ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE

Ephesians 3:14-21 John 15:1-8

St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church

Rev. Gary Paterson

April 27, 2008

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to join the Disciple Bible Study Group for a Saturday afternoon retreat. The members of the group had a list of questions they wanted to throw my way. Good questions; challenging questions. It was a fun time, even when I had to pause and say, “I don’t know.” – sometimes especially then. One of those questions has lingered with me, gaining particular urgency during this past week; after all the details of Biblical interpretation, and the big God, Jesus and Spirit conundrums, someone from the group paused, and asked very simply, “Why join the church?”

Living into that question took me back many years, to when I was a theological student, and struggling with that issue myself. I had spent some years away from church, but then found myself wondering about renewed involvement… even to the extent of becoming a minister. “Why join the church?” was a “biggie”. I still remember the first book I read about the church – at least, I remember the title: Earthen Vessels. It was based on a line from one of Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth, where he claimed, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” I guess it stays with me because it captured so well my own experience of church, for whenever I expected to discover wonderful treasure, I too often had an impossible time getting past the earthen vessel realities.

Because Lord knows, the church is an earthen vessel, with a host of imperfections. We dream of the gospel of Jesus, filled with visions of the Kingdom of God… and we end up with… well… the church. A bit of let down; no, let’s be honest… sometimes a really big let down, this institution that is as flawed as anything we humans have created; with prickly people, who are quick to argue and snipe at each other. You wonder what Jesus would think of the church… of any church, of this church… if he were to suddenly return. Well, no, let’s not think about it.

But how could it be otherwise? What makes us think that just because it’s “church,” we humans will suddenly become beings of perfection, and establish an organization that will live up to all our hopes and dreams. Right from the very beginning it would seem that there were squabbles about nearly everything… just take a read of Paul’s letters if you want some good examples of church fights! And it hasn’t changed that much over the centuries -- in every church I have served, if you dig back into the history, there is always a major fight or two; it just seems to be part of the story. When you start living as a church, you’ve got to wrestle with organizational structure and power and staff; there are all the questions about buildings… where will we meet, and who will help run the show? And then of course, there are the money questions… stewardship we politely call it… budgets, deficits, fund-raising.

At a deeper level, of course, what it really comes down to, is the challenge of human beings trying to get on with each other, being “community,” living, working and praying together. You remember the old saying… “I love humanity; it’s just individual people that I have trouble getting along with.” Isn’t that the truth! In one of his letters, Paul suggested that the church might be thought of as a body, even the body of Christ. And somehow I imagined a perfect body… where the joints didn’t creak; where there wasn’t a weight problem. But it never turned out that way -- the finger always seems to end up poking the eye; the elbow is jabbing the ribs; and the “feet-people” – have you noticed how they have a knack of stepping on just about every toe in sight?

But you know this. It’s easy to criticize the church, and there is probably little disagreement about recognizing the church for the earthen vessel that it is. But it’s the treasure that holds our imaginations; we sense that it’s there; the fact that we keep coming back suggests that we have caught glimpses of it. You live with the earthen vessel, sometimes with wry affection and a nodding acceptance of human imperfections. You do that because of the treasure.

The treasure shines when we accept that the church needs to be a God-centred organization. No, really, that’s what’s at the heart of it all. We’re not a community centre, although there’s a lot of business and friendship; we’re not the Rotary Club, though many good deeds get done; we’re not a counseling or an educational centre, although a lot of healing and learning happens. No, we’re a church… and that means that at the centre of what we’re about is an ongoing connection with Holiness, with the Spirit. Sometimes we lose sight of this in the weekly round of business, in the midst of the work that is required to keep the earthen vessel in reasonable shape; but what we’re really about is discovering, exploring, experiencing and sharing relationship with the God who is revealed in the teachings, ministry and life of Jesus.

