report, May 1, 2016. United Church of Canada / L’Eglise unie du Canada, p. 42].    This  awareness was articulated in a simple line within The New Creed of 1968.   It proclaimed, "We believe in God...who works in us and others by the Spirit."

This fundamental transformation and redirection of mission led to the United Church’s formal commitment to dialogue with other faiths.  A national staff position was created to foster this work. Further reflection led to the 1996 “Mending the World” report with its “whole world ecumenism” vision called all churches “to make common cause with individuals and institutions of good will who are committed to compassion, peace, and justice in the world.” [ibid. p. 43]   

The goal of mission was to nurture relationships of mutual respect, understanding of each other ways and convictions, while together seeking global justice in the human family.  If personal transformation were to take place, this was the work of the Spirit not the agenda of the missioner.  

Further reports explored what it might mean for Christians to respectfully and faithfully relate to Jews, Muslim, and Hindus. They signal the United Church’s commitment to nurturing inter-faith relationships and partnerships for justice leading to peace.

My purpose is not to retell the whole story but to make clear the transformed mission strategy that has emerged for Christians since my father wrote his thesis in 1945.  My intention here is to report and affirm this transformation. We are learning ways of relating that do not compromise "our" faith nor “theirs” and which draws us closer together in the divine cause of fostering shalom, salaam, peace to reign "on earth as it is in heaven."

My other intention is to give account of how this has awakened in me a new understanding of the “ubiquity” or “omnipresence” of the Spirit.  Increasingly I see that the Christian Church has acted as if it had a monopoly on the Spirit or even controlled the Spirit’s presence by ritual words or practices.  Implicitly or explicitly our understanding led us to exclude the possibility that Spirit might actually be active in persons and communities of other faith heritages in places where the name of Jesus might never have been mentioned.  

But the reality is that the divine Spirit – the Spirit Christians recognize to be of the incarnated and resurrected Christ – the Spirit of the Creator God of all - is alive and present in all times and all places and in all persons - omnipresent.   

That Holy Spirit keeps fostering life in Creation, keeps calling people to greater self-giving concern for others, keeps inspiring people to deeper wisdom and truthful justice, invites people to celebrate compassion, goodness, kindness, respect, and mercy.  The Spirit brings peace on earth by awakening in people an appreciation of diversity and a will for unity.   The Spirit invites, inspires, and sustains the  entire human family to both participate in and enjoy the Spirit of life's omnipresent mission.

More in the next post in this series....