5-5-19 - The Stewardship and Inspiration of the Earth

The Stewardship and Inspiration of the Earth

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

May 5, 2019

Job 12:7-8 (NRSV)

7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
    the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8 ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;
    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

Some of you may be a bit confused about why we are celebrating Earth Sunday on Cinco de Mayo instead of April 22 as it usually is celebrated. Well, April 22 landed on the day after Easter this year, so we moved it to a later date not to miss it.  As Quakers and Christians, the stewardship of the Earth is or should be very important to us.  It is actually covered in one of our distinctives or what we like to call our S.P.I.C.E.S. (actually the last “S” of SPICES is referenced to as both “stewardship” and “sustainability” depending on who you are talking with.) I think both are important.

Sadly, too often we only think of stewardship in relation to issues of money and forget that biblical stewardship originally was the conducting, supervising, and management of the Earth. 

Remember in the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 1:28) where it says,

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion [a better translation would read - be stewards] over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Many scholars call Genesis 1:28 the cultural mandate. It’s the original call to stewardship. It’s where God first calls humanity to cultivate and care for her creation using the unique gifts and talents she has endowed to every person.  As Friends, we uphold and even promote this mandate in our own statements. On the back of the bulletin is the Statement on Earth Care that is shared among Friends.) 

“The earth we share is limited in its capacity to support life and to provide resources for our survival.  The environment that has provided sustenance for generations must be protected for generations to come.  We have an obligation, therefore, to be responsible stewards of the earth, to restore its natural habitat where it has been damaged, and to maintain its vitality.  Friends’ historic testimonies on simplicity have long stressed that the quality of life does not depend upon immodest consumption.  The urgency of the threat to the environment cannot be overstated.”

That statement I just read is on the back of your bulletins this morning and comes from Friends Committee on National Legislation policy statement (from 1987), it is also cited in the Friends Committee on Unity with Nature statement.

We are mandated by God and our Quaker Faith to be good stewards, people responsible for the care of the Earth. 

I remember one of my first times hearing Quaker Richard Foster speak at a Renovaré Conference he shared with us the three great “books” that guide our lives. He spoke of…

·        the book of scripture,

·        the book of experience,

·        and the book of nature.

I personally have found my faith deepened and my life altered or changed by spending time in the stewardship of the earth. Making time to take in the book of nature has not only been therapy for me, it has given me insights to my own spiritual path, and at times has calmed my soul and given me peace.

From doing the hard work of tending to the weeds in my life, to learning about parenting from watching birds, to sensing hope in a sunrise or thankfulness that the day is done when watching the sun set.

The list could go on and on.  But if there is one thing, I have learned it is that to be a citizen of this Earth means we have a responsibility to take care of it, to learn from it, and allow it to be a bearer of peace in our lives.

A book that I quote from often and has had a profound voice in my life is Quaker Catherine Whitmire’s book, Practicing Peace.  It was in her book that I was first introduced to a Quaker that I have come to highly respect and learn from. This person is Jim Corbett. (Has anyone heard that name before?)

Some consider Jim a philosopher, spiritual warrior, and even some consider him a modern Quaker prophet.  Catherine Whitmire introduced me to Jim in her chapter titled Practicing Peace in our Everyday Lives with the Earth.

As I have further explored Jim and his life, I have been amazed not only by his story, but the role that nature, the animals and the earth had in helping him see his higher calling. Much like Job in our scripture text from today, Jim was about asking the animals (specifically the goats and the bees), the plants of the earth, and the fish of the sea to teach him and inspire him. I consider Jim’s connection to the Earth both prophetic and a call to the importance of allowing nature to inspire us and helping us find ways to respond. 

Since most people have not heard of Jim Corbett, I want to share some of his story with you this morning. It is important that we have contemporary Quakers as well as historic figures to be inspired by, especially for our younger generations who will continue the Quaker faith.

Arden Buck has beautifully shared some of Jim’s story in a Friends Journal article. This morning, I want to highlight some it so we too may be inspired by Jim’s life.    

Jim Corbett was a brilliant and original thinker and writer; he was a fearless activist, who insisted on putting his Quaker principles into action rather than just talking about them. He was also a rancher, a goatherder, and an expert at living simply and close to the Earth.

Corbett grew up in Wyoming, a descendent of Blackfoot Native Americans, Kentucky pioneers, and Ozark Mountain mule traders. As a child he taught himself to be comfortable with discomfort – at ease with hunger, cold, pain – and to detach himself from social expectations. A convinced Quaker, Corbett was a quiet, soft-spoken, unassuming person. For much of their life he and his wife Pat lived very simply in an old salvaged house trailer.

As a student, Corbett breezed through Colgate University in three years and then went on to earn a master’s in philosophy at Harvard in only one year. (WOW!)  Throughout his life, he held a variety of jobs including philosophy professor, librarian, park ranger, cowboy, anti-war organizer, and Quaker activist. But he was always a rancher at heart. For a while, he lived with a group of semi-nomadic goatherders in Mexico. 

Catharine Whitmire pointed out that “Corbett spent years listening to the earth and its innumerable creatures as he rambled through the arid but beautiful Sonoran Desert in Arizona, herding goats. Of his time following the flock through barren wilderness he wrote:

“Leisure, solitude, dependence on uncontrolled natural rhythms, alert, concentration on present events, long nights devoted to quiet watching – little wonder that so many religions originated among herders and so many religious metaphors are pastoral.”

Jim Corbett was known for what he called, “Goatwalking.” Arden Buck says he developed it into an art.

He would wander the desert with goats for weeks at a time.  The goats would forage as they went, and Jim would drink their milk and forage as well. It was a way for him to go on solitary meditative retreats without having to carry any food or water.  He pointed out that this way of living was pastoral nomadism. It is how the Plains Indians lived, and it’s how we are told that Moses led his people in the desert for 40 years. Many Bedouin and Mongolian herders still live this way today.

Corbett saw goatwalking as a form of errantry, which he defined as “going outside of society to live according to one’s inner leadings.”

Corbett even invited people to join him on his goatwalking journeys utilizing the same rules. No food or water, except the occasional oats and raisins. He taught people how to live off the earth, to understand goats, and become companions with both. Even though people were drawn to this extreme experience, Corbett knew that it was almost impossible for most modern urban humans (like you and me) to understand the idea of living in communion with our natural world.

One thing that I found interesting is that Jim said not to bring reading or writing materials when experiencing nature. He said, “Just be there and soak in your experience of the wilderness. 

I don’t know about you, but I think one of the biggest reasons we cannot connect to the earth and nature anymore is because of technology.  Jim didn’t mention that, but if reading and writing were out, so was technology.    

A couple years ago, our son, Alex, was sent as the youth representative for the Northwest Yearly Meeting on a spiritual formation retreat with another Yearly Meeting. He flew to Colorado, and then joined a llama pack and several other youth and adults on a journey into the Medicine Bow Range and up to the top of Medicine Bow Peak. Much like Corbett’s goatwalking, Alex became the friend of a herd of llama.  They ate very simply, did some scavenging, and slept out in the wild. Listening to him explain the conversations he had with the participants was amazing. As someone that is going into Digital Media Arts and will spend his life behind a screen, this really had a profound impact on Alex. He learned things about himself, about others, about nature, about struggle, about accomplishment, and about God.

Similarly, Jim Corbett also learned a lot about himself and others in nature. Actually, nature brought him face-to-face with a new calling.  After moving to Tucson, Arizona Jim developed his bee hive and goat husbandry techniques for use in poor countries. He saw his connection with nature helpful to other cultures but didn’t fully realize what he was learning about community and relationships and helping people in his current place. 

At the edge of his property was built a fence to deter illegal border crossings. Something Jim never really thought about. This was the early 80’s and sadly we were backing violent governments in Central America who were killing and torturing labor leaders, students, church activists, and their relatives.  Individuals and even entire families were fleeing across Jim’s property.  He stayed out of the politics and really wasn’t interested in refugee work.    

But it wasn’t long until Jim heard of a Salvadoran refugee being caught by Border Patrol on his property. This caused things to hit closer to home.  Jim felt compelled to inquire about the refugee and follow him to an immigration detention center in California. Jim’s eyes were opened when he found hundreds of detained Central Americans in this detention facility who had fled war and persecution in their home countries.  

Jim had learned from goatwalking and bee keeping, and living close to the earth, a deeper understanding of humans and the need to help each other and take care of meeting our neighbor’s basic of needs.  Goats and bees had inspired the need for a greater community of love and peace.  

Soon Jim teamed up with John M. Fife III, a Presbyterian Pastor in Tucson who helped him begin to harbor refugees. They organized a system for passing, or maybe we should say “herding” and “keeping,” illegal immigrants from church to church across the country.  Corbett mailed 500 Quaker Meetings and groups seeking their help in the creation of an underground railroad to Canada. Jim Corbett is considered by many today a modern-day Levi Coffin. Hundreds of Quaker meetings and other churches joined the effort. During the 1980’s Corbett and his sanctuary helped free thousands of Central American refugees and helped them build communities of safety. 

Arden Buck speaking of Jim’s writing said, he…

“developed a philosophy that embraced not only humans, but all life on Earth. He extended Quaker principles to apply to all of Earth’s creatures and ultimately to all of creation – there is that of God in all nature.  Regarding environmental preservation, he followed a third way between the two extremes of exploiter and environmentalist by advocating that humans and nature can coexist respectfully.”

As I have been processing all that I have learned from Jim (and there is so much more to glean from his life and work). I return now to my own experience. I have consistently taken walks every day for about a year through my neighborhood, through parks, through the gardens at Newfields.  I have watched and learned the patterns of ducks and geese, and the great blue heron.  I have watched the death and resurrection of the plants, the changing of the trees, the invasiveness of weeds that take over, and the rhythm and beauty of the sun’s rising and setting.  It was Dan Rains last year, who challenged me (and many of you) to look up at the clouds and the patterns and see to see the change they represent.   I learned that I prefer a natural path over cement walkways and roads.  That the sound of moving water can be healing, and that squirrels are hard workers, but still have fun.  I watch out my back window at the beauty of the birds on my bird feeders, how finches consider thistle seed the crack of their world – always coming back for another hit until it is completely gone.  How the sound of the birds chirping becomes a song of praise to my soul. 

I guess what I am saying is that God is still using the Creation to teach and inspire. We just need to be willing to get out of our homes, out of our cars, off our devices, and spend some quality time in nature.  It will change you.  It will inspire you.  It will give you hope. 

As for Jim Corbett, sadly he died on August 2, 2001 at the age of 67 from a rare brain disease.  His legacy still lives on today with the Saguaro-Juniper Corporation, a group of shareholders who bought land in Hot Springs Canyon, Arizona working with disadvantaged and disenfranchised people. They characterize themselves as stewards or even servants of the land, the plants, and the animals.  Jim has two books, Goatwalking: A Guide to Wildland Living and A Sanctuary for All Life which document his learnings and life. 

Now, on the back of your bulletins are some queries to ponder.  Let us sit in the silence (maybe listen for the creation outside the window speaking its praise for this day).    

4-28-19 - In the Proximity of Hope

In the Proximity of Hope

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

April 28, 2019

I Corinthians 15:1-7 (The Message)

15 1-2 Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time— this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this for good and holding fast.)

3-7 The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive to me.

There are several different appearances of Jesus after the resurrection event that are both interesting and have had me reflecting this week on the hope that they convey. 

Scholars often discuss the 10 different accounts that are recorded in the Bible of Jesus’ appearances.  I am sure there were others, but the ones that were written down, must hold some weight since they were recorded for the world to read 2000+ years later.  Now, just to remind you of these appearances and to give you a sense of the order in which scripture recorded them happening, I just want to read the list.  

