Finding Community

Taize Service, 18 July 2010

Growing up as the son of apreacher, I have always been familiar with church.  While living in my parents' home, with the exception ofsickness, I was in church at least three times a week.  Once I was in college and on my own Iwas free to determine how involved in my church I wanted to be.  Now that I wasn't required to attendchurch I had a chance to discover for myself why being part of a church communitywas important to me.  Since collegeI've lived in a number of cities and been a part of many different churches,but it was here at St. Thomas' where I believe the full realization of thatconcept unfolded for me.

                  Inmany of the churches I had been a part of prior to coming here I quicklydiscovered that the only way to truly become embraced as part of that faithcommunity entailed conforming to a set of rules and requirements that dictatedhow you believed and how you performed in accordance with those beliefs.  These rules covered anything from howmuch make-up was too much, whether or not you could imbibe alcohol, theacceptability of dancing, whether or not you accepted Jesus into your heart bypraying "the sinner's prayer," belief in the inerrancy of scripture,subscription to the TULIP principles as crafted by John Calvin (for all yourCalvinists out there), what political party you supported, and sundry othersuch rules.  To fall afoul of anyof these qualifications or rules was to create suspicion by others of your"true" spirituality.  Any deviationor disagreement with the rules could result in being ostracized or maybe evenbeing expelled from that faith community.

                  Conversely,I've also met many people who bristle at the very thought of being part of afaith community.  They often willtell me they "don't believe in organized religion."  Many times this is based out of a personal hurt experiencedat the hands of a church; sometimes it's just a convenient "out" for people whohave never understood the importance of participating in a faith community.  A few others make this statement becauseof laziness on their part in an effort to avoid any work that would be requiredfor them to be in community with others who are also on a spiritual journey.

                  Manypeople, I believe, so easily mistake what being a part of a faith community isreally about.  They have come to believeit's about following a bunch of rules and attending religious services.  But the truth is that participation ina faith community is about sharing our spiritual journey with others.  A fundamental principle of theChristian faith is that of reconciliation and relationship; both with God andone another.  To focus solely onyour own spiritual journey exclusive from everyone else is to miss out on halfof the Gospel.  Your spiritualitycan never be complete when journeyed alone.  Not only are you isolated from others on a spiritual plane,but you can never realize the fullness of God because you have limited yourunderstanding and development of God and the sacred to only your personalexperience without the benefit of a shared experience with others.

                  Weoften fall into the trap of compartmentalizing our lives into "secular" and "holy"(or religious/spiritual). This can create confusion and conflict in ourlives.  The result can be a Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of life where your spiritual life and your dailywork/play life are a dichotomy and show no correlation with each other.  The origin of the word "holy" is basedon the word "whole" which means undivided and inviolate.  It's about living a life that isbalanced, where our spirituality infuses all of who we are and how we act andrelate to one another.  To be a"whole" person cannot be achieved without input from others.  It is in relating with others, learningfrom others and contributing to others that we more fully understand ourselvesand our Creator.

                  InGenesis we read of the creation account where God says, "Let us make man in ourimage, in our likeness...."  Thismeans that we bear the image of God in our person.  If each of us do indeed bear God's image, then part of beingcomplete is not only having relationship with God but also recognizing God'simage in each other.  This happensby engaging in a community of faith where one can be encouraged and grow in his/herspirituality because of the diversity and collective wisdom of all those thatwe share with.  Unfortunately, somany faith communities have forgotten this truth and are so busy condemning theshortcomings and non-conformance in everyone they meet that they fail to seeGod's image in those they would try to control and mold into a pre-definedStepford image.  This is one of themany reasons why I am so happy to call St. Thomas' my spiritual community.  Here in this community we strive to seethe image of God in those who would come through our doors.  It's not always easy, but I believethat there is a consistent welcome without preconditions to those who areseeking a place to be fed spiritually without fear of being condemned orostracized.

                  Iwould like to encourage each of us as we continue on our spiritual paths to bemindful of how we are connected with everyone else here at St. Thomas' insupporting one another, sharing our lives and encouraging each other in thislife journey.  Each of you who area part of St. Thomas' is what makes us complete.  I once heard someone compare God to a brilliant diamondthrough which light shines and bounces off of the many facets and creates arainbow of color.  We each bringfresh perspectives and insights into the many facets of God and the creativework around us resulting in this diamond that is our faith community and areflection of God.    What makes us strong is each ofyou who faithfully show up each week and contribute to the broad discussion ofwhat the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives and in our world.  We cry together as a community whenthere is a loss.  We celebratetogether when there are joyful events. We contemplate together when the hard questions of life come at us, and wegrow together to become stronger people able to effect positive change in aworld looking for answers.

                  MayGod, that perfect, brilliant diamond, through the Holy Spirit, keep and guideus as the St. Thomas' community and help us to continually radiate the love andgoodness of Christ to a hurting world.

Amen.