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Finding Our Place at the Manger-An Adult Advent Study Session

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Finding Our Place at the Manger-An Adult Advent Study Session Adult Study from www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com Participant Handout Session 4 Finding Our Place at the Manger: An Adult Advent Study Wise Men and the Wisdom of Seeking Introduction they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. One of the common memes of the Advent season comes They go from strength to strength, alongside quaint pictures of the three “wise men” who, till each appears before God in Zion. according to Scripture, visited Jesus and his family after (Ps. 84:5–7, NIV) his birth. There has been much conjecture about these • “Search, no matter what situation you are in. O characters (see “What Do We Really Know about the thirsty one, search for water constantly. Finally, the Wise Men”), but one of the most basic facts about them time will come when you will reach the spring.”1 is that they were not content with their existing spiri- • “The spiritual quest is not some added benefit to tual conditions. They wanted more. They were seekers. our life, something you embark on if you have the We are all on a spiritual quest, whether we are aware time and inclination. We are spiritual beings on of it or not. We seek meaning through many avenues, an earthly journey. Our spirituality makes up our some of them dictated by the idols and comforts of our beingness.”2 culture. Some of us are taking this quest at a slow pace, • “The spiritual journey involves going beyond others at a moderate speed, and some are running. One hope and fear, stepping into unknown territory, lesson we can take from the wise men is that it doesn’t continually moving forward. The most important matter how fast you go if you are making progress. aspect of being on the spiritual path may be just The spiritual life as a pilgrimage or journey is a met- to keep moving.”3 aphor embraced by many faiths. In the Judeo-Christian • Anne Rice has a character who says, “Very few be- tradition, we find some beautiful depictions of this ings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal journey. or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they • Blessed are those whose strength is in you, try to wring from the unknown the answers they whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. have already shaped in their own minds—justifi- As they pass through the Valley of Baka, cations, confirmations, forms of consolation with- Copyright © 2019 www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com. Permission given to the purchaser to copy this page for use in class. Finding Our Place at the Manger: An Adult Advent Study | Session 4 1 out which they can’t go on. To really ask is to open resort to dogma, fundamentalism, and a rejection of the the door to the whirlwind.”4 validity of other people’s journeys. Frankly, most of the conflicts and roadblocks I’ve These quotations remind us that seeking is far more encountered in ministry have been stirred by stage 3 than just an inspiring metaphor. It can literally mean folks. They have used phrases like these: life or death, growth or stagnation, when it comes to our spiritual lives. • Pastor, my uncle died, but I’m not sure he was In his landmark book Stages of Faith: The Psychology saved. of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning, the late • Jesus is the only way. James Fowler asked a basic question: If human beings • It’s sad when you think that people of so many grow through ethical and intellectual stages, do we other faiths will die without salvation. also progress spiritually in a recognizable way? Using • How can that (woman, gay person, immigrant) be Lawrence Kohlberg’s research on moral development allowed to lead worship? It’s not scriptural! as his main inspiration, Fowler outlined a theory of six • America has bent over backward to accommodate faith stages that we pass through as human beings. For this god of “multiculturalism.” We are, and will a moment, let’s focus on stage 3, which Fowler called always be, a Christian nation. Synthetic/Conventional faith. • I don’t know, Pastor. You seem to preach a lot of We usually enter stage 3 sometime in our teenage grace and love, but what about the consequences years. At this point, we belong to several different social of sin? Hell is real! circles and find a need to pull it all together, to synthe- • I’m thinking of sending my children to a Christian size. We commonly adopt some sort of all-encompass- school. Ever since they banned prayer from the ing belief system, most often the conventional one of our culture. This can be a political philosophy or reli- public schools, our nation has become more and gious faith. It can be an alliance with a group of people more godless. who have a distinct set of rules and regulations. On one Perhaps the most difficult issue when dealing with level, this is a natural, understandable way to find secu- those stuck at stage 3 is their self-appointed role as rity and a sense of belonging. “defenders of the faith.” They spend an enormous There’s only one problem: we too often get stuck at amount of time trying to prove that their worldview is this stage. We have a hard time seeing outside our box. correct and exclusive, trumping all others. This shuts We don’t recognize that we are inside a belief system. down effective dialogue. It makes it nearly impossible We are like fish in water that cannot imagine what it for conventional people to see the beauty and mystery would mean to breathe air on land. To protect our view- in the stories of others. point, we place authority in individuals or groups who However, if we are courageous and restless, like the represent and confirm our beliefs. We like belonging to wisemen, we will push on to the next stages, begin- our own herd. We become attached to the forms of our ning with stage 4—Individuative-Reflective Faith. This religion and get extremely upset when these are called is a tough transition, which I dub “a deconstruction into question. This is the stage in which many people petrify. More tragically, it’s the stage that has justified period.” We start seeing outside our box and realize persistent intolerance. there are other boxes. We begin to critically examine our As a pastor for more than thirty years, I have own beliefs and often become disillusioned with our encountered stage 3 development in the people I’ve former faith. Stage 3 people usually think that stage 4 served and in my association with individuals from people have become “backsliders” when in reality they other faiths and denominations. Certainly there is a need have actually moved forward. Those who break out of to hold on to spiritual stability. This world is so often the previous stage usually do so when they start seri- chaotic that we long for a spiritual port in the storm. ously questioning things on their own. A lot of the time, But the downside is that stage 3 people, when they feel this stage ends up being very nonspiritual, even cyni- their beliefs threatened by doubt or ambiguity, usually cal, and some people stay mired in a new negativity. Copyright © 2019 www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com. Permission given to the purchaser to copy this page for use in class. Finding Our Place at the Manger: An Adult Advent Study | Session 4 2 Those who continue their quest find the beauties As we start out on life’s spiritual journey, we inherent in stages 5 and 6. This is when we begin usually begin on the path of our parents. Later to realize the limits of logic and start to accept in life, as we observe the competing claims of paradoxes. We begin to see life as a mystery. We often all the various faiths, we cannot possibly know return to sacred stories and symbols, but this time which, if any, leads to the kind of life we seek. without being stuck in a theological or ideological While, to the eyes of the world, we begin our box. We relish the diversity of myths and symbols journey by walking in the ways of our culture, some in our world, gleaning what they can teach us with of us construct in our hearts a secret temple that is an open mind. Not enough people reach this stage. consecrated to truth, beauty, and goodness alone. Those who do often live their lives in the service of While we cannot know if the religion of our others. They learn to dance, to join the chorus of what youth is true, we can usually know if we are being Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf called “the laughter of honest. While we cannot know if the rules we have the immortals.” been taught will work toward the highest good, A colleague of mine, Rev. Jim Rigby, has one of the we can usually discover eventually what makes keenest minds I’ve met. Here are some words from him for shared happiness. While we cannot know if that capture this movement through the stages of faith: religious rituals are truly sacred, we can often What Do We Really Know about the Wise Men? • They were called magoi in Matthew’s Gospel. The word comes from the Greek magos (the basis for the English word magic). Magos itself comes from the old Persian word magu. This was the title given to priests in a sect of the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism.
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