Last week we have Jesus teaching in the synagogue that GOOD NEWS is possible! That the fulfillment of scripture is a reality!
This, as we know, is a game changer! It’s exciting! It’s a hand-raising halelluia! kind of thing!
And yet: the people who are there – are not impressed. They are, in fact, offended.
Not because of what Jesus said to them:
But because of who he was.
With very closed minds, they start coming up with excuses.
Isn’t that Joseph’s son? How can he say anything worthwhile?
Even though they know the truth: and they have had good Spirited and Spiritual news just shared with them! – they prefer to disbelieve.
It was easier and more comfortable for them to reject the Good News of God than to have to change their minds – and lives –
Even though it was a change for the better.
This is something called cognitive dissonance.
This happens when learning something new conflicts with a previously held belief.
So, if I say the mug has cats on it, and you say it has dogs, I have 2 choices: to re-examine the mug and say yup – those are dogs.
Or: to refuse the new learning, because it makes me uncomfortable.
To admit something new is to admit that I was wrong, and we know that humans don’t often like to do that. It takes us into vulnerability – which means opening ourselves to the possibility of being hurt.
Cognitive dissonance happens when we make ourselves rigid in our beliefs – and become unwilling to grow or adapt with new knowledge.
We do this out of ego, out of fear, out of discomfort, out of a flat refusal to be vulnerable to one another.
Despite recognising that knowledge increases, understandings evolve, science advances - at times people would rather stay in the rigid box of their belief than allow their understandings and perspectives to change.
In this pandemic, cognitive dissonance is increasing. Some folks are reluctant to admit mistakes, or are increasingly hesitant to change their minds. It’s as though feelings are more important than facts.
It’s dangerous; to our health and well-being, in every aspect.
It’s scary, to be honest, as we see some folks rejecting learning, even to the point of harm, if it goes against their pre-conceived notions. We see some folks putting a higher priority on being RIGHT rather than being community.
Cognitive dissonance is also dangerous to our faith, because faith is not a static reality.
We are encouraged to learn. To grow. To mature.
Again, in every aspect of our lives. The human mind has an AMAZING capacity to increase capacity, to adapt, to create: we are blessed with knowledge and reason and imagination!
And we are invited to use these skills as we engage with the world around us.
We have the faith that God is revealing more and more to us each day.
We have the invitation to explore these new revelations with eyes of wonder and delight.
We have the tradition to welcome one another – and be welcomed – at our various ages and stages, knowing that we are being welcomed wherever we are on our spiritual journey!
And to do this, we have the opportunity to practice openness.
To engage in conversation and learning, to see new perspectives, to:
*gasp* Change our minds.
Faith invites us to be vulnerable. To be connecting to one another so that we can better connect to God.
Faith – a living, true faith – will become stagnant in a heart and mind that is unwilling to grow.
From our baptism, we ask God’s Holy Spirit to continue giving us inquiring and discerning hearts and minds, so that all our lives we may find new ways to seek and know God, to share the Good News, to be grow in the stature of Christ.
So: as this is what we pray for children, and for folks new to the faith,
I invite us to consider how we interact with our children and young folks:
We encourage curiosity.
We welcome questions.
We engage in conversation.
We are amazed with the imagination they show; with the creativity they present; with their growth into the people that God has made them to be.
Their energy inspires us, their untapped and potential and promise invigorates us!
In other words, we welcome young folks.
With their questions, with their desire to understand, they demonstrate the human ability to grow; to adapt to new information; to mature into new ways of expression; to develop into the fulness of life.
And we expect (and assist) them to do it at a stage of development that is healthy and appropriate.
But here’s what we don’t do with children: we don’t stifle them. We don’t ignore them. We don’t insult their level of development or reject their offerings. We don’t mock their questions or deny them the chance to BE.
We welcome it.
Obviously, part of the maturing process in children is learning appropriate behaviours to time and place…
When there is room for correction, we do so gently.
When there is dissent, we engage in discourse.
And we do this because we want to help the child grow and mature. We delight in witnessing the development – physical, social, emotional, and spiritual! – of our young folks. We know that we cannot have higher expectations of them than what they have experienced and learned.
So we allow children to BE children, and we encourage their development – and if we’re honest, we all benefit from the experience.
And this is part of what we hear Paul speaking about in his letter to the Corinthians, where he acknowledges that speaking and thinking like a child is fine for children,
and that growing up, he put aside childISH ways.
Yet: Paul does not say that he put aside child-LIKE qualities. Those positive expressions of curiosity and enthusiasm and growth and development: curiosity and enthusiasm, loyalty and openness.
In fact, as he encourages spiritual maturity, he encourages ongoing spiritual growth. The ongoing quest for faith, hope, and love invites us to open our minds, to be willing to be amazed by God’s revelations, to be surprised by joy.
So let us always engage our faith with the enthusiasm of a child: loved into being by God, named and claimed by God as part of the family, equipped and empowered by God to ministry. Let’s be confident that we are God’s children: known, consecrated, and anointed!
Let’s be compassionate that everyone we encounter also shares that blessing – even when we disagree.
Let’s keep our beautiful hearts open to the movement of the spirit, as God guides us into deeper knowledge and experience.
For if we don’t open ourselves up to new experiences, we become like the Nazarenes, with closed hearts and mob-mentality.
And should we do that, we become the ones who chase Jesus out. And then, we lose the proclamation of Good News.
And we know that’s not who we want to be.
So let’s live into that baptismal prayer of inquiring and discerning hearts.
Let’s hold on to the truths of God;
let’s learn from the always revealing expressions of God;
let’s delight in the presence of the Spirit moving in our lives.
Let’s enjoy being the children of God (that we are!), never hesitant to ask for more truth. Amen.
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