The Universe is the Body of God: A Sermon for the First Sunday of the Season of Creation

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Please join me in an experiment. This may sound cliché, but I want you to go to your happy place. I think we all have a place that we like to escape to, away from the hustle and bustle of life. It’s what the mystics call a thin place, where the space between heaven and earth is done away with. For many of us, it’s out in nature, perhaps on a hilltop overlooking a valley. Maybe it’s beside the ocean, lake or river. For others it could be in the heart of the forest. Wherever it is, I want you to go there now.

Sit up straight, preferably with your feet planted on the floor or ground, although sitting cross-legged is ok too. Close your eyes. Take a couple of deep breaths – in and out, in and then out. Now allow your mind to take your body and your senses to your special place. Let the scenery flow over you. See the sun glistening on the water or the mist shrouding the hilltop. Smell the earthy richness of the forest floor. Perhaps you can taste the salty air in your mouth. What do you hear – seagulls crying, water spilling over rocks, nothing but the sound of your own breath and heartbeat? Feel the firmness of the ground beneath you, the warmth of the sun on your face, the goosebumps on your flesh as the cool wind touches you. Who is with you – are you alone or with others? What are you doing – is it some creative activity like painting, writing, composing, sewing? Or are you just being still?

Allow yourself to linger here for a moment.

Now, what does that place evoke in you? What did you feel? What words would you use to describe that experience? Perhaps you would use words like peace, tranquility, grounded. Perhaps there are no words…just a feeling, and that’s fine too. Maybe for you it’s more of a vibe, a hum, or a resonance that you feel coursing around, in and through you. The name that I give to my experience of these types of places is connectedness.

I have vivid childhood memories of laying on my back staring up at a night sky so black with darkness, yet so full of stars that you feel like you are being sucked into the night. I remember doing the same with the northern lights one night as a child and again as a young adult in Northern Alberta. On both instances I was with a friend as we sat silently gazing at the mysterious lights dancing above us. They felt so close that I thought if I reached out my hand I could touch the light, but of course I was so transfixed that I could not move anyway. In those moments I felt a deep connection with the world around me. It was as if I was no longer just staring out at creation, but that I was peering deep into the heart of the mystery of God, the mystery of me and us. In gazing out I was really gazing in.

Christian theologians have a name for this: incarnation.

We tend to limit talk of the incarnation to Christmas, to a baby in a manger, God made flesh. But that’s only part of what the incarnation is about. Yes, the word literally means in or of the flesh, and the concept of the incarnation in Christianity generally refers to the Son of God, Second person of the Trinity, taking on human form in Jesus of Nazareth, an obscure first century Jewish itinerant rabbi.

There is, though, a long line of thought in the Church that acknowledges that this was not the beginning of incarnation but, as Richard Rohr says, only when we first started to take notice of incarnation. In fact, if you look at the beginnings of our passages from Genesis and John’s Gospel you see that incarnation has been a reality from the beginning:

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” Genesis 1:1-3

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” John 1:1-3

Both the writers of Genesis and John bear witness that in the beginning God created light and all that is. The light that is created is not mere sunlight from a star, for only afterwards are day and night separated. The light referenced here is believed by many Jewish scholars to refer life itself, the light of existence.

It’s hard not to see John referencing this passage in his own beginning. The key word in John’s creation story is the word ‘word’, or logos. This word logos was already in wide use when John took it and used it for his purposes. It’s a philosophical term used to describe the divine reason that brought the world into being and holds it all together. Think divine spark, the flame that ignites the bang, being itself. Think quarks, Higgs bosons, and other subatomic mysteries. Jesus is more than the “word of God” made flesh – Jesus is the Christ; the always was and always will be light of creation; the alpha and omega; beginning and end; the source of life. All that is, is from Christ. That’s some pretty heavy stuff!

Incarnation, is rooted in creation itself, an embodiment, enfleshment, “enmattement”. God is the ground of being from which all life springs and flourishes. Some Christian theologians have gone so far as to say that the universe is the body of God. Creation itself is the first act of incarnation and Jesus is the fulfilment of that incarnation. In Jesus, God enters completely into creation, moves into the neighbourhood, thus fulfilling the incarnation begun at the moment of creation. As Richard Rohr reminds us, “Incarnation is the oldest Christian story. Through Christ, God is pouring God’s self into all of creation. To be a Christian, then, is to see Christ in everyone and everything.”

