Union Church

April 27, 2008
Acts 17: 22-28

A week ago Friday night and all day Saturday, John and I went to a continuing education event sponsored by the United Theological College. The workshop was about Progressive Christianity at the Grass Roots and was led by Hal Taussig, who both pastors a church and teaches at Union Theological College in New York City.

Taussig found five characteristics in this new grass roots movement within Christianity.
1.Spiritual expressiveness and vitality in Worship.
2. Intellectual Integrity.
3. Attention to and respect for gender and sexual orientation.
4. A proactive interest in respecting other religions.
5. Respect for the environment and social justice.

Notice the deep respect that flows through these criteria.
Deep respect for humanity, our belief systems, our life together and creation.

The fourth item on Hal’s list, which is a deep respect for other religious traditions, coincides with our reading from the Acts of the Apostles today.

Paul, upon visiting Athens, takes the time to observe the multitude of religious expressions of the people: The multitude of religious expressions that have found their way to the capital of the Hellenistic world. He takes the time to look beyond the superficial level of a mere tourist. He respects their religious traditions enough to learn about them. And in his investigation, something catches his eye: The empty pillar to the unknown God.

So Paul addresses the gathering crowd at the Areopagus. And with respect for their strong religiosity he borrows directly from their religious intuition that he finds there on the empty pedestal to an unknown God. Paul lays out his vision of the unseen God, Israel’s creator who brings redemption to the world with the man Jesus whom God raised.

It is interesting that Christianity has always borrowed from other traditions, incorporating their rituals, their festivals and insights. We sometimes forget this. The Christmas tree has come from pre-Christian Europe. The Easter egg from Pre-Christian Eurasia. The date of Christmas comes from the Roman winter solstice, and so the birth of the Sun god and the birth of the Son of God are joined. The word Easter comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for the Goddess of Spring.

Progressive Christianity borrows from our modern culture. Yoga, eastern meditation, and relaxation techniques are becoming a significant part of our cultural experience. Progressive churches are including meditations in our worship. Even though there is a long history of monastic meditation in our tradition, this new emphasis is coming through Buddhist, Hindu, Zen, Yogic and Celtic influences.

When John and I were married 5 years ago we were given a Tibetan Singing Bowl as a wedding present from one of our clergy friends. Later, we each chose our own singing bowl for our office in order to stir in prayers for our own and each other’s church. We now regularly use the bowl for groups prayers, learnings and celebrations at our Study groups and contemporary service.

We don’t have to become Buddhists or Hindus to benefit from the spiritual intuition of the singing bowl just as Paul didn’t have to bow down to idols of stone to make use of the spiritual intuition of the Hellenistic world.

Progressive Christianity respects other faith traditions and borrows what brings blessing.

John 14: 15- 21,23b

It’s spring. The kids and adults are out riding on their bicycles.

Remember learning how to ride a bicycle for the first time – without the training wheels, without the grownup’s hand on the seat or handle bars, without someone running behind you?

Remember the mixture of fear and freedom?

Remember having the experience of saying, “Oh, I’m on my own now!”
and immediately falling and crashing?

But once you’ve had that feeling of freedom, there is no going back.
So you get back on that bike and you ride again.

Do you remember teaching this gift of freedom to the next generation or for that matter, the third generation?

Remember the mixture of pride and accomplishment?
But do you also remember a little sadness because they are no longer babies?

Remember when the kids moved out or should I say, finally moved out?
Remember the mixture of pride and yet, trepidation?
How they will do it without me?

The truth is, the parent, the teacher, the leader, each have to go for the child, the learner, the follower to take their rightful place.

Life and learning must be passed on generation to generation.

This, of course, is what’s happening in John’s gospel reading.

Jesus must go. Jesus must exit for the Spirit to come. Jesus is the time-limited helper, like parents and teachers and heroes who must give way to a greater power: A greater power that can surpass the limitations of time and space. Jesus, the time limited, specific human being, needs to go so that a new helper, an eternal helper, the Spirit of Truth can guide us.

The disciples can’t keep depending upon Jesus. They can’t keep just copying Jesus. They must move into new worlds and new situations with a new helper. They must act in new ways.

There is a part of us that doesn’t want to accept this truth. We want to hold on to what is comfortable and stable. We want to hold on to the good old days. In other words, when someone else was was responsible, someone else was paying the bills and providing life’s necessities. But we all know the necessity of each generation discovering the power to succeed, discovering the spirit of our Christian faith, discovering the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Progressive Christianity focuses on the encounter with the Spirit of Truth that John reminds us is given in the absence of Jesus. It looks in many places to develop new spiritual practices.

Surprisingly enough for some people, one such place is O magazine. The Oprah Magazine’s May issue has an entire section of 28 pages entitled “The Spiritual Connection.” There are six full length articles on spirituality along with 28 individual responses by leaders in the religious, artistic and humanities field. They respond to the question, “What’s a moment that defines spirituality for you?”

Robert Thurman, an Indo-Tibetan scholar gave this answer,
“One day while working on the translation of an ancient text something hit me. The term which was usually translated to mean “awakening mind” actually meant a spirit that bursts forth with love and compassion for all beings.
For the first time, spirituality actually meant something for me. Thoughts, words and actions are spiritual only if universal love is the motive, compassion the cause, happiness the aim and responsibility the active principle. You are being religious when you believe in Jesus or Buddha or any other truly holy being, but wow, you’re being spiritual when you become the loving, compassionate, caring being they all inspire you to be.”

Progressive Christianity learns how to ride the bicycle of faith for our time, how to strike out on our own in the brave new Post-Christian world.

Progressive Christianity learns through worship and study and prayer and community, the new way to do what Mother Teresa observed, “It’s not how much we do, but how much Love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much we put in the giving.”
This again is the practice of deep respect.