May 12, 2013
My talk today centers on the theme presented by Jesus to his disciples that they and others in the future become one, even as he and God were one. What kind of oneness do we have and do we want in this community. As I look around at you all, I see a lot of differences. We are young and old, short and tall, from different cultures with a great variety of interests, gifts and intellects. If you have been to any of our meetings lately you know we aren't exactly one in our opinions or beliefs. So what are we looking for in this area of oneness.
When I was first married I lived in the town of Grand Haven Michigan and often went to sit by the shores of Lake Michigan with my neighbor and our families. One day my neighbor said she was disturbed by the teachings of her church that unless people belonged to their denomination they were going to hell. She wondered if that could be true. I felt sad that her church had developed a sense of oneness by being so extremely exclusive.
When my daughter moved to a new town she found a church that sounded good to her and she asked me to join her there one Sunday. The minister's sermon centered on groups of people and causes of whom they disapproved. My daughter didn't end up going to this church that seemed to get its sense of oneness by knocking others down.
Another time I went with my granddaughter to a small rural church in Oregon. At the time for community prayers the people centered them on things they wanted from God, a new truck, a better job, a good vacation etc. Here the church seemed to become one around the material things they wanted from God.
I don't see us looking for oneness in any of these categories, so what do we have and what do we want inthis area? Jesus suggested to his disciples that they become one as he and God were one. He seemed to know that his connection to God was the driving force of his life and so he built a strong bond between them. As a youth, when he spent time in the temple, he already knew that he was here to do God's work. Before his ministry started he spent forty days in the wilderness wrestling with God and gaining some understanding of what his role was to be. During his ministry he often took time to be alone with God and once spent the entire night praying. Before his death he asked God for relief from the struggle but was willing to do what God was telling him to do. He listened and learned and led others to a new understanding that God loved and valued everyone.
Jesus also had a strong connection with his disciples. He spent much time with them and through his example and his words, helped them to understand and believe in his mission. He listened to them and even when they disappointed or did not understand him, he did not give up on them. He invited them to share in his ministry and sent them out to do this. He believed in them. Even after Peter denied him he invited Peter to feed his sheep.
At the last supper Jesus called his disciples to become one, and then he was killed. They might easily have given up and gone home deciding that his ideas didn't work or that they were too difficult to carry out. But after a period of despair there was a resurrection for them and they moved into a new life. They started a community that we read about in Acts where everyone was included and cared for. The disciples went to towns where they often weren't welcome to preach a new gospel. They allowed Saul , a man who had prosecuted them to join them and become a man named Paul who would be a great prophet and teacher for their cause. They suffered beatings and jail and even death. This was not just a fun little group to belong to but they could and did rejoice because they believed and preached about a God of love.
Today we are rejoicing because it 's Mother's day. I remember a while ago when I had my first child. His name is Bob and many of you have met him. I had dreams about being a good mother and being ready for his arrival. When he came I felt him saying to me “Here I am ready or not” and I knew I wasn't ready. His father and I had many anxious days and sleepless nights but we also had times of incredible joy in seeing this new person emerge. Through trial and error we learned how to be parents and out of being together we developed a oneness of unconditional love for each other.
When I lived in New Jersey I mentioned to someone that I was planning to move to Washington DC and become apart of The Church Of the Savior. They replied that “Oh, that is a place where they take the gospel seriously” Is that who we are? Is that want makes us one? Gordon Cosby was certainly one who took the gospel seriously. As we think about his life and his teachings and actions we can perhaps understand better what it means to be one.
To become one with each other Jesus showed that we need to learn how to first become one with God. There is a strong discipline in this church for people to have a quiet time each day and to have retreats where we center on our relationship with God. I sometimes struggle with this time and want to get on with my day of doing things but unless I stop and have a time of reflection and listening to God the day can lose its focus and purpose.
Although we are already engaged in a number of missions and activities in our church we have spent a time of visioning together to see where we are as a body and what we want to be and do. This has been an important time, but now we have decided is the time to put these ideas into action. Robin Meyers in his book “The Underground Church” puts it well when he says “When people ask me for ideas about how to renew the church in our time, I am almost embarrassed by how coarse and simple my answer sounds. Just do something. Find a need in your congregation or in your community and make a plan to meet it. Identify a way to love God and neighbor here and now and then just show up. Nothing takes the place of doing. Grace is a byproduct not of good intentions but of good deeds performed by imperfect people for the right reasons.”
So what are we to do? Before people can carry out what is on our list we really need to know each other. We try to do this in many ways in this community, by having conversations after church, pot lunch lunches, social events, weekends together, visiting each other, classes, sacred stories and so on. Unless we know each other we cannot see each other's gifts, and we need to use everyone’s gifts. One reason Gordon Cosby wanted our communities to remain small was so that we would all row the boat and not just be passengers. We all have gifts and need encouragement to use them. In L'Arche there are people who are used to being cared for and there are people who are used to being caretakers. We are trying to teach everyone to become a caretaker as well as helping everyone to feel cared for. Can we find ways to help everyone to fly? There is a story about flying that I enjoyed in the Underground Church book.
“The other day I saw a nine pound sparrow in front of my house walking down the street. So I asked the sparrow. “Aren't you a little heavy?” The sparrow said, “Yeah, that’s why I'm out walking . Trying to get some of this weight off.” And I said, “Why don't you fly?” The sparrow looked at me like I was stupid and said, “Fly? I've never flown. I could get hurt.” I said “What's your name.” And he said “Church.”
I believe that story does fit many churches very well, but that in this church being one has meant that that we are flying together. Many of you have started missions and pour yourselves into keeping them going. Some of us are busy with vocations and leadership roles that build on God's plan for everyone to be cared for and valued. We have taken risks and we have gotten hurt. Perhaps we are sometimes tempted to feel that we have done our share and are ready to rest a bit from all this flying. When I get Christmas cards from my retired friends about all of the interesting things they are doing I do get a little tempted. But when I go to my L'Arche community and talk with the young assistants about their dreams for themselves and for the world, when I visit with the core people who are labeled disabled but who teach me so much about welcoming, loving and forgiving, and when I come to this service each Sunday and sense the spirit of community that is here and feel the power of your commitments to create a better world.- then No I'm not really tempted to be anywhere else that where I am.
Gordon was an excellent mentor in this area as he was still starting new churches and missions when he was over ninety years old.
So how are we called to be one? I will close with one more quote from the book The Underground Church about what this might look like.
“Let us be careful about how we work the garden that has been given to us. Let us leaven bread and bake it and serve it to a hungry world, to pull up a chair for the stranger, to be generous out of our abundance, and to encourage someone who is lost and is looking for home. Whatever labels we carry around inside our heads, the ones we use to keep ourselves at a safe distance from one another, should be brought to the altar and laid down. Calling each other sister and brother, we should sing and pray and laugh at the foolish, magnificent creatures that we are. All our sermons should find new ways to say the same thing every Sunday that love is all there is in this beautiful, terrible, wonderful world. Amen
Visit with each other for a few minutes and share a gift you have for your family, your community or for the world.
We will close with a song:
I love you wide, I love you tall, I love you big, I love you small.
And if you fly, or if you fall, I love your heart, I love your all.