It is recorded that Jesus appeared to:

1.     Mary Magdalene (where she mistakes Jesus as the gardener)

2.     The other Mary, Salome, Joanna, and at least one other unnamed woman.

(On a side note, I find it fascinating and a huge statement to Jesus’ day and culture that the first 5 people to encounter Jesus recorded in scripture were woman.)  

3.     Simone Peter (one of Jesus’ inner circle)

4.     Cleopas and a companion on the road to Emmaus. (Most likely the companion was not named because it was very likely a woman as well.)

5.     The Eleven Disciples without Thomas (to discuss doubting...)

6.     The Eleven with Thomas (to discuss believing…)

7.     Seven Disciplines at the Sea of Tiberias (This is the famous Breakfast on the Beach scene)

8.     Disciples and a large gathering at a mountain in Galilee. (This is the one Jesus most often reminds the disciples about – meeting on the mountain to receive the charge or next steps – this ends up being almost a month after the resurrection.  

9.     James (private meeting with Jesus’ brother about the church)

10.Disciples (probably in Jerusalem before he led them out of the Mt. of Olives to give the Great Commission and his departure.)  

Ten different situations, all with very different interactions.  As well, Jesus appears sometimes miraculously and at other times in normal situations.  We have Jesus coming through walls, disappearing, not being able to be touched, asking to be touched, and often the gatherings are accompanied by eating. But to understand the importance of all of these appearances to us today, I think we need to look a little deeper at what Jesus was addressing in the individual appearances and with whom he was addressing them. 

After a death (or any loss for that matter), most people not only go through the stages of grief, they also face the deeper need of seeking and finding hope amidst the loss and pain.  Each of the people that Jesus appears to is both in shock and grieving. As a pastor, I am familiar with the reactions of people in that first week after the loss of a close friend or loved one.  Its often a very difficult time and hard to have clarity or peace.

Over half of the recorded appearances of Jesus happen in the first 8 days after his execution (literally in front of them – talk about a difficult thing to work through. I cannot even imagine having to watch a good friend executed in front of me – especially by crucifixion.)  And the bigger gatherings happened over the next few weeks up to 40 days later.  For those who have experienced loss and grief…these 40 days can be a rollercoaster of emotion. 

C.S. Lewis put it this way in his classic, “A Grief Observed.” 

In grief, nothing “stays put.” One keeps emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round.  Everything repeats.  Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I’m on a spiral? But if a spiral, am I going up or down it?

This was the situation for the disciples and followers of Jesus – they were in the “spin cycle” of grief and loss.  But each of them was dealing with other things as well, and I have a hunch that Jesus’ appearances may be speaking about more than we know.  I think it has to do with what I am going to call “the proximity of hope.”  

Let’s start with Mary Magdalene. She was so caught up in the loss – that she missed the proximity of hope before her eyes – just assuming he was the gardener.

Losses can do this to us – and not just loss through death.  Losing our keys or glasses can have a tremendous impact on how we see (even literally see) the world around us in that moment.  Or take the loss of a computer file or a record.  On Thursday, I stopped at Starbucks for a coffee during morning rush hour.  When I approached the drive-up window, two women stared out at me in a funk.  Their computer had just completely gone out. They were at a loss for words at the moment – just hoping it would come back on.

Loss often takes us away from the moment and has us missing what is actually going on. Those who go through divorce often can no longer see their former spouse in the same light – or even themselves.  Jesus appearing to Mary and her thinking he is the Gardner shows us how easy our loss and grief control how we see.

The appearance of Jesus to the other Mary, Salome, Joanna and the other unnamed woman, continues these thoughts.  Here the thing that happens when we are dealing with loss and grief is that we forget what has already been said or done.  In each of the scriptures telling of this appearance, it has the figure of light saying, “Remember how he told you…”.

Loss often has us forgetting or at least neglecting to remember all the details of our lives.  The loss of a friendship has us forgetting the good times and focusing often on only what tore us apart.  The loss of our own memory has us searching and searching for answers. Sometimes I need to take a day and look back through photos, thank you notes, and even highlights in books to remember what I have done and learned.  I think this is why at most memorials we have slide shows and photo boards.  We need to remember the bigger story of life…

It says that Jesus presented himself directly to Peter (before the others).  Sometimes loss needs direct intervention. We need someone in our life to directly interact with us.  I don’t know about you, but I have always related to Peter. 

On many occasions, Jesus had to interact with Peter – one-on-one – and often Jesus had to convey a difficult message.  When I am struggling with loss or grieving, sometimes I need someone to come to me and be direct.  Often, we need a sponsor or a mentor, to keep us on track, to invest in us, to believe in us.  I think Jesus did that with each person he encountered.  Again, this was being put in the proximity of hope.

On the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and the other disciple encounter Jesus.  Jesus actually walked with them it says. He had them remember, he engaged them directly….and then he did one more thing…he ate with them. 

When we are dealing with loss and grief, food is a huge part of the process.  Some people eat, some do not.  Some find it comforting.  But there is more to this.  Conversations and interactions happen around the table.  The table is a harbinger of the proximity of hope.  The church is good about making meals when people are experiencing loss and grief.  We are good about having meals after memorials, inviting hurting people out to eat with us to allow them to talk…I know for me having a cup of good coffee with someone opens up conversations and has us dealing with and processing our losses and grieving. Sometimes we find answers, insights, and at other times, just like Cleopas and the other disciple – our eyes are simply opened to hope!

When Jesus meets the eleven disciples without Thomas, he begins to lay a foundation for peace in their lives.  In The Message, Eugene Peterson translated the scene this way, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over.” 

Sometimes we are so upset and doubting ourselves, others, and even our experiences that losses and grief can be intensified.  I am sure the disciples were upset, but often we become irrational when we are upset. We can easily let our anger get the best of us. Our misunderstandings about the losses in our lives can have us going down bunny trails that lead us into unhealthy thinking about ourselves and others.

At times, it would be good to find a place for silence and solitude, to calm our hearts and minds.  Loss often creates doubts that can consume our minds and we begin to say things like:   

·        “I don’t think I can do this without...”

·        “I don’t know what I am going to do.”

·        “I don’t think I can go on.”

·        And I am sure you can think of others that run through your minds…  

These are the kind of doubting questions Jesus is talking about not letting take over.

When Thomas (who gets a bad rap for all of church history) arrives in the upper room eight days later, Jesus again takes a similar approach by bringing a word of peace, but then gets more to the point about dealing with this doubt getting out of control.  He says specifically to Thomas, “…you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.” 

Boy, I can’t tell you how important that has been to me.  I have been gripped in wondering how things were going to turn out, sometimes after experiencing loss, and I have worked myself up so much that only my way of “seeing” will do.  But my impatience and my lack of will to see from a different perspective has caused me to think I needed to see the entire picture to believe it would come out ok.  Often, I just need to believe without seeing for it to work out just fine.

When Jesus meets the disciples on the beach – a scene I absolutely love – he realizes that the disciples had gone back to their old ways (that sounds so familiar – I can relate).  We go to our defaults when we are dealing with loss and grief because they often bring comfort or normalcy.  There they were all fishing again.  And again, they were struggling with the catch.  But what is interesting is Jesus doesn’t walk on the water or do anything really out of the ordinary, no this time he takes care of the ordinary.  He takes care of starting a fire and making breakfast.  Sometimes we need others around us when we are dealing with loss and grief to simply keep up the normalcy and ordinary in our life.  They don’t need to do anything spectacular, because often it is simply us who needs to try throwing our nets out on the other side of the boats of our lives. 

And sometimes when we are in a funk and have gone back into our default mode, sometimes we need someone to give us a new charge on life.  Scripture points out that some of Jesus’ followers held back, not sure about risking themselves totally. Loss and grief can have us not sure, not wanting to step out, not wanting to do anything, but that is when we often need a nudge or a charge.  Jesus’ charge was to go! And it was followed up by those beautiful words I ended the service with last week, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.”

Actually, Jesus took several disciples aside including his brother James and did more than just charge them – he commissioned them to represent him.  He gave them a purpose and job.  James would go on to be a founder and developer of the Early Church.  James would later write in his own epistle,

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.  You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.  So, don’t try to get out of anything prematurely.”   

I got a feeling James would have rather continued in his loss and grief, embracing his default, but Jesus’ charge had him listening and feeling the call to go and truly live. 

And in the very last appearance Jesus makes before his departure, he commissions all of his followers.  He gives them all a purpose to move on and to live.  He says that it will come from within as the Spirit equips them.   And then he does what many needs as they work through their loss and grief – Jesus blesses them.  He raised his hands and blessed them before leaving. 

Back when I was in Silverton, people often requested that I share the blessing that I ended our Meetings for Worship with almost every Sunday.  I said it last week to end our Easter service. Every time I shared that blessing, I would find people who would tell me that they were changed by hearing those words.

As I would say, God loves you.  God is not made at you. I would see tear forming in people’s eyes.  That blessing was healing to their losses and their grief that they endured in the church.  God loves you. God is not mad at you.  And as he said in that last appearance, “and God will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

Folks, I sense what Jesus did in those final appearances was give us some guidance on how to handle our loss and grief by interacting with those he loved.  Jesus became the proximity of hope to those suffering the loss and grieving his death.  And now Jesus is charging us to go and be the proximity of hope to a hurting world. 

Let’s remember the insights we have learned this morning from Jesus’ appearances:

1.     Check your sight – Ask: What do I really see?

2.     Always remember the bigger story – Ask: What have I forgotten? 

3.     Be open to needing direct intervention – Ask: Can I do it alone?

4.     Take time to eat together for the benefit of the soul – Ask: Who do I need to have coffee or lunch with? 

5.     Don’t let your doubts get the best of you – Ask: Can I believe without having to see? 

6.     Stop reverting to your “defaults” – Ask: What are my possibilities?

7.     Doing the ordinary is just as important as the extraordinary – Ask: What am I about in the daily?

8.     Remember you are not alone – God, are you mad at me? Do you love me? Help me remember that you will never leave me nor forsake me – or just help me remember the proximity of hope!

4-21-19 - Easter Sunday - Resurrection Life, NOW!

Resurrection Life, NOW!

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

April 2, 2019

On July 5, 2009 – nearly a decade ago already (I can’t believe how time flies) – I attended a one-of-a-kind conference for pastors in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was strangely unique in several ways.  First, it had an interesting title, “Poets, Prophets, and Preachers.” The main speakers were three up-and-coming thinkers, authors, and pastors of our day - Shane Hipps, Peter Rollins, and Rob Bell – who have each become voices for change in the way we do pastoral ministry today. The focus of the conference was to help pastors take an in depth look at “the art of reclaiming the sermon.”

At the time, I don’t think I knew how important this conference would be for my life and ministry. To this day, I still remember many of the teachings and experiences I had – almost as if they happened yesterday – and to my surprise much of what I learned is still applicable today.

This conference not only shook many of my ministry paradigms, it also had me questioning many aspects of ministry that I had never even explored. 

On the final night the writer, philosopher, storyteller and public speaker, Peter Rollins was speaking, I will never forget how he concluded the evening by talking about practicing the resurrection.  He concluded by sharing a parable his friend wrote as he left church one day...it went like this…

“I dreamt that I died and I went to heaven and St. Peter was there. He opened the gates to welcome me in.  “How great to see you!”

He said, “I was just about to step into heaven, then I noticed some of my friends were there. Some of them Atheists, some of them Buddhists, and some of them “God-knows-what.” He said, “St. Peter, what about my friends?”

St. Peter says, “Well, you know the rules. You know the rules”

And then his friend said, “I thought of my reference point. Jesus the outsider…Jesus the drunkard…Jesus the bastard…the friend of sinners…Jesus the one who would always stay with those who were oppressed.” 

And he said, “You know what…I’ll just stay out here with them.

And the parable ends with St. Peter breaking a smile and saying “AT LAST, AT LAST, YOU UNDERSTAND!”    

