Especially on Christian High Holy Days like Ash Wednesday, I am asked how School Chaplains proclaim the Good News of Jesus in the midst of a diverse school environment, with students and staff of all faiths and no faith at all. Unlike local Episcopal parishes, in our pews we have Christians and Muslims, Jews and Gentiles, Hindus and Buddhists, Sikh and Secular, and everyone in between and beyond. I could use fancy language and talk about how chaplains navigate the particularity of Christ's Incarnation and the universality of God's Love, or about how we discern between models of Theological exclusivism and pluralism and inclusivism. But let me see if I can do it in a few paragraphs without specialized language:
For me, my ministry in a diverse population is based in the undeniable Biblical teachings that "God is Love", and also that "Christ is God". This means that Christ is Love, and all authentic Love is Christlike: True Love follows the self-sacrificial pattern of Christ's life of compassion and empathy, justice and forgiveness, peace and healing. That Love is unconditional, unselfish, and unending. As Saint John tells us: Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, but whoever does not love does not know God, because God is Love (1John 4). That means that if something does not communicate that Love, it is not of Christ, and Christ is not in it.
So, my number one priority is Christ's number one priority, which he showed clearly when he taught that the Greatest Commandments are to Love God will all we are, and Love our neighbors, as we Love ourselves, according to the way Jesus has loved us (see Matthew 22; Mark 12; Luke 10; John 13 and 15). This means everyone I do ministry with should know they are loved, and they should find me encouraging and embodying this Christlike Love to them. If I'm not doing this, I am doing something wrong. And even if they have learned nothing else from me, if people walk away from my school knowing they are loved and they are called to love others with Christlike Love, I am doing something right.
From this I also remember that God is that Ultimate Reality within which all of us live and move and exist as God's own children (see Acts 17). Regardless of whether we go to the highest heaven or the depths of the grave, or anywhere in between, God is always with us, and will never leave us or forsake us (see Psalm 139; Hebrews 13). And since Christ is the incarnation and embodiment of God in human form, this means that Christ is the Source that creates all things, the Reality that holds all things together, and the Destination that all things move toward, so that Christ will become all in all, because nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the Love of God in Christ (see John 1; 1Corinthians 15, Romans 8; Ephesians 1; Colossians 1). This means that Jesus Christ is the particular embodiment, in one person from one place at one time, of what God has universally been doing in all people in all places at all times. Jesus is the "once for all" of God's "always and everywhere".
God has always been loving and giving life to all creatures. We see that Love and Life embodied and assured in Christ's birth and ministry. God has always been working to forgive and heal all of God's children. We this embodied and taught in Jesus miracles and healings. God has always been taking every person's sickness and weakness and suffering and death into Godself. We see this embodied and exemplified in the suffering and death of Jesus. God has always been bringing life out of death, and hope out of despair. We see this embodied and actualized in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus is the living confirmation that God's Love is stronger than death. And that is true for every person who has ever has lived or ever will live, regardless of whether they know of Jesus or not, or believe in Jesus or not. Because all of us, regardless of what religion or spiritual path we are on, will always be able to grow deeper into the unending Christlike Love of God (even if we do not fully grasp or know or understand God, which is pretty much all of us).
Thus, I am able to rejoice with students and staff every time I find out they are learning to live and love in a more Christlike way. Every move in a Christlike direction is an implicit movement toward Christ, even if Christ is not explicitly mentioned. And this is Good News. Really Good News.
For some, this may mean they enter into a consciously chosen relationship with God through Jesus, putting faith in him or renewing faith in him, resulting in baptisms and confirmations and sincerely partaking in the sacraments of the Church. For some, this may mean that they commit their lives to certain virtues of compassion and empathy, justice and forgiveness, without a particular faith stance. For some, this means they may become curious about spiritual ideas and ethical ideals, and begin to sincerely ask questions and earnestly seek answers. For some, this means they feel called to some special kind of community service to be the hands and feet of God's Love helping others. For some, this means they re-commit themselves to prayer and meditation and spiritual practice in their family's spiritual tradition, exploring the depths of that tradition to help them love with the same Christlike Love.
All of these show me that Christ's Spirit is at work in them, under whatever Name they know the Spirit, to produce the Christlike fruit of Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, sensitivity, and self-control (see Galatians 5). Regardless of how others may categorize or name these activities, I see Christ at work in them all. And so, with Saint Paul (who wrote Galatians and much of the New Testament) I can pray the following prayer for all of my students and staff, regardless of their spiritual paths:
I pray that, according to the riches of God's glory, God will strengthen our inmost selves with power through his Spirit, so that Christ's Love may dwell in our hearts through faith, as we are being rooted and grounded in Love. I pray that we may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we all may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3.16-19 adapted).
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