When I speak to people outside the church or those who have been absent for some time, somewhere in the conversation I inevitably here “Sorry Pastor, but I’m not a very ‘religious’ person.”  To which I get a “raised eyebrow” look when I respond, “That’s okay, I’m probably one of the most unreligious persons you’ll ever meet.”  Then I go on to explain that my belief is that Jesus didn’t come into the world to start another “religion,” Lord knows we have more than enough religions in the world, but rather He came into the world to reveal the possibility of righteousness or right relationships in flesh and blood.

My assurance of the unreligious-ness of “right-relational” Christianity is echoed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer – a German pastor/theologian – who was imprisoned during the Nazi regime.  He was eventually martyred in 1945, just a couple weeks before his prison was liberated by the Allies.  During the three years he was incarcerated Bonhoeffer wrote some wonderful letters that were clear and crisp, and so beautifully theologically provoking.

During his letter writing he led one of his colleagues, Eberhard Bethge, from what had become a legalistic laden religion of the western Christianity to what Bonhoeffer believed was the goal of the coming of the Christ, righteousness or the right relationships that God yearned for from the beginning with and between His people.  Bonhoeffer believed that this righteousness was the cornerstone of faith, and faith was drastically different from religion.  In fact, during his word studies in prison, Bonhoeffer discovered that righteousness was more important to the Jews than salvation was.  Salvation was God’s domain and God proclaimed salvation to who he deemed, but righteousness was Israel’s opportunity to live in God’s salvation story.

What is righteousness?  Righteousness simply means right relationships, and right relationships are realized when we think of others before ourselves.  That is how the prophets articulated righteousness from Amos to Micah.  To paraphrase the accumulated statements of the prophets, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Your sacrifices are a stench to my nostrils, because you present the appointed burnt offerings, but you continue to oppress the poor, crush the slaves, and forget the widows and orphans.”  In other words their relationships were not right.  They were doing the religious “stuff” but they were not thinking of others.  They were forgetting that they were once slaves, and God modeled righteousness by responding to their cries and moving for them, first.  They were not being faithful to God’s righteousness.

Jesus, the anointed, came not just to articulate this righteousness, but to identify it with his flesh and blood life.  Jesus lived this righteousness on his way to the cross with everyone he came in contact with, and he challenged his disciples to do the same, “In as much as you do this to the least of these…you do it to me.”  This understanding of Jesus’ identity and thus the churches identity was apparent in the first century church because when the disciples were brought before the Sanhedrin they did not even identify Jesus by name, but instead called Him the “Righteous One.”  Paul also articulates this understanding of righteousness in his letters when he encourages various churches to “… be of the same mind as Christ, Jesus and think of others before self.”  

I believe that as much as that understanding of Jesus identified the 1st century church, it should be the goal of our understanding and identity in this 1st century of this second millennium since Christ’s death and resurrection.  I also believe that when the church is able to get its beliefs “around” this understanding we will no longer be seen as one “religion” among many, but rather as a true faith that practices the righteousness of God with all people as we reflect Jesus the Christ in the world.  Could you imagine what this could mean to the church, the world?  Come, and imagine with us at Zion Lutheran Church.