MOVING ON

June 1, 2014

Easter 7

John 17:1-11

Acts1:6-14

(prayer)

Last week, I
spoke at length on the modern creed where someone would lay claim to a spirituality, but shun an association with religion: "I'm spiritual, but not religious".  The notes from the sermon can be found through the St. David's website.  One of my main points was that modern people of faith seek ways to be connected to the holy, without carrying the baggage of 2000 years of church traditions, behaviours and rigidness.

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Another angle on the whole "spiritual, not religious" language that I didn't address very much last week is that for some people, 'religion' has to do with the group faith experience and 'spirituality' is all about a personal (even private) faith.  Now for me those distinctions aren't so clear - I have known deeply spiritual experiences within the community of the church and I have been engrossed by the rituals and traditions in a very personally impactful way.

While I greatly appreciate the personal aspects of faith and spirituality (and I think everyone needs to know faith this way to some degree), I have also come to believe that there are levels of spiritually that can only be reached corporately.

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Both the prayer of Jesus in John, chapter 17 and the disciples reaction to the Risen Christ leaving them speak to the value of community.  Jesus prays that "they all may be one".  And Acts reports that the eleven disciples along with several women and members of Jesus' family (his mother and brothers) constantly devoted themselves to prayer.  The language is plural.  This is not personal, private worship - they are corporate prayers of the people.

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Being "church" is not easy.  Unanimity is rare in any group.  Unity is easy in communities of one.  But we are called to be true to our earliest traditions - prayers shared in community.  That begins with acknowledging a humility that not one of us has a full experience of God.  We learn more about God though the sharing of story, through the blending of personal spirituality within the ritual and practice of the religion we hold together.

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This is not a difficult concept to understand.  I could give you my 12 players working together football metaphor or even quote 1st Corinthians 12 and talk about the body with many parts.  But, today, I will illustrate the pount by referencing one of my favorite modern stories:

In the 1987 movie adaptation of William Goldberg's 1973 book The Princess Bride, Miracle Max and his wife, Valarie assist Wesley and his companions in preparing to confront the evil Prince Humperdink intent on marrying Wesley's true love.  Their task is risky: "Have fun storming the castle", Max yells to Wesley, Inigo and Fessik, before Valarie whispers to him, "Do you think it'll work?" "It'll take a miracle." "Bye, bye!"

The miracle was this:  Alone, Wesley, Inigo and Fessik didn't have what was necessary to get into the castle, find and rescue the princess (after Inigo kills Count Rugen, the six fingered man as revenge for the death of his father 20 years earlier). 

The needed to pool their resources: it would take Indigo's steel, Fessik's strength and Wesley's mind for strategy.

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"I am asking on their behalf... Holy Father.  Protect them in your name... so that they may be one."

"You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The earliest community of faith in Jesus valued their togetherness and the unity of their mission to help others experience good news.

Even as we nurture our personal spirituality, we also seek to be the best combination of our gifts for the common good.

And so the followers of Jesus moved on from their personal experiences with Jesus to a more communal one - the prayer of Jesus and the voices of angels encouraged them - they would care for each other and the world - even as they pursued a nurturing of their own spirit.

It is true that we can do different things together than we can alone.

We do this (in part) through acts of corporate church - being the community of faith:

***love God*** (those corporate acts of prayer)

***encourage and uplift each other***

***prayer shawls***

***communion***

***as we move beyond this community, love neighbour as ourselves***

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Let us pray:

Holy God, we celebrate Jesus, our Christ, who would stop at nothing - not even death - to proclaim your love for all.  He passed that mission on to his followers.  We pray that we can be faith to that tradition.  Amen.

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