Covenant Presbyterian Church

Weekend Update

from Bob Henderson

Friday, April 17, 2015 

 

Dear friends: 

 

Irving Greenberg is a Jewish theologian and philosopher, an Orthodox rabbi, who thinks deeply about Judaism and Christianity. Greenberg suggests that the two faiths have much in common and makes the intriguing suggestion - shared, by the way, by many Christian theologians - that Christianity doesn't replace or supersede Judaism but lives beside it. In fact, he suggests that Christianity does Judaism's work by spreading Jewish ideas about God, specifically that purpose of human life is to join God in the healing and perfecting the world. We are, he says, God's partners.

 

 

It's humbling to consider, that we might be God's partners. Some think of worship as the highest of human endeavors, but Greenburg suggests that the highest and holiest endeavor to which any of us can aspire is to live as a partner of God, to live out God's expectations for us, which, Greenberg says, means exercising our God-given power and responsibility for the world and for our own lives.

 


It's an important - if fading - notion for our world today. Social responsibility expressed through generous service to 'the other' - whoever that may be for us - has always been foundational to our faith and we see it in the earliest stories of the Christian church.

You can read one example in this week's scripture passage: Acts 6:1-7. Again, the worship opportunities are rich and varied. This week, I'll be in the contemporary services and Grady Moseley, our Parish Associate, will be at the traditional services. All services will be blessed with strong music and rich liturgy.

Come, and invite a friend.

Warmly

 

Bob Henderson's Signature