4-25-21 - Awakening to Co-Creation

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

April 25, 2021

2 Corinthians 3:18 (The Message)

16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so, we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Good morning Friends, it is good to be with you virtually, once again.

I was asked a while back to speak this weekend at Valley Mills Quaker Meeting here in Indy. Our former Superintendent Wanda Coffin Baker invited me to share how art has influenced my Spiritual Journey.  I found it a bit ironic, since this coming week I will be taking a spiritual retreat, and as part of that spiritual retreat I am including an intuitive painting class each evening.  So, I thought I would also share with you what I am sharing with Valley Mills this morning.  Some of you at First Friends have heard parts of this story when I presented on a similar topic for our Shalom Zone event a couple years ago. 

Before I start, I want you to know that I understand there is an art to crafting a sermon and even ministry itself, as well as many other expressions that can be considered artistic, but when I speak of art in this message, I am actually speaking of my own expression through various types of media (such as drawing and painting).

From my earliest of days, art has been a way I have expressed myself, as well as process some of my most difficult struggles.  If you would have met me in grade school or even most of high school you might have thought I was bound for art school or at least a career that would utilize my artistic abilities like two of my sons. I won numerous awards and took every art class I was allowed.

Yet, that would not be the path I would follow. 

It would be in my junior year of high school that I would attend with my youth group a servant event at our denominational camp.  Looking back, I sense servant events were a way to draw young people into ministry. 

Servant Events were designed to put youth in vulnerable situations, show them first-hand the deep needs of the world, mix in a little guilt and an over-focus of one’s personal giftedness, and WHAMO! – it is hard not to hear the Call of God on your life.

Before this Servant Event experience, my high school life was consumed by the practice of art. I would get up early and walk to my high school to spend an hour or so before school in the art room.  I spent ever study hall in the art room, along with two or three art classes during the day – and I would even stay after school until my art teacher literally left the building.  It helped that I lived a block-or-so from my high school campus. 

But the Call of God that I heard at that servant event sent me on a new trajectory. Over the next several years, I would slowly put my expression of art away, compartmentalize it, even begin to consider it a “lesser gifting.” 

Many people told me that ministry was a much nobler profession, that I would not make any money in art (like ministry is much different), that working for myself would be very hard, and that men have to take care of their families.  All things I have come to believe as misinformation and some even outright lies.

So, I began to repress my artistic gifting for this more-noble profession. While in college to become a Director of Christian Education, I found some ways to engage my artistic ability.  I designed numerous t-shirts, program covers, and anything that my fellow students requested. 

If you know me, or have ever sat by me in a meeting, you will know that I am a passionate doodler.  During one of my college classes, the professor literally stopped our class and very angerly began to ask me questions about what he was teaching.  He said, “I don’t think you are taking my class seriously – you are distracting the other students with your doodles.” To his surprise, I proceeded to answer every one of his questions – because doodling is a tool that helps me stay focused. 

After graduating and entering full-time professional ministry, my art and my desire for art had diminished, to almost nothing.  The Call of God and the call to ministry became my soul passion.

On occasion, you could find me doodling during church meetings, but rarely would I engage much else.  Actually, for many years my wife did not even know that I could paint or that I enjoyed this artistic expression. 

For almost 13 years, my art supplies dried up or were thrown out as we moved from ministry to ministry. Because art ended up not being a career for me and because ministry was so demanding, I looked for a way to stay focused on what I had been told was the greater cause – “saving souls.” 

Well, after 13 years and numerous ministry positions, even receiving a Master’s Degree with honors in Spiritual Formation, I found myself in a Family Christian Book Store in Michigan opening a copy of a new book that would begin reengaging my artistic mind.  The book was by a new pastor in Grand Rapids, Michigan of all places, named Rob Bell.  The reason the book grabbed my attention was both in its unique layout and graphic design as well as its title, “Velvet Elvis.”

I remember standing in the store and reading the entire introduction of the book as Rob explained how a velvet painting of Elvis had inspired him to see theology, ministry, and even life differently.  Now, I have to be honest, his words rattled me so much that I read through the book a number of times, even at one point throwing it across the room because deep inside I had not been honest about who I was or what I all I believed. 

Looking back, I had simply become a product of a system that solely wanted conformity - something which I have realized has hurt many people, ministries, and churches alike. Too often the church is out to make what I call “cookie-cutter Christians.”  I do not believe that was how the Divine intended it to be. I’ve come to understand God as a god of diversity and that we have been uniquely wired with talents and gifts that benefit one another in this journey we call life. 

For two years I wrested with Rob Bell’s book.  I talked with fellow ministers about it and even led small groups around it at the college in which I was working at the time.  But soon Rob Bell’s non-conformity and unique gifting would lead him to be labeled a heretic by other church leaders, including people close to me. 

Since my confidence was growing and I was beginning to realize that I was missing a part of myself - instead of grabbing my torch and joining the others in calling Rob a heretic, my wife, Sue and I decided to make a pilgrimage to hear Rob preach on a Sunday morning at his church, Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI. 

On arrival at Mars Hill, we were greeted by Rob in the foyer, but during worship we were disappointed as Rob introduced two other people from a local college who were going to preach for him that day.

To this day, I have no recollection of the names of those tag-team preachers, but I will never forget the topic of their message.  They were talking about “Creativity” and their inspiration was a book by Dorothy Sayers titled, “The Mind of the Maker.”

Even though Dorothy Sayers’ words are excellent and I enjoyed reading the book after buying it when I returned home, the tag-team preachers focused on Madame Le Engle’s words from the lengthy introduction to the book. 

In the introduction, Madame Le Engle points out one of Sayers’ main points that

“..the characteristic common to God and man is…the desire and ability to make things.”

I remember as they expanded this idea, feeling a hole deep inside myself crying out.  I realized during that sermon, that I had not made or created anything for quite some time that was truly an expression of myself.

Well, as they continued preaching they pointed out how Madame Le Engle quoted the 20th century, Russian and Christian philosopher, Nicholas Berd-ya-ev that would really open my eyes.

Berd-ya-ev wrote:

“God created man in his own image and likeness, i.e. made him a creator too, calling him to free spontaneous activity and not to formal obedience to His power. Free creativeness is the creature’s answer to the great call of its creator. Man’s creative work is the fulfillment of the Creator’s secret will.”

Never once had I thought of myself as a co-creator with God or that my creative freedom was an important aspect (or the fulfillment) of my spiritual life.  All I knew at this moment was that I was neglecting and missing an important aspect of my life and I needed to do something about it.

Prior to traveling to Grand Rapids for this life-altering sermon, I had been asked to create a spiritual retreat for the student services department at the college where I worked.  One aspect of that experience was still missing. As we drove home from Grand Rapids, I sensed an opening (much like those described by George Fox or other mystics of the faith). I had a clear picture (almost like a vision) in my mind of a set of paintings I felt called and led to paint. 

We stopped at a Michael’s on our way home and I picked up 5 canvases and some new paints.  After arriving home, I spread them out on our kitchen table and began to sketch out and then paint all five paintings from the images in my mind. 

You must understand, this was the first time in almost 13 years that I had painted anything.  I painted throughout the night and did not stop until I finished all 5 paintings at about three in the morning.

Art reentered my life in a new way that night and early morning.  Since then, I have embraced it as part of my preaching, part of my therapy, part of who I am – a co-creator with the Divine. 

This morning, I want you to engage the five paintings I painted that night as a part of our waiting worship.  I don’t want to give you much background or my interpretation, rather I want you to experience them for yourself. My hope is that you will see inside your own soul and tap the creative spirit lying dormant or maybe neglected in you. Please know that I share these with you as my expression of art – for you it may be poetry, gardening, singing, or a plethora of other things.  I can only share from my experience and what God opened up to me that day. 

I hope you will allow these painting to be a type of spiritual exercise where your interpretation and response is connecting with the Divine and possibly God speaking to your condition.

I have had so many rich conversations with people who have experienced these paintings and after the service today, I would love to hear how they spoke to you.

So instead of queries for waiting worship, I have below the 5 paintings for you to reflect upon and expectantly wait for what God may be saying to you.

4-18-21 - Seeds, Kedosh, and Putting People First

Indianapolis First Friends Meeting 

Pastor Bob Henry 

April 18, 2021

Matthew 13:31-32 (NRSV)

31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Good morning, Friends.  It is again good to be with you in the comfort of your own homes. I pray this finds you safe and well. 

It is clear throughout Scripture that Jesus was “close to the earth” as we say. On numerous occasions, he was able to take basic farming or gardening references and help explain the deeper mysteries of our faith. One of the reasons we need to have a month focused on the Earth and especially its care, is so we too are able to glean wisdom as Jesus did from our Earth for our spiritual and daily lives. This morning, I want to help unpack how Jesus utilized the earth and our relationship to it, to show us a clearer picture of what he labels, “The Kingdom of God.”

Jesus was asked on numerous occasions to explain the Kingdom of God. And his answers came in the form of short stories - which religious folk have often labeled parables.  Sometimes the stories were rather cryptic and took explanation in Jesus’ day (and even more in ours, since most of us don’t live in a rural agrarian society). If Jesus had lived in our day and age the parables may have been written utilizing technology or internet metaphors.

So, Jesus is posed the question, “What is the Kingdom of God” and he answers with several different stories about a sower, weeds, and then to our text for today where he compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed.

The first couple of parables may have passed the ears of the disciples and followers of Jesus, but not the Mustard Seed. Actually, they probably would have laughed, chuckled, or even whispered to a friend, “Did Jesus just say Mustard seed?” 

For Jesus to compare the Kingdom of God to a mighty cedar [which he had done] was fine, but to compare it to what in Jesus’ day was a noxious, invasive, common weed, quickly got their attention.

For us today, it would be like Jesus saying the Kingdom of God is like the climbing, coiling, and trailing perennial Kudzu vines that are ruining landscapes across America.

Jesus’ audience would have been either in shock, think that he was being irreverent, or that he had somehow misspoke.   

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with this parable in Sunday School, someone once even gave me a necklace with a little mustard seed in it to wear to remind me that something very small could grow into something big - which often they implied meant the church.  It is true that mustard seeds are very tiny and grow rapidly into a bush - some as tall as 10-12 feet high.  

But I need to be honest at this point...I think there is a much deeper meaning to this parable than church growth...and I believe it has a lot to do with quality not quantity.     

First, allow me to give us some information that may help us understand the radicalness of Jesus’ comparison of the Kingdom to the mustard seed. Some of these thoughts come from Friend Daniel Coleman’s commentary on this parable: 

You may not have realized this, but right off the bat Jesus is talking about breaking the purity codes of his day. In Jesus’ culture, people were not allowed to plant a mustard seed in one’s garden, as the gardener in the parable does. It was Levitical Law, one of many prohibitions about mixing things, such as,

“Don’t wear clothing made from two kinds of fabric; don’t plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together; and yes even, don’t plant different kinds of seeds together.”

