Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42:6-9 (New Revised Standard Version)
6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.
Sermon: “Concluding Comments about the Rising Church"
(Last sermon in a series on the book Weird Church)
My best friend in high school was Albanian Orthodox, and I have a wonderful memory of dancing at her wedding. One dance in particular was very memorable: the band started playing a song I didn’t recognize and suddenly everyone was up on their feet--from the youngest preschooler to the oldest grandmother. They arrived on the dance floor in groups of 2 or 3, often with one person leading another by the hand. Then, with one person leading the whole group, they all formed a circle holding hands and started doing a fairly simple dance step--it was something like 3 or 4 steps to the right followed by a step or two left, a partial turn, and then repeat. For good or for ill, I’ve never been one to sit out a dance, so despite not having any idea what I was doing, I jumped right in with everyone else, and I actually got the hang of it because I kept holding the hands of the people next to me, and I kept watching the leader’s feet!
But then the pace of the music increased, and everyone started dancing faster and faster, and the circle became a spiral, and everyone was laughing and cheering and I kept holding onto the hands of the people on either side of me and watching the leader, and although I probably stepped on a few feet in the process, no one seemed to mind--it was absolutely wonderful!! Such a fun celebration!!
The experience of that dance popped into my mind when I read the last few chapters of this book. The authors begin chapter 26 by quoting the pastor of a church in New York City that has been trying new things. Here’s what the pastor says:
“This project has helped me see what God has been working on and recognize God’s invitation to me into what God is up to. It feels like dancing with the Triune God who is already dancing in a circle to beautiful music. My project has become a search for the dancing God and led me to join God’s dance… My prayer changed from discerning God’s will or asking God to work on my plan-- to keeping up the dance with God.” Pastor Paul Moon quoted on p. 161 of Weird Church.
This image of dancing with God is a good one, isn’t it?! I wonder if that image was in the prophet Isaiah’s mind when he wrote today’s Scripture reading, particularly verse 6, where the prophet, speaking on God’s behalf, says, “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand…” I have taken you by the hand. Even if you’re not a confident dancer, if a good dancer takes you by the hand and leads, not only do you pick up the steps fairly quickly, you also recover quickly from any mis-steps you make. AND before you know it, you are smiling and laughing and enjoying the dance.
Over the past few months, going through this book, Weird Church, we have looked at many different ways churches can do ministry. Some may have been far outside our comfort zone and felt very weird; some may have felt more doable because they are adaptations of what we’ve already experienced. The idea isn’t to pick something at random, try it, and hope it succeeds. The idea is for all of us--as individuals and as a church family--to be in a spirit of prayer. To ask God to take us by the hand and lead us in the dance, and to trust that God will show us what we need to learn as we step out in faith onto the dancefloor.
An interesting thing about today’s Scripture passage from Isaiah that I have never noticed before--despite having read it dozens of times over the years--is how many times the pronoun “I” is used. The prophet is relaying the words of God to the people of Israel. In this passage, God is calling them to be a light to the nations. To open the eyes of that are blind. To bring out of prison those who sit in darkness. Scholars say this passage is reminding the people of Israel of the promise God made to their ancestors Abraham and Sarah in Genesis chapter 12, verses 1-3. God told them, “through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.” In short, God is reminding the people of their mission, the purpose for which God created them and put them on this earth: to shine the light of God’s love and justice out into the world--to reach everyone.
It’s the same mission that Jesus had--and passed on to his disciples and to the church and to us. We are to follow God in the dance and invite others to join us--to shine the light of God’s love and justice, light that opens people’s eyes and frees them from the forces in the world that constrict their lives and leave them suffering in darkness. There is nothing more fulfilling that we can do in the world.
But back to the pronoun “I.” God does not just give us this mission and then disappear. By using the pronoun “I” 8 times in these 4 short verses, God assures us, “I am” right there with you. In the present moment, I am leading you. If you take my hand, I will open your eyes and heart and I will free you from whatever prison you are in, AND I will use you to open other people’s eyes and hearts and free them from whatever prisons they are in, whatever forces bind them and stop them from being their full selves. All you need to do, says God, is keep hold of my hand and the dance of love and justice will spring forth in new ways and accomplish all the blessing I intended from the beginning.
How might we and our church change if we saw ourselves first and foremost as being led in a new dance of love and justice by God? Would we enjoy it more? Would we be less fearful of trying new things?
The last two glimpses of the rising church described in this book are very interesting. One is called “Moment of Grace,” and it is described in Chapter 25. In this chapter, the authors point out that not every faith community lasts forever. In fact, they point out that “every church that [the Apostle] Paul planted in what is today Turkey vanished centuries ago. And yet those faith communities are our spiritual ancestors. We are direct descendants.” The point being that even if a particular church building closes its doors or a particular mission trip ends, the church is the people--and, and as long as people’s hearts remain open, the light of God’s love and justice continues shining through people’s lives and bringing new blessings wherever the people go from there.
The last glimpse of the rising church is called “holocracy,” and it refers to a way a church is governed. In a holocracy, there is no management hierarchy. Every group or ministry in the church operates autonomously, without being micromanaged by another group or person. (Weird Church, p. 172). But the most interesting thing about this model, I think, is its focus on spirituality. Let me read a description:
“Imagine a church…where all the people in each cell and circle are rallied toward daily practices of prayer and/or meditation, and daily practices of kindness, forgiveness, and peacemaking. Where it is all about spiritual practice, regardless of the programs, the theological convictions, or the lack thereof.” (Weird Church, p. 163)
The book closes with the hope that churches will take heart in the understanding that God is still dancing with us. Even though many institutional churches may be shrinking, God’s Spirit has not left our world. On the contrary. God is as present as ever. God is as willing as ever to take us by the hand and dance and help us shine the light of love and justice in the world. The authors of this book find hope that many people whom we might consider “secular” because they do not belong to an institutional church really are spiritual seekers. They describe a world where “for many, Jesus becomes a mystical and deeply personal friend and guide…[where] Bible students move beyond a fixation on what is literal/historical and what is not, to an exploration of what the ancient texts reveal about the contours of our souls.”
The book leaves us with this challenge:
“Move to the edges, if you dare, toward those rising sons and daughters who have long abandoned our houses of worship…the young artists, and activists, with voices fresh and unorthodox, ready to prophecy. Do not do this selfishly, with the hopes that they will bail out a tired, old church. It is not about us. It is about them. Moreover, it is about transcending all notions of “us and them.” … it is about showing up to dance with God and all the folks God is bringing to her party.” (Weird Church, p. 169)
May we take this challenge to heart and show up to dance with God, allowing God to lead us into new ways of being church, of sharing love and justice with our neighbors. And as we do so, may we find our strength in Jesus, giving thanks that he is with us always, even to the end of the age.
Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt
Franklin Federated Church