The Season of Creation is a time of focused reflection on this unfathomable mystery of presence. Words cannot do justice so instead we use the sacraments to try and get at this enigmatic truth. Bread, wine, water, oils and candlelight become a means of proclaiming the truth of God’s presence, not only in this particular piece of bread or font full of water, but in all wheat, water, earth and people. We know that all life, all of it, is sacred. Every rock, river, ocean, tree, cat, dog, squirrel, codfish, seal and every person is holy and comes from God, finding its source in Christ, who is all and in all. The current environmental crisis that we face as a human species should be an affront to us, a scandal. For us this is a theological issue. We should be protesting the loudest and working the hardest to right this wrong. So what will we do?

Rev. Robert Cooke is the Rector of St. Mark’s. This sermon is heavily influenced by the work of Richard Rohr. You can find out more about Father Rohr’s work at the Centre for Contemplation and Action.

 

Futurefitting the Church: Part Two

Over the past two years during the season of Lent, St. Mark’s has hosted a series of talks on the ‘Church of the Future’. The speakers were from a variety of religious backgrounds and diverse perspectives. The speakers were both ordained and lay, female and male, gay and straight. We also heard from important voices outside the Church, people who once identified as Christian but now identify as agnostic. These people represent the youngest, most creative and innovative voices in religion and spirituality on the North East Avalon area of the province:

Kevin Hoddinott – Pathways Community Church

Tony Bidgood – St. Theresa’s Parish and Redemptorist Order

Jason Normore – Local Church St. John’s

Rebecca Pike – St. James’s United Church and The Go Project

Katherine Brown – Bethesda Church and Generous Space LGBTQ+ Group

Miriam Bowlby – Cochrane Street United Church

Ashley Ruby – St. Mary’s Church Organist

Andrew and Ainsley Hawthorn – Secular Humanist

Dave Drinkwalter – Reunion St. John’s

They were tasked with reimagining the church of the future. What should the church of the future look like? Their goal was to move beyond the talk of decline and loss and the dismal future of the Church, to the possibilities and opportunities of the church of the future. Here is part two of a brief breakdown of what they had to say to us.

Community: Spiritual and Relational

Another marker of what it means to be the church is the coming together of the community in prayer, singing, reading of scripture, learning, confession, forgiveness, communion and sending forth. This act of coming together creates what the New Testament calls koinonia – fellowship, or what is best called community. It points to what scientists and sociologists are now telling us that as human beings we are designed emotionally, genetically and neurologically to be with others. Sadly, we live in a world where that interconnectedness – being with other actual living breathing human beings in community – is constantly being eroded through economic and technological forces. In an age where loneliness and despair are at epidemic proportions, the coming togetherness that the churches offer is more important now than ever.

All of our speakers spoke of the important role of the church as a place of community, both now and into the future. Kevin reminds us that the church is where people get together to ask the big questions of life: why am I here? What is my purpose? How do I make sense of suffering? Andrew and Ainsley said that the church is one of the few places that people can gather to discuss important moral-ethical issues, whether that’s in a church building or at a pub or coffee shop. Many people take great comfort in coming together with others in worship, being affirmed and challenged in the presence of other people. But again we have to ask why, in an age of seeking spirituality and community, fewer and fewer people look to the church? As Miriam reminded us, the nones (those with no religious affiliation), the dones (those who used to be affiliated but are now done with church), the spiritual but not religious and the ever-growing numbers who do not seek out the community offered by the church point to the need to reimagine the church.

Perhaps the most challenging vision of the church, but one that holds the most potential to resonate with the people today, is the one presented by Dave and Jason. They, and the faith communities they lead, are radically shaped around discipleship and the table. First and foremost, the church is a community of disciples, intentional followers of Jesus. That means that the church does not just gather on Sunday for one hour a week, but is with us wherever we go and in whatever we do. Nowhere do we see that radical discipleship clearer than at the table. Jesus’ ministry was one of food and table fellowship. He ate with everyone, sinners and saints alike, but for his efforts he was deemed a glutton and a drunkard. His was a ministry of reconciliation, of bringing people together in feasting and celebration. Even the healing miracles he performed were about removing barriers to community. As his disciples we are called to do the same. We are literally called to be a community of gluttons and partyers.

