Wednesday, 8 September, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Hauerwas’ “Only Theology Overcomes Ethics”…



To know what it means to be human comes from being made part of the church. In other words, we do not know in general what it means to be human and then discover that being a Christian is but a further specification of that more general way of being. Rather what it means to be human in general is an abstraction from the humanity God has made possible in Christ.



Being a follower of Jesus is not about withdrawing from the world or heaping up special divine merit badges, nor are disciples called to be superhuman. In the end, following Jesus is just about being human, but being fully and truly human at that. Or, as one Christian songwriter puts it, it is a “new way to be human.” Freed from the worries of being good enough or belonging, we are also freed from the things that lead us to treat each other inhumanely. And we are freed for life together in a new community.



Connection: In this day, we can face the world honestly and without pretense. We don’t pretend to be perfect or to have life all figured out; instead, we can freely be what we are—people trying to learn how to be truly human, and partakers of the new humanity made possible by Jesus.



Gracious God, today let us be the people you have made us and claimed us to be. Show us that the chains of all the things which hold us back from love are broken already, and so free us to be present to each other.



Ephesians 2:15—[Christ] has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace.