Communion: Loved in Community 9-1-13

Communion: Loved in Community   9-1-13

Holy and most gracious Yahweh:  We are such a new community still struggling to know what you want us to be to the world.  Give us ears to listen.  May your Holy Spirit enliven our worship, our fellowship, and our prayers.  In the presence of the God of many names, we say “amen”!

            Now, you may well know that much of the New Testament consists of letters from various apostles to the new faith communities all over the region.  Paul was the most prolific if we take the number of letters included in the canon to be any indication; but, John wrote letters, Peter wrote some and there is at least one letter of uncertain origin or destination—the letter to the Hebrews from which our New Testament lesson came today.  Paul, however, is the author who speaks the most about the nature of community.  Today, I have chosen to read to you a letter that I believe would be very much like the letter he would write to Open Circle.  I have tried to get into the mind of Paul; we share the same Holy Spirit and worship the same God.  So, with both gratitude and apologies to Paul, I share with you a letter very much like the one I think we might receive.

Dear ones of the faith community of Open Circle.  I, Paul, your friend, am writing to you as I believe Jesus Christ would write to you.  I greet you with the grace and peace showered into our very lives by the Gracious God we serve. 

Do you know that God has intended for communities like Open Circle to grow and flourish from the beginning of time.  God knew about your fellowship and wanted it to be the kind of church that would further God’s reign of justice on this earth.  Your faithfulness gives God great joy!  You study the teachings of Jesus Christ and other sacred writers.  Your search for inner truth has not gone unnoticed by God.  You are playing your role in the bringing in the reign of justice and peace for all of God’s people.  By receiving from others and by listening to the teachings of Jesus and meeting him in your journey you are learning the way of abundance.  Our God supplies your every need, and every need for everything on the earth. 

You have experienced a divine energy—an energy that utilizes all the energies that come together in your community.  You have endorsed and valued diversity and allowed diversynergy to grow among you.  This Body of believers is actually the Body of Christ here on earth.  Your celebration of communion shows your commitment to this community you call “Open Circle” and God calls “the sacred Body”.  All of this energy is generated from the great mysteries of the world—the vastness of the oceans, the wildness of the open seas, and the hush of the great forests.  It also springs from the lives of the saints—those who have walked this road before you following sacred teachings of Jesus Christ and others who work for God’s reign of justice.

            It wasn’t always so.  Prior to Open Circle some of you questioned whether or not you still belonged in any expression of the Body of Christ; but, now, you flourish amongst all the others in your fellowship.  God wanted something better for you and so you were lead to this place with these people.  This is God’s gift to you—from beginning to end.  And God calls you to do good work.

            We must not take this for granted.  It is still recent that some of you feel comfortable and you are still learning about how God works.  Be sure to learn of the great tradition of the law and the prophets so that you may know where this idea of a set-apart community comes from.  By the time Jesus walked on this earth, there was much discord and hatred between peoples.  Christ Jesus tore down the walls that existed between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’.  We are all one through the mystery of Christ Jesus and in our commitment to peace.   It is as if we are all ‘new’ in Christ and being new creations we are different people.  In Christ, we got a fresh start.  And we all share the same Spirit and have equal access to God.

            This is what I am trying to say:  You don’t have to wander alone anymore.  This faith community is now your home community.  You’re no longer strangers or outsiders.  You belong here—here in this place just as you are.  God is using you to build a building; so, no matter how you got here, you have a very important role to play.  God used the apostles and the prophets for the foundation.  And, now, you and all people who believe in the goodness of God are being used—cemented into the walls with brick and mortar.  It’s taking shape and God, with all of us, rejoices.

            So, now you know some of what I was preaching and what got me in so much trouble.  I’m in jail as I write this to you.  That’s ok, I’ve been here before and it will all work out through the grace of god.  We are so blessed to have known the risen and living Christ.  Finally, after all those centuries of ignoring the prophets, the people have someone to listen to and to emulate.  This is my life’s work to bring everyone to the knowledge that God accepts and loves them exactly as they were created to be.  But, God did not call you into the understanding of acceptance only to see you make little effort to share this good news.  You will be equipped by God to do this holy work; do not be unsure. 