Even though this was a powerful parable, Rollins concluded this story with a more personal story. At a speaking engagement, he was asked a question about if he denied the resurrection of Jesus. This is how Peter Rollins responded,

Without equivocation or hesitation I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think.  [And then he paused.]

He held the pause long enough for some people in the room to literally gasp and concerned whispers to be heard. Honestly, I was a bit in shock myself (thinking did he just say that) and readying for people to begin leaving. Then without missing a beat Peter Rollins continued by saying...

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

However, there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.

The emotion in that auditorium was overwhelming. Some people gave Peter Rollins a standing ovation, while others sighed in relief.  I remember myself beginning to physically shake (or maybe I was Quaking – even though it was before I became a convinced Quaker) and the tears rolled down my face. My friend sitting next to me was weeping as well. The power of those words along with what I believe is the power of the resurrection transformed that auditorium and not a single one of us left the same as we had entered. 

I believe I can say that I experienced the transformational power of Christ’s Resurrection with the people in that room in a special way. About five or six years later, I ran into one of the guys that I sat with that night and we reminisced about hearing those words of Peter Rollins and how it had such a huge impact on our lives. He agreed it was life giving and life altering.   

This experience reminds me of what Clarence Jordan, farmer and New Testament Greek scholar, and founder of Koinonia Farm in Georgia where Habitat for Humanity was birthed, said…

The proof that God raised Jesus from the dead is not the empty tomb, but the full hearts of his transformed disciples. The crowning evidence that he lives is not a vacant grave, but a spirit-filled fellowship. Not a rolled-away stone, but a carried-away church. 

[Read it again]

That is exactly how I felt that night in Grand Rapids – I was a transformed disciple, part of a spirit-filled fellowship and a carried-away church. I was armed and ready to bring resurrection life to my world.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the resurrection story isn’t important in the Bible, nor am I saying that there aren’t other ways to look at the Biblical story of Jesus’ Resurrection that are not important as well, what I am saying is like Peter Rollins and Clarence Jordan, we need to see the Resurrection of Jesus in ways that pertain to us bringing NEW LIFE and HOPE into our world, TODAY.  I don’t think Jesus intended it for just his day nor for simply when we die.   

Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan in their book, “The Last Week” (which I have referenced on several occasions this past “Holy Week”) make a good point about going one step further with what you believe about Jesus’ resurrection. They say,

If you believe the tomb to be empty, fine, now what does this story mean? If you believe that Jesus’ appearances could have been videotaped, fine, now, what do these stories mean? And if you are not quite sure about that, or even if you are quite sure it didn’t happen this way, fine, now what do these stories mean?

This reminds me of my upbringing in the Lutheran Church where I was taught to ask the question “What does this mean?” at every juncture. If you read Luther’s Small or Large Catechism you will see why…because after every belief statement made it is followed up by the question “What does this mean?” 

And let’s be honest, that may be one of the most important queries for us as Quakers to be asking of our faith and understanding, today. What does this all mean?

“What does this resurrection of Jesus mean to me?”  “What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to the world around us?  What does the resurrection mean to people who need a new take on life?  

If the Resurrection of Jesus doesn’t have some type of continued impact on us today and we are not seeking out its meaning in our daily lives, I think we miss the full impact of the resurrection in our life.

I believe the Resurrection of Jesus is more than an event 2000+ years ago, it is more than a simple transaction creating a ticket to heaven when we die, or the possibility of living again someday after we die.  Rather it is about the ongoing resurrection all around us and what I consider the daily resurrection life. Resurrection changes everything.

The early Christians talked all the time about the Resurrection Life and its importance.  Like in Romans 5:10-22 where it states…

"If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of His Son. Now that we're at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of His resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!"

Or Romans 8:14

"God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike 'What's next, Papa?'"

Or as Paul emphatically explaining the importance of this to the people in Corinth,

Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn't be the end of me? Not on your life! It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live." 1 Corinthians 15: 32.

Ponder for a moment… (on back of your bulletin)

What does the Resurrection of Jesus Christ mean to you, today?

 Are you only holding on to what it meant 2000+ years ago, or what it meant in the Bible?

How is Christ’s resurrection still transforming you and the lives around you? How is Christ filling us with the Spirit and carrying us together away to action?  

My answer to those queries co-mingle the thoughts of Rollins, Jordan, the Apostle Paul, and Jesus. Folks, it is about living out the resurrection in our daily lives – in the present moment, as much as it is a future hope. And maybe that is because resurrection is about transformation from death to life – not just after we physically die, but after each death we face on this planet. We are surrounded by death all the time – failures, struggles, losses, you name it…they create death all around us.   

Marcus Borg says it this way,

[For Jesus] God was the central reality of his life and the kingdom of God was the center of his message. The kingdom of God was not about heaven, not about life after death, but about the transformation of life on earth, as the Lord’s Prayer affirms. It is not about “Take us to heaven when we die,” but about “Your kingdom come on earth” – as already in heaven. The kingdom of God on earth was about God’s passion – and Jesus’s passion – for the transformation of “this world”: the humanly created world of injustice and violence into a world of justice and nonviolence.

That sounds like a charge for us Quakers.  As we respond to the resurrection life, as we expand and deepen our understanding, as we are beckoned by God to go, as we sense the adventure in bringing freedom, hope, peace, and life to a world filled with violence and injustice.  May our response be as St. Paul’s…

It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live! Amen!

4-14-19 - What Really Happened on Palm Sunday?

What Really Happened On Palm Sunday?

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

April 14, 2019

Luke 19:29-40 (NRSV)

29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,

“Blessed is the king
    who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
    and glory in the highest heaven!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Palm Sunday has always been a special day for me.  It actually was the day as an infant that my parents took me to church to be baptized.  Something that today as a Quaker has a completely different meaning for me than it did while growing up.  And in many ways, my understanding and view of Palm Sunday has dramatically changed as well.  As a child, Palm Sunday seemed a celebration.  Much like we did this morning with our children, there were Palm Branches waved, people sang songs of “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord.” At my childhood church, it was always like going to a parade.    

As a child I loved going to parades, not just because of the candy they threw out from the floats, but because of all the joy and happiness it brought to our town.  Like my oldest son, I was not fond of sirens and loud honking trucks, but for that one day, I put up with it. 

As a child, I don’t remember being taught about parades being about patriotism or showing our military might or honoring our veterans, or even reminding us that we are part of the “best country on the planet.” Maybe because my growing up years were right after we ended the Vietnam War and that was not the focus then.  

But while living in Oregon, just a few years ago, I came across some unexpected tension while at a parade. In our local parade in our little town of Silverton, we had all the usual police officers on their bikes and in their cars, fire engines, military from each branch of service, flags and lots of pomp and circumstance.  But at this parade just before the veterans passed us, were a group carrying a banner that read, Silverton People for Peace. They also carried signs much like the Friends Committee on National Legislation one’s that read “War is not the Answer” as well they had crafted a large peace dove made of white fabric that several people helped guide and fly over them as they walked.  Ironically, several people around us, including people that attended our meeting sitting with us, spoke negatively about their presence – almost as though they had no right being part of the parade. 

That day, I realized that even fun things from my childhood have deeper meanings.  That what we celebrate and believe may be different from what others celebrate and believe.  And why we have parades in our towns or country may be for reasons that I may differ on or may simply be ignorant of.  

Well, I remember that year thinking about all of this when Palm Sunday came around.  It had me taking a deeper look at what all was going on and just what was really happening.  Like my view of parades as a child, I had a happy, celebratory, even fun view of Palm Sunday, but as I began to study what was really going on it was much more than that. 

Now, I don’t want to pop anyone’s bubble, but I do want to give you a better picture of what all was going on and what Jesus was trying to do. 

Several theologians, scholars and writers, like Debie Thomas, Marcus Borg, and Dominic Crossan, who I will be sharing some of their thoughts this morning, have helped me see that Palm Sunday was really a subversive act – or what we might call a protest more than a parade, or celebration.

Here is what we may not know about the story that will give us some insight.  In the book, “The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teaches about Jesus’ Last Days in Jerusalem” by Borg and Crossan, they talk of two processions that entered Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday.

“Every Year, the Roman governor of Judea would ride up to Jerusalem from his coastal residence in the west, specifically to be present in the city for Passover – the Jewish festival that swelled Jerusalem’s population from its usual 50,000 to at least 200,000.

The governor would come in all of his imperial majesty to remind the Jewish pilgrims that Rome was in charge.  They could commemorate an ancient victory against Egypt if they wanted to, but real, present-day resistance (if anyone was daring to consider it) was futile; Rome was watching.

Borg and Crossan’s describe the procession this way,

“A visual panoply of imperial power, cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold.  Sounds: the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinks of bridles, the beating of drums.  The swirling of dust. The eyes of the silent onlookers, some curious, some awed, some resentful.”

 Debie Thomas (Parade or Protest? 03/18/18) goes on to say,

“According to Roman Imperial belief, the emperor was not simply the ruler of Rome; he was the Son of God.  So for the empire’s Jewish subjects, Pilate’s procession was both a potent military threat and the embodiment of a rival theology.  Armed heresy on horseback.”

So to get a better picture of what was going on, from the West came Pontius Pilate entering with all the pomp and circumstance, the military adornment, and in the typical Roman imperial way.  It reminds me of the pictures of Hitler’s army being paraded in Germany, or for that matter Darth Vader’s stormtroopers all lined up awaiting the Emperor’s arrival in Return of the Jedi.

While across town at the East gate came Jesus in one of the most anti-imperial, anti-triumphant ways.  Jesus had planned out this entire counter-procession.  He made the arrangements for what Crossan notes was, “the most unthreatening, most un-military mount imaginable: a female nursing donkey with her little colt trotting alongside beside her” (the opposite of a military horse in every way). Jesus knew exactly what he was doing.  This was political theater at its best and it was intended as a mockery of the pomp and circumstance of the Romans. Jesus was taking his plan from the Prophet Zechariah who predicted the entering of the king “on a colt, the foal of a donkey” and this king would be a non-violent king who would “command peace to the nations.”

Without the other processional, we are left a little confused by what Jesus was actually up to.  It seemed out of character for Jesus.  Actually, the Bible never says if the people knew what he was up to.  

Yet Debie Thomas says,

“I suspect they did not.  After all, they were not interested in theater, they were ripe for revolution.  They wanted – and expected – something world-altering.  An ending-to-the-story worthy of their worship, their favor, and their dusty cloaks-on-the-road. But what they got was a parade of misfits. A comic donkey-ride.  As New Testament scholar N.T. Wright puts it, what they got was a mismatch between their outsized expectations and God’s small answer.”

There is also one other thing we may miss or don’t understand at the end of this story and our text form this morning that is very important to the impact of this unique entry of Jesus.  Not only was he making a mockery of the Roman government, from our text, he had also caught the attention of the religious leaders.  It says, “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

I have seen all kinds of Christian paraphernalia in my days with “Let the rocks cry out!” Or “If you don’t speak up then rocks will have to do the job.” My boys even had a cartoon series called “God Rocks” with characters that sang “rock songs” along with bad digital animation. 

But again, there is so much more in this phrase of Jesus.  Unlike this event being aimed at the Romans, at this point Jesus is speaking to his people, the Jews. The Pharisees would have know exactly what he was talking about because of their location. 

Now, I first came to understand why Jesus spoke of the stones while watching the movie Schindler’s List.  If you have ever seen the movie, at the end after the credits, a steam of Jewish people, that Schindler saved from the atrocities of the Holocaust, are seen in the year the film was made, walking single file and passing Schindler’s grave and putting a stone on his grave marker (so many stones that the entire grave marker is covered).  It is such a sacred and moving moment at the end of the movie. Yet in my ignorance, I simply thought it was a beautiful gesture.  I didn’t realize its deeper meaning until one day, back when we were living in Michigan, I pulled into a Jewish cemetery by our home.  As I drove through, I saw that each of the markers were covered with stones, not flowers like in typical Christian cemeteries. 

