WHICH WAY WILL YOU GO

 

Isaiah 40:3: A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Mark 1:2, As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way.”

 

The first followers of Jesus called themselves “The Way” because they saw following Jesus as an ongoing, active journey rather than merely a set of beliefs. It signified a way of life and a path to follow. Before the term "Christian" was introduced in Antioch, as noted in the Book of Acts, or wherever it happened, this movement was considered an early Jewish sect. Using "The Way" emphasized a way of life centered on living, loving, and practicing compassion, rather than simply following institutional religion.

Like today, the Jews around Jesus had fallen into false teachings, adopting rites and rituals instead of living their faith as God prescribed. Jesus taught a message of returning to the “Way of Righteousness,” which had been lost, and we need to revive that message today. After centuries of misguided, misdirected, and misunderstood teaching, Jesus' simple message is needed now more than ever.

 

Jesus never asked you to “join a church,” make a pledge, recite a prayer, or adopt a creed. He never said to join a denomination or profess any religion. All Jesus taught or exemplified was how to live a godly life. That meant “loving all others,” seeing others’ needs and suffering, and doing all you can to help them because your heart said you should, for no other reason. He showed what a caring, loving heart should do when it sees others' wrongs, suffering, and heartache. He didn’t send them to anyone else; he stepped up himself and did what he could to feed the hungry, quench the thirst of those who thirst, heal the sick with prayer and hope, and lead those who felt lost in their hearts to the comfort of a loving God. That is not the world we live in, not even in this nation.

 

Instead of walking the “Way of Godliness,” we lust for wealth and power. We promote and elect leaders who embody our lusts and admire those who live in greed, arrogance, and debauchery. Our heroes aren’t the righteous, virtuous, or kind and gentle. We favor and elevate those who look down on others, divide our people into sects of “us vs. them,” and promote sin over the teachings of those who came before us, who led us to a “Path of Righteousness.”

 

“I made an oath to myself: as long as I live, as long as my soul remains in this body, I won't deviate from the right way, but later I looked to my left and then to my right, and I saw our beloved everywhere; how could I make a wrong turn?”

Rumi (1207-1273), Islamic Sufi Mystic

 

I often feel a lot like Rumi. I look all around me and see very few living the teachings of Jesus, living in the “right way.” Not that I am judging, but that I am wondering why. That is when I realize that the simple message Jesus and the others taught has been overshadowed and misused by the “religious leaders,” just as it was in the times of Jesus. Those who are supposed to be leading God’s children toward Him are too focused on themselves and the institutions that support them to fulfill the calling they answered. You don’t have to be an ordained minister to show the love of God, to live in godliness, and to demonstrate to the world the living proof of the message Jesus brought to us. All you have to do is determine in your heart, “Who will you serve?” To serve God is to live in godliness; that means living in such a way that, in all you say and do, the world sees the love of God at the center of your life. See all others as God’s children, His creation, and in His likeness at the soul level, not in their face. How are you doing with this task?

 

“All the holy words you read, and all the holy words you speak, are as nothing if you do not act upon them. Even if you read little and say little but live the right way, forsaking craving, hatred, and delusion, you will know the truth and find calmness and will show others the path.” Gautama Buddha, religious teacher

 

The Buddha has many meaningful things to say about life, and this is one of the most important. Unless we “live our faith” in all we say and do, we have no faith. That might seem odd to most Christians, but it is the truth. As Jesus said, “The truth will set us free.” Free from ungodliness, hatreds, divisions, and wantonness. Free from the love and lust for wealth and power. Free to live and love as Jesus did, as God created you to do, as we all should. Our world will never be all it can be until we walk in the way of Jesus, live as he did, and love without conditions. The “Path of Righteousness” isn’t found in your church, your “Holy Scriptures,” or your creeds and pledges. That ‘Path” is found only when we take the hand of God, walk with Him leading our way, and love as He loves us. Do you?

 

“The Way” is more than a name for the first followers of Jesus. It is, in fact, a statement of who they were and how they chose to live. They stood up to the “religious leaders”; they bowed to no authority but God; they lived with unconditional love and acceptance of those unlike themselves; they even loved those who hated and persecuted them. Those first followers of Jesus lived his teachings without shame or regret, guided by God's love in all they did. History records the continued life of this faith not in the annals of the “church” but in the memories of the loving kindness shown by those on the margins, the outcast, that quiet kind stranger at the edge of town. History records not the public victories of battles won, but the unconditional love shown when no one else cared. I chose to walk in “the Way.” Which way will you go?

 

Rev. Dr. Shannon Rogers, DDiv

Sr. Pastor and President, Unitarian Christian Church of America (UCCA)