Yet Jesus says this gardener sowed it directly into his field. 

The ancient Jewish understanding of holiness, what they called kedosh, had to do with separating. It is understandable that this view developed when you consider that throughout ancient history Israel was a tiny nation sandwiched between great empires who wanted to swallow up and assimilate them.  To survive they needed their own separate identity. 

You are probably familiar with what that kind of holiness resulted in... “purity codes.” Coleman described it this way, 

“If someone was deemed ritually impure (which PLEASE NOTE often had nothing to do with sin or immorality), such as a woman during her monthly cycle or a person who had touched a corpse or someone with a skin disease, they had to be excluded from the community and from worshiping God until they were purified.” 

By the time of Jesus, there were so many purity codes regulated by Pharisees that it was hard not to break the rules every moment of the day. All you had to do was eat the wrong thing or associate with the wrong person.

Or like most of us gathered virtually today, we are breaking purity codes by dressing in mixed fabrics - I am sure there is someone sitting in their home wearing a cotton-polyester blend as I speak. 

But let’s stick with gardening. The gardener also had to keep her/his garden kedosh - holy and separated.  This meant each type of plant had to be kept separate from the others in neat, tidy rows. 

So, I think you might be getting the picture of why Jesus using the Mustard seed would be rather shocking.  If you planted a mustard seed in your well-kept garden – gardening madness would ensue.  Quickly the Mustard seed would take over the garden. Since the Mustard seed had lots of seeds, fast growing shoots would be coming up all the time all over your plot of ground - a gardener’s nightmare. The holy garden would quickly become less than holy - more like a holy mess.  

And did you notice what Jesus said at the end of the parable. Birds would be attracted to the seeds and come and make nests.  No…..Not birds!  

That is the last thing a gardener wants in their garden. This is why we have scarecrows and pinwheels and moving distractions to get rid of the birds.  

Jesus, what in the world are you talking about?!   

The followers of Jesus must have been absolutely confused or otherwise laughing at Jesus’ comparison as if it were a joke or something.  Yet in reality Jesus wasn’t making a joke, instead he was painting us a picture of what God’s kingdom looked like and what following God’s example would accomplish.  

At first glance it doesn’t make sense, but Daniel Coleman helped give me some insights to why this is such a radical and important parable for us. Listen to what he says. 

“When you look at what Jesus did throughout the Gospels (and remember, Jesus is the revelation of God), he kept breaking down barriers and disregarding taboos. He disregarded the taboos concerning fellowship with sinners. He surrounded Himself with low-lives and outcasts and those who, socially, were on the margins. 

• Jesus disregarded the taboos concerning fellowship with despised tax-collectors.

• Jesus disregarded the taboos concerning Samaritans and even made a Samaritan the hero of His parable about loving one’s neighbor—another absurdity, which would have been highly offensive to many.

• Jesus disregarded the taboos concerning the place of women in society and the segregation/marginalization of women… [and the list could go on, because]

• Jesus disregarded many other cultural/religious taboos.”

So much so, Jesus, himself, would have been considered unclean most of the time by the Pharisee’s standards. 

So here comes the kicker….What if Jesus saw kedosh, or what we have termed holiness, from a different perspective? [consider that for a moment]

Daniel Coleman turned to a quote from If Grace Is True, a book that several years ago opened my eyes to new ways of seeing. In the book, fellow Quakers Philip Gulley and James Mulholland talk about holiness in this way. I remember underlining this definition of holiness and reading it over and over to let it sink in.  

“Holiness is God’s ability to confront evil without being defiled. God’s holiness does not require him to keep evil at arm’s length. God’s holiness enables Him to take the wicked in His arms and transform them. God is never in danger of being defiled. No evil can alter His love, for His gracious character is beyond corruption. This is what it means to say God is holy—God’s love is incorruptible. Holiness and love are not competing commitments. God is love. His love endures forever. This enduring love is what makes God holy. No manner of evil done to us or by us can separate us from this love. God transforms His morally imperfect children through the power of His perfect love. It is our experience of this love that inspires us to such perfection. Jesus said, ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Matt. 5:48). If this verse was a command for moral perfection, our cause is hopeless. Fortunately, this admonition follows a command to ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ (Matt. 5:44). Perfection is demonstrated not by moral purity, but by extravagant love. We are like God not when we are pure, but when we are loving and gracious.”

Too often good-meaning religious people get obsessed by rules, laws, purity codes, and often take it to the limits by categorizing, labeling, and finally excluding people. Instead of being like the Pharisees of his day, Jesus put people first.

Instead of growing the church bigger as many have taught, the parable of the mustard seed is, at its heart, a teaching about radical inclusion. 

I love how Daniel Coleman said it:  

“Jesus is saying, in effect, ‘If you allow the Kingdom of God into your midst, it is going to make a mess of your neat, tidy garden. It is going to break down your barriers of separation. It is going to attract and shelter the ones that everyone else tries to keep out. It is not going to look majestic and lofty and impressive, but rather, common and unremarkable and initially very small. But…, it will spread like crazy.”

So, First Friends what do we do with this parable of Jesus? 

As Quakers we are known as common, unremarkable and smaller than other churches out there - but I believe as we continue to break down those walls of separations and open our doors to the full Kingdom of God, great things are going to happen. Sure, outsiders will consider us absurd, taboo, even risky - but isn’t that part of our Quaker history?  

All I know is that God loves to take his people out of their comfort zones.  God likes to plant a mustard seed in our garden and make things a little messy, because then we have the wonderful opportunity of learning to include and love as God does. 

Now, as we enter waiting worship, I ask that you join me in considering the following queries in a time of silent reflection.

1.      What am I learning from the creation around me about my faith journey? When will I spend some time in creation this week to glean from its wisdom? 

2.      As Quakers, what do our “purity codes” look like today? Who might we unaware be categorizing, excluding or labeling in our daily life?

3.      Where do we see God planting a “mustard seed” in the life of First Friends?

4-11-21 - Living Among Holy Creatures in a Holy World

Indianapolis First Friends

Pastor Bob Henry

April 6, 2021

Job 12:7-10 (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.
9 Who among all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of every human being.

This week, we conclude our look at the Quaker Testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S. with our Testimony of Stewardship and its relation to “Bearing One Another’s Burdens.”

Ironically, April is what is now considered Earth Month, where we are to focus on the Stewardship and Sustainability of the Earth. For most people, stewardship is an old-time church word that has traditionally been associated with the finances of the church, but it actually comes from the Old English, where Stig meant hall and weard meant keeper - keeper of the hall or what we would translate keeper of the earth.

This morning, I would like to do something a bit different to emphasize this important testimony.  I want us to begin with what we call a “spiritual exercise” developed around a set of queries to focus our attention.  I have barrowed these thoughts from Ignatian Spirituality. 

If you are not familiar with Ignatius of Antioch (who lived 35-107AD) – he was considered one of the Early Church Fathers, a disciple of the Apostle John, one of the first Bishops of the Church, and he ended up a martyr for the faith.

Often when Quakers have sought to return to the “faith of the apostles” (as our history notes) they find great commonality and connection with Ignatius and his Spiritual Exercises. This is because his work is foundational in the mystical tradition – a tradition that Quakers are also categorized within.

If you have ever read any of the work of Quaker Richard Foster or even the Renovaré curriculum it is heavily influenced by Ignatius’ work. It was Richard Foster who influenced by Ignatius wrote, 

“There are three great books that guide our lives, 1) the book of scripture, 2) the book of experience, and 3) the book of nature.” 

As well, Ignatius was one of the first theologians to connect our spiritual exercises with ecology and creation. So, it seems natural or fitting to utilize his work this morning as we begin Earth Month.  

To begin we will start as most Ignatian exercises do, by taking a deep breath.  (Notice how your whole body relaxes as you breathe in and exhale.) 

Take another deep breath.  (This time notice that the air coming into your lungs through your nose is free and plentiful.  

Finally, take another deep breath.  The atoms of air that you breath in and out are a shared gift – shared both with other humans and with the creatures and plants of the Earth.

This air constitutes a radical physical connectedness with all other living beings. 

Because of our intricate interconnectedness with each other in and through the natural world, what has been called environmentalism – concern for that which is around us becomes ecological awareness. 

Trileigh Tucker speaking on this says,

“The word ‘ecology’ comes from two Greek roots: oikos meaning ‘house’ and logos, meaning ‘reason’ or ‘discourse’.  When we shift from speaking of the environment (that which is around us but does not include us) to speaking of ecology, then, we are thinking in a new way: not about a distant object, but rather about the network of relationships within which we live: our own house, our home.

Or as we say this morning – EARTH.  

To help you connect with your experience of this place – earth, I want to help you make that connection this morning through a simple Ignatian exercise.  

Take a moment to allow your mind to travel to the first natural place (or place in nature) to which you felt connected as a child, or another natural place to which you’ve felt a strong connection.  (You may need to close your eyes to really travel back to this place.)

Imagine you’re in that place again this morning. 

What do you notice with your senses?

What does it look like?

What does it smell like?

What does it feel like?

What does it sound like?

Maybe what do you taste there?

Is there something particular in that place – a tree or a stream or an animal – to which you have a special attachment? 

How do you feel as you return there?

What feelings does it invoke?

What good memories are associated with this place?

The reason I wanted you to think about these things is because much of our connectedness in this world is understood and driven by landscapes or what I will call, place.  Ignatius believed that our psychology and spirituality are intimately connected with place.  Also, we have a physical connection to our geography as well as the psychological and spiritual. 

Yet, many people today feel misplaced – and no longer comfortable in their changing surroundings.  Some would go as far as saying they lack a sense of place because they no longer know their neighbors.  Ask yourself?

·        Do you know the neighbors that live on either side of you?

·        How far down the street do you have to go before you do not know them at all? 

·        Who, if you needed help, would be the neighbor you would call on? 

·        If someone in your neighborhood needed help, would they call on you?

We in our world today, do what the authors of “The New Parish” call “Living above Place” which is “the tendency to develop structures that keep cause-and-effect relationships far apart in space and time where we cannot have firsthand experience of them.”  

What happens when a society, like ours, lives above place for long enough is that we begin to live a cocooned way of life, unaware of others and how we affect each other. This is even more evident and true during this long pandemic.

You can see this happening first hand with the way we create online communities and only associate with people that support our own views.  It is what is dividing us politically as a country and creating fear-based organizations, biased media, and country club religions. 

And I believe “Living Above Place” is not only talking about our human neighbors but also those that we may not even consider neighbors - for instance our neighbors of water, energy, food. 

Again, ask yourselves? 

Do you know where your water, energy, food comes from?  What kind of relationship and first-hand experience do you have with them?

We must admit that we have intimate, survival-based relationships with these basic essential needs, but many people cannot identify from where they come, because again we have cocooned ourselves from knowing. 