            I’m living proof of that—here I am, talking about things that are way over my head—for God, through Christ is generous above all that we can imagine or dream.  My present troubles?  Oh, they are nothing and will certainly be resolved soon.  My present response to the knowledge of this vast and never-ending love is to kneel and pray to the God of all Creation.  I pray that you will truly experience the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.  Plant your feet firmly on the ground and know that God can do anything—in fact, God can do more than you can imagine.  God, though, does not push us around or force us to develop our faith.  God works within us, the Spirit working deeply and gently within us. 

            In faith communities, God calls us to be mature.  You’ve got to walk the walk.  Watch out for detours—detours which may feel good for a while but which do not promote the growth of the Spirit in your lives. 

            Now here are some ways you can love each other in this community.  Be alert for differences and speedy to mend relationships.  God has given you people with amazing experiences and the ability to do many things.  To some God gave the gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving in sync with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

            Let’s not spend too much time being “new”.  You must get in step with each other if you are to fulfill the great calling of God for this community.  You must be truthful with one another.  As parts of Christ’s body we are all interconnected and so the truth must prevail.  If you have righteous anger about things that mar God’s wish for justice, you are right to do so and to work for the end of that situation.  Watch your conversations.  Remember, words are a gift and are to be used in helpfulness.  Don’t grieve God’s heart.  The Holy Spirit was given to you to strengthen you and send you into the world to do God’s work.  What a gift!  You must not take it for granted.  And this is very important—be gentle with one another and sensitive to each other’s hurts and discomfort.  Forgive each other as quickly as you are able.  Refusing to forgive harms both you and the other person.  As you come to celebrate the memory of Jesus Christ in communion, be sure your hearts are right with one another. 

            If you pay attention to all the miracles of God and explore how they cause you to feel, you will know exactly what to do for others.  Just like children, we learn how to be from our Creator Parent.  Don’t hold back, for God did not hold back with you; but, rather God blessed you extravagantly.  God doesn’t love to get something back from us—you should love like that.  So, wake up, and allow God to use you to spread love, and justice, and peace.  These are difficult times; work for the reign of God’s righteousness. 

            And this is what I have to say to you about how you get along with each other.  Out of respect for Christ, attempt to be courteously reverent to one another.  Treat each other as special gifts for you from your Creator God.  When you come to God’s table, come celebrating the many gifts you have in this very room. 

            Well, that about wraps it up for now.  Be prepared and work together in love.  You have a big job to do for the glory of God. Utilize all that God has given you—truth, righteousness, peace and faith will stand you in good stead throughout your life.  Learn to pray and spend time in God’s presence.   Don’t forget to pray for me and for good people all over the world who are imprisoned for trying to spread God’s hope.   One of my friends will let you know how I am.  Good-bye friends.  May love and faith be yours from God, the Creator.  May you experience the grace of Jesus Christ in your daily life in the world. 

In the service of Christ, Paul, the Apostle

Amen and amen.

Communion: Emergence as Creation 8-18-13

God, we acknowledge you as Creator of the universe with a casualness that keeps us from having to admit that we simply cannot conceive of your beauty, or wonder, or awesomeness in power.  We try, with little success, to bring you down to our size.  Challenge us to give ourselves to you exactly as we are—joyful, broken, confused and sad.  Let us trust you to meet us here.  Amen

                As I began this sermon, I was looking out the window and, no surprise here, it was storming.  Made me think of the unbelievable light or lightning shows we have had in the past few weeks.  One night last week I was standing outside with the dog, once again, waiting for the dog to do, well, what dogs do, and the lighting flashing from cloud to cloud was absolutely spectacular.  Of course, it dawned on me that this was a rather dangerous show I was watching and that Jonathan was now ready to go in, so we made it to the front door just as the rain started.  I kept thinking about the “show”, if you will, and how that related to this week’s sermon topic.  I want to spend this and the next three weeks speaking about various aspects of the meaning and nature of communion, Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper in our lives.  Today, I want to talk about the emergence of communion with God in Creation, Creativity, and the act of creating.

