Creed or Chaos

 

Dorothy Sayers

 

 

Last week we spent some time talking about Dorothy Sayers.  She was a contemporary of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien and a part of the literary society – The Inklings – they shared at Oxford before and during WWII.  We made reference to Sayer’s essay, “Creed or Chaos,” that was written in 1940 and decried what she considered the abysmal lack of understanding of the faith then in England.

Since then I have picked up another one of Sayers’ books, this one called The Mind of The Maker.  To borrow a corny line from a movie (or two) It’s not what you think it is.  That is, it isn’t primarily a book about theology.  The “maker” that Sayers has in mind as she writes the book is not primarily the maker of the universe, but rather the human artist – the writer, painter, sculptor or composer who uses his or her imagination to create.

In the book, she argues that the trinitarian nature of God is reflected in His creation, to include most profoundly those He created in His image – human beings.  In creating the universe, God acted in His trinitarian nature and, Sayers argues, when women and men create, they – on a much lower scale or level – necessarily employ trinitarian steps.

I have not gotten into the meat of the book yet, but I have read the Introduction written by Madeline L’Engle, the author of the Wrinkle In Time Quintet and no stranger herself to the creative process.  She says a couple of interesting things that I think may relate to our present study of the creeds.

First, that theological statements – like those in the creeds – are statements of fact about the nature of God and the nature of the universe and thus have great practical application.  That is, if we know something about the nature of the universe and the God who created it, we may be better equipped to navigate our way through life.  Less likely to stumble or err.

The other thing she says is this:

. .  . the statements in the creeds came into being not because the early Fathers were eager to force the limitations of language onto what they believed about the nature of God, but to combat heresy, statements that distorted the truth about the nature of the Creator.

 

Membership

⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Romans 12:5 English Standard Version (ESV)

 

 

As we think of the meaning of church membership, we should look closely at what the Scriptures say about it.  They say plenty, and – as is so often the case – they say things that might be counter to what we thought before.  CS Lewis, in his address to the Society of Saint Alban and St. Sergius, entitled “Membership,” informs us that the Greek word that is translated to “members” in our English bibles is actually a word “of Christian origin.”  And – as is also often the case – the word, as its usage has evolved over these two millenia – has come to be understood to mean something quite different from what it originally meant.

Nowadays we say “members of a class” to indicate how individuals are alike.  That is, a “class” is defined by a particular shared characteristic.  We have a class of men who are over six-feet tall.  These men, in our modern usage, are “members” precisely because of the characteristic that they share.  In the ancient, Biblical usage, individuals are “members one of another” for exactly the opposite reason.  They are members because they differ, they vary.  They are parts – differing and complimentary parts – of a body.

Membership

Here is a link to a site containing CS Lewis’s essay on membership.  The essay starts on page 158,  This would be great reading in preparation for next week’s class.  Click here.

Meditation on Psalm 25

 

A prayer for guidance

 

Make me to know your ways, O LORD;

teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me,

 

The God of the Bible is a God who reveals Himself.  He is not the God of the Deists, who imagine that God created the universe and then left it to run on its own.  No, the God of the Bible is constantly intervening in His own creation; constantly warning, constantly advising, constantly comforting, constantly delivering.  Indeed, the whole Bible is a record of God’s revelation of Himself to man.

And it is not just that He announces Himself on some national, political level.  It’s true that God revealed Himself to Israel in sort of a national and political way.  He dealt with Moses and Aaron who in turn dealt with Pharaoh for the release of the nation of Israel from slavery.  But the God of the Bible is a God who deals with individuals.    That is one thing that this psalm unquestionably teaches:

 

Who is the man who fears the LORD?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

The Christian life is necessarily a life lived in community, but God teaches, confides in and rewards individuals.   We may learn in community, we may learn from community, and we are certainly called to serve the community.  But in the final analysis, the state of a man’s heart is an inner, individual affair.  We may tithe mint and rue, that is, we may be rigorous and energetic in charity, and yet our hearts be far from Him.

 

If God is one who reveals Himself, who confides in individuals and who rewards them, who would not want such a relationship – such communion?  Answer: Lots of us.  Rather than desiring communion with the loving and almighty God, we would prefer to have things our own way, thank you very much.

This psalm is clear and definitive on the point. Who gets guidance from God?  The humble!

The meek [humble] he will guide in judgement; and the meek [humble] he will teach his way

And

The Lord confides in those who fear him

 

I have to be careful here.  I don’t want to suggest that our salvation or our relationship with God is based on our own merit.  All is of grace.  All is of God’s initiation.  All is of God’s doing:

 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it isthe gift of God: ⁹ not of works, lest any man should boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Maybe the point here is simply to think about what humility actually is.  It’s easy for us to make mistakes here.  Some equate humility with modesty.  That the humble man is an “aw shucks” kind of guy who is always putting himself down.  But humility isn’t that.  CS Lewis said that it is the most attractive of virtues:  If you’ve ever been around anyone who is truly humble, it is like having a drink of cool water in the desert.  Here is Lewis:

He [God] wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble – delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are. I wish I had got a bit further with humility myself. If I had, I could probably tell you more about the relief and comfort of taking the fancy-dress off–getting rid of the false self, with all its “Look at me” and “Aren’t I a good boy?” and all its posing and posturing. To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in the desert