What if we did not know where our life partners, spouses, or closest friends came from? (Honestly, they probably wouldn’t have a prominent place in our lives.)

To know that my wife comes from North of Detroit, MI, that she grew up on a farm, that her family raised cattle, is rather important to my understanding of her, today – and knowing where our water, energy, food come from is vitally important as well. 

Ignatius says that becoming aware of this background knowledge is essential to us “living in the flesh.” We must admit that we are creatures of the flesh – that we are dwellers in a specific place, and that we express that of God’s creation in our own being. 

Knowing our place is key to understanding what God is doing among us and through us in our neighborhood and world.

My friends, Chris Smith and John Pattison, in their book, “Slow Church” expound on this by saying,

“Cultivation of our communities involves attentiveness not only to the rhythms of our specific places but also to the day-to-day sorts of choices we make and the sort of rhythmic order we impose on those places. As our roots grow deeper in a place, we can’t help but want to see that place thrive. Seeking the flourishing of our places not only involves caring for them – keeping them clean, planting gardens, living lightly on the land – but also caring for the people who live here with us, of course.”

To cultivate our communities, we will first need to examine our places and those we engage with in that space. This helps us be able to see the burdens that both we and others carry.  Ignatius encouraged this as part of his spiritual exercises, because he knew that the natural world and our human co-habitants affect us psychologically, physically, and spiritually. 

In Exercise 60 and 160 of his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius asks,

“Going through all creatures, how have they left me in life and preserved me in it…the heavens, sun, moon, stars and elements, fruits, birds, fishes and animals.”

“…the various persons: and first those on the surface of the earth, in such variety, in dress as in actions: some white and others black: some in peace and others in war: some weeping and others laughing, some well, others ill, some being born and others dying, etc...”

See, when we start to see the way all of creation takes care of, preserves, and sustains us, then we must ask ourselves how we in-turn are taking care of all of creation – animals, plants, our neighbors of all walks of life, beliefs, cultures, etc...

Because, to cut out any of these would be detrimental to our own growth. This is a connection to creation relationship that must be acknowledged and continually worked through.

This week, I again return to Wendell Berry who wrote about this very thing in his essay, Christianity and the Survival of Creation which can be found in his book, The Art of the Commonplace. Berry says this,

“We will discover that for these reasons our destruction of nature is not just bad stewardship, or stupid economics, or a betrayal of family responsibility; it is the most horrid blasphemy. It is flinging God’s gifts into His face, as if they were of no worth beyond that assigned to them by our destruction of them…We have no entitlement from the Bible to exterminate or permanently destroy or hold in contempt anything on the earth or in the heavens above it or in the waters beneath it. We have the right to use the gifts of nature but not to ruin or waste them…The Bible leaves no doubt at all about the sanctity of the act of world making, or the world that was made, or of creaturely or bodily life in this world.

We are holy creatures living among other holy creatures in a world that is holy.”  

This reminds me of a poem by Quaker Laurent A. Parks Daloz, a Peace Corps Volunteer, educator and environmental activist.  He writes,

Stop for moment beside a young cedar to listen

And breathe in the life swarming around you.

A soft breeze brushes your cheek;

You can feel the silence.

For a thrumming instant you are one with it –

At such moments, we don’t simply believe,

We know that we are woven into the mat of interdependent life.

This is not sacred belief;

It is sacred knowledge.

We know in our bones that we are an intimate part of all life,

Not simply what surrounds us in the present,

But of all life in all time.

The oxygen we breathe,

The nourishment from the plants beside us,

The elements beneath our feet –

All come to us from the most distant past

And will endure in some form into the unimaginable future.

We are ineluctably a part of all space and time.

So, the first thing, we are called to do this Earth Month is to become aware of our place and the sacredness of it. We need to take time to allow ourselves to get out of our cocoons and to descend from “living above place” to living in the present moment with our neighbors in which we have been given as gift – this place we call the earth.  And when we begin to do that, we will both see the burdens of this world and our neighbors and know how we can begin to make this world a better place.    

To help us reflect on this, I ask you to ponder with me the following queries from one of my favorite books, Practicing Peace, by Friend Catherine Whitmire.  

·        What have I learned from listening to God in the earth, rocks, trees, water, and animals?  How has this learning affected or changed my life?

·        In what ways does my daily life exemplify, reflect, or belie my respect for the oneness of Creation and my care for the environment?

·        Am I willing to change the way I live and make sacrifices in my lifestyle in order to preserve the earth, air, and water for future generations? What changes am I willing to make now?

4-4-21 - Another World Is Possible

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Bob Henry

April 4, 2021

Scriptures: Mark 16 (The Message)

16 1-3 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could embalm him. Very early on Sunday morning, as the sun rose, they went to the tomb. They worried out loud to each other, “Who will roll back the stone from the tomb for us?”

4-5 Then they looked up, saw that it had been rolled back—it was a huge stone—and walked right in. They saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed all in white. They were completely taken aback, astonished.

6-7 He said, “Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He’s been raised up; he’s here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now—on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there, exactly as he said.”

8 They got out as fast as they could, beside themselves, their heads swimming. Stunned, they said nothing to anyone.

Happy Easter Friends!  It is so good to be with you on this special day. 

Each year in preparation for the Easter holiday, I find myself contemplating the mystery and broad understanding of Easter among Friends. Since traditionally Quakers consider every day a “holy day,” it is always a different experience among Friends than it would be among other traditions within the Christian faith. 

Yet, when we strip Easter down to its rudimentary elements – it is hard not to find resurrection at its core. 

This year especially, as we are coming out of a deadly pandemic, and even today, meeting together for worship in-person, as well as, virtually, resurrection has a new meaning once again.

I truly believe there is a resurrection taking place in our world, our country, our families, and even our personal lives.  The stone is slowly being removed from the tomb that has been this pandemic and there is new life and new hope emerging. I am sure you can sense it, and some are possibly even experiencing it through a simple hug from a loved one, again. 

Today, as we explore this core aspect of Easter, I want to again relate it to our theme for the past 6 weeks of “bearing one another’s burdens.” To do this I will highlight how the resurrection speaks to our Testimony of Equality – that all people were created equal in the eyes of God and that there is that of God within all people.

To understand the resurrection in this light we need to explore what theologians call “Universal Resurrection” and its impact on us still today.  In it, one will find that dying and rising, or resurrection, is bound up with one another.

Mystic blogger, Mark Longhurst, points out that…

“This rising is expansive in scope: Jesus Christ rises, but also brings everyone and everything into God’s resurrection movement.”

I believe his point is that there is a definite focus on equality in the resurrection, if we will take the time to see it.

Longhurst points out the slight differences in how we see the resurrection. He says, 

“Jesus Christ has risen, except many in the Christian religion have turned this transformational tale into an individual heroic feat. Jesus Christ is risen: he did it, or God did it on his behalf, and we marvel at how amazing it all is. We turn Jesus into a box office sensation: Jesus, the Superhero, back from the dead, who disappeared briefly to another galaxy and has returned to save us. Or, alternatively, we ignore the resurrection completely, awkwardly downplaying its importance for our faith.

Resurrection, however, is not only about Jesus rising. Jesus Christ sweeps everyone and everything up within God’s resurrecting movement. To talk about resurrection, and better yet, to experience it, is somehow to bear the weighty paradox of death and life evolving together at the center of the universe.”

Our scripture text that Beth read for us this morning focused on the women - Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and the Luke account even adds Joanna – these were the women who came to the tomb on that first easter morning. 

That the gospels even mention the women being the first to experience this occurrence speaks to a clear focus on gender equality, especially for Jesus’ day. 

Easter is also about the women rising, Peter and the other disciples rising, the early church rising, the generations that have gone before us rising, and even us rising.  The resurrection is not just about one man rising, it is about the universe itself rising.

Wendell Berry in one of my favorite poems, “The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” described Resurrection as

“the humus building under trees, the sequoias planted, the choice of love over profit, the sheer bliss of resting in a lover’s arms in a field, the practice of believing and enacting that another world is possible. 

That was Jesus’ eternal message for ALL of us – that another world is possible. 

On a side note, I find it interesting that the word resurrection does not appear at all in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament it is the Greek word anastasis which translated means “to stand up” or “to rise up.” 

It is the same word that is often used when saying someone will take a stand or rise up to speak.  That is exactly what Jesus was doing - he was rising up, standing up to show that another world is possible.  

And that is what the women coming to the tomb would experience first-hand. They would be empowered by the men appearing in white to go spread the word of this resurrection. Women were often considered possessions in Jesus’ day and were not allowed to speak – especially, to share news of this magnitude to men. What these women were hearing was that a new world was possible for women, starting that very day! 

Mary would even hear this directly from Jesus’ lips in the garden beside the tomb. He would encourage her not to cling to him but instead fulfill her calling to be the bearer of good news that resurrection is for ALL!  I find it beautiful that the news of resurrection begins with barriers for women being broken.

This is what Peter and the other disciples, who not believing the women, would run across town to experience for themselves. A slow change would begin that in that moment would call them to be shepherds – caretakers of the flocks – not of sheep but of people.  The disciples, too, were rising to their calling.

And this is true for us as well, resurrection cannot just be for a man 2000+ years ago.  It has to be relevant still today and speak to our condition.  Just as we watch the spring flowers resurrect from dead bulbs in our gardens each year, we too must find the life and hope resurrecting from the dead of our lives proving to us that another world is possible. Proving once again that we are being called to a greater purpose of loving this great God and our neighbor as ourselves.

When I was a campus pastor, I had the opportunity to officiate some of my student’s weddings. On one occasion, the couple asked if I would paint them a picture of the resurrection. The husband wanted a modern take on a classic Eastern Orthodox painting of the Resurrection. 

If you are not familiar, in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Jesus is almost always shown rising up from the tomb holding the hands of Adam and Eve who are rising along with him.  Sometimes others biblical characters are also included in these icons, but almost never is the resurrection seen as a solo act.

What this illustrates and helps us understand is that the resurrection is not only about one person’s accomplishment, but about the rising up, the amazing feats that will take place in and through all humanity from this day forward.

Resurrection was never intended for one body, but for ALL bodies – or we could say ALL humanity!

Longhurst puts it so well,

“And if resurrection is for all bodies, then surely it is for those bodies who are most suffering. Whatever Jesus’s rising means, it must mean that justice rises, finally, for poor bodies, black and brown bodies, queer bodies, incarcerated bodies, homeless bodies, and children’s bodies separated from mom’s and dad’s bodies at the border.”

I don’t know about you, but this should make sense to us Quakers, because in the early centuries Friends took what was considered to be a progressive approach to women, to children, to prisoners, to those with psychiatric illnesses and even eventually to slaves. This was the foundation for our testimony of equality.  And still today, Quakers continue to promote and empower the resurrection and the rising of marginalized people who are affected by unemployment, homelessness, homophobia, racism, disability, and so much more.