                So, back to the lightning.  If you saw it that same night, you know that the clouds were lighting up from side to side as the lightning bounced back and forth from cloud to cloud.  It was beautiful and, of course, since the cloud formations, even at night, continue to change, no two bursts of lighting were the same.  Every once in a while, as if to say, “don’t get too comfortable!” a bolt would strike vertically and land somewhere on the earth not too far from where I was standing.  Creation is like that, unpredictable sometimes, coming from seemingly nowhere, and not altogether understandable.  As if to say, “don’t get too comfortable!” God suddenly appears in our lives in a new form or person, thought or idea and we are suddenly flailing around trying to understand what just happened.  Even in the midst of our very human flailing, I believe that God says to us, “Peace, be still”.  When we open our hearts to the wonder of creativity, that very creativity that just turned our lives upside down, we will find peace.  And with peace comes communion with God. 

                So it is with the sacrament of communion.  When we open ourselves to what God is saying to us in the sharing of the bread and wine, divine creation occurs over and over again in us.  God is calling us to an openness and vulnerability to God’s creative acts in our lives. 

                If we, and I do, believe that we either meet or have the opportunity to meet the Creative Christ every time we come to this table we call “God’s table” than we must explore how we are to approach this potentially powerful creative moment of communion with the God of the Cosmos.  We must begin, of course, with our relationship with the Cosmos itself.  Rachel Carson, author of the pivotal book, Silent Spring, ruminates about children and the gift of wonder:  “If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength…  Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.  There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring.” 

                To Carson’s wish, I would add the wish for the ability to hold in a sacred balance our ability to take in the absolutely overcoming power of the presence of the Creator in Creation abundance at the same time we wrestle with forces larger than ourselves.  And, I am left with this question:  Because the vastness of the universe is lost on us, is unperceivable to our limited, time- and space-specific minds, do we absorb what we can and trust the Source of all Being to take care of the rest or do we consider what we can take in as all there is?  This openness to the vulnerability that comes in joyful acceptance of the gift of all creation and all creativity without the need for complete understanding lays the groundwork for authentic interaction with the Creator as we drink from the common cup and taste the common bread. 

                When we involve ourselves in discussions such as these, it keeps us from falling into the trap of thinking that communion is just about us.  Paul says, in his letter to the Romans, “From the beginning till now the entire creation has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit,…”  This, without a doubt is a strong and compelling invitation for us to join in this creative process.  But how are we to find direction, instruction concerning the creation and recreation of the earth and cosmos?  Where else but in the great mystery of all time, sometimes called the Paschal Mystery, when we celebrate the living, dying, and living again of Jesus Christ himself.  When we allow ourselves to play an active role in the re-telling and re-living of this mystery, we allow ourselves to be taken deeper and deeper into the living and dying of the earth, the creation of God.  Theologian Gerald Manley Hopkins tells us how this is accomplished:  “Eucharist is Christ as journey-food, as inn-keeper, as torrent, as birdsong, wolf howls, salmon leap, cock-crow.  Christ is our living text and context, the embrace within which we live abundantly and know our being …”  These concepts are not easy, but we must wrestle with them if we are to grow in further understanding of all we are and all that is. 

                Let’s look at the actual act of communion and ferret out the creativity that lies hidden in word and tradition.  There is a trend among MCC churches and other progressive churches to substitute other food and drink items for the usual bread and wine or grape juice.  I react, not particularly positively, to that practice because I do not think that we have to change the elements in order to change the way we both approach communion and discover the creating God in the midst of it all.  It is not communion that must change it is we who must change.  Never is an old saying more true than at communion—you know the one—‘if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always get.”  But the changing in the doing rests in us.  We leave communion to the last of the service for very good liturgical reasons.  But what do you think would happen if we celebrated communion at the beginning of the service?  Do you think that if we dined with the author of all creativity at the beginning of worship that our worship would change?  I hope so.  If we truly believe that we meet God—the very same God that created the universe—each and every time that we come to communion; and, if we believe that interaction has the ability to change who we really are, then why not do it first, so that our praise comes from a sacred and centered place—a place where the Creator of the Cosmos dwells in very real spiritual and physical bodies in the breaking of the bread and the blessing of the cup? 

