Philippians 2:1-5 (NRSV)
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was[a] in Christ Jesus.
Good morning, Friends. It is good to be with you in the comfort of your own homes again this week. I pray you are safe and well – and getting those vaccines so we can be back together in person again.
If there is one word that has been used a great deal more, lately, in our world, it has to be the word “radical.”
Just this week, I had back-to-back conversations with two different people who used that word to describe two opposing groups of people.
It seems easy these days to attach the word “radical” as a descriptor and assume everyone understands. It has almost become a “buzz” word for our day and age.
So earlier this week, I decided to take note and write down when someone I connected with or in the media used the word “radical.” I will be honest. It became rather overwhelming. Here is a list of what I heard:
Radical Extremists
Radical Right
Radical Left
Radical Insurrectionists
Radical Black Lives Matters Protesters
Radical Militias
Radical Conservatives
Radical Liberals
Radical White Supremacists
Radical Religious
Radical Administrators
Radical Agendas
Radical Police
Radical Initiatives
Radical Reconstructionists
Radical Centrists
Radical Change
And the list could go on…
But what does it really mean when we use the world radical?
What lines do we draw using the word radical?
Who is radical and who is just passionate about what they believe?
Just maybe the word radical itself has lost its descriptive power for us today. I don’t even know if we would want to include “Radical Quakers” in that list I just read.
But, if we, Quakers, believe we are a people who are alive and have meaning and purpose in this world, then we will have to admit that there is a relationship, as Quaker Jeffrey Dudiak states, between “what is” and “what is not, but should be, between the past and the future, between, on the one hand, the grounding practices, and on the other hand, the aspirations of a living tradition.”
This is why Jeffery describes Quakers as a people with a “radicalizing spirit.” From the earliest of days, they went beyond the law, following the Spirit, and opening the faith to new possibilities.
The early Quakers embraced an often mysterious concept – in Greek it is called metanoia – and it means going beyond their own minds and into the mind of God.
Even though we may be a bit concerned with the descriptor, our Quaker ancestors definitely had a “radicalizing spirit” and were even defined as a “radical faith” by other Christians, faith traditions, and even the government of their day.
This was all based on their beliefs around “what is” and “what is not, but should be” in the early days of their formation.
If you are not familiar with some of those beliefs, here are just a few beliefs “considered radical” that early Quakers professed:
● The social and political equality of the sexes.
● The abolition of slavery, which they saw as evil.
● That no lands should be obtained from indigenous peoples except through negotiation and mutual agreement.
● Complete pacifism.
● No class distinctions.
● Complete tolerance of other religious views.
Some people, other faith traditions, even governments still would consider many of those beliefs “radical” in our day. Actually, we even have Quakers/Friends who believe this is too radical and don’t even profess this these any more.
But we must be careful with how we use the word, “radical” currently, especially with all that is going on in our world and nation at the moment. If we are going to say we are a “Radical Faith” or even “Radical Quakers” we better know how to explain that.
What does it really mean to be radical in the manner of Friends - let’s take a moment to explore this idea.
Jeffrey Dudiak shed some light for me on the word radical and how it is used. He says,
“Indeed the term ‘radical’ harbors a wonderful ambiguity. The etymological origin of the term radical is the Latin radix, which means root.
Among the dictionary meanings of radical is the following: ‘forming an inherent or fundamental part of the nature of someone or something.’
Here, then, something is at its most radical when it is rooted most securely in what it is.
But the term also has taken on another meaning, obviously related to, but seemingly contradictory to the first.
On this meaning, radical refers to a change or action “relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something,” and it is this meaning that gives us radical in the sense of something “characterized by departure from tradition; innovative or progressive,’ and as ‘advocating a thorough or complete political or social reform.
So, this means that…
The term radical can mean either being deeply rooted, or tearing something up from the roots. It can mean either being bound firmly and securely to its ground, or being liberated from such an attachment altogether.
Most people would say we have to pick one or the other, but the word radical actually is the perfect word to describe the paradox that we find in Quakerism.
This is not an either/or but rather a both/and scenario. Quakers are radical in both ways.
