A Winter Walk-2-Moving in the Spirit

First Reading— Acts 17: 24-28

“For the God who made the world and all that is in it, the Sovereign of heaven and earth, doesn’t live in sanctuaries made by human hands, and isn’t served by humans, as if in need of anything. No! God is the One who gives everyone life, breath—everything. From one person God created all of humankind to inhabit the entire earth, and set the time for each nation to exist and the exact place where each nation should dwell. God did this so that human beings would seek, reach out for, and perhaps find the One who is not really far from any of us—the One in whom we live and move and have our being. As one of your poets has put it, ‘We too are God’s children.’”

The Gospel Lesson— Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John tried to dissuade Jesus, saying, “I should be baptized by you, and yet you come to me!” But Jesus replied, “Leave it this way for now. We must do this to completely fulfill God’s justice”. So John reluctantly agreed. Immediately after Jesus had been baptized and was coming up out of the water, the sky suddenly opened up and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and hovering over him. With that, a voice from the heavens said, “this is my Own, my Beloved, on whom my favor rests.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Winter Walk 2—Moving in the Spirit 1-8-12
Come, Spirit, come our hearts control; our spirits long to be made whole. Let inward love guide every deed; by this we worship and are freed. May my words be inspired by this same sweet Spirit, and may our thoughts and reflections bring you honor and praise. Amen

As I often do, I went to the internet to see what I would find if I googled the title of the sermon or the scripture. What I found were a lot of pages about living in the Spirit—but most, if not all, of the descriptions of what that looks like, left me cold—lots of talk about denial, control, and restraint. Not too appealing to most of us; certainly not too appealing to me. And then I happened upon a website movinginthespirit.org. Aha! I thought—this should do it—when my computer brought up the website, I was somewhat surprised to find that it is the website for a program in Atlanta that teaches inner-city kids to dance and through their dancing to find purpose and respect, a place to belong, and adults to guide them into discovering who they are and want to be. The description on their webpage says this: “Moving in the Spirit reaches over 250 young people annually through dynamic programs that educate, inspire and unite young people through dance in order to help them become successful, compassionate leaders.” In other places, the website talks about celebrating diversity and making a difference in the world. Almost forgetting that I was reading about a dance program, I found myself reflecting on a life spent moving in the Holy Spirit in similar terms.
I strongly suspect that most of you, if you have been inviting people to come to Open Circle with you, have heard from at least one person—I’m a spiritual person, but I’m not religious. Or “I do my worshipping at the beach or under a tree.” On Dating/Relationship internet sites, under faith issues, “spiritual, not religious” appears as a choice—I assume so that you know that if you begin dating that person you won’t be drug to some church or another. This is all very sad to me—a life long practioner of “religion”, I consider myself a very spiritual person and have, indeed, like many of you, spent at least a few years, staunchly defending my religiously staying away from an organized faith tradition and finding my spirituality atop a mountain, on the meditation mat, or in the middle of a sun salutation in a yoga class. But, if I am honest, I must admit that I longed, even in the midst of anger, rejection, or betrayal for a way to be both spiritual and religious at the same time, in the same place, with the same people. For me, the seemingly necessary distinction between religion and spirituality just didn’t make any sense. I will be bold enough today to suggest that it doesn’t make any sense to God either. Our reading from Acts 17 comes from one of Paul’s most famous sermons. He has gone to Athens to wait for the rest of his group. He is intrigued and dismayed to see all the idols that the Athenians are worshipping. He, of course, begins to tell them of another way—a way consistent with the new covenant forged in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. In a meeting of the highest religious authorities in Athens, he gives this “sermon”.
"The God who made the world and everything in it, this [Creator] of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines… [This God] makes the creatures; the creatures don't make [God]. Starting from scratch, [God] made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find [the Divine Presence]… We live and move in [God]!” Then Paul uses the words of one of the Greek poets to make his point: “One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?” Now here’s what I think—I think Paul would encourage us to make the connection between the idols that the Athenians are worshipping which keep them from encountering the true God and all the rules and regulations that we have, over time, built into “religion”. And it may well be those very rules and regulations that cause people to reject what they see as “religion” and adopt, instead, a spirituality that is more in line with seeking the Creator God of whom Paul speaks in his sermon to the Greeks in Athens. I hope you are still with me—for this is the crux of life in the spirit—this moving and being and living in the spirit. And so, we watch, as the Spirit descends upon Jesus—freely, a gift from God. Hear what the scripture says about the gift of the Holy Spirit to Jesus—“The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my [Child], chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life."
And we, like Jesus, are chosen by God, marked by Divine Love, the delight of God. And all that God asks in return in that we yearn for the Perfect Presence of that Divine Love. Those who live a contemplative life in God, have long conversed about practicing this presence of God. N. Graham Standish, a Presbyterian minister in Pennsylvania, says this about staying in God’s presence: “Practicing the presence of God is simple, although it does require one major commitment from us. We have to actually believe and treat God as though God is with us. We have to believe that God permeates everything and everyone…We may not be God, and God may not be us, but certainly Christ is incarnated within us, and the Holy Spirit surrounds us and acts through us.” And, along comes Paul saying again, “we live and move and have our being in God”.
And in all of this, not one single rule appears—not one canon law, not one tradition that defies understanding. All that appears is our divinely born longing for the Divine, for the source of life. In the descent of the Holy Spirit on Christ who was, in every way, like us, we are gifted with the same Holy Spirit of God. Why then, is it so hard for us to learn of this in church—the faith family in which we gather to sing and praise, to listen and speak of God who loves us and treasures us as important as any other spark of creation throughout all of time. Let me ask this again—why is it so hard for us to learn of this, and, better yet, experience this in church? Bringing the practice of prayer in the presence of God to a deeper level, the Quaker writer Thomas Kelly has revealed a way to an even more authentic experience of the Holy. He suggests that living or praying in the spirit is to invite and allow the presence of the incarnate God, in Christ, flow through us. Kelly says:
“Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with the intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life”. And I say to you, is it not amazing that nowhere is all our meditation and contemplation today do we find the rules of such a faith—no step-by-step instruction of some catechism or confirmation process. No memorized scriptures, no threats of eternal damnation for failing to worship aright.
And so I return to the young dancers in Atlanta—certainly there are patterns of dance to be learned, particularly patterns that protect young feet and legs from harm and enable scores of dancers to be on the dance floor simultaneously without running each over, or ending in a heap of tangled toes and fingers. But those are patterns of grace, grace which allows them and us, to move together with other creative beings journeying toward the purest form of worship or dance—pure beauty itself, not filled with unruly self-focus, but alive with the emphasis on the experience of Divine Joy far more than the perfect plié or recitation of creed or prayer. And so, whether at altar or dance studio, we join the creative dance of the gift of divine presence and grace. Come, Spirit, come our hearts control; our spirits long to be made whole. Let inward love guide every deed; by this we worship and are freed. Amen and Amen.