From our earliest of days, Quakers have and continue to believe another world is possible, and that world includes ALL people equally.  Friends have taken to heart  the words of the author of the letter to the Galatians, when she or he wrote,

“In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 3:28)

Jesus Christ has risen. The women are rising, the poor and marginalized are rising, all humanity is rising, the earth and the cosmos are rising. New possibilities, new worlds surround us every day, and especially this day.

My prayer this Easter morning, is that we will ALL take those words of Wendell Berry to heart and believe and act upon the resurrection promise that another world is possible.   

Now, let us enter a time of waiting worship.  To do that, I would like us to ponder the following queries:

1.     Where is the Divine calling me to “rise up” or “take a stand” to show that another world is possible?

2.     Who do I struggle to find equality with in this world? How might I help bring “resurrection” into their lives, today?

3.     Where do I see “resurrection” taking place as we come out of this time of death known as the pandemic?

3-28-21 - Seeing the Crowds in Community

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 28, 2021

John 12:12-20 (The Message)

12-15 The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel!

Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:

No fear, Daughter Zion:
    See how your king comes,
    riding a donkey’s colt.

16 The disciples didn’t notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.

17-19 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: “It’s out of control. The world’s in a stampede after him.”

Good morning Friends, it is good to be with you again this morning. I pray this finds you safe and well.

This morning, even though it is traditionally Palm or Passion Sunday in the Christian Tradition and the beginning of what many churches consider Holy Week, we are going to continue to look at our Quaker Testimonies. The twist will be that I will utilize the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem to unpack briefly our Testimony of Community – again, all in relationship to our desire to bear one another’s burdens.   

To start, I would like to give a quick overview of where we have been in the last 4 weeks. After the Sunday I introduced the topic of “Burden Bearing,” we began an exploration of our Testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S.  We have looked at Simplicity, Peace, and Integrity already and found the need to reflect both inwardly and outwardly on each of them. 

●       Simplicity helped us see the need to strip off the excesses so we could see our own and the burdens of others.

●       Looking at the shadow side of peace, we explored how violence, whether small or large impedes our ability to care for one another.

●       And last week we looked at the Testimony of Integrity and how it calls us to a personal wholeness and in turn draws us to help those around us find wholeness in their lives.

This week, we look at the Testimony of Community. Some may say that Community is the most essential Testimony to speak to the idea of bearing one another’s burdens.

Most Quakers would agree that Community is all about supporting one another in our faith journeys and in times of joy and sorrow; sharing with and caring for each other.

Yet to value Community, it also takes understanding what it is made up of. The text that Beth read of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem points out on several occasions the enormity and diversity of the crowd. 

I would like to utilize this biblical story to highlight the different types of people found in all crowds and communities. Knowing who we are and why we come together, will help us better understand how we might be able to appreciate ourselves and those we are in community with. 

Our text points out that there was a “huge crowd that arrived for the feast” of Passover. It also notes that the disciples were among the crowd but missing fully what all was going on. The author of the Gospel of John also points out that this crowd included those who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb as well as the Pharisees who considered the crowds, as they said, “out of control.”

Already, just in the text we have a quite diverse group of people gathering around Jesus.  And if you read through the gospel accounts, you will find they have been gathering for almost his entire three years of public ministry. Some may go as far as to say that these people following Jesus represent the actual first church.   

Over the years I have studied the patterns and personalities of many groups of people. Actually, as a pastor one of my most difficult objectives is to discern the needs of a diverse group of people, and to do that takes both time to get to know people and a dedication to work alongside them. 

I am sure on occasion Jesus must have been overwhelmed with crowds of up to 10,000 people to speak to, meet needs of, and all while trying to convey a message of hope. It’s not that simple – especially when most crowds or gatherings are made of people with a variety of agendas, motives, and needs. 

Today, we have what are professionally known as Crowd Psychologists who are hired for the sole purpose of studying crowds and crowd behavior.

Especially during the pandemic, Crowd Psychologists have been utilized right here in Indianapolis for March Madness and the Final Four. Not only are they used for sporting events, but they are also used for parades, public demonstrations, marathons, and concerts of all sorts.

And yes, I have even known mega churches who have hired Crowd Psychologists to help them navigate and help spot destructive patterns, agendas, and motives that could manifest within their own membership.

When you specifically study the work of Crowd Psychologists, you find that they indicate five types of people that are found in every crowd.  Please note – almost all faith communities are considered crowds unless they are small enough to be categorized as a family unit (what we would call a small group or house group – even then larger house groups can have some of these same dynamics). 

For our study today, we are going to look at the crowd that followed Jesus into Jerusalem. The Rev. Margaret Minnicks has utilized these five crowd types to help us explore the make-up of Jesus’ crowd in Jerusalem, and how it relates to and resembles our own faith communities. The five types which most experts indicate are present are as following:

1.   The Curious

2.   The Confused

3.   The Pretenders

4.   The Opposers

5.   The Committed

The more you study these types, the more you begin to notice them in the crowds or communities you engage on a regular basis. You may even find yourself identifying with one of these types at First Friends.

If so, I ask you to ponder what that might mean for you and for how you engage those around you. If we at First Friends are seeking to build a faith community whose lives are integrated and seeking wholeness, we may find ourselves both challenged by the descriptions of these five types and where all we see them in and around us.

Let’s begin with The Curious:

In the text for today, the curious are the people that had seen Jesus preach, teach, heal, and even possibly perform miracles over a three-year period. These people had a curious mentality. They followed Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem because they wanted to know what he was going to do next. They were also curious about what was in it for them. Some went along with the crowd simply because they were hoping they would get a blessing being part of the crowd.

Often what draws a person to a crowd, or a community is pure curiosity.  Some find the curiosity sustains them for quite some time, maybe Sunday to Sunday or program to program, especially if they feel they are getting what they want out of the crowd or community.  Often when the curiosity runs out or blessings seem to cease, off they go to the next crowd or community.

The second type is The Confused:

The confused is illustrated in the Matthew 21:10-11 text of the Palm Sunday account,

"When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, “Who can this be? The crowd answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Of all the things Jesus did and claimed he was, this one-line description wa in s all they could say. Even though they were following Him, they were still confused about who Jesus was.

The confused type refers to those who live on cliches and soundbites, instead of spiritually investing themselves to go deeper within themselves or within their community. They often are quick to quote scriptures or other texts as well as argue their points without taking time to know the context or ramifications of their words.

The confused crowd followed Jesus while not really knowing what he truly was about or what he was asking of them. They were confused because Verse 9 says they even went ahead of Jesus. I know for myself getting ahead of God, or thinking I understand what the Divine is trying to convey can leave me very confused.

The third type is The Pretenders:

The Pretenders were in the crowd on Palm Sunday pretending to be committed to Jesus. They were pretending, but they were not completely sure they knew what was going on. Pretenders often are those who go through the motions, but have a hard time fully committing. They often pretend just to impress others and to get their approval.

Abraham Lincoln said it best when he said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

I remember at a church I served in Michigan, one morning we were having fellowship hour after the service, and a former pastor began sharing stories of what he called “putting on my church face.”  He shared how his family would fight all the way from their home to church each Sunday.  As they pulled in the church parking lot and he turned off the car, he would declare, “All right the fighting must end, it’s time to put on your church face and worship the Lord.”  Everyone in the car would pull it together and enter as if nothing happened that morning. Immediately after sharing, other people began to truthfully open up about their experiences of pretending or as one person labeled it, “Faking Ok.” 

The next type is The Opposers:

The fourth type includes the opposers like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. For three years they had done everything they could to oppose what Jesus was doing. They rebuked Him for healing on the Sabbath and for taking an ox out the ditch. They dismissed him because His disciples ate food without washing their hands.

Our text said there were Pharisees and (other texts say there were Sadducees, as well) in the crowds on Palm Sunday, and folks there are Pharisees and Sadducees within the body of Christ, still today. These are the people who work to trip others up and are always looking for things to debate, argue, and point a finger at. There were always some people in the crowds who opposed Jesus and this day was no different. There are always people who never see the good in a situation; only the bad.

Most of the time these opposers promote their own interests and their own agendas. They tear down God’s people instead of lifting them up or bearing their burdens just like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day.

The next type is The Committed:

The Committed is the last group and the one most people say they are in. However, this is usually the smallest group.

The Barna Group shows that the Committed in most communities are statistically less than 20% of the overall community. If you have been in the church for any amount of time, you have probably heard someone throw out what they call the “80/20 Rule” – that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. Sadly, there is a truth to this. Maybe you have heard it or said it this way, “Why do the same few volunteers seem to be doing all the work?”

Let’s be honest, as this “holy week” plays out in the scriptures, not even the disciples are found to be part of the committed crowd. 

I too, wish I could say I was 100% part of the committed crowd every single day, but that is just not true. I find myself often part of the Curious, sometimes wrongly promoting the Confused, Pretending, acting, and “faking ok,” and yes, even pointing fingers with the Opposers. 

The reality is that all five types of people can be found in me and probably in you, too.  The important thing to remember is each of these types are present within our community at First Friends. Thus, it should be our desire at First Friends…

…to promote the engagement of the curious.

…to provide clarity and education to the confused.

…to expose the pretending and embrace authenticity.

…to transform the opposers and seek unity.

…and to commit to the work of Christ and to the integration of our lives for the benefit of one another. 

This is what Jesus lived out for us. This is what Jesus would later this week be crucified for by people in this same crowd. 

Because when we begin to work on being more committed and seek to transform the crowds and communities in which we live, not everyone will agree, not everyone will join in, some will even work against us. But if we commit to moving forward and finding ways to bear one another’s burdens, then just like Jesus, we will actually bring resurrection – NEW LIFE – into our world – both our life and the lives of those around us. Just as Christ has done for us.

Won’t you join me in committing this week to work on bringing that Resurrection – that New Life – into our world through our community at First Friends?

As we enter waiting worship, today, please take a moment to ponder the following queries:

●       What “crowd type” would I most identify with, currently? (Curious, Confused, Pretender, Opposer, or Committed)

●       How will I commit

                   …to promote the engagement of the curious.

                   …to provide clarity and education to the confused.

                   …to expose the pretending and embrace authenticity.

                   …to transform the opposers and seek unity.

                   …and to commit to the work of Christ and to the integration of our lives for the benefit of one another?

3-21-21 - Integrity: A Desire for Wholeness

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Bob Henry, Bob

March 21, 2021

Psalm 15 (Voice)

1 Eternal One, who is invited to stay in Your dwelling?
    Who is granted passage to Your holy mountain?

2 Here is the answer: The one who lives with integrity, does what is right,
    and speaks honestly with truth from the heart.
3 The one who doesn’t speak evil against others
    or wrong his neighbor,
    or slander his friends.
4 The one who loathes the loathsome,
    honors those who fear the Eternal,
And keeps all promises no matter the cost.
5 The one who does not lend money with gain in mind
    and cannot be bought to harm an innocent name.

