“Spirits Renewed”
Isaiah 43:1-2, 18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
Rev. Dr. Deborah L. Clark
September 20, 2015
They were already hard at work when I arrived at 7:05 am on Wednesday morning. Smiling faces, bright red t-shirts that said “Lowe’s Hero Project,” a huge pile of dirt that would soon by joined by twin mountains of mulch and crushed stone. The early crew started assembling benches. As I watched the benches take shape I couldn’t visualize how the field of giant weeds behind Edwards Hall would ever be a place people would want to sit. That was the goal for the day: to transform the weeds into a healing garden for the Veterans counseling center we host.
More volunteers in bright red shirts arrived, joined by folks from Edwards Church and the Vet Center. By 9 am most of the weeds were gone. By the time we broke for pizza, the plants had been laid out. By 3 o’clock the mountains of crushed stone and mulch had been reduced to mere hills. By the time I left for a meeting at 5:30, the garden was already stunning in its beauty. A rainbow of colors in the flowering plants, a walking path, benches, trellises. There’s more to be done; what we accomplished in one day felt like a miracle.
“Behold,” God proclaims, “new things I now declare….I will make a way in the wasteland.” And our community responds, “Come, walk this path of love.”
*
A few years ago, as we were starting up what would become Open Spirit, I received an email from a teacher who had just retired from Stapleton Elementary School. She had seen our sign and read a blurb in the TAB and was intrigued. We met on a June afternoon, and I began describing our vision for the center. Rosanne explained that she is Jewish, a member of Temple Beth Sholom, and also that she finds spiritual nourishment through yoga and mindfulness practices. I emphasized our desire that the spiritual center would be genuinely multi-faith, and she trusted me.
Rosanne leapt in with both feet—now she’s on the Steering Committee, Coordinator of Community Connections, and Director of the Nourishing Teachers-Strengthening Classrooms project. She has made a huge impact on Open Spirit, bringing ideas, enthusiasm, creativity and commitment. She has made a huge impact on the lives of children and teachers in Framingham, developing a program that teaches mindfulness techniques to challenged kids. And she is quick to say what a huge impact Open Spirit has made in her life—a way to use her gifts in retirement to help children and adults, and also a renewing of her own spiritual life. “I’ve learned so much about so many faiths,” she says. “And I’ve learned so much about my own Judaism through Open Spirit. Open Spirit has helped me feel more connected to my Jewish roots than I ever have before.”
“Behold, new things I now declare,” God says. “ A stream in the desert.” Through our Open Spirit ministry, we respond, “Drink deep and be renewed.”
*
Last week, our Wednesday and Thursday Bible Study classes gathered to begin our exploration of the Gospel according to Matthew. We started at the very beginning—a strange genealogy followed by a strange story of a virgin birth. We noted that Matthew quotes Isaiah, who makes reference to a virgin giving birth. We also noted that Matthew was using a Greek language version of Isaiah, and the Hebrew original is more accurately translated as “a young girl will bear a child.” What does that mean for the story we tell at Christmastime? What does it mean for our faith?
We had a rich conversation about the virgin birth, with a wide variety of perspectives and insights. Eventually we concluded that the question, “Is the virgin birth literally true?” isn’t the most important one to ask. Instead, we asked ourselves, “What deeper truth is Matthew trying to convey in the way he tells the story of Jesus’ birth?” We began to talk about how, in Jesus, God was doing something very old and also something radically new. Suddenly the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel brought our faith to life in a new way.
“I am about to do a new thing,” God declares. “Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Yes, we answer. Our eyes and our hearts are open to perceive your new thing.
***
More than a decade ago, our congregation gathered for a series of after-church visioning conversations. We reflected on our history, our core values, who we were at that time and what we felt called to do. From those conversations, three verbs emerged: Renewing, Embracing, Engaging. We gather together, we said, to renew our spirits, to embrace one another with God’s love, to engage in caring for God’s world. Each of these three verbs, we agreed, was critical to who we are and how we are called to live.
A lot has happened in ten years. The world is a different place. The role of the church in society is changing rapidly. Our congregation has new members, new ministries, new challenges. What do these words mean for us today? Over the next three weeks, I will offer my reflections on renewing, embracing and engaging— on how we live out these verbs in our life together.
“Renewing our spirits.” When I hear these words, I think of worship. We gather on Sunday mornings to lift our spirits as we praise God. We are enlivened by music, we feel the peace of quiet prayer, we are hopefully challenged and inspired by the Word of God. We leave renewed, our spirits strengthened to face another week.
Spiritual renewal begins with worship–but worship is only the beginning. All week long, we seek renewal for our spirit. For this sermon, I chose three examples from outside of worship–Bible Study, Open Spirit, a new garden–to lift up insights into what these words mean for us today.
Spiritual renewal is about asking questions. Our faith is not a static set of beliefs and rules we are supposed to accept. Our faith is always moving, always changing as our lives and our world move and change. We learn about a translation issue, and we ask hard questions about the nature of our sacred scripture. We face personal tragedy, and we ask, “Where is God in all this suffering?” We see an overwhelming refugee crisis, and we ask what it means to worship a God of love. Questions that have no good answers. It takes courage to ask these questions, for they challenge the comfort and familiarity of old established beliefs. When we dare to ask questions, we move to a more mature faith, one that gets us to the heart of the matter, one that is solid enough to sustain us through the ambiguities of life.
Spiritual renewal is about broadening and deepening. Through Open Spirit and through our congregation’s commitment to interfaith understanding, we have so many opportunities to learn about other faiths. This summer, we shared in a Muslim Iftar, an evening breaking of the fast during Ramadan–and experienced the power of that shared meal to draw community together. Last Monday, we celebrated a Rosh Hashanah dinner, eating apples as we honored our connectedness. In a few weeks, in worship, we’ll celebrate World Communion Sunday, breaking breads from many lands to strengthen our bond with sisters and brothers around the world. Each of these meals has their own rich history, their own theological nuances; all of them proclaim a profound truth that we are connected, children of one sacred spirit. Broadening our perspective as we share these diverse meals doesn’t water down our faith; it leads us to a deeper and richer experience of the holiness of our own sacred communion meal.
Spiritual renewal is about doing. On Wednesday in the garden we didn’t read scripture, only instructions on the paint can as we painted the trellises. We didn’t sing hymns; in fact we listened all day long to a country music station. We yanked weeds and shoveled rocks instead of sitting in a circle in prayer. And yet the day was a profound expression of faith–faith that good people can come together and make a difference, faith that transformation is possible, faith that the beauty of God’s creation can be a source of healing and peace in our broken world. Our work that day was an enacted prayer; the still-evolving garden is a visual sermon.
Spiritual renewal is about daring to ask hard questions, trusting that beyond our uncertainty is the heart of our faith. Spiritual renewal is about broadening our perspective and moving deeper into the rich soil of our own faith. Spiritual renewal is about acting on our faith that God’s healing spirit is at work, acting on our conviction that, with God’s help, what we do matters.
Every week, we gather in worship, to refresh and renew our spirits to face the coming week. Every week, we gather in small and large groups, to renew our spirits by asking hard questions, by broadening and deepening our perspective, by working to bring healing and hope to our community and our world.
What does it mean for you, today, to renew your spirit? What are the hard questions you need to ask? How can you take a broader view? What is the work you are called to undertake?
“Behold, new things I now declare–a way in the wasteland; come, walk my path of love. A stream in the desert; drink deep and be renewed.” Amen.