Psalm 63: 7,8; Isaiah 55: 6,8,9

Finding God in the city

Jesus’ destiny is to find His end in the city, in Jerusalem. Salem, shalom, salam, it is all the same word. It means peace.  Salem is a name of towns all over the US. Cities often have idealistic names.  Think of Philadelphia as “brotherly/sisterly love,” a city once the second largest in the world after London.  Then much of California is named after revered saints and this city after the Holy Sacramento.  But here is a question for you:”Can the city be a godly place?” As I have told you, I have been reading a theological book called “Spirit in the Cities, Searching for Soul in the Urban Landscape.”  Theologians write about city spaces.  I shared what Mark Lewis Taylor writes about Philadelphia, a city founded on idealism and where now the politicians want to turn it into a hub for historical and utopian tourism. He talks about “degenerate utopia” created by the forces of a harsh manufacturing culture in the past and wonders whether there could be a “regenerative utopia” where cities could be a place of ideals where God has a place.  Sheila Briggs rephrases the question and asks:” can the city be God-bearing” as she travels through LA county by train.  Mark Lewis mentions the existentialist theologian Paul Tillich by noting the two main threats of the city: first: the alienation of people from nature and second, the alienation of people from each other. We can add a third: the alienation from God.

It is interesting to look at church buildings in cities.  Some feel dark, except for the light through the stained glass windows, you get the idea that the architect wanted to shut out the city scape,  creating  an otherworldly place of mystery. Many older catholic churches are like that. But then some of the contemporary Catholic churches are the opposite, the world is brought in.  One great example is St.Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco and even more modestly St. Anthony’s on Florin here in Sacramento.  I like the Georgian style churches were there are just simple windows through which you can see the life outside.  My favorite are the churches in the tropics where the windows are open and you can hear singing from the street and honking of cars from the pews. At Parkview we are sort of in between. We get the light from the outside, but we cannot see the world until we open our windows.

So, friends, can God be found in the city?   Maybe Jesus wasn’t sure Himself.  We see Him active outside the city, preaching and healing.  The city is a place of filth and inequality and squalor, full of hypocrites.   When we think of the word “pastoral,” two things come to mind: 1. The attitude of the pastor and 2. a rural scene.  If you take them together pastoral work is better done outside the city.

But you and I are in this city. It is not a really big city, but all the important buildings are within walking distance from here.  Can this be a godly place?  Psalm 63 says:” my soul clings to You (meaning to God).” But how is that done in the city? Isaiah 55 says: ”Seek the Lord while God may be found, call upon God while God is near. “ But how do we know when God is near in the city?

Are God and cities enemies? Many church people think so, even though they too enjoy the joys of the city.  I am one who does not think so.  I think a city as this one has hope.  It is small enough and people want to live in its center.  However we ever seem to strike a balance between the poor and well-off. In city neighborhoods it’s often one or the other.  A shift is happening here and a neighborhood such as this is transition from a place that used to be full of drugs and half-way houses to high-end living.   Remember the first of the three threats: alienation from each other.  That is what we must avoid; second, alienation from nature:  there must green places where people can come together and finally alienation from God.  There are plenty of things that happen in this city that aren’t religious or Christian but express a positive spirit.  There is spiritual art in this city. It is not necessary an enemy of faith, although perhaps a distraction.  Friends, we have to keep the windows open to what is around us.  At the same time we must be confident that the message of the suffering Christ who goes into the city still rings true.  It is possible to be pastoral in the city, but it requires that sometimes we are a little uncomfortable.  I do think people are spiritually hungry.  Art may gives us wings for a while, enthrall and excite us, but it does not root us.  We are not a hundred percent sure that we have a place here on earth and that we are relevant.  We always long for the unconditional love that only God can provide. We long for the knowledge that the power of our universe is loving to us.   Nothing tells that story better than the powerful God Who chooses to become a powerless human. That message will never be old.  Thanks be to God!