                As the ecumenical mutt that I am in denominational experience, I have the privilege of looking at certain aspects of the worship service from many perspectives.  One thing I miss most in the giving up of the Episcopalian Mass is a sense that the entire service is the Communion Service—the Eucharist.  The Mass, whether Episcopalian, Catholic, or Greek Orthodox—places the Christ of the Cosmos/Jesus of the Cross at the center of the service.  The Passing of the Peace is more than just a brief time of socializing before the real thing happens in the Fellowship Hour—it is the calling together of the community.  And the exchange of Christ’s Peace is central to preparing one’s heart to receive the living Christ.  Let me make this clear—this sermon is not about what you believe about communion—we could argue that for a while, I fear.  It is about one divinely created person entering first into the context of creation itself and then into the presence of the creative source—God—in which we live and move and have our being.  Will you take a chance today?  Will you risk your vulnerability to the Creative Source of the Universe by opening your heart and mind to the creative, energetic  working of the Spirit in your life?  Will you come eagerly to the Table and return to your seats so awed by your encounter with God that you can only rest and pray?  Will you begin, even now, to allow the Spirit of God to begin a good work in your heart and life?  And, we say together—come, Lord Jesus, come.  Amen and amen.

Healing the World-Part 2

Healing the Earth – Part 2    8-10-13

God, Creator of the Universe and of this planet earth we call “home”, teach us to treasure all that you have placed in our presence to enjoy, preserve, and protect.   Teach us to care and to care deeply.  Speak to us through your messengers—the trees and sky and people.  Amen

          Just the other day I was talking to a tree—our  tree, the big one in the center of the driveway, the one around which Kathy has so lovingly tended a garden and made the space even more beautiful.  Anyway, it was a lovely time of day, I was alone on the campus, it had already rained and cooled a little, and I was sitting outside on Annie’s bench.  The chimes were singing softly and the breeze was gently blowing the leaves so that the big tree looked like a moving, undulating, mass of green.  I was troubled that day—troubled because of all that I felt I had left undone and concerned about how to get enough hours in the day.  I suspect every one of you have felt the same way.  So rather than working myself up into a dither, I went outside to find some center and solid ground on which to stand.  I checked in with myself and with God and said, “This sermon on healing the earth—it feels hopeless, overwhelming; and, certainly there must be someone more studied in the whole ecology thing than I am”.  I tell you, I’m fairly certain I heard that tree say, “Oh, there are many people more learned than you are but you are the one here and now”.   The tree (and by now I was getting pretty comfortable listening to a talking tree) said, “Let me sing you a song.  It will tell you all that you need to know”.  And, so, the tree began to sing, first in a high treble as the upper leaves danced in the wind and then in a lower baritone as the roots began to shake the earth ever so slightly.  Then the whole tree began to sing together in a verdant mass of voices and instruments more beautiful than any music I had ever heard before. 

          I cannot tell you the words or if, indeed, there even were any words; but, I left her presence and returned to my desk to begin to do my research for this sermon full of the knowledge of what God wanted me to say today.   Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh (Tik * N'yat * Hawn) speaks of where we must start when he says, “Be aware of the contact between your feet and the Earth. Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. We have caused a lot of damage to the Earth. Now it is time for us to take good care of her. We bring our peace and calm to the surface of the Earth and share the lesson of love. We walk in that spirit.” 
          We have talked these past few weeks of healing –healing ourselves, healing each other, and healing Mother Earth.  Those species among us who are sentient, living and breathing in this faithful environment have a separate and special responsibility to work for the survival of our Mother. And in that quest, I am reminded of apple seeds my own mother, or perhaps grandmother, let me plant in Dixie cups.  It was a grand experiment for as long as my interest could be maintained.  Once the seed had sprouted and shot through the dirt into the air, the day to day watering and care grew tedious and was easily forgotten.  We are often much the same in our commitment to our Mother Earth—we hear something, it affects us—but once the excitement is over, we return to our mostly irresponsible using up of irreplaceable natural resources. 

          Webs of people on the internet are dedicated to the healing of the planet, our planet, this place we live and breathe and have our being.  Their desire is to heal the world from the inside out.  But these actions merely touch the surface, though they are valid and valiant efforts.  All of these efforts, as well as all of ours, require that a seismic shift occurs in the Hearts and Minds of Humanity.  We are the only ones who can change and heal the earth.  Period. 

