Tribe
A now-forgotten sage old priest would declare, “There are three B’s to being Christian, Believe, Belong and Behave”. Interestingly he took the view that these things did not happen in a particular order, and that one was not more important than the other.
The notion of Tribe carries with it an implicit understanding of belonging. The sense of Tribe has a sense of belonging and identity that recognises a commonality without imposing sameness. This is an important aspect of Tribe because we do not lose our identity in being part of the tribe, but rather we gain a deeper understanding of our own identity. In fact, one of the dilemmas we face here is the question, is the tribe defined by its members, or is it the tribe that makes its members who they are?
In part, the story of Ruth in the Old Testament is about the understanding of the Tribe. Ruth begins her life as a Moabite woman, who marries one of Naomi’s sons. Following the death of Naomi’s husband and sons, Ruth makes a determined statement to stay with Naomi. Ultimately she becomes the Great Grandmother of David, Israel’s first King. One of the beautiful things about a lot of the early patriarch narratives in the Old Testament is that they carry a certain messiness. Those who talk of David’s line, with an absolute sense of Tribal purity are confronted with the brute reality that David’s Grandmother was a Moabite woman.
In this sense, the tribe is not absolutely fixed or final and is not an impregnable barrier, but rather a permeable membrane, always open to new members. As a Parish Church Community, we have a sense of Tribe. Our challenge is to form such a sense of community, that some of those who encounter us will find some welcome, some inclusion, and some sense of belonging, that they might find themselves saying, ‘these are my people, and this is my tribe’.
Now there were several steps in the process for Ruth in moving to become the Grandmother of David, and ultimately there was a sense of the process. So too, for all of us, there are steps along the way. We might be struggling with the sheer act of believing, We may be struggling with the content of what we may believe. We, all of us, wrestle with our own behaviour, in one way or another (for all have sinned and are falling short of the glory of God). We are not perfect, yet.
Moltmann made the suggestion that we are called to believe in God as Creator, not in God as the retired Creator. God is active in shaping and creating each of us, and indeed in shaping and forming all of us. The notion of tribe is not a static, institutional or corporate structure, but rather a living and breathing body. It is a process or a journey.
As we approach the greatness of Holy Week, We see Jesus as the ultimate expression by God of his solidarity with humankind.
In Jesus God is saying “these are my people and this is my tribe.” And indeed when asked what they are worth to him we discover it is everything. We are they who simply respond to God’s commitment to us, “these are my people and this is my tribe.”