If you live this way, you will not be shaken and will live together with the Lord.

Good morning, Friends! It is good to be with you once again in the comfort of your own homes. I pray this finds you safe and well.

For the last three weeks, we have been looking at our Quaker Testimonies (also what we often refer to as our S.P.I.C.E.S. simply because it is an acronym to help us remember each of them – and we Quakers are known to love our acronyms).  We have been taking time to explore these testimonies in light of helping to carry one another’s burdens. 

The first week, I did a brief overview highlighting each of these testimonies, then we spent the last two weeks looking more in depth at each one.  We started with the gift of Simplicity, and how it helps us to “strip off the excess” of our lives and get to the most important things – our relationship with the Divine and care for our neighbors. 

Last week, we looked at the Testimony of Peace, by exploring it’s shadow side, violence. Quaker Parker Palmer helped focus our thoughts and reflection by defining violence as “any way we have of violating the identity and integrity of another person.”

This week we move to the third Quaker Testimony (the “I” in S.P.I.C.E.S.) – Integrity.

The Testimony of Integrity has always been a central tenet of Quakerism. It encourages Friends to tell the truth, say what they really mean, and stand up for what they believe, even in the face of condemnation or conflict.

Some people would go as far as to say the Testimony of Integrity may, at times, feel like a stern taskmaster. This is because Truth can be slippery, or not very clear at the moment we need it to be. I know for me, at times, having the courage to speak the Truth can feel like a nearly impossible requirement, especially when dealing with sensitive topics in which people may disagree.

Sometimes our circumstances can be clouded by our deep love or concern for others. And on other occasions, it can be clouded by the possibility of selfish embarrassment or coming off as weak.

Integrity – just as the testimonies of Simplicity and Peace – causes us to wrestle both inwardly and outwardly with our responses. 

I sense when talking about integrity, most go to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition which says that Integrity is defined as:

The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness.

Some people in our world would quickly write this off as religious piety or Puritanism – which many Early Quakers were lumped together with for this very reason. 

But a further examination would find that integrity is rooted in the biblical concept of righteousness.  Again, this can be taken wrong and be viewed as self-righteous and pointing our fingers at those not as honest, moral or upright. 

Yet, if we take the time to explore the root of the biblical concept of righteousness, one will find a deeper, more useful, and I believe, much more profound concept – that being WHOLENESS.  

Righteousness in scripture is about making one whole in body, mind, and spirit – not better, or more holy, or more right-eous than others. It is about working to attain a wholeness personally and helping those around us achieve this as well. 

This is reflected so well in the Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Testimony of Integrity which reads:

“The testimony of integrity calls us to wholeness; it is the whole of life open to truth. When lives are centered in the spirit, beliefs and actions are congruent and words are dependable. As we achieve wholeness in ourselves, we are better able to heal the conflict and fragmentation in our community and world.”

Let me read that again…

“The testimony of integrity calls us to wholeness; it is the whole of life open to truth. When lives are centered in the spirit, beliefs and actions are congruent and words are dependable. As we achieve wholeness in ourselves, we are better able to heal the conflict and fragmentation in our community and world.”

If we are going to learn to bear one another’s burdens, wholeness seems to be the key.

For too long, Quakers have interpreted the Testimony of Integrity as guidance for how to operate in the larger world -especially as it relates to our business and societal practices.

Yet as the Pacific Yearly Meeting’s statement clearly professes, it must also be central to helping us discern what we are thinking and feeling in our hearts.  It must be both a desire for outward wholeness, as well as, inward wholeness. 

Actually, this statement from the Pacific Yearly Meeting is almost a call to each of us personally to work for wholeness in ourselves first. Quaker Rufus Jones eludes to this when he writes:

“Experience is the Quaker’s starting-point. This light must be my light, this truth must be my truth, this faith must be my very own faith.  The key that unlocks the door to the spiritual life belongs not to Peter, or some other person, as an official. It belongs to the individual soul, that finds the light, that discovers the truth, that sees the revelation of God and goes on living in the demonstration and power of it.”

If you and I have any hope to work effectively to alleviate or bear some of our neighbors burdens, we will need to first spend time examining our own motivations and beliefs and learn to live into the demonstration and power of God’s revelation to us.   

To do that, Wendy Swallow, a Friend in Reno Friends Meeting writing on the Testimony of Integrity says we need to ask ourselves some queries: 

·        Are we driven to action out of a sense of self-abnegation or self-aggrandizement?

·        Are we motivated by fear?

·        Are we listening to what the world would tell us, or are we arrogantly pushing our personal agendas and beliefs?

She also points out that the Testimony of Integrity doesn’t just prohibit lying to others; it also cautions not to lie to ourselves.  Before we begin pointing our fingers at the world around us, we must first center our attention on our own personal integrity and wholeness. 

I don’t know how often I catch myself making excuses, believing lies about my gifting or abilities, even cowering in fear hoping that what I am sensing from the Spirit would just go away. 

But how do we come to know and understand ourselves, to find the wholeness that will lead in the right direction?

My Friend, and fellow Quaker minister, Wess Daniels, says it has to be through what he labels the “practice of integrity” where we may begin to understand ourselves and find this wholeness personally and communally.  He says, 

The practice of Integrity is about both self-awareness and wholeness. It is born out of a community of practice committed to living integrated lives.

Practices and language develop out of that commitment that gives tools for understanding the self, my relationship to God and other people, the natural world, and material objects. A practice of integrity provides a kind of self-reflective mirror upon which I am invited to look at myself and my community and reflect upon whether my “Yes is yes,” and my “No is no.”

A practice of Integrity requires us to participate in an honest assessment of all areas of life consistent with our practice of worship and understanding of what God calls us to.

Wess, too, believes that this consistency is about having the inside and outside line up.

He warns that we should not use integrity as a claim upon another human being if we are not in constant practice of investigating our own lives under the same searching light. To do otherwise, he says, would itself lack integrity.

He goes on to reiterate that Integrity is about truthfulness. It is something we constantly strive for and yet never fully arrive at. Thus, he believes that to strive for wholeness is to be vulnerable; there is a confessional quality to integrity. We must claim our own integrity with great trepidation as we recognize that there is often a gap between our reality and that which we strive for, but if we undertake it within a caring community, we can trust that we shall be under this work of love together.

And when we put this in the context of bearing one another’s burdens, you can see clearly that this caring community is what we hopefully consider First Friends. 

A place where together, we are learning to trust, learning to recognize the gaps, learning to strive for wholeness and vulnerability together. 

We are to be this type of community that practices integrity by living integrated lives – integrated lives with each other, but then also with our neighbors, our community, with the hurting, the less fortunate, the oppressed.  This is how we bring wholeness (body, mind and soul) and how we help carry one another’s burdens.

I hope that when people consider our community at First Friends, they are finding themselves challenged, as well as, encouraged personally to seek wholeness. 

I hope that when people consider our community at First Friends, they are being challenged, as well as, encouraged by their fellow Friends within our meeting to strive for wholeness with one another.

And I hope that as First Friends together, we would be challenged, as well as encouraged by our fellow Friends to live out this integrity in a way that would draw the world around us into a wholeness of body, mind, and spirit and to a hopeful and promising life on this planet.

Now, let us take these thoughts into our time of silent waiting worship.  Also, I we will again offer the queries from Friend Wendy Swallow for you to ponder this morning.

·        Are we driven to action out of a sense of self-abnegation or self-aggrandizement?

·        Are we motivated by fear?

·        Are we listening to what the world would tell us, or are we arrogantly pushing our personal agendas and beliefs?

03-14-21 - The Shadow Side of Peace

The Shadow Side of Peace

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 14, 2021

Hebrews 12:14-17 (The Voice)

14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, since no one will see God without it. 15 Watch carefully that no one falls short of God’s favor, that no well of bitterness springs up to trouble you and throw many others off the path. 16 Watch that no one becomes wicked and vile like Esau, the son of Isaac, who for a single meal sold his invaluable birthright. 17 You know from the stories of the patriarchs that later, when he wished to claim his blessing, he was turned away. He could not reverse his action even though he shed bitter tears over it.

Good morning Friends, I hope this finds you well, as we are beginning to see the Light at the end of the tunnel of this pandemic. I am happy to say that I received my second vaccine this past week and I join many of you who are in the process of helping us get back together in-person.  Keep getting those vaccines and stay patient. We are making great strides to end this difficult time!

A couple Sunday’s ago, I began having us look at bearing one another’s burdens or what I labeled being “Burden Bearers.”  In that first sermon I concluded by rooting my thoughts in the Quaker Testimonies or what we call S.P.I.C.E.S.  I also said we would spend the time leading up to our Easter Celebration exploring in more depth each of the SPICES and how they speak to carrying one another’s burdens. 

Last week, we started by looking at the gift of simplicity.  We were reminded by Quaker Richard Foster that Simplicity points us toward a way of living in which everything we have we receive as a gift, and everything we have is cared for by God, and everything we have is available to others when it is right and good.

The conversation around Simplicity continued last week in a beautiful way in our Fellowship Hour, where we discussed the challenges of “stripping off the excess” and acknowledging our efforts and behaviors and getting to the root – the gifts that simplicity offers – that deeper relationship with the Divine and a deeper concern and love for our neighbor and self.

This week, as I began to prepare for looking at Peace, I continued many of these same thoughts.  I believe peace too is a gift bestowed upon us from the Divine, but it is also a gift we are to offer our neighbors and ourselves.

In the Quaker’s Peace Testimony from the United Kingdom their concluding paragraph points to how peace is not only foundational for Quakers, but how it should be part of our daily and ordinary lives.  Just listen to how well they articulated this final paragraph of their peace testimony.    

The peace testimony is not something Quakers take down from a shelf and dust off only in wartime or in times of personal or political crisis. Living out a witness to peace has to do with everyday choices about the work we do, the relationships we build, what part we take in politics, what we buy, how we raise our children. It is a matter of fostering relationships and structures - from personal to international - which are strong and healthy enough to contain conflict when it arises and allow its creative resolution. It is a matter of withdrawing our co-operation from structures and relationships which are unjust and explorative. It is a matter of finding creative ways of dealing with conflict when it does arise, with the aim of freeing all concerned to find a just and loving solution.

Keep these thoughts in mind as we continue on. 

I think I have said this before, but when I was out in the Northwest, I was invited to write curriculum for our annual Peace Month.  Each January, we took the time to focus our attention on unique aspects of our testimony of peace. We focused on topics such as:

·        Sabbath as Peace-making,

·        Conflict Resolution as Peace

·        Locally Aware Meetings for Peace

·        We even looked at Making Peace through Lament.

