voices

Last night, we attended our first “church service” since returning to Canada. We spent a special evening in a living room with a handful of people, and we talked about what it means to worship God. And we worshipped God. And we all celebrated the voices that God has given us. And we were drawn into community - with God and with each other. This picture reminds me of Christian voices silenced and now rediscovered. Many years ago it was not permitted to bring Russian Bibles into the Soviet Union (I know from personal experience), but during our visit in November, we found one of these majestic tomes in each of our Moscow hotel rooms. (Any guesses about where the Bible is open to, and why?) I’ve been thinking about voices lost and rediscovered since a strange dream I had a couple of years ago. Last week I came across an article (“Free Speech in Pauline Political Theology” by David Fredrickson) that brings it together for me. Here are a few words from its conclusion: “One of the pressing political needs of the church today is to imagine new ways for unity in the midst of cultural diversity, moral reasoning, and differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, and social class. ... Paul’s political theology of free speech goes to the heart of the matter. All have a voice; no one may be silenced; no one may speak for someone else; and all speech must build up the community. As risky as it may sound, because of the hope in the Spirit’s justifying and transforming presence, everyone in the church is entitled to speak with complete freedom....” The question is, do we dare to hope that big? And, is the risk worth it? Perhaps our answer depends on which side of inclusion/exclusion we find ourselves.