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PENTECOST NOW! AN INVITATION TO NEW LIFE |
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Written by scott
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Sunday, 10 June 2007 |
PENTECOST NOW! AN INVITATION TO NEW LIFE
May, 2007
Beloved,
We want to tell you about our coming to new life through our Lenten Study Group! Together we caught a glimpse of the fellowship that is ours when we can take off our masks with each other, and be known for who we really are. For six weeks, a group of us -- self-chosen by responding to the invitation to a Lenten study, practiced reading, writing, eating, sharing -- and becoming increasingly real with each other. Each week, we gathered together and formed a circle of strength and protection. Within this circle, we bore witness to our own and each other's journeys of faith. We engaged our voices, our hands, our eyes and our ears in the delicate work of emerging from exile.
We write this so that we may not forget the details of these moments, and so that others too can make their way through the wilderness, and come home. First, let us say clearly what this deeper level learning experience was NOT: it was not judgmental; it was not only about "God stuff;" it was not pressuring; and not about "fixing it for the other person." What it was: a time of togetherness, a time of getting to know more about each other, about the messy details of our lives. We laughed at funny things that were said or maybe something someone did. Sometimes it was hard to put into words the questions that came up from the inside.
At first some of us were uneasy and fearful, but this was dispersed by the acceptance and openness that came into being among us as we each shared our personal place of growth, pain, burdens and joy. It was a great relief to share, get tears, and speak when we were ready. We told and heard things from each other that we never expected to tell or hear. There was an atmosphere of trust and acceptance that we all could partake in, if only we would take the risk of being real.
One of the images that came from the study was that we all sit beside our own pool of tears. Day to day, we cover it over as best we can -- so that others can't see it or experience it. We put on a game face and try to appear as if nothing is wrong. As we talked about our own pools of tears, we came to the conclusion that if we could combine them there would be enough breadth and depth so we could swim together -- experience each other's pain but also experience each other’s joy.
Won't you take the risk to jump in the pool?
The jump is about becoming real: seeing ourselves in each other -- even in the most painful moments. To do this we've had to face our own habits of judgment, and come to sit more comfortably alongside our own pool of tears. We had to take the chance to expose some of our tender spots, some of the parts that maybe we're not very proud of. The process of doing this brought us closer not only to each other, but to all God's people who toil and groan in their daily struggle to survive.
We found that the way "the other half" struggles to survive is not that different from the way we do... and in fact, sometimes it might be more honest. To survive, all people must come together to share real pain, real life, real feelings, upholding each other by being together regularly, and knowing the value of spiritual time. We need to re-learn how to pray for one another, how to feel each other's pain -- how to be community. In this group we caught a glimpse of that. Each of us is God's beloved; God loves us each for who and what we are, now. Wow! God loves every human and feels the pain of each one of us -- and desires to let people feel and know this love. We are God’s hands, touching the ones God has brought into our lives.
This is God's will in our lives -- to dare to listen deeply enough to each other so that we might be changed by what we hear. But instead of such listening, our culture has sought affluence, sacrificing true joy and peace with our Maker and with ourselves. We have given up on the discipline of bearing one another's burdens. We have been "seduced" by our dark sides into believing worldly riches will give us happiness. We are all now broken because of these choices.
We wonder, and we ask you now: could our congregation dare to come out of this exile, and into the awaiting fellowship? Could we live as a people who trust this much in God and in each other, who see each other as beloved, who find Christ in the recovering alcoholic as well as the recovering social game player? Could we become a community that offers that deep welcome which is the way of authentic love?
Could we use the 12 steps for recovering from our own addictions, including more subtle ones like an addiction to things? We must throw off the shackles of materialism, let go of the emptiness / deceitfulness of worldly riches, and realize our own true riches in Christ. For some, we may need to practice "voluntary simplicity" so we can see what we've truly lost. What would it take to begin this process of recovery, to truly enjoy God's creation? We long to live honestly, justly and peacefully.
Could we give up our preconceived ideas and notions about what it means to be a Christian, and simply act as Christ did -- loving and touching those he met? Let the Spirit lead us, teaching us to trust that Christ will be present in our open encounters with those we meet, feeding and strengthening us so that we can grow in true love of the world.
Could we give testimony a primary place, or add testimony time to worship? In testifying to each other, we can come to respect and therefore hear more deeply our fellow church members. We can learn about our own paths while watching others model their way of honesty and deep spiritual growth. This process brings joy and the ability to share the real world with each other.
Could we do these things? Oh, we hope so! We long for this new life at University Park UMC. It has helped us understand anew who we could be as God's people.
We cannot solve each other's problems, nor should we have to. Our duties to one another are to be there, to be present to and for one another. We lift our problem up to God to do with as he/she/it sees fit. God -- Theo/Thea, all-Divine -- can receive our problems; whereas we, mortal beings, being human and imperfect, can't fix them alone. But together we can continually bear one another's burdens up to God. We are imperfect alone; we are a little more perfect with one another; and we are closer still to perfection with God!!
We pursue this perfection in obedient response to the call of God's great Spirit, spilling over and among us with abundance and urgency. Salvation, we believe, is simply the vigilant practicing of these concepts in community. Through risk-taking, honoring and acceptance, and "getting through uncomfortable," we've come a long way! And we have a good road ahead. Taste and see how gracious the Lord is, how tasty and beautiful. This is the reality -- embodied, earthy, tear-filled, joyful and pained -- that is the journey of faith.
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