1. We are rooted and secure in who and what we are... and
2. We are characterized by change or action and a departure from tradition while being innovative and progressive.
It is probably because of what Quaker Rufus Jones identified as “The Beyond Within” - how he described the two minds (our own mind and the mind of the Spirit or Christ) which must learn to cooperate.
Rufus Jones said,
,
“Through cooperation with God they [the two minds] build a new stage of the Kingdom of God in the world. We are in that respect not dreamers; we are actual builders...We become organs of a spiritual kingdom and stand in vital relations to an Eternal Mind and Heart and Will with whom to cooperate.”
Even George Fox wrestled with connecting and cooperating with the Mind of God, he said it well,
“Be still and cool in your own mind and spirit from your own thoughts, and then you will feel the principle of God to turn your mind to the Lord God, whereby you will receive his strength and power from where it comes from...therefore be still a while from your own thoughts, searching, seeking desires and imaginations, and stay in the principle of God in you, to keep your mind upon God, and what he is up to.”
This truly is radical in our day and age.
1. Be still and cool in your mind and spirit.
2. Be still a while so your thoughts, searching, seeking desires and imaginations can focus on what God’s mind wants.
Just maybe during this pandemic we have learned to slow down a bit and found new ways to be still. But it is clear, that our world wants action, we want response. We want to do anything but be still. Our impatience has turned into endurance and we are ready for the stillness to end.
If we at First Friends are going to be considered “Radical Quakers” or at least people with a “radicalizing spirit” like our ancestors before us, we may need to pause and actually notice that the current pandemic we have become impatient with, may be the catalyst for returning to our roots.
On many occasions, I have quoted from Rex Ambler’s book, “The Quaker Way: A Rediscovery.” I continue to find this book a breath of fresh air. I believe Rex is giving new life to the way we understand our Quaker faith - and his definition speaks to our condition this Sunday. Take a listen once again:
Quakers sit in silence because they want to know something that words cannot tell them. They want to feel something or become aware of something so that they can really make a connection with it. It is something fundamental to their life, they know that, indeed it is the underlying reality of their life, but they are not normally aware of it.
They are preoccupied with other things. They are taken up, like others, with the relatively shallow things of life, encouraged by the media and contemporary culture generally, and they hardly feel the depth of it all. So, they feel the loss, the distance, and want somehow to get close to this deeper reality. They want to become ‘the Friends of Truth,’ as they liked to call themselves at the beginning.
Not any truth, but a truth that relates specifically to their deepest felt needs, and to the needs of world. They are looking for a truth by which to live, that is, a sense of reality that tells them who they are and how they should live. They want the truth in this sense because that is the only basis on which they could expect to enjoy life to the full and to contribute to life.
Part of the reality of their life, of course, is their relationship with one another and with other people, both near and far. So, they want to ‘discern’ what happens between people, what makes for a good life together, and what makes for a bad one. They want to learn in their own experience how relationships that are broken can be mended, how conflicts can be resolved, and how ‘the Friends of Truth’ can work together to make these things happen in the world.
I know that many of you just said, “Amen, preach it, Rex!” but others may describe this as radical.
Yes, it is radical because as Quakers we must embody being still and connecting to the mind of God so that we can impact our world.
It is that radical mysterious concept -- metanoia - going beyond our own minds and into the mind of God. It is exactly what Paul described Jesus experiencing in our text from Philippians, today. Just listen again at Paul’s words to us:
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
When we, Quakers, embrace this “radical metanoia” and go beyond our own minds and get into the mind of God we begin to see with new eyes.
No longer is it about us or my selfish needs, but it is more about our neighbors, more about their interests. It truly is radical in our American culture and consumerist society.
This was Christ’s example, this was the early Quakers legacy, and this continues to be our calling today.
Let us embrace this radical metanoia today, even amidst this pandemic, so that we can begin to make our world a better place.
Now, as we enter a time of waiting worship, please take a moment to consider the following queries:
● What is my current perception of the word “radical”? Do I consider myself a radical?
● Am I preoccupied and taken up with the relatively shallow things of life, encouraged by the media and contemporary culture generally and hardly feeling the depth of it all?
● How might I embrace “radical metanoia” this week?