Remains. . .

I read where archaeologists uncovered the remains of a long-forgotten medieval Roman Catholic church near Munich, Germany.  The remains are thought to date back to between the 9th and 13th centuries.  Along with the foundations of a church, there were also foundations of several other medieval structures (houses, ovens, pit houses, and cellars) and some human remains in the church.

The archaeologists are excited to have something to research as they seek to understand the history of the region.  Is that all this is?  Something for research and historical perspective?  It seems that this is the fate of the future.  Christianity will become for much of Europe and even parts of the Americas an historical curiosity rather than a living faith.  It was interesting to note that they recorded the find as a foundation and a foundation exists to support something but, increasingly, the Christian foundation of Western Europe supports very little of a living faith in people or a movement within culture.  Christianity has become in these areas like the remains of the people found under the church floor.  They were once alive and so was Christianity but now they are not and neither is Christianity in vast parts of Western Europe.

While it is true that these remains help those who follow to understand the past, Christianity is not meant to be a past or a legacy or an abandoned foundation.  It is meant to be a living faith, embraced with the hearts, minds, and lives of the faithful born again of water and the Word, cleansed by the Word that absolves them of their sins, guided by the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking through Scripture and sermon, fed and nourished upon the Body and Blood of our Lord in the Eucharist.  Christ knows nothing of nor cares anything for the footprints of the past that lead nowhere.  This is why the role of the family is at least as important as the work of the Church in retaining the faith now and in the future.

Sadly, the largest Lutheran denomination in America is not the ELCA.  Don't be relieved by that.  The largest Lutheran denomination in America is called those who used to be Lutheran.  Just like the largest group from other denominations might also be those who used to belong, attend, and believe but do not anymore.  We have our own remains and foundations to dig out and they do not belong to an ancient past but merely to yesterday.  It is worth thinking about.  What would our churches look like if everyone baptized remained among the faithful, if everyone confirmed was still in the pews, and if everyone who belonged was there to kneel at the rail every Sunday?  The problem we have is not simply appealing to those beyond our walls but keeping those who once believed.  If we fail at this, we will end up looking exactly like Western Europe -- with some old foundations where living communities of faith once stood.  That is a sobering thought.