          Transcendentalist poet and author, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said this about Nature, “Nature is made to conspire with spirit to emancipate us.”  One cannot help then but to ask—“and what of us?”  Are we not made to emancipate Nature?”  Should there not be a sacred reciprocity between Humanity and the rest of the Creator’s Creation?  Popular spiritual author, Eckhart Tolle, speaks of this relationship in a way that speaks differently about that relationship.  He says, “You add a very important dimension to nature when you perceive it through the depth of your Being. Because, ultimately you are not separate from it, and as you perceive it, nature knows itself through you, its own beauty, its sacredness.”
          The congruence of Emerson’s and Tolle’s two brief statements is immediately apparent when we are able to see ourselves as one with the rest of God’s creation.  However, this requires some hefty paradigm shifting on our parts.  If creation and her natural processes were not created solely to sustain those parts of creation which claim great privilege, and, if we are truly one with God and God’s creation, then to abuse our Mother Earth is to abuse ourselves and every other expression of Humanity throughout the earth.  At that point, religion truly does not matter.  It does not matter to God why or how we come to a place of understanding this hallowed unity between Humankind and the rest of God’s works.  And, I am absolutely positive that the beautifully singing tree in the center or our campus does not care why you love her, only that you do.  The outcome of that love cannot help but be tender, loving, generous care towards her and all of the cosmos.

          It is spiritually awkward if not ethically unacceptable to come to a place of celebrating diversity among humankind while, simultaneously, destroying the diversity of the rest of creation.  We all know that there is an always-expanding demand for natural resources of all kinds.  Living spaces and perceived needs of humans in the over-developed world continue to take priority while toxins and poisons continue to accelerate the devastation of our water and soil.  Biodiversity—the diversity of plants, animals, and other species—is being destroyed worldwide even as we sit here this morning.  Can you fathom this frightening fact?  Half of the world’s forests and a quarter of the coral reefs are simply gone—lost to our children and grandchildren. Threats increase to the oceans exponentially each year.  And while we are no longer damaging the ozone layer as quickly as we once were, but there is still a large hole remaining.  “Global warming”—a concept as controversial as it is terrifying—suggests that the changes in the world’s climate are due to the proliferation of human-made, so-called “greenhouse gases”—gases that we could avoid producing if we undertook to make our methods of production of energy and other products managed by the level of damage to the planet instead of speed and convenience.   

          The world is easily perceived as a breathing, living being—constantly engaged in the production of all we believe we need to survive.  But it is not so easy for her to continue to provide for these needs as it was in the past.  We, in the developed world, believe that there will always be enough, or at least, enough for us.  We somehow manage to ignore the fact, or work to blame it on someone else, that there are those already doing without.  We have forgotten our inter-connectedness—between each of us and each other and to the world.  Although clearly designed to be caretakers of the world, we have, collectively, become simply takers from the world.  And, while we perceive that we have a choice, in reality we don’t.  Either we contribute to the healing of the world, or we contribute to her and, subsequently, our own destruction. 

          Our singing tree calls to us—come visit her. We know that we are here on this earth for a very short time—every day is a gift.  Our impermanence need not lead to waste and carelessness with our children’s futures.  When we choose to connect to the deep positive energy that exists wherever humankind remembers their sacred care-taking task and takes it seriously, we will join the ranks of those ready to make a change.  When we are present to this moment, we can feel joy and can listen to the silent revelation of hope generated from the center of our being and the center of the Earth.  As we rest we take guidance from the Divine Breath of Creation.  We breathe in God’s call to our hearts; we hold it there for just the time between our inhale and exhale.  And, that is enough—truly enough to change our hearts and minds.  When we exhale, we have been changed by God’s visitation of Sacred Grace in our hearts.  We breathe in God’s call to our hearts—and in the time it takes for our lungs to switch from inhaling to exhaling, we have been changed. 

There is an ancient Gaelic religious group known as the Druids.  Very little is known of their spiritual practices.  However, one thing seems certain—the Druids were spiritually in tune with the Creator and the Creation.  There is a lovely prayer associated with them.  Can you hear the background music from the trees when they prayed?  “Deep within the still center of my being, may I find peace.  Silently within the quiet of the Grove, may I share peace.  Gently and powerfully, within the greater circle of humankind, may I radiate peace.”  Amen and amen.