Situational Atheism

If the dead are not raised,‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ Do not be deceived:‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them.

2 Peter 2:20-21

The deepest longing of our souls is communion with God, and what a joy we have in being able to draw so near to God through Jesus Christ! We get to be at one with our creator, with love and life itself. As if this weren't enough, God has even given us rules by which to live so that we can be at peace and harmony with ourselves and with one another.

How sad, then when we (including me) turn against the way of life he has given us. When we turn against God's commands and way of life, we turn our backs to God, acting as though or pretending as though God doesn't exist. By purposefully forgetting the way of life God has given us, we deny the existence of God, and we deny ourselves of the deepest longing of our souls.

Healing the Conflict Within

Be still, and know that I am God!

Psalm 46:10

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

John 14:27

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

John 15:9

Last Sunday morning, we held an adult class on Relationships, and one topic that was mentioned was the need to be at peace with yourself in order to have healthy relationships. We need to love and value ourselves, otherwise we will end up depending on others in order to be loved and valued. This puts undue and often unknown expectations on others, and we end up being angry with them for not making us feel loved enough. When we are at peace with ourselves, then we can find peace in our relationships with others. We can know and enjoy others for who they are, rather than for the affirmation they give us. In continuing this idea, I turn to Thich Nhat Hanh, author of Living Buddha, Living Christ, in which he writes:

Mindfulness and the Holy Spirit
The Seed of the Holy Spirit
…In Buddhism, our effort is to practice mindfulness in each moment – to know what is going on within and all around us. When the Buddha was asked, “Sir, what do you and your monks practice?” he replied, “We sit, we walk, and we eat.” The questioner continued, “But sir, everyone sits, walks, and eats,” and the Buddha told him, “When we sit, we know we are sitting. When we walk, we know we are walking. When we eat, we know we are eating.” Most of the time, we are lost in the past or carried away by future projects and concerns. When we are mindful, touching deeply the present moment, we can see and listen deeply, and the fruits are always understand, acceptance, love, and the desire to relieve suffering and bring joy…

Making Peace
…There are many conflicting feelings and ideas within us, and it is important for us to look deeply and know what is going on. When there are wars within us, it will not be long before we are at war with others, even those we love…If we go back to ourselves and touch our feelings, we will see the ways that we furnish fuel for the wars going on inside…With the energy of mindfulness, we can calm things down, understand them, and bring harmony back to the conflicting elements inside us…

Thich Nhat Hanh

Living Buddha, Living Christ - p. 14-15, 19

Share the light: What is the hope that is within you?

Brad Sullivan
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A
Sunday, 27th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:7-18
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21


“To an unknown god,” was the inscription on an altar which Paul found in Athens, and that inscription goes a long way to describing the human condition. As human beings, we seem to have a need to connect with God. Whether God is believed to be known or unknown, near or far, loving or angry, people seem to have an innate need to search for and connect to God. Religion, having some kind of religion is shared in almost every culture and society, worldwide. There are atheists out there, folks who don’t believe in a god for one reason or another, but by and large, humanity seems hardwired to quest after knowledge of God. Paul even said as much in his address to the Athenians:
From one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him – though indeed he is not far from each one of us.
Paul understood that God gave us all a desire for him. Paul understood that God gave us all a purpose, that we would search for him and perhaps grope for him and find him. Paul further understood something of who God is. Paul understood that God, whom the Athenians worshipped as unknown, is not an unknown, faraway deity, but God is near to each of us. We are in fact God’s offspring. We are known and loved by God who desires for us to know and love him.
This is one of the great joys of Christianity. God is not unknown. We do not follow blindly an unknown god, but we follow the light of Christ to God who has made himself known to us through Christ. What many proclaim as unknown, we can proclaim as known.
Peter invites us to proclaim God as known in his letter when he writes, “always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15) We have been charged with proclaiming as known the God and Father of Jesus Christ who knows and loves each of us.