Actually at the heart of our worship and community is a table and a simple meal shared between friends. It is sad that years of religious and cultural trappings have hidden the idea that what we do in worship is share in a meal. How do we regain the joy and wonder of the feasting ministry of Jesus? How do we turn every table into a sacred encounter? How do we take this idea of table fellowship and kingdom feasting beyond the four walls of our buildings?

Mission: Here, Now, Local

Perhaps no other buzzword is buzzing quite so much in the church right now as mission. Although there is a lot of talk there is no real, clear definition of what is meant by mission. Basically, mission is the doing of faith. Stated in grammatically incorrect fashion, mission is faithing.

Katherine pointed to the prayer that Jesus prayed for his disciples the night before he died as giving a glimpse of the mission of God. Jesus prayed for his disciples, and all his disciples that would come after them. He prayed that they would share in the glory, unity and love of the father and the son. As Jesus and the father are one, so should the disciples be united in that same love. The true mark of the disciples of Jesus is not doctrinal, liturgical or denominational purity, but love. This agape, selfless love, is seen lived out in the life of Jesus. Jesus shows us God and, at the same time, shows us what it means to be truly human. Jesus shows us how God intends for us to live together in community, how we organize ourselves politically and economically. This is another way of saying the kingdom of God.

Unfortunately, the church has equated mission and the kingdom of God with converting people to the Christian religion, and as some kind of divine escape plan. Mission was reduced to evangelism, converting the heathen masses to our Western version of Christianity. Miriam reminded us that mission is something that is happening right here in our midst. She said that the church is a community grounded in community, in neighbourhoods. Our mission is to seek the well-being of those communities and neighbourhoods. We used to be good at this. We built schools, hospitals and universities. Wherever there was a need, the church rallied to meet it. But it seems we have lost our way, shrunk back from the needs of the communities around us. We find ourselves holed up in buildings, longing for the good old days when the church had more cultural clout. Miriam urged us to build relationships and partner with groups that are already doing good work in our neighbourhoods. Kevin, too, said that the church is at its best when it adds value to peoples’ lives, when it makes peoples’ lives and the world better.

Jason spoke to the idea that God’s Kingdom or ultimate salvation lies somewhere other than here in this life. God’s mission is not some grand escape plan from earth to heaven. The incarnation reminds us that God enters into time and space, takes up the physicality of creation. The divine plan is not an evacuation of the righteous to heaven and the casting of the sinners to hell. It is instead the making new of this world, the only one we have. The church for Jason, then, is the followers of Jesus, seeking to be their best, right where they are, with each other. The church is hyper-local, here and now, and relational. All of our speakers agreed that the church should be shaped by love, partnerships and service…not programs, hierarchical structures, and protecting the status quo.

The Future is Young and Creative

Rebecca, who is herself only 30 and has years of youth ministry experience, said that the church needs to make a place for youth in the church. We don’t do that by starting youth groups, playing games and introducing sleek liturgies and hip music to worship. We do it by giving them a voice and a place of ministry. The church needs to find ways to allow youth to take up leadership roles in our parishes. Not in token roles like synod delegates, but on our vestries, finance committees and strategic planning groups. They will bring new energy, fresh eyes and…brace yourselves…change. She said it’s important the church reflect the modern world both liturgically and theologically. Young people are best suited to help us reflect those ways of thinking and communicating much better than us older folk.

Dave and the folks at Reunion St. John’s also reminded us of the importance of creativity. They define themselves as a community creating a culture of adventure and innovation. Adventure and innovation are not necessarily words associated with church but they, and other upstart churches, are creatively pursuing mission. The church needs to recover risk-taking mission and not be afraid of failure. The days of large cumbersome denominations and dioceses are numbered, but the future of small, local, informal, loving, committed and daring faith communities is wide open.