·        And one of the final times I worked on a Peace Month curriculum, we actually looked at how each of the S.P.I.C.E.S drew us back to Peace.

I always enjoyed delving into the study, writing, and development of this curriculum.  But…the implementation and the actual teaching and preaching about Peace at the local Meeting level was another thing all together. 

My fellow pastors in the Northwest (including myself), would often comment on the fact that Peace Month often brought anything but peace. We even started to label it as “Non-Peace Month.”  

Just talking about Peace was disruptive to people. Weirdly, it caused them to feel uncomfortable. I even had a person come to me once and ask if we could end Peace Month early because it was causing people unrest. 

Now, I believe, the reason this is the case is that when we begin to explore peace and enter into the process of how peace is achieved or discovered we must again do some soul searching. 

Often this involves asking ourselves why we and our neighbors experience a lack of peace in our world.  

This question immediately draws us to examine the shadow side of peace.  We cannot have peace, if we are not addressing first what causes the lack of peace in our lives.   

A few years ago, as I was consuming anything and everything Quaker Parker Palmer wrote, I came across his book

“A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life.”  A book I would highly recommend.

This week, I went to my shelf to look for the book and realized I had given it to a friend.  It is one that I recommend often to people because, in it, Parker Palmer speaks to our yearning to live undivided lives―lives that are congruent with our inner truth in a world filled with the forces of fragmentation.

As I consumed Parker Palmer’s words and wisdom, I came across a section that has forever changed me.  When I first read it, I had a mix of emotions and feelings well up inside of me. Parker Palmer was taking me into a deeper, more robust perspective of peace, BUT not by introducing me to silence or centering, but, of all things, through VIOLENCE. 

Immediately upon reading Palmer’s words, I understood why Peace Month was so difficult for so many people. Peace Month would throw open the door to our physical, spiritual, and emotional lives and expose the world’s ways and the ways of our own hearts.

If the opposite of peace or the lack of peace is what is labeled violence, we immediately have some physical, spiritual, and definitely emotional responses. 

So, as I READ Parker Palmer’s words this morning, please listen carefully to how he describes violence and allow these words to speak deeply. Do not feel as though you need to reconcile them or even respond to them immediately. Just let them speak to your condition, to your soul, to your inner life, and to your lack of peace.

Palmer begins by quoting Deuteronomy 30:19.

'I have set before you, life and death, blessing and curse: therefore, choose life.'

He then goes on to say,

“Yet when we 'choose life', we quickly confront the reality of a culture riddled with violence. By violence I mean more than the physical savagery that gets much of the press. Far more common are those assaults on the human spirit so endemic to our lives that we may or may not even recognize them as acts of violence.”

“Violence is done when parents insult children, when teachers demean students, when supervisors treat employees as disposable means to economic ends, when physicians treat patients as objects, when people condemn gays and lesbians 'in the name of God', when racists live by the belief that people with a different skin color are less than human.

And just as physical violence may lead to bodily death, spiritual violence causes death in other guises – the death of a sense of self, of trust in others, of risk taking on behalf of creativity, of commitment to the common good. If obituaries were written for deaths of this kind, every daily newspaper would be a tome.”

“By violence I mean any way we have of violating the identity and integrity of another person.

I find this definition helpful because it reveals the critical connections between violent acts large and small from dropping bombs on civilians halfway around the world to demeaning a child in a classroom.”

“Even if we do no more than acquiesce to small daily doses of violence, we become desensitized to it, embracing the popular insanity that violence is 'only normal' and passively assenting to its dominance.”

Now, because this was so profound for me, I needed some time to sit with what Parker Palmer was implying about peace and it’s shadow side, violence. Also, this week as I reflected on bearing one another’s burdens, I found this speaking to the need for peace and some of the foundational causes of our lack of peace.   

I think to allow these words of Parker Palmer to engage our inner lives and spiritual journeys, I want to read his words to you again. 

This time, I want to read it in what I would call a Lectio Divina style. If you are not familiar with Lectio Divina, it is Latin for Divine Reading. It is usually considered a monastic practice that was done with scripture and other spiritual texts. The hope is that the text would become seen as a living text and even ultimately become part of the reader’s life and action.   

To do this Lectio Divina style, I will read a section and then pause – allowing the words to settle into our hearts.  You may want to grab a piece of paper or take notes on your phone or other devise.  Before I read it again, I ask you to consider the following queries as you listen…

·        What words or phrases grab my attention or speak to my condition?

·        What surprises me?

·        What causes me to have an emotional response? 

·        Do these words cause me to want to make any changes, reconcile, or make amends? 

·        What is God teaching me about the need for peace and bearing one another’s burdens in this text?

After I READ Parker Palmer’s words again, we will put these queries up for you to ponder as we enter into waiting worship.

I do not want us to simply wrap these thoughts up and move on, instead I would like us to wrestle with these thoughts and take time to ponder them, digest them, and allow ourselves to have a spiritual, physical, emotional, even intellectual response or responses to these words.

Let me read again, taking intentional pauses this time for reflection, these words from Parker Palmer. Once again, he begins with Deuteronomy 30:19…

'I have set before you, life and death, blessing and curse: therefore, choose life'

[Pause]

“Yet when we 'choose life', we quickly confront the reality of a culture riddled with violence. By violence I mean more than the physical savagery that gets much of the press. Far more common are those assaults on the human spirit so endemic to our lives that we may or may not even recognize them as acts of violence.”

[Pause]

“Violence is done when parents insult children, when teachers demean students, when supervisors treat employees as disposable means to economic ends, when physicians treat patients as objects, when people condemn gays and lesbians 'in the name of God', when racists live by the belief that people with a different skin color are less than human.

[Pause]

And just as physical violence may lead to bodily death, spiritual violence causes death in other guises – the death of a sense of self, of trust in others, of risk taking on behalf of creativity, of commitment to the common good. If obituaries were written for deaths of this kind, every daily newspaper would be a tome.”

[Pause]

“By violence I mean any way we have of violating the identity and integrity of another person.

[Pause]

I find this definition helpful because it reveals the critical connections between violent acts large and small from dropping bombs on civilians halfway around the world to demeaning a child in a classroom.”

[Pause]

“Even if we do no more than acquiesce to small daily doses of violence, we become desensitized to it, embracing the popular insanity that violence is 'only normal' and passively assenting to its dominance.”

[Pause]

Let us now ponder the queries from before:

• What words or phrases grab my attention or speak to my condition?

• What surprises me?

• What causes me to have an emotional response? 

• Do these words cause me to want to make any changes, reconcile, or make amends? 

• What is God teaching me about the need for peace and bearing one another’s burdens in this text?

03-07-21 - The Gift of Simplicity

The Gift of Simplicity

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Bob Henry

March 7, 2021

I Thessalonians 4:6-8

6-7 Don’t run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are God’s concerns, and he will take care of them. We’ve warned you about this before. God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, grungy life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

8 If you disregard this advice, you’re not offending your neighbors; you’re rejecting God, who is making you a gift of his Holy Spirit.

Good morning Friends, it is good to be with you once again in the comfort of your own homes.  I pray this finds you safe and well. 

Last week, we looked at what It means to become burden bearers for our neighbors and loved ones.  At the end of the sermon, I took a moment to highlight our Quaker Testimonies (or what we call our S.P.I.C.E.S.) which speak to this burden bearing. I also mentioned that for the weeks leading up to our Easter Celebration, I would take time to unpack a little more about each testimony or S.P.I.C.E. 

Today, we are going to look at the first “S” in our S.P.I.C.E.S – Simplicity.

I was first introduced to Simplicity ironically by a Quaker, before I ever even had considered becoming a convinced Friend.

It was Quaker Richard Foster who introduced me to Simplicity in his book, Freedom of Simplicity: Finding Harmony in a Complex World from 1991. The book is not that long, but it really packs a punch.  I was in my Masters’ Program in an introductory class on Spirituality when I was assigned this book.

I have to be honest, until this time, I had never contemplated simplicity.  I was raised in a country, and for that matter, a church which rarely spoke of or highlighted simplicity. 

I never heard it preached from a pulpit, no one taught it to me in school, and when I really thought about, much of what I was taught was just the opposite of simplicity.  Yet, my professor was clear it was foundational to our spirituality and life of faith. 

Well, as I cracked open the book and began to read, Richard Foster explained it this way.

“Jesus Christ and all the writers of the New Testament call us to break free of mammon lust and live in joyous trust...They point us toward a way of living in which everything we have we receive as a gift, and everything we have is cared for by God, and everything we have is available to others when it is right and good. This reality frames the heart of Christian simplicity. It is the means of liberation and power to do what is right and to overcome the forces of fear and avarice.” 

He goes on to say,

“God's blessing is not for personal aggrandizement, but to benefit and bless all the peoples of the earth. To understand the distinction makes all the difference in the world. The theology of wealth says, 'I give so that I can get.' Christian simplicity says, 'I get so that I can give.' The difference is profound.” 

We in America have wrestled for a long time with the “prosperity gospel” invading our spirituality and religious life. 

After the Civil War we saw a rise in the prosperity gospel linked together with revivalism. 

Tent Revivals were as much about money as saving souls and quickly God’s blessing had become about prospering and wealth while trying to live a pure life.

When we failed at our purity, money became the way to buy our freedom (sounds very similar to the Reformation Days with indulgences). This would continue to evolve in America and creep into the nooks and crannies of many faiths (including Friends) without realizing it. 

As media became more and more involved, televangelism became the way so-called religious leaders and organizations found their way into the pockets of their watchers. 

As Richard Foster was writing “Freedom of Simplicity,” America was watching the fall of Televangelist Jim Bakker and his PTL Empire and many other religious con artists who had merged prosperity theology with the American Dream while making a rather large profit for themselves.

It seems only appropriate that it would be a Quaker who would write a book to remind us of our roots and invite us to find freedom again from this bondage to money and idealism. 

Another Quaker, Lloyd Lee Wilson also described simplicity in terms of freedom. He said,

“Simplicity is the name we give to our effort to free ourselves to give full attention to God's still, small voice: the sum of our efforts to subtract from our lives everything that competes with God for our attention and clear hearing.”

So why is it that Quakers have made Simplicity one of our distinctives and testimonies all along?

In my research, I turned to the words of Quaker Fran Irene Taber, who said that

“…the first generation of Friends did not have a testimony for simplicity. Instead, they came upon a faith which cut to the root of the way they saw life, radically reorienting it.

They saw that all they did must flow directly from what they experienced as true, and that if it did not, both the knowing and the doing became false.

In order to keep the knowledge clear and the doing true, they stripped away anything which seemed to get in the way. They called those things superfluities, and it is this radical process of stripping for clear-seeing which we now term simplicity.”

Now, if you have ever read any history book that mentions Quakers, one thing you most likely will read about are the three aspects of our testimony of simplicity: dress, speech, and material possessions.

The First we almost always read or hear about is Simplicity of Dress.

