Last
week we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension
– the day when Jesus passed the
torch of his mission to us
and promised that we would receive
his power to continue
his mission.
Today
we celebrate the birthday of the Church,
the day we received the spiritual
power to change the world.
But
as we celebrate the fact that we are here,
I find myself considerably confused
as to what it is we are doing.
This
is what confuses me.
A
recent newspaper headline announced
that only 10% of Americans attend
church.
But
92% of Americans believe in God.
By
my count, that means 82% of Americans,
believe in God but don’t see the
connection with Church.
These
numbers make me wonder about several things.
What
do they think religion is for?
What
do they think Church is for?
What
do we think Church is for?
One
of our greatest living theologians, John Hick, looks at these facts
-- most people believe in God
but only a tiny minority
attends Church –
and he has this observation:
“(T)he small minority of church
attenders are generally happy
with the message they receive from
the liturgies, hymns, and prayers,
and enjoy meeting with their friends
there Sunday by Sunday .
They see the Church as destined to
always be a small minority . . .
and believe this is an OK situation.
It means we are where we should be
within our comfort zone.
But is this the right way to think?
Personally,” John Hick says, “I
don’t think so.”
So what is wrong with this picture?
A
few hundred years ago Christianity got lost
and drifted into a carrot and stick
religion
all about going to Heaven and
staying out of Hell.
Going
to Church was our admission ticket at the pearly gates.
If
we put in enough hours listening to boring sermons,
God rewards us with a get out of
hell free card.
But
eventually some hack theologian decided
all we really have to do is believe
that God exists.
In
the words of the country singer, Don Williams,
“I don’t believe that Heaven waits
For only those who congregate.”
So
church just doesn’t seem necessary.
That’s
right as far as it goes.
God
does not require us to log x hours of church time
as our price of admission to Heaven.
But
without the inner transformation that comes
from a lifetime of spiritual
practice,
Heaven may feel pretty
uncomfortable.
As
John Milton said,
“The mind is its own place, and in
itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of
Heaven.”//
Getting
God to let us into Heaven is not the point.
Transforming
our minds so that we are capable
of experiencing Heaven is more like
it.
St.
Paul said, “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”
What
we do here is not to buy our way into Heaven.
We
are here to be changed right down to the core of our being.
Yes,
this is to prepare us for Eternity,
but Eternity doesn’t begin when we
die.
Eternity
is now.
What
we do here is to change us now and for eternity
into the likeness of Christ.
Christian
practice -- which includes study, prayer, worship, and service –
changes us now.
We
receive the Holy Spirit – not when we die – now!
And
what difference does that make?
It
changes our hearts and our minds so we become
new people with new capacities – new
powers.
Paul
said, “If anyone is in Christ,
that person has become a
new creation.
The old has gone. The
new is here.”
That’s
what it means to receive the Holy Spirit.
We
become capable of new things.
In
Galatians, Paul gives us a list of 9 of the new things
we can do and experience by the
power of the Spirit.
The
first is love. Everybody wants to be loved.
But the problem is we are not very
good at loving
– needing maybe – but not so good at
loving,
at caring for someone, at
appreciating them.
We
are here to learn how to do that.
Second
is joy. How much joy do you have in your life right now?
How much deep down shout hallelujah
joy?
Is it that the universe is not
wonderful enough?
Or is it that our hearts are not sufficiently
open to it?
We are here to learn and practice the
art of joy.
Third
is peace.
How many of us have mastered true
serenity
–
the capacity to be the eye of the hurricane?
Deep inner peace comes from training
our hearts to pray
without ceasing until we
float in grace
no matter what is
happening in our outer circumstances.
The
fourth is forbearance.
That means the capacity to keep our
mouth shut
when words will do more
harm than good,
the capacity to be still
and wait.
Then
there’s kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness.
The
last is self-control.
Have
you noticed that most of the world is out of control?
Have
you noticed how often we are not in control of ourselves?
Someone
says x so we automatically feel y and then do z.
Other
people push our buttons and we bark to their tune.
What
would it be like to pull back
and be ourselves instead of reacting
to the button pushers?
So
about the 90% of Americans who are at home this Pentecost
-- will God let them into heaven? Sure.
But
how much joy do you see in their faces?
When
they enter a room, do they fill it with peace?
Have
they mastered self-control?
If
we want to do those folks any good,
we need to get clear on what we are
here for
and what we have to
offer.
It’s
not admission tickets. This is not the celestial box office.
We
are here in the business of spiritual transformation.
In
Ezekiel, the Lord said,
“I will give you a new heart and put
a new spirit in you.
I will remove from you your heart of stone
and give you a heart of
flesh.”
That’s
what we are here for new spirits, new hearts
– hearts fit for this life and fit
for the life to come.
We
are about changing hearts, changing minds, changing lives.
That
is what we ritualize in worship.
It’s
what we pray for and accomplish through meditation.
It’s
what we study in our ancient wisdom teachings.
It’s
what we practice in our relationships and in our service.
When
we change our hearts, when we change inwardly,
the change doesn’t stop inside our
skin.
We
become change agents in the culture.
We
Anglicans are not defined by a detailed set of theological opinions
but by our spiritual practices and
our mission.
We
have 5 marks or points of our mission:
To proclaim the good news of God
To teach, baptize, and nurture new
believers
To respond to human need with loving
service
To transform unjust social
structures; and
To safeguard and sustain the life of
the earth.
This
is about transforming the whole tone of our personal lives, yes.
But
it’s more than that.
It’s
about changing the world in which we live.
It’s
about filling -- not only our own homes and friendships
but the whole world --
with love, peace, forbearance,
kindness,
gentleness and self
control.
That’s
what people do when they have new spirits and new hearts.
That’s
what we do when we stop just believing in God
and become disciples of Christ.
That’s
what the Holy Spirit is doing through us.
Glory
to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine.
