At our picnic eucharist this weekend (let there be sunshine!), we will hear the passage from Luke that encourages to trust that God is always before us, leading us either willingly or kicking and screaming into the path of healing and joy. This reading calls us to question how we make decisions as a church. What informs our values? Is it obedience to the past, or deep attention to the stirring of the Spirit as the theological furnishings in the present house is rearranged? In Matthew 13:52, we hear the parable of the householder who becomes a disciple and brings out of the storehouse treasures old and new. I love discovering underneath something worn the possibility of something new. And I love seeing in something new the thing that will become tradition. We don’t have to force this. It is a natural process. We should neither have to rush this process nor delay it. More praying, less arguing; more creativity and “tinkering” and less fearful withholding and the erection of barriers. As we move from dualism to a sense of the whole world of God’s creation and love, we are invited to be less divisive and more a force of reconciliation. We need to stop thinking of darkness and light as opposites, but see them as balances for each other. No more us and them, no more orthodox and heretical. We remain in a state of holy chaos becoming order becoming chaos again as long as we are part of this material universe. We are the human bridges; we can model the Way of peace which is both sacrificial and hopeful of resurrection. All is in process, dying and living being ever revealed in new forms. This is the world in which we live within the embracing love of God.
We need to learn how to trust that the Holy Spirit is at work within our institutions and within our lives. When I remember that, my serenity is restored. It is not up to me to save anything; the Holy is at work always and all ways. We can slow the process down by digging in our heels, “kicking against the pricks,” in the words of the old translation of Acts 9:4. We know how well that worked for Paul, who became completely bound to the inclusive, welcoming, demanding vision of Jesus. Even if we fight the innovation and passion of the Spirit, we will only blind ourselves to possibility of life lived inside the miracle of Jesus, who brings the holy Trinity of Love, Life and Passion to those who would become his hands in the world.
Let us consider the lilies over the summer, whose beauty is confined to a season but whose seeds blow to other soil. Let us consider the ravens, soaring through the air, unencumbered, yet making new nests. Let us remember the community we serve, leaving behind our own needs to fulfill the hopes and dream we do not even know yet. If we trust the Holy One, even as we offer up everything in holy sacrifice, Jesus says that we will receive more than we could ask or imagine. May the Holy Spirit bless your dreaming.
Here is an article on what the Church of England is working on with regards to buildings: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/churchcare/making-changes-your-building-andchurchyard