On the surface, you may think plain dress is pretty straightforward (right this second, maybe you’re mentally picturing what you think Quaker dress may look like). Quakers in gray and subdued colors, almost Amish in appearance.

Yet “simplicity of dress” is actually subjective.

Modern Quakers simply dress simple. It doesn’t sound like this is too different from what you may see with some of the minimalist leaders today: consistency, timelessness, maybe similar, coordinating colors.

Yet why would anyone willingly (and gladly) choose this type of dress?

First of all, this approach to fashion and style is timeless. You don’t have to spend time and money on the latest trends, effectively giving back time and money—and energy and mental bandwidth—to spend on the most important things in your life (which typically aren’t things at all).  

It is widely known that Albert Einstein bought several variations of the same gray suit so that he wouldn't have to waste time deciding what to wear each morning, and so he could give more time to his research and study to impact his world.

Actually, when I was an Anglican Priest, I had a similar experience. I wore a clerical collar and mostly black clothing every day, which helped me not even think about what I was to wear and simply focus on the task at hand.

Actually, I have found it hard to get out of that mentality, my closet is made up of mostly black and simple items. I rarely get new clothing until they actually wear out, I need something, or I receive a gift.  I must confess, one of my vices is my collection of fun socks – which would have been most likely frowned upon by many early Quakers.

Overall, you could say that there is a personal aspect here where one needs to overcome their ego and identity since this is voluntary simplicity.  Let’s be honest, this would have been much harder back in junior high or high school, then it is, at least for me, today. 

Another aspect of valuing plain dress was intended to eliminate an aspect of social inequality. If everyone dressed in a simple way, it would put people on more of an even (visual/physical) playing field.  We see this in schools today that require uniforms for students.  It is also why I do not like wearing a suit to lead worship.

Lastly, there’s now an ecological aspect when you think of the wastefulness of trend-based clothing and fast fashion. Every day, we have more and more options for sustainable, ethical, and slow fashion.  

Author, Activist, and New Monastic Community founder, Shane Claiborne, shared in an interview that he makes his own clothing. He shared that he caught the vision while living in Calcutta in a village of people with leprosy. Since they were completely cut off from the rest of society, they had to make their own clothes and shoes, grow their own food and be a fully self-sustaining community. Shane found himself mesmerized with the way of life that they had created, “a new society in the shell of the old.” Shane went on to explain that in Gandhi’s movement making one’s own clothing was a sign of resistance against British rule. The central symbol of the independence movement was the spinning wheel and one could recognize those who were part of it by their homespun clothing, whether poor or in Parliament.

Let’s now, move on to the second aspect of simplicity – Speech.

Plain or simple speech for early friends also worked to illuminate social inequality.  One example of this was not using titles and calling everyone sister or brother.   

As well, this aspect is often paired with a “simplicity of behavior.”  Here’s is how we Quakers/Friends describe it:

“Simplicity does not mean being simplistic. We value nuance and choose words carefully when we speak. We may speak passionately, but we avoid distortion and exaggeration.”8

“Honesty, avoiding class distinction (titles)…and the speaking of truth.”

Sadly, we live in a world of exaggerations and distortions – marketing and the media has often invaded our religious world – so much that “Church Growth” is a degree option in many seminaries these days.  As well, our titles, or what may be  labeled our “degrees” or “family lineage,” also may be complicating things and putting us in positions of authority or privilege.  

If the Quaker faith is going to be counter cultural and make a difference in our world and especially with our neighbors, we may want to again find ways to put aside our titles and degrees, and embrace a simplicity that creates equality among one another.  Seeking again our authentic voices by speaking Truth to Power in our world with passion rather than distortion and exaggeration.

Folks, I hope when people join us at First Friends for worship, small groups, fellowship experiences, service work, etc., they find us genuine and speaking to their condition. That what draws them to us is not our degrees, titles, or family heritage, but that we are speaking to the condition of the world and our neighbors – becoming equals and burden bearers on this journey called life.  

And that leads us to the most contentious of the three aspects of simplicity- Material Possessions.

Again, here is how some Quakers/Friends have described the simplicity of material possessions.

“Believe that one should use one’s resources, including money and time, deliberately in ways that are most likely to make life truly better for oneself and others.”

“Believe that a person’s spiritual life and character are more important than the quantity of goods he possesses or his monetary worth.”

The reality is that this testimony is not just about the nature of our possessions or what goods we have to offer, but rather also about our attitude toward these possessions and goods.

Way before Richard Foster wrote “Freedom of Simplicity” he wrote the following about plain living. He said,  

“We plunge ourselves into enormous debt and then take two and three jobs to stay afloat. We uproot our families with unnecessary moves just so we can have a more prestigious house. We grasp and grab and never have enough. And most destructive of all, our flashy cars and sports spectaculars and backyard pools have a way of crowding out much interest in civil rights or inner city poverty or the starved masses of India. Greed has a way of SEVERING the cords of compassion.

I will be honest with you. At times, Sue and I have struggled living in Fishers, Indiana. We have wrestled with the size of our home and the cost of living in relation to many we serve. (I am glad we have the space currently to provide for all three of our boys – but when they move out it will be time to simplify again). 

I too can easily become wrapped up in a-less-than-simple life that so quickly crowds out the civil rights of my neighbor, the poverty they can’t seem to arise from, the starving in their stomachs, the struggles, abuse, and oppression they face daily.  Too often I just look away and hope that I didn’t see it, but each time I neglect these nudges of the Spirit, I embrace the greed in my heart. 

If there is one thing that reviewing our testimony of Simplicity should do is help remind us of those words I opened with from Richard Foster…that simplicity is all about pointing us toward a way of living in which everything we have we receive as a gift, and everything we have is cared for by God, and everything we have is available to others when it is right and good.

I pray we will see these gifts of God and share them with our neighbors, starting today!

Now, let us continue to ponder these thoughts as we enter into waiting worship and simple silence. Here are some queries to help you reflect during this time.

• How can I apply the Testimony of Simplicity to my own life?

• Are there ways I can simplify my dress, speech/behavior, or overall quantity (and relationship with) my material possessions for the benefit of my neighbors and world?

02-28-21 - Burden Bearers

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 28, 2021

Good morning friends, it is good to be with you again this week. I pray this finds you safe and well this morning.

I started this week off on Monday morning in Greenwood, celebrating the life of our dear Friend and dedicated choir member, Jenny Morgan. 

Before the brief service with family and friends, I was asked to meet with the Funeral Director. Usually, this is just a formality that all clergy go through to nail down logistics for the service. 

As I entered the tech room, just outside the area we were gathering, I heard the funeral director sigh deeply as she sat down to run through her spiel.

I commented on their advanced technology set-up and said how impressed I was at how they had kept up with the demanding changes during this pandemic.  Not knowing that this was solely her doing, she immediately changed her tone and began to share with me the difficult paradigm shift that her funeral business has undergone in the last year. 

As she spoke, she shared of the challenges, the enormous weight she felt in helping people through such sensitive and important moments of life transition. I was now in full pastoral care mode. I took a listening posture and gave her this moment to share freely.  The flood gates burst-open and she began to share the behind the-scenes stories that none of us would ever know about - what she has experienced this past year and its deep effect on her. My heart broke as I let her share. 

And then with tears welling up in her eyes, over the mask obstructing the emotions of the rest of her face, she explained that in less than a year, she has directed 400+ funerals for Covid deaths alone (that does not include all the other deaths that have occurred that were not Covid related) – a few of those funerals  have been in person, many on Zoom, and the most recent a beloved local teacher who died of Covid just a couple of weeks ago which she was still trying to process. 

She sighed again heavily and said, “I am not sure why I am telling you this – you understand this. Pastors carry this same burden.” I realized in that moment she needed someone who could empathize with her burden to make it seem just a bit lighter.  

Well, as I drove home from the gravesite service for Jenny, I deeply began processing that word the Funeral Director used – burden. The dictionary says a burden is a load, typically a heavy one or a duty or misfortune that causes hardship, anxiety, and grief.  I think you can see just by the definition that her choice of this descriptive word was right on. 

After returning home and settling into my chair after dinner, I decided to work on the self-led guide for this week.  I sensed I was being nudged by the Spirit to look at that word, burden. But as I sat there, listening to my family busily working around me, struggling with the ongoing pandemic and daily challenges of virtual work and school, I began to have a spiritual awaking. 

Not only did I ponder all the burdens that face me and my family, I also reflected on the people’s burdens I am privy to in our Meeting, our community, my neighborhood, my friend networks and pastoral groups.

I thought of the burdens of our nation, the burdens of Black, Indigenous and people of color, and specifically the Asian community, the elderly, the people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, and how could I forget the current burden on healthcare works, teachers, front-line heroes and the families and friends of the now 500,000+ people who have lost their lives to COVID. 

I sat there in silence overwhelmed by the burdens surrounding me on so many levels.

Now, I must be honest, even though as a pastor, I usually I am drawn to scripture, meditation, or prayer in these moments and I often guide others in this same path - in THIS moment, I just wanted to throw up my hands and cry out, saying “enough is enough.”  I wanted to literally “cast these burdens upon God” – “cast” in the true sense of throwing them with great force at God.

I also know that if anyone would have known I was considering casting those burdens at God, they would quickly recite me another verse from bible like “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden (burdened) and I will give you rest…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

But let’s be really honest, that all sounds wonderful, easy and quickly resolved, but I have never found it happens that way.    

Burdens often abide – our casting them off may be better described by a fisherman’s line that is sent far across the water and then slowly comes back to us as we reel it in.

Yet, as I continued to ponder, I noticed again that line from the text from Matthew – his yoke is easy and his burden is light – it may be easy and light, but did you notice, IT IS STILL THERE?  

Even Christ has a yoke and a burden!  I think we miss that, but it helps greatly to feel a sense of connection with Christ.  Even in scripture we too often write off the fact that Jesus was greatly burdened, he held such a heavy load that at one point he breaks down in tears looking out at Jerusalem and realizing their bad decisions, and on another occasion even runs away to the Garden of Gethsemane and with great force throws his burdens back at God.  I can relate to this Jesus.

Folks, please hear me on this, we must get past the sugar-coated Christianity that leaves us with useless taglines and scripture soundbites, which we too often translate as “hope and possibility” - yet often leave us feeling empty or even more burdened. 

Imagine, if I had simply said to that Funeral Director, “As a pastor, I think you should just cast your burdens on Christ or leave that at the feet of Jesus for him to take care of, or well, Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light.”

Folks, that would have been so out of place and inappropriate, yet sadly on occasion I have done just that. I have also heard good meaning Christians and Friends throw out flippant verses, taglines or soundbites with no context or explanation – often just filler for neglecting the deeper work.

But if this is how we respond, we have missed an opportunity – we have missed how God handles those burdens THROUGH US.

