Word to Build a Life on 9-16-12

The Reading— Romans 14: 1, 13-14, 22-23 Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it. Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong. The Other Reading—sayings by Dr. Seuss • “My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. It's the letter I use to spell yuzz-a-ma-tuzz. You'll be sort of surprised what there is to be found once you go beyond 'Z' and start poking around!” • “If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too.” • “Don't give up. I believe in you all. A person's a person no matter how small.” • “And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.” • “So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act.” • “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!” The Gospel Reading: Luke 6: 47-49 These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. “If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.” Words to Build a Life on 9-16-12 God, we know that you call us to see the holy in the everyday things—the things that are so close to us we sometimes trip over them without seeing them. Help us to build our lives on the foundation of your love and grace. Teach us to listen. May the words that I speak and the reflections of all our hearts reflect the holy in this hour. Amen Today our reflections about worship ask us to take a closer look at ourselves as individuals, in all our shared and separate pasts, our hopes and dreams for the future, and our gifts and blessings which call us to different and differing kinds of worship experiences. Not necessarily different kinds of worship, but certainly, different kinds of worship experiences. And so, here we are, joined in our circle of a faith community all trying to reach out for those things that touch us and call us to the divine wholeness that lies at the core of each of our beings, WHILE simultaneously trying to love each other and call each other into shared worship in a community of radical welcome! WOW! That’s some heady stuff—I want to try to unpack it for us as we go along to day. And, along the way—don’t forget about last week’s porcupines! Some of our quills left over from last week are stated in the negative—this is NOT what I want or don’t think I’m going to do this. And some we can state in the positive—this is what I want or need or think would be a good idea for worship—but they are all quills just the same and we sometimes chafe against the prick of those quills no matter what they look like. Now, lest you think your pastor went away for the week, and lost her mind completely, I want to explain why Dr. Seuss found his way into our sacred readings for today. Thanks, Jamie, for answering the call to read today even after you discovered you were going to read from Dr. Seuss. You did great! Some of you may remember that my mother was an elementary school librarian for over 40 years. She instilled in me a great love for the written word. Strangely enough, I did not much care for Dr. Seuss as a child—I thought his books were quite silly and, because I was a literature snob, they seemed just a little below me. As an adult, reading those same books to my own child, I came to appreciate the great wisdom in his writings. His commitment to the good in all of us must surely seep just a little into the minds of little children reading such lines as the ones we heard today. I’d like to think he played a role in my spiritual development even if I did not appreciate him the first time around. Most of all, he calls us to think and act and be beyond how we currently describe ourselves, our abilities, and who we think we are. Of all his sayings that I chose for today, the one that most calls to me today is “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!” And here we are today, thinking about what worship means to us as individuals, all sitting together in this place. I have challenged myself and challenge all of you, to try thinking of some things you may never have thought of before. But as we think and answer the questions of why worship, why here, why now and what do I really need and want to find a way to return to or discover for the first time that sense of divine wholeness. I want to speak just briefly of our Gospel Lesson here. Jesus is telling a story and we, in Florida, should be pretty familiar with the elements in the story. It’s a simple story: two people build a house. One of them takes time, hires an engineer, figures out the best way to anchor his house deep into the ground. Why? Because he has seen the pictures of houses blown away by fierce hurricane winds. The second person is much more interested in the outside of the house. She consults with decorators and orders the fanciest of outdoor décor to set her house apart from all the rest. You know how this story ends—the hurricane comes and all that is left of the second house is a pile of fluff and frill in the midst of empty space where the house once stood. Worship is not so different. When we take time to make sure that our worship is anchored deep into the sacred by knowing the scriptures that enable and enhance our learning of God, and the prayers, praise, and common bond that calls and holds us together as a community of faith, we are well on our way to a corporate worship that makes possible the appreciation of individual elements about which we may differ in preference and style. Just as we do not all learn the same, we do not all experience the sacred in the same ways. But the foundation of worship finds itself embraced by that which calls people to experience the holy. This is far different from entertainment or motivational speaking. We have but one purpose for worship and that is to align our thoughts, our hearts, our desires, and our minds with the sacred place of wholeness in our very selves. Hear what Quaker mystic Thomas Kelly says about this phenomenon: 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 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. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of [humankind]. It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. My response is this: What, then, does it require of us to enable as many as possible of you to enter this holy place, this place where, if we do not choke it, will stir itself to life. Now, this may sound a little “out there” to some of you, perhaps, even a little frightening. But, just for a moment, I want you to pretend that you are alone in this room. Would everyone please close your eyes so that you block out your neighbors visually. Now that you are alone with your thoughts and your heart, I want to ask you just three questions: First, when was the last time I truly felt the presence of God, the Divine Light in my spirit? Where was I and what did I experience? It may have been here at Open Circle, and it may have been some place else. Don’t limit your answer. Some of you may have a difficult time with this question—that’s ok, if you cannot think of an actual time, try to imagine what this might feel like. PAUSE Second, is the experience of the Sacred Presence something I value in my life? Do I long for that sense of connection? Have I perhaps shut myself off from that experience, having tried before and been dissatisfied with the result? What are the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that might be limiting my natural ability to enter into that sacred time and space? Are there elements of worship missing for me? PAUSE As I suggested earlier the purpose of worship is to align our thoughts, our hearts, our desires, and our minds with the sacred place of wholeness in our very selves. With one more brief moment with eyes closed, think on this question: what can I do to transform the worship at Open Circle from one where there are sparks of divine grace and where there are moments of Shekinah glory to a worship that invites us all of us in as many ways as possible to enter a place where we are fed when we don’t even know we are hungry and where our hearts are joined together in common purpose however that may emerge from each of us as individuals. PAUSE Feel free to open your eyes if you have not done so already. This sacred place of wholeness, comes directly from God’s unconditional love and radical welcome. I am not speaking of new things here. I am asking us to think deeply and clearly about what worship could be in this embodiment of the Body of Christ. Worship is sacred, but it is not concrete—it can flow and change and try on new things. Paul tells us quite clearly to stop trying to decide what is right for others and to cultivate our own relationship with God. This is what I have called us to this morning—the willingness to share with each other, with me, with Bill, with Elaine and others who have leadership in the worship—to share your thoughts from your divine place of centered relationship with God. Our shared investment in drawing each other to that Holy Place of God calls us to honesty and willingness to change. And, for many of us, change is hard and rather frightening. We remember those quills—they have a way of reminding us they are still here. A line of advice from our good Dr. Seuss might be in order: “So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act.” God welcomes us to this great balancing act we call community; and as we are called we say together: Amen and amen.