You may remember in the Old Testament, people took rocks and made altars, and that has become what is called “Placing an Ebenezer” to remember a location or place where God had done something special.  But as I began to research more about Jewish rituals, I found that placing stones on graves specifically goes all the way back to the Temple days in Jerusalem. I read on a Jewish education site the following, 

During the times of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish priests became ritually impure if they came within four feet of a corpse. As a result, Jews began marking graves with piles of rocks in order to indicate to passing priests that they should stay back.

The Talmud mentions that after a person dies her soul con­tinues to dwell for a while in the grave where she was buried. Putting stones on a grave keeps the soul down in this world, which some people find comforting. Another related interpretation suggests that the stones keep demons and golems from getting into the graves.

Flowers, though beautiful, will eventually die. A stone will not die, and can symbolize the permanence of memory and legacy.

Because of what Oscar Schindler did, his family was given special permission to be buried in the Catholic cemetery at the base of Mt. Zion outside of Jerusalem’s wall. Just North of his grave is one of the largest and oldest Jewish burial sites in Jerusalem. It sits outside the East Gate and lines both sides of the road to the Mount of Olives. 

Now, if you were paying attention to our scripture reading for today, Jesus’s triumphal entry began with a descent from the Mount of Olives. And his path to the East or “Golden” Gate would lead directly through (in his day and still today) one of the largest Jewish cemeteries. 

The scene would have had Jesus saying, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out” while completely surrounded by piles of stones on graves.  And not just those graves, but layers and layers of graves that go back to what some consider the beginning of time. 

Can you imagine what all those layers of stones had witnessed, what stories they could tell, what truths that went to the grave with Jewish and non-Jewish people alike could be revealed.  He was saying to the Pharisees, these stones could tell the truth about who I am and why I am here.

So why was Jesus jabbing at the Roman Government and the Religious Leaders in such stunning and theatrical ways?  And what was Jesus’ trying to accomplish with all of this.

I return to Debie Thomas who gives us an explanation worthy to ponder, she says…

I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that Jesus' political joke hastened his crucifixion.  He was no fool; he knew exactly what it would cost him to spit in Rome's face.  Like all good comedians, he understood that real humor is in fact a serious business; at its best, it points unflinchingly to truths we'd rather not see. 

For those of us who struggle to reconcile the role of God's will in the death of Jesus, this story offers a helpful but troubling clue: it was the will of God that Jesus declare the coming of God's kingdom.  A kingdom of peace, a kingdom of justice, a kingdom of radical and universal freedom.  A kingdom dramatically unlike the oppressive and violent empire Jesus challenged on Palm Sunday.

So why did Jesus die?  He died because he unflinchingly fulfilled the will of God.  He died because he exposed the ungracious sham at the heart of all human kingdoms, holding up a mirror that shocked his contemporaries at the deepest levels of their imaginations.  Even when he knew that his vocation would cost him his life, he set his face "like flint" towards Jerusalem.  Even when he knew who'd get the last laugh at Calvary, he mounted a donkey and took Rome for a ride.

                                                            From Parade or Protest? By Debie Thomas

Today, you and I are called to declare the coming of God’s Kingdom by how we live. Since our beginnings as Quakers, and as George Fox himself taught, the kingdom of the Son of God, the kingdom of justice, mercy, peace, and freedom — is within us as a seed, a living potential, because Christ the Logos, the light that enlightens everyone; that which can be known of God is within us in just that way. 

And that means we too are being called like Jesus to expose the ungracious sham at the heart of the human kingdoms surrounding us.  We too are called to hold up a mirror to ourselves first, and then the governments, authorities, and religious organizations of this world.  That is what it means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus….and that is what Palm Sunday was and is all about.

Are you living your potential as one who is called to bring forth the Kingdom of justice, mercy, peace, and freedom?

How might you help to expose the human kingdoms surrounding you? 

4-7-19 - Life That is Truly Life

 Life that is Truly Life

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

April 7, 2019

I Timothy 6:6-19 (MSG)

6-8 A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.

9-10 But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

11-12 But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

13-16 I’m charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn’t give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don’t slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He’ll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

17-19 Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

For those unfamiliar with Paul’s first letter to Timothy which was just read, it took place during what we call Paul’s fourth missionary journey.  He had instructed Timothy to care for the church at Ephesus while he went on to Macedonia.  When Paul realized that he might not return to Ephesus in the near future, he wrote this letter to Timothy as a charge to his young assistant.  The charge was a resistance to false leaders and teachers as well as a directive to live by example the true life (what I like to call “the resurrected life) amongst the growing Ephesian church and ultimately the world.

I believe Paul’s charge to true life is a perfect place to begin our transition to the Easter season, which is all about LIFE! Next Sunday is Palm Sunday and what many Christians recognize as the beginning of Holy Week.  Even though many pause to remember Jesus’ death and all the activities that led up to his execution, as people of hope, we continue to seek life and resurrected living.  I imagine if Paul was here with us today, he would have some queries for us – and I am sure Paul would have a charge for us as well.  So, let me begin by asking some queries that I think Paul might have wanted to explore (I have put these on the back of your bulletin for this morning).

Regarding contentment   

·        How many of you are content with yourself and your life?  How content are you?

·        Are you being yourself before God and before others?

·        Are you one person here this morning and another as you walk out the doors?

Regarding your beliefs:

·        Do you believe things that others don’t even know you believe?

·        Do you withhold your beliefs because of what others may think of you?

·        Inside are you greedy? ...lusting? ...jealous? …materialistic? …simply wanting more?

Take a moment to sit with those and mind the Light… [Pause]

Those are not queries we often ponder, nor are they easy queries to contemplate.  Rarely do we take the time for this type of reflection, but I think more and more it is needed if we are going to be effective in in making a difference in our lives and world. 

William Barclay picked up on this in his commentary on the text for this morning. He says,

“The word here used for contentment is autarkeia… By it they meant a complete self-sufficiency.  They meant a frame of mind which was completely independent of all outward things, and which carried the secret of happiness within itself. Contentment never comes from the possession of external things.” – William Barclay

But doesn’t our world tell us that happiness comes from having the most toys? Or the best job? Or the best education? Or the newest car, house, tv, computer, etc.?  the best __________ fill in the blank?

The commercials we watch or hear are all about outward things fulfilling us and making us content.  The reality is – none of these things fully bring true contentment or life.

I have become aware over my years in ministry and especially working in a college setting that people today connect contentment with being successful.  If I am successful, then I am content.  Or that is some way success creates contentment – but does it really?

My friend and fellow Quaker minister, Philip Gulley says,

“We have become so accustomed to defining success in material terms that we have failed to appreciate the other facets of life that enrich and sustain us.  Think for a moment how we venerate material wealth and those who hold it.  Why is a person who accumulates pets considered mentally ill, while a person who accumulates money is seen as a role model? The first person is diagnosed with compulsive hoarding syndrome and treated with therapy and drugs, while the wealthy person is lauded for his or her skills in investing and viewed as a success.”   (Living the Quaker Way)

This is exactly what I believe Paul was trying to engrain in Timothy’s heart and mind in the text for today. 

Now, taking this one step further and specifically looking at this through our Quaker faith, I have come to realize that our contentment in life is directly related to our “integrity.” Integrity is one of our Quaker SPICES (Simplicity, Peace, INTEGRITY, Community, Equality, and Stewardship).

In the book, “Living the Quaker Way” which I have used often to help teach Quaker principles to those seeking a new way, Phil Gulley points this out about integrity…

“Integrity does not present one face in public and another in private. 

It delights in transparency, having nothing to hide.”

Take a moment and ask yourself: Am I being my true self before God? Or am I hiding my true self from God…from my neighbor?...even myself?

[Pause]

Why we often hide is because of the lusts of our heart.  As our scripture text read, lust for these other things (money, material things, successes, etc.) “bring trouble and nothing but trouble.”

Those who desire these things: significantly, the desire for money is far more dangerous than the money itself – and it isn’t only the poor who desire to have money or be rich, it is also the rich who want more riches.

Desires stem from the inner life – from what is brewing inside our minds and hearts. Thus, the reason, we need to continually be reflecting on and being aware of what is going on inside ourselves – because soon it could become action, or words, or literally part of our outward life.  It almost can’t be containing.  It begins bringing trouble and often does not stop.  We can become obsessed, gripped, consumed by our inner desires and lusts – and that is before we ever act outwardly on them.

Our text goes on to say that this could lead to “losing your footing in the faith completely and living to regret it bitterly ever after.”  It can eat us alive – stealing life and leaving us regretting our life.  Why is that?

Because the desire within us – changes us.  It causes us to hide from who we really are.  It splits our life in two and slowly sucks the happiness right out of us.  No longer ca you be satisfied, instead you need something more…and more…and more…just like an addict who needs another hit, and alcoholic who needs another drink, a hoarder who needs another material thing…

Now, Paul knew that Timothy (as well as you and me) needed some reassurance and help.  Thankfully he had more to say to young Timothy (and us) in our text:

First, he warned about lustful leaders desiring money…and then he turns quickly to give us the opposite perspective. Paul tells Timothy to turn 180 degrees and flee the proud arguments of those who misuse scripture and who suppose that we should follow God just for what we can get out of it.

He says instead of this life of lustful desires, instead…

Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. (vs. 11-12)

Paul was presenting Timothy (and us) – another way…a better way.

This life is not about personal gain, success, accruing material products, or even money…no this life is about so much more. 

Its about becoming fully human and fully alive!  I love the words Eugene Peterson uses to express this…

Wonder         awe inspiring, astounding, or surprising.

Faith               confident or unquestioning belief in the Truth

Love               affection and concern toward another person.

Steadiness    direct and unfaltering; sure.

Courtesy       willingness or generosity in providing something needed.

These are the traits of people who are becoming fully human and fully alive! – but it doesn’t stop there.

Paul says to “seize the eternal life” – what I call the resurrected life – NOW!  The life we are called to in this present moment. A way of living that brings people and situations back to life – that resurrects, that eternally changes, and breathes life back into the world around us. 

And Paul emphasizes that Timothy will not do this alone.  This life he embraced was surrounded by other “witnesses” to this same life. 

We too are witnesses of this life – and that means we too must seize this resurrected life.  We too are being changed as Timothy.  Paul said,

“I charge you before the life-giving God….keep the command…don’t slack off...” Live like Jesus!  This is why Paul wants us to know our inner life – it is where we meet the present Christ who has shown up in our lives, who gives us the LIGHT to share, who might not be physically seen, but is dwelling within each of us. 

And Jesus’ life was the example for how to live this life.  He stood up to leaders and false teachers of this world, he resisted the lustful desires for wealth, power, and success and sacrificed his own life to show us a better way, a resurrected life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, and courtesy.

After laying this foundation Paul says,

“Tell those rich in the world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves

and so, obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow.”

Paul is reminding Timothy that if he wants to live this life that he has been called to, he must RESIST and “to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage.” And how does that happen?  Paul again says the riches from God come when we…

·        Do Good

·        Be rich in helping others.

·        Be extravagantly generous.

If we do these things, Paul says, “they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.” 

One of the greatest things I have learned since becoming a Quaker is the importance of our connectedness and responsibility to others – or as Paul put it – doing good to others, helping others, and being extravagantly generous to others.  It is more than me, myself, and I.  This is part of our ongoing inner reflection and personal awareness.  When we go inward to become aware it should affect our outward actions. 

I like the definition in Living the Quaker Way:

“To be a Quaker is to always see oneself in relation with the world,

answerable not only to God but also to humanity and to history.”

May that be so for us this morning.   Let us now join together in a time of waiting worship.