The author of the epistle to Galatians was having a hard time explaining this to the people. So, they wrote a letter to clarify, saying, “Carry one another’s burdens, and when you do this you are fulfilling the law of Christ.”

Wait a minute…I thought we could just send those off to Jesus and magically the burdens will be lifted, made lighter, made easier. 

Sadly, too many people miss the fact that Jesus was clear that when he left this earth, we, his followers, were going to become his hands and feet and even do greater things than he did. 

If we take this seriously, we are going to be the burden bearers. 

Now, before we go to much further, we better take a moment and find out what the “law of Christ” is, in which the author of Galatians is referring?

If you remember, Jesus summed up his Law this way – starting with the Great Shema in Deuteronomy 6 and then adding his own spin…

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.”

When you begin to put this together, it is not hard to see why God would ask us to carry or bear the burdens of our neighbors. By doing so, we are loving our neighbors as ourselves. We are becoming the incarnate Christ to those around us.

I don’t know about you, but when I am facing a burden, I want some tangible help, I want someone to sit with me and listen, to understand, to give advice at times, to just be present with me, to empathize, to even be willing to help me lighten or even carry that load.   

God is saying to each of us (and we Quakers know this), “I am in you and it is your job as my church to carry one another’s burdens so that you will fulfill what is the essence of our very nature – Love”

I find it interesting, have you ever noticed that often when a neighbor or friend is burdened, you seem to be able to help them carry that burden easier than the burdens you are carrying yourself?  Some of the most burdened people I know are also the people who are able to lift the burdens of those around them. 

I sense that is a part of our essence, the image of God within us. I believe humanity is divinely wired this way so we can take care of each other.

Folks, this shows how much we need one another.  That our lives are not just dependent on our relationship with God, but they also are dependent on our relationship with one another.  

Sadly, many of us, including myself, have too often woefully neglected the call to love our neighbor and carry their burden.  We have looked the other way, given excuses, even blamed them for their own burdens. That is not living by the Law of Love.

We may celebrate our independence in this country, but it is going to be our dependence, love and willingness to carry one another’s burdens that is really going to bring us freedom and hope.    

Folks, I will be the first to say that it is easier to seek comfort and lean on my own privilege, even point a finger at someone else instead of myself and focus on my own needs before helping carry someone else’s burden. But the reality is that for many of us, God has given us an abundance of resources to begin to lighten the loads of our neighbors.

I think it might be time to return to our Quaker Spices for a couple quick reminders. Our spices or testimonies speak directly to why we are called to carry one another’s burdens – let me point a little something out from each one:

Simplicity

Quakers have always felt they should live simply, tending to basic needs and avoiding luxuries. They were aware of the poverty around them, and that resources needed to be shared.

Peace and Nonviolence

Since most conflicts do not escalate to war...pursuit of peaceful approaches to conflict resolution in our personal lives and in the wider world is seen as a constant obligation.

Integrity and Truth

A manifestation of this testimony is often called “speaking truth to power.” Quakers are exhorted not to stand by, but to speak out about injustices they see.

Community

Quakers commit themselves to responding to the needs of others, and to the flourishing of local and global communities in all their diversity.

Equality

Also following from the principle that there is that of God in everyone is the notion that all people must be treated and cared for equally regardless of gender, ability, race, socio-economic status, sexuality and any number of other identifying characteristics for which people may be privileged or disadvantaged.

Stewardship

Stewardship is a not a choice it is a responsibility, it is what we owe the future. Three phrases used by Quakers to describe how we should take care of the Earth are “right sharing, right ordering and good stewardship”

Please remember these Spices or Quaker testimonies are the way we, Quakers, work for a connection between our inner and outer lives. They are the way Quakers take their relationship with the divine spirit and turn it into action.

They are also the foundation for why we, Friends, tangibly carry one another’s burdens and lighten each other’s load.

For the next few Sundays leading to Easter, I plan to unpack a little more each week just how these Spices speak to our condition and help us lift the burdens we each face.

For now, let us enter into waiting worship and ponder or meditate on the following queries:

Who are the people in my life that help carry my burdens, how have I connected with and thanked them lately?

How well am I living out my call as a “burden bearer”? Is there someone in my life currently that I am neglecting being the incarnate Christ to in their daily struggle?  

Which of the S.P.I.C.E.S. challenge me the most and draw me to further exploration this week? 

02-14-21 - A Love Supreme: Our True Essence

A Love Supreme: Our True Essence

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 14, 2021

Good morning, Friends! I hope you are feeling the love this morning on this Valentine’s Day!

A couple weeks ago, I was watching a new documentary produced by Jazz Night in America on NPR Online. The documentary introduced the viewer to a, not so ordinary, church in San Francisco, CA.

On the first Sunday of every month at this church, they turn off the lights and get silent much like Quakers entering waiting worship, but then in reverent and expecting waiting they play the music of their patron saint, John Coltrane.

Yes, the famous Jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane. And the album they listen to is what some consider one of the most sacred and divinely inspired Jazz albums of all time, A Love Supreme from 1964.  For jazz musicians, today, it is so sacred and personal that some refuse to perform the songs from the album.     

The Reverends Franzo and Marina King founded St. John Coltrane Church after attending a Coltrane performance at a club called the Jazz Workshop in 1965. This was soon after Coltrane had openly shared that he had experienced a spiritual awakening. Franzo and Marina say that during the performance the Holy Spirit spoke to them and they knew what they were to do - start a church that focused on the spiritual experience of John Coltrane. 

Now, some may consider this far out, idol worship, or even heretical, but as a lover of Jazz, as one who owns a copy of “A Love Supreme” and considers it uniquely holy and exceptional, I found this a fascinating concept.  

On the inside cover of the album Coltrane writes a letter to the listener that explains the project and a long prayer, or what some consider a psalm called, “A Love Supreme.”

Michael Cuscuna, Coltrane’s producer said of the album that it projects “a spiritual serenity and inner peace that belies the turbulence that would enter his music the following year” when Coltrane would be diagnosed with liver cancer and then decline and die at the young age of 40.

Coltrane wrote to his listener,

I would like to tell you that no matter what…It is with God. He is gracious and merciful. His way is in Love. Through which we all are. It is truly A Love Supreme.

And he closes his letter almost prophetically saying,

May we never forget that in the sunshine of our lives, through the storm and after the rain – it is all with God – in all always and forever. ALL PRAISE TO GOD.

With love to all, I thank you.

 John Coltrane.

Because of copyright laws, I cannot have us silence ourselves right now and listen to “A Love Supreme.” But I encourage you to go download the album or purchase the vinyl, or borrow it from the library or a friend and simply be still in the darkness of a comfortable room in your home and allow yourself to worship and feel the love that John Coltrane so passionately conveyed through this album. It also would make a wonderful Valentine’s gift to yourself or that special someone.

Now, obviously I shared about John Coltrane for more than giving you music recommendations or Valentine gift ideas.  Actually, as I have learned more about Coltrane’s spiritual awakening, and study spiritual awakenings both in myself and others, it has helped me understand more about the many layers of God’s Love – that love is more than an action, more than a feeling, more than so much of what we have made it in our day and age. 

In preparation for this sermon I turned to one of Richard Rohr’s Daily Devotions, one that has helped me articulate a better understanding of Love. Rohr says that,

Love is not really an action that you do. Love is what and who you are, in your deepest essence.

Love is a place that already exists inside of you, but is also greater than you.

That’s the paradox. It’s within you and yet beyond you. This creates a sense of abundance and more-than-enoughness, which is precisely the satisfaction and deep peace of the True Self.

You know you’ve found a well that will never go dry, as Jesus says (see John 4:13-14). Your True Self, God’s Love in you, cannot be exhausted.

I think that is the Love that John Coltrane found – a love that was both beyond him and also flowing within and from him.  A love that Coltrane described as leading him to a richer, fuller, and more productive life, a sense of inner peace, and a gift he must share with the world. 

I find it interesting that when you read the stories of people’s spiritual awakenings often you find them describing being overwhelmed by God’s love. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was overwhelmed by the creative and transforming nature of love, so much that it changed his entire approach to life, ministry and activism and left him exclaiming, “Love is the only way!”

Or Mother Teresa who after a dark night of the soul proclaimed,

It is not how much we do,

But home much love we put in the doing.

It is not how much we give,

But how much love we put in the giving.

Even our own, George Fox would describe his awakening by saying,

I cried to the Lord, “Why should I be thus, seeing I was never addicted to commit those evils? And the Lord answered, “That it was needful I should have a sense of all conditions, how else should I speak to all conditions!” and in this I saw the infinite love of God. I saw, also, that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but an infinite ocean of light and LOVE, which flowed over the ocean of darkness. In that also I saw the infinite love of God, and I had great openings.

Each of these examples speak to a similar experience and awakening to an new understanding of love. 

This is what Richard Rohr articulates so well.  

You get more love by letting it flow through you…If you love, you will become more loving. If you practice patience, you will become more patient. If you stop the Divine Flow, you will be stopped up...Love is not something you can bargain for, nor is it something you can attain or work up to—because love is your very structural and essential identity...

When you are living in conscious connection with this Loving Inner Presence, you are in your True Self. God is forever united to this love within you; it is your soul, the part of you that always says yes to God. God always sees God in you—and “cannot disown God’s own self” (2 Timothy 2:13).

Last week, in my sermon I introduced the idea of “Radical Metanoia” which I described as going beyond our own minds and into the mind of God.  Part of that metanoia is this living in conscious connection with this Loving Inner Presence.

What we as Quakers call our Inner Light or Inner Christ, what theologians have described as the Imago Dei or the Image of God, or what Richard Rohr went as far as to say is our True Self. 

It has been said and sung – They will know we are Christian by our love – by our deepest essence.  It has existed within us from our beginning, but sadly we struggle too often with embracing, recognizing, and living in to it.

Returning to our text for this morning from the first epistle of John, it seems the author may have been writing to the Greater Church instead of a specific church like many of the other epistles – or at least he was writing to a larger region of churches, possibly the Persians. Hearing it again moments ago, it is clear that the author’s words are relevant to us today. 

LOVE, what this Valentine’s Day is all about, is also the essence of our life and faith. In the summary of 1 John the author makes that so clear.

Let me read it again, and I ask that you listen very carefully for all 15 times in only 6 verses that LOVE is emphasized:

7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

It is hard not to hear the importance of love in this summary - whether it is God’s love for us, our love for one another, or the love that dwells deeply within each of us.  

So, on this day, let us celebrate this perfect love – our essence, or essential identity – that Love Supreme…and may our lives become an incarnate – life-giving, and so needed Valentine to our world, today!

Now, as we enter this time of waiting worship, take a moment to consider the following queries:

1.     How has love impacted my spiritual awakening?

2.     Who do I struggle to love and share the love of God with? How might I show love to them, today?

3.     Would others say my essential identity is love? If not, what could I do about that?