Sunday,
June 18, 2000
"I WAS NOT
PREPARED"
Rev. Linda Carder
Isaiah 6:1-8
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17 .
Wow! What a Service of worship we celebrated here last Sunday! For those of you who were out of town or were otherwise occupied, we celebrated both Church School Sunday and Pentecost. Worship was planned and led by the children. It is at times like this I am reminded of the truth of the scripture: "…and a little child shall lead them." The scriptures were read so ably, the prayers and other liturgy so from the heart of the children, that I for one knew that I had worshipped the God who welcomes all of us, including children. And as the Pentecost scriptures were read, the little children paraded through with tongues of flame. Because of the witness of these and the other children, we can surely say we have celebrated the gift of the spirit to the church, and the day set aside to honor that gift, Pentecost.
"That then brings us to ordinary time, and Trinity Sunday. Ordinary time is always bracketed by special days, whether after Epiphany or Pentecost. After Epiphany they are the Baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration. After Pentecost they are Trinity Sunday and Christ the King Sunday." 1
"Trinity Sunday represents both a summing up of the divine activity, which we have been celebrating since the beginning of Advent, and a reminder of the whole work and being of God – in creation, redemption, and sanctification – which is still ongoing and which provides the context for our life of celebration, witness and service throughout the rest of ordinary time. While the other days of the calendar commemorate events in salvation history, Trinity Sunday – for Protestants anyway – is the only day devoted to a doctrine on an article of faith. Even for the Roman Catholics, it was a late arrival on the liturgical scene, not being required of all churches until the fourteenth century." 2
The doctrine of the Trinity is derived from the cumulative witness of the scriptures, therefore there is no one or two texts which speak directly to this mystery. The scriptures chosen for this Sunday can only provide data for discussing the work of the Persons of the Trinity. They cannot by themselves prove the doctrine.
Isaiah 6 is only related to the Trinity because of the Ter-Sanctus sung by the seraphs, and it witnesses to the mystery of God who condescends to self-disclosure in the experience of the worshipper. From this scripture comes the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy", a favorite of many over the years.
Following Paul through Romans 8 is no easy task. But his topic is life in the Spirit as a life of hope. Life in the Spirit is much more than an identity; indeed it is a relationship to God, which has come as a gift from God. Perhaps one of the reasons we have trouble following Paul is that we are not accustomed to reflecting upon the need of redemption for creation. We do not even want to talk about sin or evil let alone see how insidious or captivating it can be. Until and unless we go to someplace such as Coventry Cathedral, in Coventry England. Then we have no choice but to face evil, death and destruction. We also have the opportunity to see the triumph of God and of faith.
Many of you have asked what was my favorite thing about my trip to England. I cannot answer that question. But I can tell you what moved me the most. It was Coventry. I was prepared to see the book of Kells and the ruins of the Abbeys, the incredible paintings and sculptures of the masters and the great old cathedrals. I had been waiting for years to see them face to face instead of on slides in a darkened art class room. I was prepared for them and I was not disappointed. I had waited for years after reading Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple Mysteries for a real proper tea in a grand old hotel and to visit the villages and the gorgeous countryside. I was prepared for them and I was not disappointed. I had drooled for years over hand knit sweaters and the incredibly soft woolens of the British Isles, and had looked wistfully at the crystal from Waterford and even had owned a piece or two of Wedgewood China. I was prepared and I was not disappointed. I was not prepared for Coventry.
I knew before I arrived there that Coventry was an industrial city. During World War II it had been a city in which airplanes, bombs and other articles of war were manufactured. It is no surprised that Coventry was targeted by the Nazis for a major bombing campaign. The British had broken the Nazi code and knew that the city was to be bombed. But they were caught in a terrible bind. If they warned people, the Nazis would know that the code had been broken, would change their code, and the British would not be able to prepare against other disasters. If they did not warn people, the distruction and death in this city would be horrendous. They chose to say nothing.
I knew also that some of the old cathedral remained and that a new controversial cathedral had been built alongside the old one. I knew, but I was not prepared.