3-31-19 - The Importance of Women Ministers to the Apostle Paul and the Spread of the Early Church

The importance of women ministers to the Apostle Paul and the spread of the early church.

Beth Henricks

March 31st, 2019

Bob, Sue, Lewis and Sam are in Chicago this weekend viewing potential colleges for Sam.  Being that its March 31st and the ending of Women’s History Month, Bob asked if I would share a message with you today.  First off , I was never aware that March was women’s history month so I did a little research and found out that it has its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed and the President authorized  the week of March 7th 1982 as Women’s History Week.   Five years later in 1987 Congress passed the resolution authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month and every President has done this since.

This got me thinking about the many women in my life that  have been so important to me in my development and particularly my spiritual development.  Some of them have personally been in my life, some of them have passed away and many of them are from right here at First Friends.  There are also many women from our history as Quakers that have deeply impacted my relationship with God and how I try to live out my transformation in the world.  Jamie last week identified some of our important women in our Quaker history including Alice Paul and Margaret Fell.  For me, Lucretia Mott was the most significant influence in my embrace of Quakerism.  She was born in 1793 and grew up in Nantucket Maine in  a whaling town where all the men were gone out to sea for months at a time and the women ran the businesses, the churches and the town.  Lucretia saw  the effectiveness of women in many different roles when given the chance.  With this background she became a minister of the gospel and traveled widely in Quaker circles giving vocal messages and becoming a significant leader in the suffragette movement. 

Reading about these Quaker women in leadership and significant ministry roles drew me to the movement and I knew I wanted to be part of a faith community that recognized and supported women in developing all of their gifts.  The Quakers did this right from the start in the 1650’s.  It was incredibly radical back then (and still radical in some denominations and churches today).  But why?  Why have women not been recognized as leaders, teachers, ministers, administrators in the church for so long?

When I took a New Testament class at Earlham last year I did a lot of study on the apostle Paul and the important role women played in spreading the good news of Jesus and setting up new congregations. 

Paul included women in the work and worship of house assemblies and ministry and they seemed to be a part of his team of apostles.  He broke social and political ground by incorporating women into leadership and teaching roles in the early church and seemed to live out his bold statement that Carol read for us in Galatians 3:28, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

But there are a couple of troubling passages that are attributed to Paul that seem to take a giant step backward in understanding the role of women in the church and have been used as a weapon to diminish and silence women as teachers and leaders.  One of the most problematic passages is from I Corinthians 14: 34 – 36, “As in all the church of the saints, women should be silent in the churches.  For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says.  If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home.  For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.  Or did the word of God originate with you?  Or are you the only ones it has reached?”

How do we reconcile the actions of Paul in regards to women in the early church with these verses? 

In the book, The Role of Women in the Church, the Pauline Perspective,  author John Toews says that “The starting point for interpreting the Pauline texts regarding the role of women in the church is Paul’s over-arching theology of the church.  The purpose of God’s saving activity in Jesus is, for Paul, the creation of a renewed community of God’s people, the eschatological people of God.”   Paul declared this equality among all in Christ Jesus in several passages. (I Corinthians 12:4-26, II Corinthians 5:16-17, II Corinthians 8:13-14, Philemon 1:15-17).  Paul believed that faith in Jesus transcended race, sex and religion and it does seem that he tried to implement this theology in the life of the churches he established. 

It is very clear that Paul had female workers in his house churches as he referenced them in his writings.   Wendy Cotter in her book Women’s Authority Roles in Paul’s Churches says that  "It is “generally uncontested that certain women in Paul’s community exercised authority, and that this authority extended over men as well as women.”  He names six of them with some specificity in his writings in our New Testament and in the naming of these women, he does not identify them in terms of their relationship to any man but addressed them in their own right.  He offered encouragement and praise for their leadership in the assemblies that he is addressing with his letters.   

Prisca is named in I Corinthians 16:19 and Romans 16:3 as he sends greetings from Prisca and Aquila with their church in their home (I Corinthians 16:19).  This assembly of believers is likely a church in Ephesus since Paul indicates he is writing from that city (I Corinthians 16:8).  It is interesting that Prisca is named ahead of her husband.  She is mentioned again in Romans 16:3 with Aquila as Paul offers his thanks to them for risking their lives for Paul’s life.  Paul asks all of the churches of the Gentiles to offer their thanks to this couple.  

Apphia is mentioned in Philemon in Paul’s salutation calling Apphia his sister.  Philemon is named as a fellow worker and Archippus as a fellow soldier, yet it is Apphia that is named as sister giving her the equivalent of naming Timothy as his brother.   

Chloe is named in I Corinthians 1:11 by Paul indicting that Chloe’s people have reported to Paul that there were quarrels in the assembly between brothers and sisters.  Clearly if Paul is talking about “her people” she is a women that is well known, connected and of influence in the Corinthian community.  There had to  be some credibility to her name because why would Paul take care to identify his source as he does, and then proceed to address the difficulty with no hint of doubt about the accuracy of the report?

Euodia and Syntyche  are named in Philippians 4:2-3 with an urging for both of them to be of the same mind as the Lord.  He asked a loyal companion to help these women with whatever conflict was between them.  He identified both of them as individuals that have struggled beside Paul in the work of the gospel and he connects them with Clement as co-workers whose names are in the book of life. 

 Phoebe is introduced in Romans 16:1-2 as a sister and a deacon at the church in Cenchreae (centrea).  Paul also described her as a benefactor to many including him.  Wendy Cotter in her book states that “Since Paul knows no one in Rome and there is not a sizeable Jewish community to which he could attach himself, he relies on the wealthy and influential Phoebe to pave the way in Rome and stimulate their desire to finance his Spanish mission once he arrives.”    Paul asked the Roman community to help Phoebe in whatever she may require from them.

All of these writings of Paul give us evidence of his appreciation of women in ministry and his understanding of their value as leaders, teachers, and hosts and welcomed their contributions to spreading the gospel.  Paul’s goal was to share the gospel to as many people as possible and he saw women contributing to this goal. 

So how do we now connect Paul’s message in I Corinthians 14: 33-36 concerning women?

There is much debate among Biblical scholars  about this text.  Many scholars offer  the possibility that this passage was not part of Paul’s original letter and was added later by an editor to address church order and the desire of the more established church to reduce and diminish the influence of women.  Because why would Paul write these words when his actions were so different? 

In I Corinthians 11, Paul addressed the issue of head coverings for women while praying or prophesizing.  Paul indicated that it would be a disgrace for a woman to pray or give a prophecy without a head covering.  So how could Paul three chapters later in his letter prohibit women from speaking in the service?  Doesn’t this completely contradict his prior statement?

Craig Keener in his book Paul, Woman and Wives proposes that “Paul’s solution, like the Corinthians’ problem, is appropriate to a specific cultural context, and that it thus does not apply to every conceivable situation we face today.”    There was disorder in the service and Paul is addressing this specific concern related to proper order for the service in Corinth.  Keener argues that Paul does have a general principle in mind which is that people should not disrupt the worship service and that these two verses are not transculturally binding.  Keener advocates that these verses remain specific to the Corinthian situation and should not be taken as instruction for the church today.

There are clearly many questions about the authority these three verses should have on the institution of the church today.  Paul’s actions in the early days of the Christian movement cannot be dismissed by clutching to these few verses that have questionable authorship as a way to silence and diminish the important role that women play in the ministries of the church.  However, it is clear that after Paul’s death, the order and structure of the church became dominated by the social mores and culture of the times and the Christian movement that was radical and new in its beginnings changed significantly as time went on. 

So the catholic church has kept women in a diminished role.  Many fundamentalist churches have kept women in supporting only roles or allowing them to be teachers of children.  Even denominations  that allow women to be ordained as ministers  lag behind in actually hiring the women to lead a church.  I am so thankful to be part of a faith community and denomination that has accepted and encouraged women to be ministers and leaders right from the start.  I affirm the belief that women  can have the same fervor for the  gospel of Christ as men.  And that our churches need women in leadership roles today to help make the church vibrant, relevant and alive to a hurting world where the message of God’s love is so needed.

As we enter our time of waiting worship, I encourage you to reflect on the women that have touched us in our walk with Christ.  What have you learned from these women and what do we still have to learn?   

3-24-19 - Jaimie Mudd - Speaking Truth to Power: Women's Voice and Quaker Ministry

 Speaking Truth to Power: Women’s Voice and Quaker Ministry

Jaimie Mudd

I am blessed to share worship with you this morning. Although I have relied upon developing and maintaining a relationship with God through worship with Friends or walks in the desert wilderness, space for speaking with God in public worship was not always open for me. I remember when I was 7 years old and visiting my brothers in seminary, then slipping off, tiptoeing into the chapel. All was still and no one was there. I wanted to serve communion, union with God, in the hushed space, with the afternoon light slanting through the windows, a vaulted roof and silent, empty pews.

I spoke the sacred words to share the Bread of Life and waited for a thunderbolt to strike me down, for surely God did not allow women to officiate in the Church. Or did God? There was no thunderbolt, but I could see no future for my longing to serve people in the Catholic church. This early memory of spiritual nudging to serve was central to responding to a call to attend seminary at Earlham School of Religion. I spent many years developing skills in listening, counseling, conflict resolution and community organizing.

Even then I had stirrings that would eventually find expression when I joined our tradition of Quaker women, who also had struggles, became humbled and found living waters to fuel standing up for equality and equity. Quaker women have a long history of opening their hearts to the Light, to invite and embrace the guidance from Christ Jesus to show them the way of things and to encourage them in all their brilliance, in their shadows, in all their errors and in their capacity for compassion and reconciliation so that they brought living waters to others.

Choosing courage, choosing to admit our errors, choosing to speak truth has deep roots in our society. There are some shared characteristics that can be noticed when reflecting on this choice to speak, characteristics such as Humility, persistence, resilience, love and trust come to mind. I’ll share a bit about women who have influenced my own journey of speaking in ministry.

Alice Paul was one of our lesser known Quaker leaders whose work on behalf of equality for women was a model of persistence, resilience and blind spots. A vocal leader, she helped secure the passage of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution and continued her work- authoring the Equal Rights Amendment in the 70’s.

Alice Paul was devoted to the work of equal rights and she is a model of persistence and resilience. When she needed to search more deeply for a thought, she would pause…and wait, allowing the words to emerge within her and then continue speaking. Alice Paul spent much of her life enabling other women to speak on behalf of equality for women. This can come only through our own personal prayerful examination of the roots of inequality and a deep listening for God.

Author Vanessa Julye quoted African American Quaker historian, Emma Lapansky, who describes a way forward that asks friends to persist in our regular examination of ourselves, to continue to “follow our spiritual light” so that we can continue our own struggles for living our lives in the Light. (Julye 2009)

Early Friend Elizabeth Bathhurst pointed to the power of deep listening to God as the pathway for living in the Light, she said, “The Seed, or Grace of God, is small in its first Appearance, even as the Morning Light; but as it is given Heed to, and obeyed, it will increase in Brightness, till it shine in the Soul, like the Sun in the Firmament at its Noon-day Height.” (EB 1655-1685)

Yes, the seed is small and we all struggle, and it is through struggle that spiritual nurture and moral work can be realized. We can live in the Light through combining a well-seasoned clarity of our personal and communal ethics, our shared virtues, our love of people and trust in God. This work asks us to walk humbly, to live in the intersection of faith and ethics.

The Samaritan woman in our reading this morning was astonished that Jesus was speaking to her at all. His boundary crossing seems to know no limits. In his day Jews and Samaritans did not get along and men did not speak to a lone woman. In this story this woman is startled at his speaking. She invites Jesus into a deep theological discussion, and he surprises her when engages her in this discussion.

