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Morning Meditation
September 5, 2026
Reading: Acts 13:38-39
Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
Reading:John 10:1-2
‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.’
Excerpt from Paul Tillich’s The Courage to Be
Their courage was both the courage to be as oneself and the courage to be as a part…..
Liberalism and democracy could clash in two ways: liberalism could undermine the democratic control of society or democracy could become tyrannical and a transition to totalitarian collectivism….
But behind all these changes remained one thing, the courage to be as a part in the productive process of history.
The productive process in which one is a participant naturally includes risks, failures, catastrophes. But they do not undermine courage.
Meditation by Rebecca Northington
In this section titled “Courage and Participation” Tillich explores individualism versus participation; or self, versus collectivism and conformism. Understanding who we are first, as self, is primal Tillich argues; and the threat to selfhood causes existential anxiety. Having a sense of self is critical to our spiritual and contextual health, Tillich contends. It is not evil as some have argued over many centuries. What our context is, or what community or world we live in, is also important. It impacts our sense of security and our ability to choose courage over fear.
This chapter explores the many ways humans have chosen community over the last two thousand years, and the position that self has taken in different contexts. As sin and guilt grew as themes in Medieval Christianity, the Church became a stabilizing context in which individuals could lose themselves in the “sacramental community”. This eliminated self as central and allowed individuals to endow themselves to the Church, thereby going beyond being a part of the Church, or participants in the Church community, to surrendering their power or selfhood to the Church. We have seen this in other collective expressions(communism, unions), and Tillich does acknowledge that this abdication of personhood offers temporary relief from anxiety, but does not give individuals an opportunity to exercise their own courage and to be present “before God”.
Humans like rules. We like to know that people will receive judgement and punishment. We like to “win”. We like to be in groups that we perceive to be morally superior or socially distinguished. We like to be in communities that feel safe and comfortable, sometimes at the expense of our own individual needs. What Tillich is saying about courage mirrors Paul’s words in Acts: “by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” Even though we may not want to cause turmoil to our community or our families, it is crucial that we not abandon our-selves to other people's rules or power. If we do this - if we choose rules that are not Christ’s, if we choose leaders that are not attempting to find the “sheepfold by the gate”, but choose instead their own agenda; we forsake our own courage, and the gift of ourselves given to us by no other than the Father. Tillich finishes this lecture with the acknowledgement that being a self and a contributing part of the world is innately in tension. This is where Jesus can be a very present voice promising that the courage to love ourselves, to be loved, and to offer our love to the world is what he died for, empowering us to be a part of the world without losing ourselves.
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