Christians are Materialists

Preparing for the Seventh Sunday of Easter: One Day Before Sunday (Year C)

Scripture

Psalter: Psalm 97

Old Testament: Exodus 33:18-23

Gospel: John 1:14-18

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Prayer

O God, your Son remained with his disciples after his resurrection, teaching them to love all people as neighbors. As his disciples in this age, we offer our prayers on behalf of the universe in which we are privileged to live and our neighbors with whom we share it.

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Reflection

“The Word became flesh,” wrote John, “and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). That is what Incarnation means. It is untheological. It is unsophisticated. It is undignified. But according to Christianity, it is the way things are.

All religions and philosophies that deny the reality or the significance of the material, the fleshly, the earthbound, are themselves denied. Moses at the burning bush was told to take off his shoes because the ground on which he stood was holy ground (Exodus 3:5), and Incarnation means that all ground is holy ground because God not only made it but walked on it, ate and slept and worked and died on it. If we are saved anywhere, we are saved here.

One of the blunders religious people are particularly fond of making is the attempt to be more spiritual than God.—Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Seeker's ABC.

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