WHAT IS THE CHURCH
8 22 10
John 17:1-11
ANTHONY ACHESON, M.DIV
Today’s reading from John 17 invites us to reflect on a core question: ‘What is the church, and what does it most need to keep itself healthy and strong?’
There are a variety of ways we customarily think about the church, aren’t there? We often refer to the church as a building, as when we may say, ‘I’m going over to the church,’ by which we mean we are going to physically enter a building like the one we’re in now. We also often conceptualize the church is as an organization , as when we may say, ‘I’m active in this church;’ or, ‘I’m a member of that church’s governing board.’ A third way we frequently refer to the church is as a sustained, historic tradition that is a carrier of specific teachings and doctrines across the centuries. So, if we ask, ‘What is the church?’ all of those concepts might provide elements of an answer. But none of them is sufficient or satisfying as an answer that is complete or definitive.
What is the church? Each of us, of course, brings our own thoughts and associations to that question. For me, I would point to three elements as the qualities closest to mf core of sense of what ‘church’ is. First, in its heart of hearts the church is a community. Second, and more specifically, the church is a community of people who are seeking spiritual reality and spiritual consciousness. And thirdly, the church is a community that is seeking to translate this spiritual reality and consciousness into forms of behavior, into patterns of right action that help to serve and heal the world. In traditional Christian language we might say that the defining marks of the church are Holy Spirit, fellowship and mission. If we were to use Buddhist language we might say that spiritual community manifests when people commit themselves to the Buddha, sangha [community] and dharma [law or teaching.] What is the church? In its heart of hearts the church is a community of people doing the sacred work of seeking out the spirit, and activating and exercising the powers of that spiritual reality in the lives they lead in the world.
In John chapter 17 we heard the prayer for his movement that Jesus offers near the end of his life. Jesus prays for two main things on behalf of his followers–which also means potentially for you and for me.
The first and by far the most important is that we who are involved in the church be people who are growing in our consciousness and knowledge of spiritual reality and spiritual truth. In verses 1 through 3 Jesus says, “Father, the hour has now come. Glorify thy son as thy son has glorified thee….thou hast given him power to give eternal life over all flesh. (And what is eternal life?) This is eternal life–that they know Thee, the only true god.” What is eternal life? This is eternal life, that you be a person who is growing , and that I be a person who is growing in the knowledge and consciousness of God and of the spiritual dimension which stands behind life and permeates life and is our life. First and foremost, then, the church is the community of people seeking and finding spiritual consciousness and spiritual awareness.
Let’s talk for a moment about spiritual reality. The world of the spirit has a paradoxical element to it in that at one and the same time it is something that is completely invisible while at the same time also being radically real. One of the greatest gifts to humankind in recent centuries has been the astonishing growth in our awareness of unseen realities. Think, for example, of the lessons of Copernicus and Galileo at the dawn of the scientific age. These great scientists were able to “see” that the earth goes around the sun even though the opposite was what seemed obvious. Think of the pioneers of medicine who learned to “see” germs and microbes for the first time, even though they were seemingly nowhere to be seen. In their time many such scientists were ridiculed, reviled and even persecuted. But they were right. Think also, more recently, of Einstein. Can anyone “see” relativity? Can anyone ’see,’ the interchangeability of energy and matter? No one can see any of those things; certainly not with the immediate perceptions of our five senses. But all of those non-visible things are nonetheless acutely real.
Consider the fact that at this very moment, to use just one more example, this beautiful room that we are worshiping in is filled with many things that we can’t see. At this very moment this beautiful room that we are worshiping in is filled with oxygen and carbon dioxide and other gases that we depend on for life. But can’t see them. This room is also filled with completely invisible television waves, radio waves, and microwaves. This very room, yes, even this room at this moment filled with electromagnetic waves of energy that constitute a whole host of Tweets and texts, emails and family photos. Yesterday afternoon Emma and Nancy and I went on a hike up the mountain on the west side of Lake Willoughby, and when we got to the top, one of our friends pulled out his Blackberry, saw that he was in range for reception and proceeded to check his messages. Whether you would actually want to do that at the top of a magnificent mountain with such a breathtaking view is another question. But even there, out in the wilds of nature, some of those very same electronic pulses I mentioned earlier, though quite invisible to our senses, are nonetheless quite real and quite present. But although none of us can see or hear that level of reality with our five senses, if we do happen to have our Blackberry handy, or a radio or tv or computer, those tools to plug us right in so that we can tune in and translate the reality of those unseen telecommunications, which are all literally right here, down into a form that you and I could see and hear. In our contemporary world, science is often seen as being an enemy or opponent of spirituality. I hold a very different view. I see science and spirituality as being complementary partners. The technological examples I just gave you reflect one arena where that partnership is potentially evident, because one very important thing that both science and spirituality have in common is that they both point us in the direction of recognizing the reality of unseen and invisible things. Both science and spirituality, each in their own way, are signposts and reminders to us of one crucially important fact about life: namely, that many things that are real are invisible; and that there are many invisible things that are highly real. Science and spirituality both remind us of what I like to call the reality of invisibility.
