Former Glory vs. Future Hope

I seem to have spent a bit of time driving through Heidelberg recently, and have been struck by how many places there carry the name "Olympic". The answer is obvious, of course - Heidelberg was the site for the Olympic Village back when the Olympics were in Melbourne in '56. Heidelberg has gone through quite a few phases in Melbourne's history, first as the beautiful, Yarra-side home of the famous Heidelberg School of artists, then as the Olympic Village, then as one of Melbourne's less glorious Northern suburbs, and now as a slightly gentrified rental refuge that isn't too far from the city. But looking at it you wouldn't see any of what it must have looked like in the '50s, all decked out for the world's finest athletes.

It got me thinking about the ways that places, and groups of people, can cling to their former glories, as proof that they once "meant something". Now, hopefully Heide is taking a turn for the better in this new century but it is unlikely to progress much by harping on about its days as the Olympic Village. That sort of thing doesn't mean much to people anymore, except perhaps for diehard Olympic nostalgists. Of course, our society needs to place more value on the past. We're far too quick to assume that all that has come before us is outmoded and irrelevant, an attitude that would hardly have allowed Egypt's 3000 heyday to happen. No, things of the past, whether recent or ancient, remain relevant to us. But the world is changing, and humans in today's society have a delicate balance to strike: one which allows for connectedness to our past, continuity with human history, and a continued movement into our future. Merely preserving a glorified past that no longer has meaning in our world is not a worthwhile project. But holding onto the threads that have been woven through all human history, and lead us to our true future - there can be nothing more valuable than this, I suspect.

So, when we look at old churches, for example, and remember a fading Christendom, we may rejoice that it is over, or may long for the past to be restored, or simply admire the beautiful architecture and thinking nothing more of it than that. But the past of Christianity is more than just old buildings, and the future is more than a blank space: it has power and definition; we simply have not experienced it yet. If we believe what Jesus declared, represented and achieved, he brought in a new age, one that is only growing stronger just as this world is ageing and dying. If we want to move with the times, that's a bandwagon we would be wise to hop onto. It is so much more than a bygone era of conservative morality; it is a kingdom that exists in this world but does not belong to it, and so is immune from the viruses, decay and general onset of obsoleteness that grind everything human and earthly to the ground. It would be as if the 1956 Olympics represented not only a single event that, once passed, had little significance anymore, but was instead the ushering in of a new age, one that would retain power and impact regardless of what happened around it.

When I think of the bygone days of Christendom, of Constantine and the tyrants of the medieval church, I feel cold and ashamed. When I think of the kingdom that is coming, I want to get to my feet and run straight into it. I hope you can join me.