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"The Centered Life"
Pr. Paul Swartz - June 2 & 3, 2007
I remember...
I remember kneeling in the pew after returning from communion. I was lost in a haze; I didn't think of the day, of the sermon I just heard, or of the sacrament I'd received. I couldn't hear them. I could only hear my fear about what the next week would bring. The stress. The work. The worry. The rush. Kneeling there in church, I tried to pray through my distress as the congregation sang, “Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness” (LBW 224). But I couldn't hear them either. My fear, my anxiety was stronger than their words.
Surrendering my failed attempt at prayer, I listened instead, trying to catch the words of one of my favorite communion hymns. As the sopranos in the choir rose and soared above the rest of the congregation in descant, surprising tears sprang to my eyes. Surprising—they were not the helpless tears of self-pity. I would have expected those. No, it was not sadness I felt, but joy and gratitude that flowed from some mysterious world deeper, more wondrous and gracious than the one inhabited by my troubled mind. In that moment, I felt transported to another place, a place where “gloomy haunts of sadness” had no place, where anxiety had evaporated like the morning mist, and I was invited to “come into the day-light’s splendor” where a voice deep within me spoke to my fears: "It doesn't all depend on you," the voice said. "I am here."
With those words, a sense of well-being washed over me, and I believed the voice. I knew it spoke truth, and I did not doubt that this joy which suddenly swept over me was an absolute and utter gift. Then the last verse of that hymn began:
“Jesus, Source of lasting pleasure
Truest friend and dearest treasure,
Peace beyond all understanding,
Joy into all life expanding…
I had done nothing to produce it. But suddenly, mysteriously, it was there, and for that moment I no longer lived in the world of my fears where everything depends on me, on my shallow insights, my small skills, my all-too-human weaknesses. No, I was swept into an enormous space that was filled by an Infinite Other, and somehow I felt I was inside this Infinite Other, this mystery, who lovingly spoke to my heart, saying, "Do not fear. I will not fail you. Don't you know by now how much I treasure you?" And I rested there knowing that this larger world, this immense space, this Infinite Other, was my true home.
I rested, but the voice wasn't done with me. It continued to speak. "Paul," it said, "I have known you. I have known you since before the dawn of time, since before you were conceived in your mother's womb. Since before then, you have been Mine and I am yours. I molded you in the depths of the earth. I knitted you together in your mother's womb. I carved you into the palm of my hand. I hide you in the shadow of My embrace. I look upon you with an infinite tenderness. I care for you like a mother cherishes her child. I know every hair on your graying head, and wherever you go I am with you. Wherever you rest I will keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy hungers that you do not yet even know that you have, for you are mine and I am yours. You belong to me and I to you. I am in you and you are in Me and I take delight in you."
It is my prayer that each of our graduates, each of us here this morning, would know the assurance of that abiding promise from the One who made each of us…wonderfully unique…for a purpose…to live beyond ourselves by serving Him through our service to others. That’s the CENTERED LIFE I believe God wants us to experience in everything we do. Awakened to God’s presence in our lives, knowing that God treasures us, and takes delight in us gives meaning and purpose, a sense of identity and belonging. Watch with me this inspiring clip produced by our Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota: You! (DVD Clip)
Hopefully, you too, at one time or another, have been caught up in this loving mystery who spoke to my heart that Sunday following communion. God desires all of us, the whole world, to be drawn into that great mystery, who embraced me in that moment with an unspeakable love that far transcended my comprehension and centered my one and only life on that which is ultimate…not on that which is fleeting and temporal.
For me, that experience was something like being on the inside of God. It was an experience of being drawn into the community of the Holy Trinity and enjoying intimate fellowship with the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Christians have always confessed that God is one, and yet within God there are three persons--three expressions of the divine nature. They are revealed in the church and the world. Christian Scripture describes God as Father—the Creator and Author of life; as the Son or the Incarnation of God in Jesus who redeems us from our sin, and the Spirit or breath of God that animates and works through the church and in all creation. The mystery of the Holy Trinity that transcends our ability to know has inspired authors, theologians, and artists to depict it in many ways.
There is one way I find very helpful. It is a Russian Orthodox icon painted by Andrei Rublev. Icons have a cherished place in the worship and prayer life of Eastern Orthodox Christians. They are more than just stylized paintings of biblical figures. They are windows into the realm of God, inviting prayer. Every paint-stroke has a meaning. Icons are religious images that hover between two worlds, putting into colors and shapes what cannot be grasped by the intellect, attempting to render the invisible visible, seeking to convey inner spiritual meaning. Believers look at them, meditate on them, notice the details, the expression on the faces of the people, the posture of their bodies, and as they meditate, they gain insight into the mystery and the purpose and the mercy of God.
Rublev's Icon of the Trinity takes as its subject the mysterious story where Abraham receives three visitors—divine messengers—as he camps by the oak of Mamre. He serves them a meal. As the conversation progresses he seems to be talking straight to God, as if these golden-winged “angels” were in some way a metaphor for the three persons of the Trinity. They sit at a small white table on which a golden, chalice-like bowl contains a roasted lamb, a symbol of God’s overflowing love. They sit only on three sides of the table. Reading the picture from left to right, we see the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father looks forward, raising His hand in blessing to the Son. “This is My Son, listen to Him!” The hand of the Son points on, around the circle, to the Spirit who points to the vacant space inviting the viewer—inviting you—to sit down with the Three Persons and share fellowship as we complete the circle of the Godhead with our response. The life flows clockwise around the circle: As the Father sends the Son, as the Son sends the Holy Spirit, and we respond to the movement of the Spirit who points us to Jesus; and Jesus shows us the Father in whom all things come to fruition. This is the counter-clockwise movement of our centered lives in response to the movement of God. And along the way are three signs at the top of the picture: the hill, the tree, and the house.