Our nameless woman at the well is even more surprised that Jesus sees her, even more surprised when he knows her story (a complicated story at that) and is frankly astonished when Jesus offers her a new way to know God. Then to top it off, he invites her to drink of living waters. Jesus ups the risk-taking game when he responds to her spoken hope that “the Messiah, when he comes, will explain everything to us.” Jesus says, “I, the one speaking to you, I am he”. Thus, emboldened with a direct encounter with the reality of God in Jesus, and justified by faith, this woman leaves her jar (a valuable item at that time) and goes forth to tell the multitude that Jesus is near. She is, perhaps, the first to spread this good Word and bring many to seek Jesus. One gap in the story is what happens after she stepped out to speak to her community. What might have happened to her? Perhaps she was commended by her people and her partner for bringing this news, later perhaps she was persecuted along with so many of the early Christians. But as Jesus demonstrated, speaking truth, bringing the truth of God’s immediate presence in our lives is one hallmark of faithful living regardless of risk.

We know that, often, there are consequences for free and bold speaking. I have faced displeased leaders, and explicit threats to my employment by standing up for environmental justice in poor neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona. My ministry at that time was to stand alongside those who felt they were not able to be heard and to support their request for fair housing and a clean air and soil.

In Nazi Germany, when Dietrich Bonhoeffer brought sermons expressing his understanding of Jesus’s teaching, he was eventually jailed and executed for his ministry. Today he stands as a model for Christian ethics and witness, speaking truth to power. We live in a tender time. We have many edges that we are walking. Certainly, we can see the challenges facing men and women even today; when we speak up we risk everything from our ability to earn a living to risking the physical safety of ourselves and our families.

Recently I spent a month on an interfaith pilgrimage in India. I met Sumaira Abudlal, a Muslim woman living in Bombay. She leads a campaign raising awareness of sand theft from river banks in India. There is a worldwide shortage of concrete today. Armed bandits in India come in the dark of night to gouge out the banks of rivers and streams to steal sand…the results destroy small farmers land, access to clean water and endanger homes. Sumaira has taken evidence of this thieving to the supreme court in India and environmental agency despite receiving death threats. She persists even after having her car run off the road. She remains resiliently emboldened through love and grace.

Why risk Bold speech?

In my experience the main draw for me has been witnessing both the love and justice that is the living water of Jesus’s being. There is confusion between humility and speaking truth to power. But what I understand of our faith is that we are all called to be tenderhearted truthtellers. This combination is a creative synthesis of standing up to support basic human rights for freedom and dignity. Jesus modeled this combination and the woman at the well embraced this synthesis. She allowed Jesus to see her, to love and to guide her. Jesus loves us today! We are held within the Divine and the Divine lives through us, speaks through us. We are made in love, to be love and speak love. When we are attuned to the Holy Spirit, this divine love wants to speak and shine through us. This love can only shine through us when we pray with humility. It is for us to open our hearts and minds to the presence of God.

In the story of the woman at the well we see the author of John riffing on timeless themes and sacred imagery- Jesus, a traveler taking risks, entering a bold, loving, cross cultural conversation. This is an illustration of Jesus leading by being an example of bold boundary crossing of social conventions- he is speaking with a stranger, and what’s more, a woman who has a “past”. Then, instead of receiving drinking water from this nameless woman a reversal occurs so that Jesus offers living water to her! He gives her what no one else can, total love and acceptance.

These metaphors of water permeate the bible, in this story water at the well is an invitation to dwell in the sacred and to drink from streams of living water. Our woman at the well becomes a nameless prophet. Leaving her jug behind, there is no need for the receptacle since she has become a receptacle of the great I Am. She hurries off to witness and testify to the truth of Jesus as the Way. She must have expressed her experience so beautifully that the community came to see Jesus themselves- this became an encounter that lasted for two days where Jesus taught the Samaritan people, changing their lives forever.

Women speaking boldly, prophetically is part of our Quaker heritage. Margaret Fell, certainly was an advocate for women bringing the good news of Jesus. When writing to Cromwell (imagine the danger she faced?!) she offered these thoughts:

“Thus, much may prove that the Church of Christ is a Woman, those that speak against the Woman’s speaking, speak against the Church of Christ, and the Seed of the Woman, which Seed is Christ; that is to say, those that speak against the Power of the Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord speaking in a Woman, simply, by reason of her Sex, or because she is a Woman, not regarding the Seed, and Spirit, and Power that speaks in her; such speak against Christ, and his Church”

Margaret Fell went on to draw from our reading today -John:4 in her bold speech:

“Again, Christ Jesus, when he came to the City of Samaria, where Jacobs Well was, where the Woman of Samaria was; you may read, in John 4. how he was pleased to preach the Everlasting Gospel to her; and when the Woman said unto him, I know that when the Messiah cometh, (which is called Christ) when he cometh, he will tell us all things; Jesus faith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he; This is more than ever he said in plain words to Man (that we read of) before he suffered. (http://dqc.esr.earlham.edu:8080)

Margaret was an example of loving presence, humble, resilient, and persistent, clear in her offer to the world of the loveliness of eternal waters wrapped up in plain speaking, teaching all that men and women are both essential containers of this living water.

We have a history of ministry which comes from the deep well of faith, enabled by centuries of women speaking with faith and truth to power with love. As we turn to a time of silent worship, I invite you to open your hearts to our loving God and, if so led, speak from the well of your faith.

3-17-19 - Becoming a Living Servant

Becoming a Living Sacrament

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 17, 2019

Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[f] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Back before I was a Quaker, and when I was first working on becoming ordained as an Anglican Priest, I was encouraged to read a short little book by a Roman Catholic Priest, Michael Scanlan, who at the time was both the president of a college and a nationally known leader in the Charismatic Renewal Movement happening throughout the United States. Since I had grown up in liturgical and sacramental churches, I thought the subtitle of the book wasn’t that interesting, “Encountering Jesus in the Sacraments.”  But that subtitle and ultimately the book ended up becoming rather key to my spiritual growth and development. And to this day, yes, even as a Quaker, this 119 page book, that centers around the story Eric just read, still speaks deeply to my soul.

Now, you are probably wondering, “Why is this the case when Quakers/Friends seem to have issues with Sacraments – at least those with physical elements?”  Well, in all reality, I believe there are some common misconceptions about Quakers and Sacraments.  One of our own Quaker theologians, Paul Anderson, points this out in a pamphlet called, “Meet the Friends” that was one of my earliest introductions to Quakerdom. It reads,

“Friends believe in the sacramental work of the Present Christ so strongly that they refuse to reduce it to an outward symbol or ceremony.  Sacramental reality is incarnational, not formalistic, and this is a Christian testimony the world still needs to hear.”

Anderson goes on to give a very popular definition of the word “sacrament” which you may have heard in Sunday School or when studying this concept on your own.  I heard, all the time growing up, that a sacrament is…

“an outward and visible sign of an invisible and spiritual reality.”

Anderson added, “A Sacrament is not that spiritual reality, but it points to it.”

In Scanlan’s book he gives a fuller definition that I think speaks even more to us as Quakers. He says,

“A Sacrament is a visible sign of God’s desire and pledge to deepen his relationship with us. It promises the gift of grace we seek: healing, nourishing, cleansing, freeing, consecrating, blessing, empowering us to accept his reign in our lives and deepen our covenant with him and his people.”

For many people moving away from physical elements like bread and wine, water and oil, may seem radical or even heretical (that would have been the case for me growing up).  But as Anderson and Scanlan  are helping us see, sacraments are much deeper than the symbols that we use to represent them.

I can say for me personally, the experience of the sacraments came in phases.  I often explain my journey to Quakerism by saying, “As a Lutheran, I grew up with two sacraments – The Lord’s Supper and Baptism, when I became an Anglican I had seven – adding Confession, Holy Matrimony, Confirmation, Ordination, and the Annointing of the Sick, and now as a Quaker, well, everything has the potential of becoming a sacrament.  It really comes down to what Anderson says,

“The root of the matter involves identifying the most effective means of communicating the grace and power of the Present Christ.”

And I believe that starts with our very lives being a sacrament – the visible sign God is deepening his relationship with us and that we are bringing healing, nourishment, cleansing, freeing, blessing, and empowerment to those around us in our world. That is why as followers of Christ we talk about being “Living Sacraments” – meaning we live our life as though it is a sacrament.

To me this makes “meeting Christ in the sacraments” very personal.  As Quakers, we often speak of “that of God in everyone.” George Fox said it this way,

“And this is the word of the Lord God to you all…be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, island, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that God in everyone.”

  I believe George Fox was calling the early Quakers as well as us today, to be “living sacraments” in our world – so not only could they meet the God in us, but we as well meet the God in them.  Ponder this query…

What if we approached our neighbors, friends, and even family as if they were sacraments? 

That their lives would bring healing, nourishment, cleansing, freeing, blessing, and empowerment. 

And what if we thought of ourselves as Living Sacraments to our neighbors? 

Author and teacher Henri Nouwen began to recognize this tension in his own life. Listen as I read what he wrote in his Latin American journal and book, “Gracias!”

“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.” 

To me, that is living sacramentally.  And that is exactly what we see Jesus doing in our text for today.  Jesus was “Living Sacramentally” on that road to Emmaus.  Just look at Jesus’ actions:

1.     Jesus came up and walked beside them – joined them right where they were. Jesus was physically joining them on the Road to Emmaus.

2.     Jesus asked a question, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” He joined them on the road and then joined their conversation.

3.     Jesus even let the fellow travelers share their grief – he heard them out.

4.     Jesus even askes some tougher questions which lead to him teaching and helping them understand. So much so, Jesus – a complete stranger to them on that road to Emmaus – is requested to stay with them.  This is a huge indicator that Jesus had gained their trust. 

5.     Finally, Jesus begins to eat with the travelers. It harkens me back to what I just read from Henri Nouwen,

“But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.” 

This was Jesus’ way of being a “living sacrament” to them.  He was giving grace and bringing healing through the way he presented himself to them. He allowed them to come to the knowledge of who he was for their benefit – to bestow an extra grace on them.  He wanted them to have “their eyes opened” not just physically, but spiritually, and emotionally as well.  He used ordinary ways – just as he call us to do, today.

I can’t speak for you, but I have on many occasions been walking, talking, eating, fellowshipping with someone when all of a sudden I sensed my eyes were opened to something greater.  Some call those “God moments” or “God encounters” but the reality is that when we engage each other – each and every time we have the potential of having our eyes opened and meeting God.

·        Maybe that conversation with your neighbor will lead to some healing in your life – that is a living sacrament.

·        Maybe that hug from your parent or child will be the blessing after a long day or week – that is a living sacrament.

·        Maybe that book your friend suggested you read will give you the empowerment to stand up to abuse or neglect – that is a living sacrament.

·        Maybe that friendly greeting you gave the checkout person at Kroger will give them hope – that is a living sacrament.

·        Maybe that phone call just to say “hi” to a distant relative or friend will make someone’s day – that is a living sacrament.

And the list could go on…

But the reality is that conversations, hugs, books, dinner parties, friendly greetings, phone calls, all can be visible signs of what God is doing through you – as well as to you through others.

So that leaves us with some queries to ponder this morning, ask yourself:

·        Are my eyes open to what God is doing in and around me?

·        Do I recognize the “Living Sacraments” around me all the time?

·        How am I being a “Living Sacrament” to those in my midst?

3-10-19 - Hold in the Light

Hold in the Light

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 10, 2019

I have had several things on my mind this week.  As we concluded our busy weekend last weekend and were just about heading to the store to get our week’s groceries on Sunday evening, Sue and I were stopped in our tracks reading a very difficult Facebook post about a dear friend and member of our former meeting in Silverton, OR.  She had recently just retired to begin traveling with her husband but had not been able to beat some sickness that she was currently fighting. She thought it was related to her asthma. But after going to the doctor, she was put in the hospital with Stage Four cancer and a grim outcome.  Her cancer had already spread quickly from her uterus, to lymph nodes, and even to her lungs. Sue and I were in shock to say the least. This woman has been part of our lives in profound ways and we have been part of her life in so many ways, as well.

