Sermons

Twelve years and five months - countless worship services - 537 sermons - weddings and funerals - laughter and tears - Bible studies and group discussions - enough potluck food to feed the whole city - work parties and movie nights and so much more! And always, always, always the precious, sacred connections of friendship rooted in the Spirit! I look out at your faces and I am filled to overflowing with a sense of gratitude and appreciation for the support and encouragement and love which I have received from you in overwhelmingly abundant measure. My life has been powerfully shaped by my association with this amazing congregation and community.

And now I prepare to take my leave of you. God's Spirit is calling me on to new experiences which I am only beginning to glimpse. And I remain firmly convinced that the very same Spirit of God is also calling you, both individually and together as a community, to explore fresh new opportunities for ministry. Where our paths will take us has not yet been revealed to any of us. And the only way that we dare to take even the first step down those paths is by remembering that we do not go alone. We are on Spirit-led journeys of faith, and we are here, now, in this moment because God has been faithful and abundantly gracious thus far. And so it is that we can move on from here with confidence that God will continue to be faithful and abundantly gracious in each new moment of our lives.
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The Church was in a time of transition. What was had come to an end. What would be had not yet taken shape. And so it was that the faithful found themselves gathering together, feeling lost and confused, sad and overwhelmed, waiting for what comes next. Doesn't that sound remarkably fresh and current? And yet, the situation I am describing is the first century church from the beginning of the book of Acts. It can be helpful sometimes to remember that the path upon which we currently find ourselves has been trod by others who have gone before us. We are not alone. We are in good company, and we have opportunities to benefit from their experiences.
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Where do we find God? How do we "see" God? In John's Gospel the lines begin to blur and the distinctions fall away. Who God is blends into who Jesus is, Jesus blends into who the Holy Spirit is, and ultimately the whole sacred package blends into who we are. In our reading for this morning we find Jesus saying, "I am in God, and you in me, and I in you." (John 14:20) How do we "see" God? Just look around! God is everywhere, if we have eyes to see.
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"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to God except through me." (John 14:6) At first glance this seems both clear and powerful - a path to God. And then upon closer examination questions begin to surface - concerns start to cloud the matter. What does it mean to say that "no one comes to God except through me"? This particular passage in John's Gospel has been weighed down with centuries of interpretive baggage which seems to make "I believe in Jesus" the only acceptable password that will get us past the front gates of heaven. But I'm convinced that it does not have to mean this at all. To begin with, it's important to remember that all of the Gospels, and particularly John, are really theological rather than biographical in nature. This means that John is using the story of Jesus to present an understanding of who God is and what it means to be in relationship with God. Thus "I am the way..." is about the path to God which is represented by the whole of Jesus' life and teaching. It's about loving enemies, washing feet, accepting the outcasts, and all the other qualities we see revealed in the picture of Jesus which John paints for us. That is how we come to know God, John is telling us. And what happens when we come to know God in this way is that we begin to take on those qualities in our own living. "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do..." (John 14:12) Even the part about asking for things "in my name" isn't about using the name "Jesus" as a kind of magical incantation that will insure our prayers get answered. In the ancient world names were understood to represent the essence of something - the true character of that which is named. So to pray "in Jesus' name" is to pray with the same character, the same quality of living, which we find revealed in Jesus. In short, we are called to follow the path of faith to which Jesus points us with the whole of his life. It is no accident that from the earliest days of the Church the community of those who are seeking to follow this new way of life are referred to as "the body of Christ." We are literally called to be Christ in the world.
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Seeking a life filled with God! I believe that in one way or another, whether we recognize it or not, we are all searching for such a life. When we are in touch with the reality of God's presence in our world and in our lives there is a sense of wholeness, because we are living in the fullness of what is most real. When we are not in touch with this reality there is a sense of longing, or emptiness, because our present awareness is out of sync with the deeper, fuller, richer truth which resonates with the core of who we are. And so we come to church - we pray - we read spiritual reflections - we meditate - we engage in a variety of spiritual practices - we go on sacred pilgrimages. Or we don't. And I am convinced that the shape of our experience in this life reflects the path we choose. Please do not hear me saying that bad things will happen if you don't pray, or that life will be nothing but sweetness and light if you go to church. I'm not talking about what happens to us in this life. I'm talking about how we experience what happens to us, and what we do with that experience.
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