The Spirit touches us, even though we do not know who it is that is touching us. He leads us by ways we may not be aware of, up the hill of prayer. It may be steep and rocky, but the journeying God goes before us along the path. It leads to Jesus, the Son of God, and it leads to a tree. A great tree in the heat of the day spreads its shade. It is a place of security, peace, and a place where we begin to find out the possibilities of who we can be. It is no ordinary tree. It stands above the Son in the picture, and stands above the “altar-table” where the lamb lies within the chalice. Because of the sacrifice, this tree grows. The tree of death has been transformed into a tree of life for us.
The tree is on the way to the house over the head of the Father. It is the goal of our journey. It is the beginning and end of our lives. Its roof is golden. Its door is always open for the traveler. It has a tower, and its window is always open so that the Father can incessantly scan the road for a glimpse of a returning prodigal.
Rublev, I think, pictures the experience of the Holy Trinity into which I had been drawn as I returned from communion and knelt in the pew that day.
It is the Spirit who touches us, and brings us the life that Jesus has received from God the Father. God the Father gives divine gifts to the Son of God who pours them out to the Spirit who brings them to us trying to magnetically draw us into communion, trying to make us part of that magnificent, never-ending outpouring of love. And as we receive the unspeakable love and mercy of God, we are being drawn ever deeper into this great cycle of divine generosity. And as we share it with others, we enlarge the circle enlarging the life of God in the world.
God's own inner life. God's desire, God's yearning, God's hunger, is to draw all things—to draw you—into union with the community of the Holy Trinity. Jesus sends the Spirit, telling us the Spirit will not stop working, will not stop struggling, will not stop drawing us, each and everyone, into the divine fellowship of God's own grace.
"I will not stop," God says to you, "not until I am in all and all is in me." This is God's holy dream for the world, God's dream for you—that you may live a centered life as His disciple, knowing the fullness of God's joy, His love, and generosity. When you’re centered in God, there’s an intentional why and how to everything you do—in all aspects of your life everyday.
A while back when William Willimon was Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, he got a call from a parent, an upset, VERY upset parent. “I hold you personally responsible for this,” he said. “Me?” Will asked.
The father was hot, upset because his graduate school bound daughter had just informed him that she was going to chuck it all and go do mission work in Haiti. “Isn’t that absurd!” shouted the father. “A BS degree in mechanical engineering from Duke and she’s going to dig ditches in Haiti.”
“Well, I doubt that she’s received much training in the Engineering Department here for that kind of work, but she’s probably a fast learner and will probably get the hang of ditch-digging in a few months,” Will said.
“Look,” said the father, “this is no laughing matter. You are completely irresponsible to have encouraged her to do this. I hold you personally responsible,” he said. “Me? What have I done?”
“You, you ingratiated yourself with her, filled her head with all that religion stuff. She likes you, that’s why she’s doing this foolishness,” he said.
“Now look, buster,” Will said, struggling to keep his ministerial composure. “Weren’t you the one who had her baptized?” “Why, yes,” he said. “And then, didn’t you read her Bible stories, take her to Sunday School, let her participate in the Youth Fellowship?” “Well, yes, but...”
“Don’t but me,” Will said. “It’s your fault that she believed all that stuff, that she’s gone and thrown it all away on Jesus. It’s not my fault. You’re the one who introduced her to Jesus, not me.”
“But all we ever wanted her to be was a Presbyterian,” he said meekly. “Sorry. You’ve messed up and made a disciple.”
If you ever ask yourself how you will use your education other than to simply make a living, recall the reading from Proverbs that tells us how to live well, how to live at your best by following God’s life “disciplines” over chasing after money, and God-knowledge over a lucrative career. “For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth.” Clothe yourself not with Prada, Dior, Gucci, or Louis Vuitton, but with compassion, kindness, humility and patience. Resist the relentless message of the media that what you have is more important than who you are, or that you can buy what it takes to be successful as a human being. We are called to live each day wholly centered in Christ, to live our faith in every situation, confident that we can make a unique contribution to God’s sustaining work. The value of education is gauged by how well it equips and inspires us to live centered lives that will improve our little piece of this world. It will not be measured by how much you acquire in terms of wealth, status and prestige, but by what you do for a world that eagerly awaits your loving service as you utilize the gifts and skills God has given. Our Scripture readings for this Trinity Graduation day encourage us, and give us hope by recalling who we are for one another and who God is for us and for our world. The world experiences goodness and hope in people whose lives are centered not on themselves but upon others. They reflect the goodness of God who created us all and expects us, through the power and presence of His Spirit, to be the heart, hands, and voice of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Dearest Friend, Blessed Mystery, Eternal Wonder, You intend us to share Your own blessed life. Draw us so deeply into You that we may acknowledge with wonder the glory that You are and be empowered to praise You properly and to serve You with the joy that You Yourself know in sharing Your life with us. This we pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Brother. Amen. -PFS-
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