Then on Friday morning, my day off, I read another Facebook post that our friend Joe Lynne passed away.  Only 6 days from going into the hospital.

Sometimes life doesn’t make sense.  A Facebook post announces a fatal diagnosis and people (including me) begin to post about “thoughts and prayers.” 

I need to be honest, I have come to prefer the Quaker phrase “holding you in the Light.” It seems to command more substance than just sending “thoughts and prayers” which often seems to lack sincerity or at least sound hollow in our current day and age. No words fully grasp what you are trying to say in these moments.

Now, for many, “holding someone or some situation in the Light” is simply keeping it in their thoughts and prayers, but when looking deeper at the meaning of this phrase, I found it to resonate in my own soul and cause me a deeper spiritual exploration.  

The New York Monthly Meeting writes this about the phrase, “Hold in the Light.”    

To “Hold in the Light” means to ask for God’s presence to illumine a person, situation, or problem, whether in concern or thanksgiving.

I spent several days this week trying to find the history behind this Quaker phrase, but I came up empty handed. I even asked a couple weighty Friends and professors I know, and they are now on the search to find it’s origin. The closest I came was in an article from Friends Journal which stated,

“The metaphorical image of ‘holding’ someone ‘in the light’ didn’t appear until a 1969 poem by Barbara Reynolds which included the couplet: ‘First take your thought, this baby thing/ And hold it to the Light.” (it wouldn’t become common in prose for another decade).”

Even my weighty Friends were not sure if that late of a date is correct, but I have learned in the research that many of our Quaker phrases are modern additions but sound as though they could be foundational. 

I remember when I first had someone tell me they were “holding me in the light,”  it honestly took me back to when our oldest son, Alex was born.  When we brought him home from the hospital he was a bit jaundice and the doctor recommended we, “hold him in the light” to allow the light to heal him. I didn’t get that beautiful metaphor for this spiritual principle as a young parent, but I am starting to now.   

I find for someone unfamiliar with this Quaker terminology, it causes them to wonder or even try and imagine this Divine Light. 

If you look at early Quaker spirituality, you find that the image of light often represents the mysterious presence of God (much like it often does in Scripture.)

Like Quaker Edward Burrough (one of the Valient Sixty) who said,

“All that dwell in the light, their habitation is in God, and they know a hiding place in the day of storm; and those who dwell in the light, are built upon the rock, and cannot be moved, for who are moved or shaken, goes from the light, and so goes from their strength, and from the power of God, and loses the peace and the enjoyment of the presence of God.”

Or George Fox, himself, who said simply,

“The first step of peace is to stand still in the Light.”

John 1:15 actually says, “God is Light.” And there are verses that describe God as the “Father of Lights” and “Light of the World,” or even God as a sun and shield.” Quakers have multiple ways to describe this light – everything from the Holy Spirit, the Inward Light, the Spiritual Christ in You to even “That of God in Everyone.”

Yet, to hold someone or a situation in the light, I believe is to seek to bring that person into deeper contact with the Divine Presence or Present Teacher. Some Quakers imagine the person for whom they are holding in the light to actually be bathed in a beautiful, gentle light, or picture them surrounded with a halo-like quality or aura.

Obviously as followers of Christ, the scriptures use the illustration that Jesus is the Light of the World and that his Spirit “illumines” our lives and brings us into Truth.

So, for me personally, when I hold someone or a specific situation in the Light, I imagine God’s grace, love, joy, wisdom and peace engulfing and surrounding their life and situation.  That is what I thought last Sunday evening when I was reading the Facebook post about our friend from Oregon.

A Quaker from Ann Arbor Friends Meeting put it this way,

“I like to think of ‘holding in the light’ as being ‘holding in Love.’  The Light to me represents God’s love and some of its qualities, and so when I think of holding someone in the Light, I picture them surrounded by visual, bright Light, but also surrounded by something with warmth and a soft texture. In the Psalms there is reference to being born up on the wings of an eagle, and I like the image of an eagle’s wings as part of God’s love. The wing can be powerful, strong, and uplifting, but on the ground the wing can encircle us in a warm and comforting way. Thus, I envision someone being held in brightness, warmth and softness.”     

As an artist who sees painting as a spiritual discipline and form of prayer, I can really relate to the visual nature of holding someone in the Light or in Love – the colors, the textures, the images all speak to how I sense that “holding” taking place. It also reminds me of this beautiful poem by Rumi:

“I know you're tired but come, this is the way...

In your light, I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you,

but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.”  ― Rumi

This morning, I want to pause a couple of times in my sermon to give us an opportunity to practice this:  Let’s take a moment right now and practice holding some people or groups in the Light or in Love. Close your eyes and allow yourself to imagine…  

·        Someone that you know who needs to sense or feel the presence of God in their life right now.  (Like our friend in Oregon.)

·        Or maybe you want to hold a group or a specific ministry or service organization in the Light – maybe our gathered meeting this morning..

·        Or maybe you want to consider holding yourself in the Light.     

[Pause]

I don’t know about you, but often holding oneself in the Light is the hardest to imagine or even do.  As I facilitated the conversation for the pastor’s last week at our WYM Pastor’s Conference, I mentioned how we often do not take the time we need to inwardly process our own thoughts and beliefs. And that means we probably don’t take much time to hold ourselves in the Light – to be held in Love – to ask God to illumine our own lives, problems, and situations.  Please understand this is not a selfish act – no, rather I believe it is an essential act.  

Our scripture text for this morning is what I consider a verbal expression of what may go through one’s mind as we hold ourselves in the Light.  The text is a Psalm of David.  Many times, I find David’s writing as though he is holding himself in the Light and seeking the presence, attributes, and love of God.  As David often does, he shows us just how hard it is to enter the presence of God and get our own selfish thoughts and needs out of the way, so we can truly enter into the presence and hear the voice of God.

In the Matthew Henry Commentary it says,

“It is probably that David penned this psalm [31] when he was persecuted by Saul; some passages in it agree particularly to the narrow escapes he had at Keilah (1  Sa. 23:13), then in the wilderness of Maon, when Saul marched on one side of the hill and he on the other, and, soon after, in the cave in the wilderness of En-gedi; but that it was penned upon any of those occasions we are not told.  It is a mixture of prayers, and praises, and professions of confidence in God, all which do well together and are helpful to one another.” [and that sounds like David is trying hard to hold himself in the Light.]

Now, holding yourself, someone else, or a situation in the Light is more than utilizing a wrote prayer or formula.  Sometimes those are helpful when we don’t have words, but often when we don’t have words we need simply to hold that situation in the presence of God until something further is revealed.  When I consider holding someone/thing in the Light it is (just as Matthew Henry put it) a mixture of all sorts of things - of prayers, praises, and professions of confidence in God and I don’t know about you, but for me there is often some doubt, frustration, even first shaking at God and big questions from the depths of my soul. 

Let’s take a look at one of David’s moments of holding himself in the Light – I think you will see his interesting “mixture” coming forth. 

To make it a bit more personal or relatable, I would like to read Psalm 31 from a modern translation titled Psalms/Now by Leslie F. Brandt.

As I read this, try and imagine holding yourself in the Light and allowing these words to express or bring to the surface your own personal feelings, images, or thoughts – if it helps, close your eyes.  I have included in your bulletin a copy of this Psalm that I will have you look at in a minute.  For now, just listen to the words and let them speak to your condition.

Psalm 31

I am up a blind alley, Lord.

The props have been knocked out beneath me.

I feel as if I’m grappling with the wind.

            for some support or security.

I’ve been pulled up short, Lord.

Now, I realize how much I need

            something or someone

            beyond and above myself.

            To give stability to my tenuous existence.

Maybe it was Your doing, Lord.

It is Your way of bringing me back to home port,

of correcting my focus

and reassessing my goals.

I return to You with empty hands, Lord.

You know well, my sorry plight.

I did not find that secret treasure,

            that pearl of great price.

The bright lights that beckoned

            only led me astray.

I became entangled in the bonds of self-service.

Everything I touched turned to dust in my hands.

I despise myself today, Lord.

Even those I thought my friends

            Turn their faces from me.

There is no place to go, nothing to cling to.

I can only come back to You

            and cast myself on Your loving mercy.

You are my God.

You have never let me out of Your sight.

Even when I strike out on my own,

            You pursue me and hold on to me.

I’ve stopped running, Lord.

From this point on

            I will dedicate my hours and days

            into Your loving hands.

 I seek only Your guidance

            and the grace and strength

            to carry out Your purposes.

Restore me, O God,

            To Your program and design for my life.

Thank You for taking me back, Lord,

            for renewing my relationship with You.

I seek now to walk in Your course for me.

I shall abide forever in Your steadfast love.

I will proclaim Your praises

            and live out Your Purposes.

Enable me to be faithful to You.

            whatever the consequences,

            and to celebrate Your love

                        and communicate it to everyone around me.

As I said before reading this Psalm, there is a copy of it in your bulletin this morning.  I would like you to take it out now, read over it to yourselves. Take a moment to further process and hold yourself in the Light in lieu of these words. 

Ask yourself…

What speaks to me?

What is God trying to say to me?

How am I entering the presence of God and holding myself in the Light?

[Pause]

Now that you have had some time to process this, I would like us to look at the last section of this Psalm.  Just as we seek to reflect and hold ourselves in the Light.  I want to encourage you to do the same for First Friends. We are a Beloved Community – a people trying hard to seek awareness both personally and spiritually.  I have said this on several occasions lately, “I believe something special is happening at First Friends.” And I sense more than ever we need to hold First Friends in the Light and Love of God as we go forth with those purposes. 

To help us do that, I have changed the last section of Psalm 31 to be from us as a gathered body.  Yes, we need to do some personal work to be brought into the presence of God, but we also need to do some communal work as well.

Think about this, what if these words were our commitment to holding First Friends in the Light through the coming months and years, as we grow and learn, and continue to be a solid voice and face of Quakerism in Indiana?  

Just listen again as I read…

We’ve stopped running, Lord.

From this point on

            We will dedicate our hours and days

            Into Your loving hands.

We seek only Your guidance

            and the grace and strength

            to carry out Your purposes.

Restore us, O God,

            to Your program and design for First Friends.

Thank You for taking us back, Lord,

            For renewing our relationship with You.

We seek now to walk in Your course for us.

We shall abide forever in Your steadfast love.

We will proclaim Your praises

            and live out Your purposes.

Enable First Friends to be faithful to You,

            whatever the consequences,

            and to celebrate Your love

            and to communicate it to everyone around us.

Will you stand and join me in reading this together aloud. 

3-3-19 - Scout Sunday

Scout Sunday: A Scout: A Friend

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 3, 2019

(Please Note: This Sunday, Pastor Bob received permission from Steve Chase to share the following letter which appeared in both Friends Journal on Nov. 25, 2012 and is “Letter 1” in Steve’s book, “Letters to a Fellow Seeker: A Short Introduction To The Quaker Way.” Steve makes a connection to his Scouting Days, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Beloved Community and wraps it into a beautiful way of introducing one to the Quaker Way. After Pastor Bob read the letter, he introduced the “That of God” Medal from the Friends Commission on Scouting which was then presented to one of our Scouts – Adam Cordray.)    

Letters: My Journey to the Quaker Movement

By Steve Chase

Dear Pat,

It was great to bump into you last week at Union Station in D.C. What a happy surprise after all these years. I also loved our talk. As brief as it was, I was touched by how quickly we started speaking about the deeper spiritual concerns and yearnings in our hearts these days. I am very happy to answer your questions about the Quaker movement, which has been my primary spiritual home for over 40 years now.