Segue… everyone one of us has her or his own favourite passages from the Bible, the texts that speak most directly to the heart, touchstone Scripture readings, verses that almost become a Bible within the Bible. For me such a list would include Jacob wrestling with the angel at the Jabbok river; Moses and the burning bush; Psalm 139 – “O God, thou has searched me and known me…”; Isaiah 43 – “I have called you by name, you are mine…”; the parable of the Prodigal son; the last few verses of Romans 8 –“Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”… and … well, today’s reading from the letter to the Christians in Ephesus, chapter 3, verses 14 to 21.

It is here that I find some of the most powerful words about the treasure, what I am hoping will happen for those of us who are involved in the life of the church, who choose to become members, an integral part of the community. Listen carefully to this prayer that gets lifted up in the midst of a couple chapters of theological wrestling. It’s a tangle of passionate images that begins, “I pray that… you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through God’s Spirit.” What is this “inner being” but the “you” that you stare at when you gaze into the mirror for any length of time; the you that includes, but is so much more than, the outer person, the polite, public presentable you. Paul is talking about that deep self, a mixture of hurts, desires, hopes and dreams; full of memories, things done and left undone; choices made, conscious thoughts and decisions shaped by almost unacknowledged forces. And his prayer is that this self be “strengthened” – not criticized, chastised, harangued – but made stronger, more resilient, more able to engage in the Christian journey. He’s talking about receiving “energy”, that God will fill us with the Spirit, as individuals, and as a community, with a holy wind and fire that we sense at the very core of our being. That’s the treasure.

Paul continues to pray, and immediately shifts the image to ask, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” – Christ is the guest who enters, who moves in, whose being becomes so intertwined with ours that it can best be described as living together. I am reminded of another of my touchstone passages, Revelation 3:20 -- “Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come to you and eat with you, and you with me.” There it is again, that same willingness to let God come into the very heart of our being. Perhaps it holds my imagination because I’m still awash with feelings that come from celebrating two marriages yesterday, right here in this church, of watching the passion and dreams of two young couples wanting to dwell in each other’s hearts. Or maybe I am anticipating the two baptisms that will occur in a couple of weeks, on Mother’s Day, and I remember what it was like when my own children were born and took over my heart, making a permanent home there. I think that’s what Paul is talking about – that our sense of intimate connection with God will be like that, as if Christ were at home in our hearts. And that’s the treasure, no? Isn’t that what we hope will occur through and in this earthen vessel we call St. Andrew’s-Wesley?

Stay with me for yet another jump in imagery, as Paul prays that we will be “rooted and grounded in love.” Christ as Holy Gardener is not a bad metaphor to ponder in this green spring, with our winter fingers itching to dig into the soil. Christ plants seeds, pulls weeds, thins and prunes, sometimes with a long-range, clear-eyed ruthlessness, always yearning to ensure that we are rooted and grounded in love. A similar image for church is suggested in John’s gospel where he talks about Christ as the vine, and us disciples as the branches. Once again there is a claim that the energy for life will come flowing into us… and I like the suggestion of this imagery that the Holy Power arises from “below”… from being rooted in the earth. Call this the gift of “green treasure”.

Finally, as a last spin in metaphor, Paul prays that we will “know” the love of Christ so powerfully – (and he doesn’t just mean “head” knowledge – I think that’s why he talks about experiencing the “breadth and length and height and depth” of Christ’s love) – that we “may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Perhaps it’s a life-time task, as the Living Water pours into us; as Holy Light illuminates even our dark corners; as we open up the doors of our hearts and find that bit by bit we are being filled with the love of Christ, filled up and overflowing. That’s the treasure friends – I believe that’s why we gather as church, so that this transformation can happen – strengthened in our inner being, with Christ dwelling in our hearts, as we are being rooted and grounded in love, green vines bursting with new life, filled with all the fullness of God.

