You keep using that word — “Christian” — and I do not think it means what you think it means. Or so I find myself thinking sometimes when this faith of mine gets contorted to fit the ambitions of power rather than the teachings of Jesus.
Too often, the Bible itself is wielded like a weapon, without much curiosity about what is actually inside. Cherry-picked verses meant to comfort an individual afterlife can drown out the clarion call that runs through the Gospel: Love each other now. Love our neighbors here. Share what we have today.
Faith, as Jesus taught it, is not about conquering. It is not even about winning. There’s this: “turn the other cheek” thing that Jesus spoke about, this “let the little children come to me” moment and this “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” invitation that sits at the very center of the Gospel story.
This Lent, I find myself returning more deeply to the Christian faith as invited by Jesus himself, with the recognition that it can sometimes feel rare to follow the red lined teachings of Christ. I also know that I am not alone in that. Many faithful people in our towns and neighborhoods feel the same dissonance when Christian belief is reduced to a kind of reflexive nationalism rather than a way of love.
The love of God, and the following of Jesus, shows up in how we act toward one another. It appears in quiet ways across our communities, in people who care for neighbors, welcome the stranger, and refuse to let fear have the final word. Faith becomes real not only in what we believe, but in how we gather, remember, and practice love together. Holy Week has long been a time when Christians return to that story most intentionally.
During Holy Week, Christians remember the final days of Jesus’ life, the teachings he offered, the love he embodied, and the way he confronted injustice even when it ultimately led to his death. In that tradition, worship can become more than remembrance. It becomes a way of asking what faith calls us to in the world we share today.
This year, Project Proclaim of the United Church of Christ in Southern New England will host a Seven Last Words worship service on Friday, April 3 at 7 p.m., in partnership with First Churches Northampton.
In this service, preachers will reflect on the final words spoken by Jesus before he is executed by the state, weaving scripture together with the real faith questions facing our communities today. Seven different preachers will offer reflections, with music led by folk artist Jeff Olmsted and a pickup choir gathered to sing songs of faith and hope. Too, we will honor and lift up those who are doing the real work of Christianity in the world today.
Together, we will attend to this created world and the challenges within it through a lens of Christian faith, faith passed down by our ancestors and continually shaped as we seek to co create a more loving world with God. We will name love as a gathering force, holding prayer and speaking truth with humility and courage.
The service will proclaim a faith that welcomes the stranger and stands in solidarity with immigrants. It will affirm the importance of a free press and the dignity of democratic life. It will proclaim that our transgender siblings are holy and beloved by God, and that all bodies are worthy of care through access to healthcare, homes and belonging.
Even as we acknowledge the death of Jesus on Friday of Holy Week (what Christians call Good Friday) we will also remember the world he described and the love he practiced. And we will hold hope for one another as we continue the long work of living toward that vision.
This service is for anyone who feels called to come, whether to worship or simply to witness Christianity in practice. It is for wanderers of faith and wonderers. It is for you who carry questions, not to provide easy answers, but to journey together in community. All are welcome. Those who wish may come at 5 p.m. to join in singing, and the service itself begins at 7 p.m.
Faith happens in practice, and in community. Christianity, for those of us who seek to follow the Way of Jesus, calls us again and again back to its center: love of neighbor, courage in the face of injustice, and hope for the world God is still bringing into being. These practices of meaning making and community building have been carried by generations before us, and now they are ours to carry forward for those who come after.
Christians may disagree about many things. But the life of Jesus leaves us with a clear witness: that love is stronger than fear, that welcome is stronger than exclusion, and that the work of faith is not domination or victory, but the patient building of a world where all can belong.
Rev. Dr. Chris Davies is the executive minister of programs and initiatives at the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ. She lives in western Massachusetts, and witnesses hope in action at UCC churches in many towns across the region and beyond. You can learn more atwww.findhopenow.org, or connect with Rev. Dr. Chris at jesuslovesdinos.bsky.social or on Facebook.