To begin, let me share a little about how I first started attending Quaker meeting as a teenager. I was not born into a Quaker family. As a child, I sometimes attended local Episcopal church services with my mom, and I also occasionally went to other churches and synagogues with various friends and neighbors. None of these religious services or communities ever fully engaged me, however. My strongest spiritual identity growing up was as a Scout. You may laugh, but for many years the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts were the closest things I had to an ongoing spiritual community.

I loved the weekly Scout meetings, the simple rituals, the service projects in between meetings, the time spent camping outdoors, and the regular fellowship and fun I had with other Scouts and with the volunteer Scout leaders who guided us. I also loved the Boy Scouts’ core values; they mattered to me. Being a Scout meant that I had pledged to be trustworthy, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, thrifty, brave, moral, and reverent. It also meant doing my duty to God and country. Those were things I took very seriously and still do.

By 1968, I was 13 and, through my mother’s encouragement, I had already found a model in Martin Luther King Jr. with his call for a nonviolent revolution to end racism, materialism, and militarism in our nation. As I saw it, my duty to God and country was to help our nation become what King called a “Beloved Community” of peace, justice, and equality. It turned out that my scoutmaster did not see it that way.

Our difference of opinion came to a head one hot summer day when our troop was in the town square of Galesburg, Illinois, for our annual Boy Scout Jamboree. As I finished my scheduled tasks that morning, I noticed a small, silent peace vigil at the edge of the square with folks holding up signs opposing the ongoing U.S. invasion and occupation of Vietnam. I had never before seen anyone stand up against the war in my town and I was torn. I wanted to join them, yet I also felt some fear and hesitation about walking over and taking a public stand smack dab in the middle of my town.

In that moment of indecision, I thought of King’s daring speech at the Riverside Church on April 4, 1967. In that fateful speech, which I heard about from my college‐age brother, King first voiced in public his opposition to this unjust war. He called on all hesitant people to follow him now and end their own silence about the war. Given that King was my hero, I decided to follow his example on that hot summer day in Galesburg. So, I screwed up my courage to walk across the town square and join the silent peace vigil. It was my first overt act of social activism, and I was glad to have taken this step. I was no longer just admiring King; I was following him. This felt good and right to me.

My sense of inner peace was short lived, though. Almost instantly, my scoutmaster spotted me standing in my uniform as part of this silent peace vigil, and he was furious. He ran over, grabbed me, and physically dragged me out of the vigil line. He started shaking me by the shoulders and yelling at me that I was a “communist,” a “traitor,” and a “disgrace to the Boy Scout uniform.” He shouted that I was no longer welcome in his troop and that he would make sure no other troop in town would ever let me join. He then abruptly pushed me away and stormed off. I don’t think now that his action represented the views of the leadership of the Boy Scouts of America, but I had no way to know that then. I stood there stunned and abandoned. Blessedly, an elderly woman from the vigil came up to me, put her hand on my arm, and said, “Young man, I’m sorry that happened to you. Just know that you will always be welcome at a Quaker Meeting.”

At home, later that same day, I asked my mom about the Quakers and she shared with me what she knew about the Religious Society of Friends. She also told me that as much as my Dad disapproved of religion, he was a financial contributor to the American Friends Service Committee. She said he admired both their peace advocacy and their international relief work. My mom also said that it would be fine with her if I wanted to attend a Quaker “meeting for worship” instead of going with her to our regular church services the next day.

Later that night, I worked up my courage for the second time that day and called the number in the phone book under the listing “Galesburg Friends Meeting (Quakers).” I was touched that the woman who answered the phone was as welcoming as the woman at the vigil—even though I was a 13‐year‐old kid! I asked her where and when they held their services and what to expect. She gave me the address and said that the Quakers in Galesburg sat silently in a circle expectantly waiting to be touched and guided by the Spirit of God, which many of them often called the Seed, the Light Within, the Inward Christ, or the Inward Teacher.

This woman also said that their worship started when the first person sat down in the room and “centered down” into silence. The rest of the worshipers joined this person in silence until all were assembled. She added that anyone who felt moved by the Spirit during the meeting would stand up and offer a vocal message or a song to the whole group, then sit back down, and the group would return to silence. She said there was no pastor or priest, and anyone could be moved to give ministry, including men, women, and children. I had never heard of a worship service like this before, and I loved the sound of it.

I also asked this woman what Quakers believe. She answered that the core Quaker belief was that every man, woman, and child on this planet has the spiritual capacity to experience directly God’s love, presence, and guidance in their lives, and that if we open our hearts to this sacred Light Within it can transform our personal lives, our families, our communities, and our world. She said that over three hundred years experience of attending to the Light Within had taught Quakers the value of encouraging each other to lead lives of integrity, simplicity, equality, compassion, stewardship, and community activism for peace and social justice. She called these the “Quaker testimonies.” I loved that answer, too.

Well, the next day I went to my first Quaker meeting for worship with a group of seventeen or so Galesburg Quakers. We sat together in a big living room belonging to one of the local members. It was odd at first, but I found it both challenging and exhilarating to sit quietly in the deepening silence, open to the touch of Divine Presence. Sure, my mind wandered a bit, and I was not really sure what I was “supposed” to be doing, but pretty soon I actually felt something happening inside of me that I had never experienced in any religious service before.

I felt actively engaged in deep spiritual seeking, and sometime during that very first meeting for worship—and many times since—I felt as if I was directly breathing Spirit in and out, directly breathing compassion and wisdom in and out, directly breathing love and justice in and out. This experience was immediate and powerful. I was not just thinking about what other people in the past had said about God or religion. Instead, I felt profoundly moved by glimmers of direct connection and attunement to the Spirit, the Inward Teacher that the woman on the phone had mentioned.

As we all sat together in the prayerful silence, a few worshipers stood up at different times and offered brief spoken ministry. I particularly remember that the woman who talked to me at the peace vigil spoke haltingly, but movingly, about how the call to defend the Vietnamese people nonviolently from our government’s violence was an outward expression of our deep inner faith as Quakers. She felt it was God’s will that all the faithful in our country should take up this task even more strongly than we had to date. I felt particularly stirred by her heartfelt ministry and loved the fact that in the Quaker movement, women were encouraged to be ministers. I knew my mom would approve.

After a little over an hour of silence and short vocal ministry, the Galesburg Quakers closed their meeting for worship by shaking hands. I was welcomed as a newcomer and one person, who described himself as the clerk of the meeting, made a few announcements. We then got up and talked informally over snacks in the dining room. Somebody mentioned to me that not all Quakers met in people’s houses and that most Quaker meetings around the world had built simple meeting houses for their congregations. Another woman spoke up and said that she had worshipped both in meeting houses and living rooms, and she most enjoyed the intimacy of the small “house meetings.” Another Quaker said her favorite meetings for worship were the ones she had attended that were held outdoors.

I asked my new acquaintances if there was anything I could read to learn more about the Quaker movement. One man took me to the meeting’s “library,” which was a couple of shelves in the living room. He pulled out a copy of a book called Faith and Practice. He explained that it was an anthology of many different statements about the Quaker movement written by different Quakers throughout history, and that it also included a lot of recent material about Quaker practice written by a committee of the Illinois Yearly Meeting, the regional association of Quakers that included the Galesburg Friends Meeting. He explained that most yearly meetings around the world create their own guidebooks, which are reviewed and updated every twenty to thirty years as part of a spiritual consensus‐building process within each yearly meeting. As he put it, “We believe in continuing revelation.”

While reading this book at home later, I found a particularly interesting section called “Advices and Queries,” which included a list of questions designed to help Quakers think more deeply about their own day‐to‐day faith and practice. It addressed personal conduct, home and family, environmental stewardship, vocational choices, social responsibility and community engagement, and peace and reconciliation. It also addressed how we prepare for meeting for worship and how we engage in the spiritual life of the meeting community. To me, all these questions seemed like some of the most important questions we could possibly ask ourselves.

The “Advices and Queries” also included a set of questions about personal spiritual life that went something like the passage below, which is taken from my current yearly meeting’s book of Faith and Practice:

Do you live in thankful awareness of God’s constant presence in your life? Are you sensitive and obedient to leadings of the Holy Spirit? Do you seek to follow Jesus, who shows us the way? Do you nurture your spiritual life with prayer and silent waiting and with regular study of the Bible and other devotional literature?

Now, I did not yet know what my own answers to these questions were, but I was intrigued about reflecting on each of them as part of my spiritual journey.

I was particularly struck by the query about following Jesus. I had always thought that being a Christian meant believing a specific set of doctrinal beliefs about Jesus so you could go to heaven after you died. But all these Quaker questions focused on our lives here and now, and none of them mentioned any specific belief that you had to hold about Jesus to be a Quaker, except that his life “shows us the way” and it is wise to follow in his footsteps.

Just a few days earlier, I had followed in Martin Luther King’s footsteps, and King, in turn, was certainly following in the footsteps of Jesus in his work for peace and justice. I now felt somehow closer to the source of something wonderful and powerful, something I could read and think about, but also something I could now directly experience, just as I seemed to do in my very first Quaker meeting for worship.

While there was much more to think about and to learn, of course, I already knew that I loved the experience of Quaker worship, of sitting in silence with other seekers trying to be open to wonder, possibility, love, challenge, guidance, and deep inner peace. Returning to this little band of Galesburg Quakers each week for group worship was a spiritual practice that nourished and excited me. A couple of years later, when I read a book by Robert Barclay, an early British Quaker theologian, I found that people had been having experiences like mine for over three hundred years. As Barclay put it:

When I came into the silent assemblies of God’s people, I felt a secret power among them, which touched my heart, and as I gave way unto it, I found the evil weakening in me, and the good raised up, and so I became thus knit and united unto them, hungering more and more after the increase of this power and life, whereby I might feel myself perfectly redeemed.

While I might have said it a little differently in 1968, my first experience of Quaker worship was astonishingly similar to Barclay’s.

I now look back on my first Quaker meeting for worship with deep gratitude. It felt like coming home. This, I said to myself early on, is my spiritual community and this is my spiritual path. Today, as a member of the Putney Friends Meeting in Vermont, I still feel the same. In my decades of participating in silent Quaker worship, I have found that it is often possible for those present to become aware of a divine love and spiritual fullness that far transcends ordinary existence. This sense of living communion, in turn, has a way of healing, transforming, and guiding our daily lives.

The intimacy, openness, and mutual responsibility of our way of worship also influences our character as a spiritual community. We regularly come together for more than meeting for worship, as powerful and as central as that is in our spiritual lives. For example, at Putney Friends Meeting, we describe ourselves on our website as “a Quaker congregation that meets in Putney, Vermont, for worship, fellowship, education, and activist support.”

We eat potlucks together, delight in our kids, offer them creative religious education, have intimate conversations that matter, share our faith journeys, read and discuss books together, watch movies or bring in speakers, organize healing circles, and go together to larger Quaker gatherings. Some of us join nonviolent action trainings to prepare to commit civil disobedience in an attempt to persuade the State of Vermont to close an aging and leaking nuclear reactor nearby. We cry and laugh together, share our joys and concerns, rent out our meeting house at very low rates to a network of home schoolers and AA groups, and at our business meetings, we discuss if, when, and how we should put solar panels on our meeting house roof.

Quaker congregations like Putney Friends Meeting are participatory, volunteer‐run, spiritual communities led by committees and coordinated by rotating officers as well as by our monthly business meetings. These meetings are open to the entire community and are held to discern together the will of God in our affairs. Our decisions reflect a spiritual unity that we can all acknowledge, rather than a count of votes. This radical approach to “church government” is very common in the Quaker movement. Ours is a first‐hand, do‐it‐yourself faith community. This is something I have long treasured about the Quaker way.

I hope this helps answer your question about how and why I began my spiritual journey to the Quaker movement. Is there anything else you are wondering about? Does any of this resonate with you?

Affectionately,

Steve