Last year, we spent time speaking clearly & listening deeply to one another about what the values are that bind our Cathedral community together. Who is it we believe God has made us to be? Who is it we believe Christ is loving us into becoming. From this came five core values, five things we believe Jesus dreams for us to love: Spirituality & Faith, Diversity, Communication, Growth, Service
This week, I'm looking at one of these each day through the lenses of scripture, tradition and reason/experience.
Spirituality & Faith
"Early in the morning Jesus came walking towards them on the lake. But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’" - Matthew 14:23-33 Of all the values we discerned, none resonated more with the entire community than this one. In some ways that is a no-brainer. We're a church ... of course we are going to be about spirituality & faith! But truthfully, that's not a given. Many churches have established other central identities -- political advocacy groups, social service organizations, hubs for arts and culture, even historical preservation societies.
Together, we have said that before anything else we are about spirituality and faith -- that this is the core from which all else springs. So let's look at those two words. Spirituality has its root in spiritus, literally the wind or breath of God. Faith as expressed in scripture is not intellectual assent but the kind of deep trust that is about literally putting our lives in anothers' hands.
Those two words meet in the story of Peter walking on the water. Jesus calls Peter out of the boat, out of what not only feels safe but out of what pure logic tells him is possible. And Peter has faith ... Peter trusts in Jesus and as long as he keeps his eyes on him he is able to do that which seemed impossible -- walk on the water. But then he is distracted by a spirit ... not the Holy Spirit, not the breath of God, but one of the many winds of the world. And it causes him to break his gaze and he begins to sink ... only to have Jesus save him.
When we put "Spirit and Faith" at our center, we are saying that we are going to be shaped not by the winds of the world that swirl around us, but by the very breath of God that was breathed into us in creation. When we put "Spirit and Faith" at our center, we are saying that we are going to try to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and trust that when he calls us into even those things that seem impossible that nothing is impossible with God. We are going to trust that in that mutual gaze of us with Christ is life ... and that even should we break it that Christ will be there to catch us.
The Church has a long history of stepping out in faith, of following the Spirit and trusting that even that which seems impossible can happen if we keep our gaze fixed on Christ. In recent years, the Civil Rights movement in this country had to thank for its spine, brave souls who dared to step out of the boat in the form of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Cathedrals throughout history have stood tall as reminders of the central place of God in our common life ... and that there is no part of our common life that God in Christ doesn't visit us and invite us to be made extroardinary through our trust in him.
Since the early days of the City of St. Louis, our own Christ Church Cathedral for nearly 200 years has been a center of learning about God and, especially in our darkest hours, asking for Jesus to come for us on the waters and catch us as we fall.
As we prepare for our annual meeting and conversations next Sunday, think about this:
Why is spirituality & faith important to you? To us?
What are the opportunities for us to embody a living spirituality and a living faith today and in the future?
Tomorrow: Diversity.
See you Sunday!
in Christ's love,
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