Spirituality and us. (Abridged)
There has been a request from a number of directions
that as a congregation we should look into the topic of spirituality.
So, I volunteered to conduct a service today around the concept. Firstly, may I
remind you that hundreds of thousands of words have been written on this
subject so that when I finish today most of them still remain to be explored.
However, I think this congregation knows more about
spirituality than they realize. I think what I'm doing today, is revealing to
you what you know already but didn't know it was called spirituality.
Some of us may think that spirituality is confined to what I
would call “pious” people. And there’s a good reason for that.
Initially, it was the pious, the people who withdrew from the world and spent
their time in contemplation and prayer who were regarded as spiritual.
However, it is intended that all Christians live a
spiritual life ….
That's what being Christian is.
What I want to speak about is the meaning of Christian
spirituality as revealed in our readings this morning and during the
sung prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving (Magnificat). In the latter we
can hear the woman’s heart bursting with joy at the work of God in her
life. The people of those readings didn't bother about terminology, they
were concerned with one thing: their relationship with God and his work in
their lives
Psalm 66:
Make a joyful noise to God, all the
earth;
sing the
glory of his name;
give to
him glorious praise.
This person is so sure that God
is to be relied upon, and so is stretching out to God, exuberant in gratitude,
knowing that God is the only source of the goodness they have experienced.
And then the reading from Galatians
5 under the heading “Life by the
Spirit”
You, my brothers and sisters, were
called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather,
serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping
this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you
bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
This reading reveals another
perspective on living a spiritual life - service. Service can take
many forms and every time we make someone feel a little better about themselves
and their situation, we are serving them.
And then for complete clarity, the Sermon
on the Mount: (refer Matthew 5 - Blessed are the ….)
In this reading the presence of God
in a person’s life isn't indicated in the way that the Psalmist thought. The
Psalmist thought success and victory spoke of God and it’s true that all good
things do come from God but goodness can take many forms and the Beatitudes
spell that out. The words of this sermon point to a deeper view of
spirituality. A view of our needing to throw away the values of the material
world and seek an inner richness. But as average Australians living average
Australian lives, how often do we recognize that we are serving others?
Where or to whom do we look for relief from the things that distress us
and cause us suffering? Do we feel blessed by God? Life can be
difficult, so where does the strength come from to get us through it?
Where do those time of great joy come from? And how good are we at
acknowledging God’s work. “Look at that lovely rose!” “Yeah, good.”
Think about the last few weeks. Think about any time
when you have felt as ease; relaxed, maybe rested. When did you notice a
smile coming to your lips or when have you had a good laugh? Perhaps you have learnt something new
and had the thought “Hey, isn't that something!”
Another possibility is that someone acknowledged you in
some way or showed you respect. Or you
may have had a chance to enjoy yourself.
And then what about what you have been able to do for someone
else? How have you been able to make someone else feel that life is
actually ok.
I'm not talking about monumental experiences although you
may have been fortunate to have had one of those. One of the readings I
consulted makes this point: there is no immediate seeing of God’s actuality.”
And then goes onto say that we establish bonds with the divine as it happens in
the world. Our spiritual life happens in the world.
And while all of those
experiences are spiritual, there is a need of something more: our acknowledgement
of God’s hand in all that is good in our lives and our thanks for it.
Somehow the experience isn't complete until we praise
God for his gift.
I know there is one more thing. For those people in each of
the readings today it was a way of life.
So we don't leave our spirituality at home when we go to the
shops and need to queue; we don't forget to grasp it when the computer
won't co-operate; we remember we are creatures of the spirit when we are
disagreeing with other people; we keep our spiritual life at the fore in
traffic. Another reading I consulted reminds us that “Faith is a fresh act as
new obedience.” It's day by day stuff. I know it's hard when the garbage
truck wakes us up at 4am in the morning but it's our task that we remember
that we are people of God’s spirit always.
Always. Amen
Acknowledgements:
The Brill Dictionary of Religion 2006 “Spirituality” Brill.
A New Dictionary of Religion ed. John
R. Hinnells 1995 Blackwell. “Spirituality”
Theological Hermeneutics Alexander S. Jensen. 2007 SCM
pp124,125
Sacred Attunement - A Jewish Theology M. Fishbane Uni of a
Chicago Press. pp54,55
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