January 27 - Us

January 27, 2013

Series Title: Me, Us, Them

Anchor:  tetrahedron

Frame:  Us!

Thread:  Phoenix Affirmations

Experience: An invitation to be a part of a sacred and safe community

            When I wrote at the beginning of this series I said: “The transformation of SCUCC into an Urban Abbey is going to take us from a place where like-minded people gather on Sunday morning to experience lively worship into a community of people committed to each other and committed to becoming fully human. Full humanity is what we become when we nurture our best selves, and open ourselves to the Divine presence. It means living our lives in search of a balance, and it means doing this every day of our lives. It is Sunday plus plus plus.” The crux of the Urban Abbey is that it is an intentional community. In ancient days (and even today) when someone wished to join the community at an abbey vows were said, clothes were changed, and one’s life was given over to the schedule and rule of the cloister. Our abbey will still invite people to be a part of an intentional community though without the habit, tonsure, or intensive vows! Nonetheless, I believe that the beating heart of the Urban Abbey will be the intention to share our lives in an attitude of deep hospitality as we seek to find creative and vibrant ways to follow Christ in today’s world. The “Us” of the urban Abbey is this community.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13 (The Message [alt.])
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,  Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing God directly just as we are known completely! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

          We most often hear these verses read at wedding as if Paul were describing the characteristics of a married relationship. But Paul was not writing to a couple getting married. He was writing to a church, a gathering of followers of The Way of Jesus. The best we can do is read between the lines, but it seems Paul felt compelled to write to these people (more than once!) to remind them of what they were striving to be. They came together not to compete with all other associations in society. They didn’t have to be the wealthiest, the biggest, the meanest, or the most successful club in town. They came together to love and be loved. Sometimes we forget that we are called to be different than the rest of the world, and that this difference is love, eternal, unbounded, unimaginable love. Will I like the feel of the Message for this passage I also like the NRSV for verse 7, which reflects the original emphasis of the Greek more clearly: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” “All things” declares the universal scope of this love we are talking about. Paul is reminding the believers at Corinth that they are a very special kind of community, one built on and sustained by a Love that transforms them and changes the world.

          And so I hear Paul inviting us at SCUCC back into loving community. Sometimes being part of a church is an almost lackadaisical affair. When asked membership vows the answer seems to be more often “Sure, why not?” than an intentional “I will, with the help of God!” As we move toward evolving into the Urban Abbey, I believe we must ask the question clearly: “We want you to be a part of this particular kind of community. Will you join us in this endeavor?” And not just for newcomers. Maybe more especially for those of us who have been here for years. And that invitation is fulcrum.

          The experience of invitation is the experience of feeling welcomed, truly welcomed and wanted. It is the feeling of being proposed to. It is the feeling of being accepted for every fiber of who you are (and not in spite of who you are!).

Laurel S. shared with a story that captures the essence of this feeling:

Pastor Renee once shared this story of her childhood:

When she was very young, she took cello lessons at school (in the days when music was not only offered but the school would loan you an instrument). The instrument was nearly as tall as she, but Renee gladly hauled it home and back, practicing what she had learned. Her brothers made faces when she would screech out her notes, and she was never sure that the sound she made was the right one.

One day in music class, the teacher asked Renee to play her little piece. Renee was afraid, but she did her best; it didn’t sound great. When she finished, her classmates didn’t seem impressed, but the teacher said, “now, I’d like you to play it again.” Rene was really scared then – had she messed it up? But once again she put bow to strings and began the little melody. Only this time, the teacher accompanied her on piano, adding chords and runs and rhythm. Finally, it was music!

Sometimes we forget that we’re not out there singing a solo. When all we can hear is our own small, unsteady voice, it can sound pitiful! But always, underneath it all, is a whole chorus of other voices singing backup. In reality, of course, we’re all just singing backup, but we've got earplugs that keep the other voices muted. If we listen, we can hear them, and we’ll know that we don’t have to carry the whole production alone.

In this story, Renee’s music was not derided or criticized. The teacher took her music, and added her own talent to it until together it was transformed!  That is the Ministry of Hospitality to a T! The teacher welcomed and honored Renee’s gift as it was. That is the element of community that we are hoping to engender as an Urban Abbey. Paul called it Love.

(I need some help weaving both our tetrahedron and the Phoenix Affirmations into this week’s fabric. Maybe we can build one of those larger pyramids using all of our little ones as a visual metaphor of Us!)

So our challenge this “Us” Sunday is to extend to every person that welcoming, accepting invitation that receives and honors their personhood. That’s all. It’s like a great big, group hug. Can we invite everyone to metaphorically enter the Urban Abbey where hopefully we learn that Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.