From "Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. In this book she takes many of the words and images of the faith and attempts to put some reality and life to them.
ANTICHRIST
In her attempt to find out what "Antichrist" meant, Norris goes to see the pastor.
He quickly summarized and dismissed the tendency that Christians have always had to identify the Antichrist with their personal enemies, or with those in power whom they have reason to detest. It is an easy temptation: in our own century, the Antichrist has been equated with Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, and given the current state of political hysteria in America, no doubt Bill and Hillary Clinton as well.
What the pastor said was so simple that it will remain with me forever. "Each one of us acts as the Antichrist," he said, "whenever we hear the gospel and do not do it."
I find it interesting that this is the second word in Norris' book. Then again, it is one of those religious "scary" words. The bible literalists are taking a few passages of scripture and turning the Antichrist into an "end of the world" monster. Many folks, as Norris' pastor notes tie the world to demonic sorts of people...the ones that are especially awful in their life journey. I like the final definition of the the Antichrist given above but I would change it just a bit. The "gospel" is not something we "do." It is what we trust. It is the vision of life from which we enter the day. The gospel is "good news." It is the announcement of God's unconditional love for us that promises to bring us life...a fullness of life...both now and forever. The gospel lets us in on how the story ends and we are called to hang our lives on it. The Antichrist is what comes to life when we hear the gospel and do not trust that it is the truth for our lives. For if we do not trust that unconditional love...we will trust something else and usually that something else is quite contrary to God's love for all people in all times. Anti - Christ.
Connection: We are invited to believe that our God is for us. Trusting such love is a part of the power that can and does transform the present into a Christ-like adventure. Then again, there are so many other things and powers we would rather choose and with those choices comes a life that will rule over us...each of us.
Gracious God you so love the world that you gave your only Son and we as your sons and daughters are thus given a new way to view the day ahead of us. Keep us within the embrace of your eternal love. Amen
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