Just as those omnipresent electro-magnetic waves that carry our emails and tweets and text messages as I mentioned a moment ago are all very real and are all right here, so is the spiritual world also right here and very real. And this brings us back to our original question: what is the church? The purpose of the church as I understand it is also to give us the spiritual tools–analogous to those electronic tools of our Blackberry’s and iPhones sand computers we spoke of a moment ago–to translate the patterns–or, if you will, the signals–of spiritual reality and power and truth down into human consciousness. The purpose of the church is to help us develop the spiritual tools to translate those invisible spiritual realities into forms and feelings, insights and experiences, and patterns of behavior, that you and I can know and make use of in our day to day personal lives.
And how does that happen? Well-there are many sides to that, of course, and clearly more than we can cover comprehensively here today. But one thing that is clear….and this is one thing I can and do want to focus on today…..and that one thing that is emphasized in our scripture reading from John 17 this morning. And this is that the spiritual search we are all engaged upon is a journey we take together and not alone. All of which is another way of saying that our spiritual search is a journey we take in community. In John 17 Jesus starts by praying that we all might know our Source, which is the Divine power behind life. But then Jesus goes on to pray that we might all be one. And he doesn’t simply pray that we might be one. More specifically, he prays, as we hear it in verse 21, “May they all be one in order that the world may believe.” We need to be one because it is precisely through our oneness; it is precisely through our community, and indeed it is precisely through our loving of one another, that we are enabled to find that knowledge of God and of spirit that Jesus so fervently prays for and for which we so fervently thirst.
I want to close this morning with a story that has a lot to say about searching for spiritual life together. It’s called the Rabbi’s Gift. It has been told, among others, by Dr. M. Scott Peck in his book, “A Different Drum.” This story tells us that once upon a time there was a monastery that had fallen on hard times such that there were only five old monks left.
One day the monastery’s abbot went to visit a rabbi on a retreat nearby. The abbot was agonizing over the imminent death of his order, and he asked the rabbi if by some possible chance he could offer some advice that might save his order. The rabbi shook his head, and said, “No, my friend, I cannot. But I know how it is. The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same with us.”
Just before leaving, the abbot pressed him again, “Is there nothing you can tell me, dear rabbi, no piece of advice that can save my order?”
” No,” said the rabbi, “I have no advice. The only small thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you. But otherwise I have no help.”
When the abbot came home, he told his fellow monks that the rabbi could not help. “The only thing he mentioned,” he said, “Was something very cryptic just as I was leaving. he said that the Messiah was one of us. But I have no idea what he meant.”
In the days and months that followed, the old monks pondered whether there was any possible significance to the rabbi’s words. The Messiah is one of us? Did he mean the abbot? Yes. If he meant anyone here, he must have meant Father abbot. He’s led us, and very well, for many years. But then again, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Everyone knows that Thomas is a man of great light.
Certainly he could mot have meant Eldred. Eldred gets crotchety at times. But–come to think of it, even though he is a thorn in people’s sides, when you look back on it, Eldred is virtually always right. Often very right! Maybe the rabbi did mean Eldred.
But surely, not Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive. A real nobody. But then again–even with Phillip–almost mysteriously, he somehow has a gift for always being there when you need him. He just magically appears by your side. Maybe Phillip is the Messiah.
Of course, the rabbi did not mean me. I’m just an average person. But–supposing he did? Suppose I was the Messiah. It couldn’t be me, Lord, could it?
As they contemplated in this manner, the old monks began to treat each other with great respect on the off chance that one among them might be the Messiah. And on the off, off chance that each monk himself might be the messiah, they began to treat their own selves with extraordinary respect.
The forest in which they lived was exquisite. And it happened that people often came to visit the monastery to picnic on its lawn, to wander through its paths and even now and then enter the old chapel to pray. As they did so, without even being conscious of it, they sensed this aura of extraordinary respect that now began to surround the five old monks, and seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There was something strangely attractive, even compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back to the monastery more and more frequently to picnic, play, and pray. They began to bring their friends, and their friends brought their friends.
And then it happened that some of the younger men started to talk more and more with the old monks. After a while one asked if he could join them. Then another. And another. And so it was that within a few years the monastery had once again become a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi’s gift, a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the realm.
And my prayer and desire is that as it was for them, and as it was for the forebears of our faith so might it be for all of us for many rich years to come. Amen.
