Fred's Thursday Blog: Communion of the Saints

Eugene Peterson and Tim Keller shared two things in common: First, a commitment to a particular place and people.  Second, being rooted in sources they interpreted for people unfamiliar with those texts. For Peterson, it was the Scripture and literature, and for Keller, it was the Reformers like Calvin, Owen, Baxter and Kuyper. Unlike some of their peers, they did not claim originality but drew from the wells of those who came before them. They saw themselves as part of a long tradition and unlike many today who paraphrase others without attribution or look to be original and quotable, neither Eugene or Tim failed to make their preaching and teaching anchored in a larger tradition. A good deal of their authority was their humility in being part of a deeper theology that had developed over many years. 

Because that is rare, we often hear a phrase from a speaker and fail to recognize the roots. It becomes a plaque, a meme, or a refrigerator magnet that stands on its own and all we see is the tip but not the roots below. We are not used to isolated phrases or even ideas having a broader context. That was exactly my response when I heard for the first time Henri Nouwen describe the ministry of presence. “More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence.” I did not realize that was part of an entire theology that predated Henri. 

When I read Mother Teresa describe seeing the face of Christ in every person I thought of that as something she discovered on her own but, again, it was not. “We must therefore be proud of our vocation which gives us the opportunity to serve Christ in His poorest…in the slums, Jesus chooses as His disguise the miseries and poverty of our people in the slums.  You cannot have the vow of charity if you have not got the faith to see Jesus in the people we contact.  Otherwise our  work is no more than social work…we do it for Somebody.”

When I visited Homeboy Industries and heard Fr. Greg Boyle describe kinship I mistakenly believed it to be a unique organizing principle for his ministry. “No daylight to separate us. Only kinship. Inching ourselves closer to creating a community of kinship such that God might recognize it. Soon we imagine, with God, this circle of compassion. Then we imagine no one standing outside of that circle, moving ourselves closer to the margins so that the margins themselves will be erased.”

When I visited Mobile Loaves and Fishes and heard why they practice community with the homeless I was impressed with their commitment to the value of every person - the Imago Dei. “We’ve got to change the lurking belief that any human life is more valuable than another. We must broaden the perimeters of our relationships and find a place for those left out. When we bear the beams of love, arms wide-open, we become more ourselves.”

The list is longer and what they all have in common is their ministries are rooted in the long tradition of the seven pillars of Catholic Social Teaching. They are not simply autonomous entrepreneurs practicing their own version of ministry but are connected with an underlying theology, a shared source of authority. How could I have missed this for most of my life? How could I have thought they each had originated their own brand of ministry and not collectively drawn from the deep roots of an historic faith? They are, like Tim and Eugene, interpreters of a long established doctrine and that is a hallmark of their strength and authority. They are expressions of the greater whole.

I suppose my missing it is a reflection of my own evangelical tradition where we begin not with Imago Dei and the dignity of all people but “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Instead of kinship with and a preference for the poor we are more likely to emphasize the “gospel lift” by which conversion creates a better standard of living. Instead of the ministry of simple presence we feel pressure to see changed lives we can count. 

I am not planning to “cross the Tiber” to Catholicism or deconstruct and join those leaving the evangelical church but I do appreciate the value of a common faith and doctrine that serves to guide and support the good work of so many having so much in common. A true communion of the saints.

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Art by ChatGPT

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