All of this is what I would call the vertical dimension of church, this essential relationship building with God, so that we are connected with the Spirit that arises from below and comes from above. But then come all the questions about how we live our lives out of this new reality, what might be called the horizontal dimension. Thus the challenge facing the church is to be a community where people can learn and practice how to live differently . In so many ways, the Christian community, the church, is an alternative community… dare I betray my sixties roots, and say counter-culture. We are invited to move from an experience of the Spirit into the concrete and very practical task of discovering what this will mean for our day-to-day living. How is one to concretely practice gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, hospitality… we might say, love? Well, here’s a group of people to try and discover what that looks like – with space to make mistakes, pick yourself up, dust yourself off… and try again. There’s a wonderful line from the poet Auden that keeps resonating for me – “We must learn to love our crooked neighbour with our own crooked heart.” Earthen vessels, one and all, but we draw on the strength of Spirit to discover new lives.

In a few minutes we will be receiving twenty-three new members into this congregation. I want you to listen very carefully to the promises that they will be making, because I think you’ll hear another way of answering that Disciple Group question, “Why join the church?”

           First comes a “belief” question:

Do you believe in God:

who has created and is creating;

who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,

to reconcile and make new;

who works in us and others by the Spirit?

What we believe, what we think, it’s important and shapes how we act, what we do. And yet, belief isn’t just an activity of the head – that word “credo” could also be translated as “What I give my heart to…” It’s almost more a statement of loyalty, saying, “This is important; it goes to core of who and what I am.” We give our hearts to the God who is revealed and experienced in creation, in Jesus, and through the working of the Spirit

Then comes what you might label as a “lifestyle” question; how will you live, because of this commitment, this faith. It’s an acknowledgement that belief and action are intertwined:

Will you celebrate God’s presence?

[in worship, in seeing the Holy within all the daily events of your life, in the world, giving thanks and praise, knowing that God is present in every moment; the challenge is to perceive and name it – and celebrate it]

 

Will you live with respect in Creation?

[knowing that God loves the whole world, the entire cosmos, not just us humans, and we are called to live as one species among many, seeing the face of the Creator in all our relations; knowing that a life of unbridled, narcissistic consumption is an act of disrespect!]

 

Will you love and serve others, seek justice and resist evil?

[the promise of compassion, of being a true neighbour, reaching out to friend, stranger and enemy; challenging all the forces of darkness, of greed; we are to be actively engaged in the hard but rich work of loving the world as God loves the world, of choosing to live out of God’s dream of peace and justice and goodness.]

Then, when you are perhaps beginning to feel a little overwhelmed, wondering how you are ever going to live up to this promise… then comes the third question, which talks about how this might happen:

Will you remain open to God’s abundant and endless grace,

through prayer, study, worship,

and your presence in this community?

Core practices – being part of church means discovering the ways of becoming more and more open to God’s love, a grace that is sometimes challenging and even abrasive, but an amazing grace that will not let us go, that comes freely and overflowingly. But we must keep working at aligning or positioning ourselves so that this grace can fill us. And the Christian community has discovered that prayer and study and worship are central to helping that happen. Which is not to say that there aren’t other disciplines that will open us up to the movement of grace – singing, hospitality, running … but we need prayer; and we need to spend time hearing our “story” and consciously giving thanks and praise.

Then comes the final question, where it gets really specific…

Do you promise to participate in the life of this family of God’s people,

Sharing in the mission and ministry

of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church,

as it serves the community and the world?

This earthen vessel… this family, the people sitting next to you on a Sunday pew. We are relational creatures and we cannot live alone. This congregation, God willing, will be a community where you experience nurture and challenge, where you are strengthened for your ministry in the world; where you offer gifts and resources so that mission and ministry happen, not just within the four walls, but for the world that is so beloved by God.

Big promises… but just when you think maybe this is too much to hope for, note the answers… “Yes… by the grace of God, God being my helper.” It isn’t just up to us. We take that first step, and God is there, ready to greet us, to come more than half-way… well, actually, right up to the very door. All of which brings us back to that prayer in the letter to Ephesians, because Paul ends his vision of our being filled with all the fullness of God by declaring the centrality of God in this whole business: “Now to God who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish far more than all we can ask or imagine, to God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus….” Now that’s gospel – more than we can ever ask or imagine.