Spiritual Pluralism

Jesus’ statement about the Summary of the Law and the story of the Good Samaritan are two of the best known passages in the New Testament.  Loving God with heart, soul, and mind, and loving one’s neighbor as one’s self are the commandments on which all the law and the prophets depend.  The story of the Good Samaritan is about how we are to apply the love of God and neighbor in our daily lives.

The point Jesus makes is that when we meet someone who is needy, perhaps injured, sick, homeless, hungry, or unemployed, we are to show mercy and care for them as we would care for ourselves and for one another.  It does not matter who they are or where they come from.

As I thought about this passage from Luke’s Gospel I happened to read in last Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times an opinion piece by the columnist David Brooks.  It is titled “The Secular Society,” and is essentially a review of a book by the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor.  The book has over 800 pages and focuses on what has been happening with our understandings of spirituality in the midst of all the cultural changes we have been witnessing during our lifetimes.

David Brooks points out, “advances in human understanding — not only in science but also in art, literature, manners, philosophy and, yes, theology and religious practice — give us a richer understanding of our natures…. People are now able to pursue fullness in an amazing diversity of different ways.  But Taylor observes a general pattern.  [People] tend not to want to live in a world closed off from the transcendent, reliant exclusively on the material world.  We are not, Taylor suggests, sliding toward pure materialism. “

“We are, instead, moving toward what he calls a galloping spiritual pluralism.  People in search of fullness are able to harvest the intellectual, cultural and spiritual gains of the past 500 years.  Poetry and music can alert people to the realms beyond the ordinary.”

Brooks concludes, “I’m vastly oversimplifying a rich, complex book, but what I most appreciate is [the author’s] vision of a “secular” future that is both open and also contains at least pockets of spiritual rigor, and that is propelled by religious motivation, a strong and enduring piece of our nature.”

In relating Brooks’ column to the story of the Good Samaritan and the commandments to love God and neighbor it seems to me that spiritual pluralism not only characterizes our secular society, but it also encompasses people of all the diverse races and nations of the world.  The Good Samaritan responded to the man who fell into the hands of robbers and was beaten and left half dead.  It did not matter who he was or where he was from.  And, the Samaritan, a foreigner, was the one who reached out to him, bandaging his wounds and taking him to an inn where he arranged for his care.  Was the Good Samaritan propelled by religious motivation?  Whatever the motivation was religious or spiritual doesn’t matter; what matters is that he was led to ethical action and compassionate loving care.

There is a distinct spiritual tone in both words and music in the hymns we sing during our worship services.  Many hymns reflect a spiritual pluralism because of the time and circumstances that existed when they were composed.  Over the last couple of weeks several of you suggested some hymns we might use at a hymn sing.  This morning our organist Barry Turley and I have selected a few of those hymns.  We shall sing three of them now, and a fourth we shall use as our recessional hymn at the end of the service.

I suggest that we pay attention to some of the verses as well as to the tunes of these hymns.  For example, in the first hymn we shall sing, “How Great Thou Art,” we stand in awesome wonder as we consider all the worlds that God has made, and the power the universe displays.  We reflect on nature, the woods and forest glades, the birds singing in the trees, lofty mountains and the feeling brought on by gentle breezes.  The music for this hymn is a Swedish Folk Melody that was composed in 1953.

Next, in the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” the focus is on God’s blessings, grace, mercy and love.  And when we’re prone to wander away from God, our prayer is that Jesus will search and save our souls from danger.  The words are by Robert Robinson who lived in the 18^th Century, and the melody dates from 1992.

Percy Dearmer, an English Priest and Liturgist of the early 20^th Century, is the author of our third hymn.  It is about Christian vocation and what is involved in being a pilgrim, never discouraging or relenting, but always defended by God’s Spirit.

Finally, when we end our service this morning we shall sing that great hymn, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”  It was publicly performed first as a poem at a celebration of Lincoln's Birthday on February 12, 1900, by 500 school children at the segregated Stanton School.  The school principal, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the words to introduce its honored guest Booker T. Washington.  The poem was set to music by James Johnson's brother John in 1905; it proclaims liberty and rejoices in God’s leading us into the light, praying to keep us forever in the path.

As we sing these hymns let us keep in mind the spiritual pluralism of our time, heeding the commandment of God to love as he loves us, and praying as Paul said in the letter to the Colossians, that we “may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that [we] may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as [we] bear fruit in every good work.”  Amen.

The “Seventy” Today

Over the course of many years from the time I was in seminary until it ended its print publication in 2003, I subscribed somewhat irregularly to a magazine titled “The Witness.”  It was a magazine dedicated to a vigorous discussion of faith and social issues.  When it ceased its print publication with volume 88 in the July/August 2003 issue, the board of directors said, “Since its beginning in 1917, [The Witness] has served as a feisty, challenging and provocative voice of social and theological criticism.”

The board’s statement continued, “Times change. Other voices are emerging to stimulate dialogue and debate on issues important to progressives in the church. The Internet has revolutionized our ability to communicate, making it possible for almost everyone to express an opinion on issues, to be a ‘witness.’"

An important perspective I gained from reading “The Witness” was a lesson in Christian and social ethics, how we make decisions that serve the cause of justice and peace in a world and culture that often serves the needs of a few at the expense of the many.  Justice, love and compassion for others, and a commitment to reconciliation, makes living by faith in the Christian gospel so compelling.

The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus appointed seventy people in addition to his disciples and sent them to every town and place where he had intended to go. “He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.  Go on your way….  Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.'”

It is implied that the seventy went on a missionary journey beyond the boundaries of Israel and witnessed to an urgent call for peace and reconciliation among the people they met.  As one commentator stated, Jesus sent his followers to the nations beyond Israel.  The number “seventy” was the traditional Jewish number of the nations in the world.  They were sent “like lambs into the midst of wolves.”  They traveled lightly; they had no purse, no bag, no sandals, and they were not to waste time by greeting passersby on the road.  In other words it was an urgent mission.  Given the political and social climate of his day, Jesus was leading a movement of peace and reconciliation in the midst of a hostile environment.  They had been living under Roman occupation and people in many areas of the Roman Empire were oppressed.

What is clear is that those who were sent out had been called to witness to a reign of peace and hope within communities of violence and protest.  The mission of the “seventy” was to find houses where the inhabitants shared their concern for peace.  “Whatever house you enter, first say ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person…. But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you.  Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’”

When the seventy returned from their mission they were joyful.  They reported to Jesus, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”  Jesus replied, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

The seventy upon their return were not to boast about their success.  They were to be self-giving, serving the cause of a peaceful reign that is the kingdom of God.  Healing the sick, casting out demons, exercising the power they had to bring about a new way of living is what they were about.

In the Epistle from Galatians, Paul elaborates on the meaning of this mission when he says “Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ…. You reap whatever you sow….  If you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit…. So, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”

What these lessons teach us is that any preoccupation with greed and self-serving gratification is not the way of the Gospel.  We are to focus on the suffering and needs of others, anyone who is denied an opportunity for wholeness and fulfillment.  Those who are hungry and desolate, those who are unemployed and have no social safety net, those who lack health care and live in poverty, those who are sick and suffering with chronic disease, those who live in neighborhoods of violence and fear, --  these are the ones to whom the “seventy” are sent today.

You and I, and all people committed to a world of peace and equality for everyone are “the seventy” of today.  It is our witness, our ministry and mission, to follow in Jesus’ steps and to “bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, to comfort all who mourn, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Amen.