May 30, 2010 Sermon

A Bright Inviting Dance     (Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; John 16: 12-15)

Rev. Sally Harris
    
Holy Trinity, Forever One, whose nature is community;
unbounded dance of love.
Before Your unfathomable mystery
All eloquence of language falters.
So we fall silent and rest content in the knowledge
That we are known, wanted and loved.
May it be so! Amen!

"I have much more to say to you," Jesus told his disciples. (John 16:12) After three chaotic years with Jesus, I imagine the disciples were exasperated by these words: "You mean there's more?!" But beyond exasperation, I'm sure they also felt a sense of expectation and perhaps even longing: "There's more to come. There's more to my story; our story. I'm not stuck, we are not stuck, in past failures or present fears. Perhaps with them we ask: "What more does the resurrected One have for us?"

We hear: The spirit will lead you beyond where you have ever gone – beyond where you might care to go. You may even resist the direction in which the spirit moves, saying, "This isn’t the way to go.” But then the spirit will call to mind something I said, something I did, and the light will dawn. But then we ask: Does that mean anything goes? All things are relative?

And we hear: The spirit will not just lead you into wild and weird religion, into a religion cut loose from its moorings. What is to come is tied to what has been. Do not follow those who seek to cut you off from your roots, who say that following the spirit means forgetting the past and floating off into space like some astronaut whose tether broke. The Spirit will guide you into all the truth. But what is truth? What am I to believe now? the disciples ask

You have not reached the ultimate stage of spiritual growth. Neither you, nor certainly the world. You do not yet grasp “all truth.” In fact, if I were to tell you now where you were going to be led, you couldn’t bear it. If I were to tell you that some day, in my name, you would be led to champion the end of slavery, you wouldn’t believe me. If I were to tell you that some day, in my name, you will be led to let women vote, you wouldn’t believe me. If I were to tell you that some day, in my name, some parts of the church would argue in the court of law for the equal right of gays and lesbians to enjoy the rite of marriage, you would not believe me. If I were to tell you now that in a very short time, in my name you will be led to embrace the Gentile, you might well quit right now. It would just be too much for you to wrap your minds and spirits around. The changes that God is going to make are just beyond your ability to grasp. But when the time comes, the spirit will move you, and will remind you of the connection between what I said and did and what the spirit is now moving you to do, and you will be able to see what you could not see.
[resource: Rev. Mike Johnson]

Is this not the central message, of our sacred story? In the ancient book of Proverbs we find the figure of wisdom on the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads broadcasting her message to trust the wisdom of the ages, trust in the mystery that lies beyond our knowing – this will give our lives roots that hold us close and wings that set us free to grow in wisdom and risk being who we are called to be in this time of change.

The egg of a golden eagle was found by a young girl and taken to a chicken coop where a hen kept it warm till it was hatched. This baby eagle found itself amidst the chickens and followed their simple lead. Clucking and pecking and only flapping his wings he thought this was his life – never daring to set his wings free. One day a golden eagle saw this young eagle in the chicken yard, scratching the dirt and clucking. The eagle landed near him and said “Why are you pecking here in the dust when you could be soaring with the eagles?” He laughed saying, “You must be crazy. This is all I’ve ever known and this is all there is.” And the eagle-chicken never gave it another thought.

Jesus, in saying good-bye to his friends knew that there was so much more to say. How to test the spirits. How to nourish the roots of one’s faith yet soar with the eagle. And Jesus knew that they could take no more in – and so like the Lady Wisdom who stood next to God on creation day Jesus promised that the spirit of wisdom, of truth would guide them. That as they grew and the mission grew and the world changed and we traveled space and cyberspace there would be a guiding spirit. A Holy Spirit who would lead us into all truth.

But wait just a minute what is this three-in-one God? What do we mean by Trinity? Why bother with such a doctrine?

I must admit these are really good questions and after studying and observing all of the arguing back and forth over the centuries -- arguments that sometimes played out on the battlefield, with bloody conflict between bishops and their armies – for the most part it doesn’t seem like a doctrine that does much to build up the community. I'm a people person, and I get most excited about theology when I can see how it informs our life together as human beings -- when it tells us something of how we can be Christ's body in the world. Recently I hear someone say that the God who calls us, in wisdom, to community is fundamentally a communal being.

A story is told by an old African-American man that some would call crazy, for he spoke to anyone and no one. He shuffled along with one finger held out as though to test the wind's direction. He called the story "One Stick, Two Stick." "This is the way of the African kings," he whispered. And then he began. "An old man is dying, and he calls his people to his side. He gives a short, sturdy stick to each of his many offspring, wives and relatives. "Break the stick," he instructs them. With some effort, they all snap their sticks in half. "This is how it is," he said, "when a soul is alone without anyone. They can easily be broken." The old man next gives each of his kin another stick, and says, "This is how I would like you to live after I pass. Put your sticks together in bundles of twos and threes. Now, break these bundles in half." No one could break the sticks when there were two or more in a bundle. The dying old man smiled. "We are strong when we stand with other souls. When we are with one another, we cannot be broken."                                                                                                            [From Women Who Run With the Wolves, pg. 120.]

Relationships, community and the concept of Trinity come together for me in this story. The Eastern Church has a wonderful image of God, Jesus and the Spirit, hand-in-hand forming a circle, dancing, and inviting us into the dance of their community. Yes the Trinity, like our name, calls us into community – God’s bright inviting dance. May it be so among us! Amen.

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