When I was still in discernment about the priesthood, one of my mentors told me that every priest needs a therapist and a rabbi. And he wasn’t joking, even though he said it with a twinkle in his eye. It took me a long time to figure out exactly what that meant. In recent years, as I’ve developed a friendship with Rabbi Rachael Bregman here in our community, I think I get it. Most of the Rabbis I have known have a unique perspective on the world and on Christianity. Rachael is no different in that regard. I often find her perspective to be grounding, insightful, and sometimes challenging.
We Christians tend to think we know Jesus because, well, we’re Christians. Christians have often gotten Jesus wrong though. From imaging him with white skin and blonde hair, to espousing versions of Jesus that fit very comfortably into our little boxes, we sometimes struggle to see him for who he really was. Non-Christian people of faith can sometimes be helpful in bringing us back to the core of who and what we are, in ways that are unexpected; the right pointed question can make us take a step back and make sure we really believe what we believe, or know what we profess to know.
This is not to say that sympathetic and loving non-Christians tend to know Jesus better than we do, only that their outsider relationship to what we have lived and breathed for most, if not all, of our lives can create opportunities for insight. This is a reality that is probably true for many insider/outsider dynamics in our lives. It’s a poignant one for us as Christians, though, particularly because of the storytelling we tend to do around our faith. This is one of our chief storytelling seasons, as a matter of fact.
The Christmas story has been told so many times we know it. We know we know it. We have manger scenes, and decorations, and a myriad of cheesy Christmas card renditions of that Holy Night. We have hymns and songs to describe the who and the what of the Incarnation. We’ve heard many, perhaps too many sermons on these stories. We have probably heard more than enough about Jesus and his birth, let alone the rest of the gospels. And yet.
We know that the Holy Spirit moves in and through us in the reading of scripture, and that we can indeed learn new things. We can be surprised by new understandings or reminded of insights we learned long ago and have since forgotten. There is always context that is lost to our modern eyes and ears as we navigate scripture and our faith practices. There are ways to rediscover that context, so that it informs our understandings anew.
I’m so glad that Rabbi Bregman is going to help us start the New Year this way. She’s going to be with us on Sundays in January and February, for a lecture series she’s calling Jesus and the Torah in the Time of Jesus. Jesus wasn’t a Christian, after all, he was a well-read Jewish rabbi. It’s a truth like the teasing we do of Methodist pilgrims who visit Christ Church because Charles Wesley was here; Charles and John were never United Methodists, but died as faithful Anglicans. They had their unique way of living out Anglicanism, but they never abandoned their Anglican identity.
If you’re around in the New Year, come join us during coffee hour to rediscover some new insights or reclaim the context we may have forgotten about Jesus from the perspective of his Jewish identity. Check elsewhere in this edition of NYCU to find the exact dates. We will learn how that informs what we think we know about his teaching and his example, and also understand why it mattered to the early church as it bridged Jewish and Gentile identities. I don’t think it’s just priests who benefit from having a rabbi.
Tom+
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Photo Credit: Jesus words, by Flynt, and Nativity by Marinv, via Dreamstime.com subscription.