I was not prepared to walk into the old cathedral and see parts of a stained glass window still there. I was not prepared to see the photographs of the bombing and of the building the next day nor to hear the story of how people came from their bomb shelters and bombed out homes to gather at the cathedral. One of the first arrivals took two charred timbers and formed them into a cross and people began sorting through the rubble gathering the ancient large nails and making them into crosses. And then the canon stood up on something and addressed the congregation. He reminded them who Jesus was and what he came to share with us. He told them that Jesus was never about retribution but about reconciliation and told them that they were to forgive and be about the work of reconciliation. So they chose a town in Germany that had been devastated by allied bombing and began sending care packages to them. Soon that fellowship of reconciliation had members worldwide. I was not prepared for Jesus message of love and forgiveness to come so powerfully to me from so long ago and from the ashes of destruction. Tears.
I walked from the old cathedral and onto the attached great porch, through the glass doors into the new cathedral and up the aisle. I was in awe. I knew there were stained glass windows but I could see none. There were only walls with basic New Testament texts. I wanted to go up and touch them. They were like the catacomb writings or like the Jesish inscriptions on the door post to remind us as we come in and go out who we are and whose we are. I reached the altar and turned around. In the glass doors I had just entered were etched figures I had not seen upon entering. Behind the figures were the ruins of the old cathedral so that one immediately realized that the saints of the church were rising out of the ashes. I looked around me and there were the stained glass windows, bright and glorious. I was dumb struck. You have to face the old, the evil, the pain, before you can see the light! I was prepared to see the stories of our faith in stained glass windows, but I was not prepared for a cathedral building itself to shout the theology and faith of the people it serves. Everywhere I looked were the cross of nails images writ large and small, woven into crowns of thorns and candle holders, frames for small prayer chapels and the shape of the table from which Christ’s people were fed by him. The nail/crown of thorns image give new life. Tears.
I was prepared to see a crucifix in the chancel. I have examined new and ancient ones in all kinds of cathedrals. I knew it would be there. But I was not prepared for this Jesus. This was the resurrected Christ in tapestry. His face is gentle and humble. He is seated and his hands are raised in prayer….or is it welcome? He is seated and the white robe he wears is not the glorious garment of the risen but a carpenters apron. He is huge and he dominates the worship. And what are those figures around him? Could they be Isaiah’s Seryphs? Could this humble carpenter be actually the revelation of the Holy One? More tears.
Under the sanctuary is a catacomb like area which is home to the stations of the cross. I was prepared to be moved by this. I often am. But I was not prepared for Holograms, simple three dimensional sculptural images that seem to reach out at you. Underneath each one was a photograph of a similar situation today. As Mary watched Jesus die, an Ethiopian woman watched her child die of hunger. I thought, this is Christ Church, and I cried again.
Of course, touring Coventry made me think about our
new building. It made me think about the story it would
tell and the theology it would deliver to all who
visited. It will have some parts that reflect our New
England Congregational heritage. We will be able to look
at those parts and remember our roots which focus on
covenant, on each person finding their own faith journey,
and on faith community. The new part with the glass side
to the sanctuary can help us to look forward as we are
looking back. It will help us see the light. It will help
others see that we are people who in our efforts to try
to follow Jesus, we are like him, open to all. We place
no barriers between people and God's community.
You see, while we get all tangled up in the Trinity and
how can there possibly be one God in three, the real
message is that God comes to us, God shows God's face to
us, God's personhood comes to us in many ways. I believe
that even buildings can be a vehicle for God to show
God's self.
The truth is that as Holy and other as God is, God continues to crash through that holiness barrier and come into our polluted world to be with us. The concept of the trinity is only an image we have created to help us understand some of the ways God comes to us. When we are faced with death or near death as the as the Kromer family and the Elliott families are now, we discover again the presence of Christ and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. As we have opportunities such as the one the Choir has now for a trip in Europe, we discover again God holy and glorious creation and wonder at it and at God. God can even speak to us through buildings such as Coventry Cathedral and of course through all the arts. Our task is to identify God’s presence and label it so others can see.
The trick is to be open to God's presence and to be able to identify it. I have told you how Coventry spoke to me. If I can put words to my experience of that building and share it with others, then God's presence can continue to spread. In order for that to happen we must find the theological words and be willing to use them. We in the UCC say that we are Open and Affirming. That is good and wonderful. But some times the theology or the faith story behind why we are open and affirming gets lost. I heard a sermon at our General Synod once in which a Lutheran Pastor was preaching. She praised us for who were are as a faith people. But, she said, I want to encourage you to tell your story with our faith story. Claim who your are! You are a Pentecost People. You are a community of the faithful who look different from one another, you speak different languages, you come at the faith from different perspectives, but all are welcome in Christ's name and you welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit. Use the language. Claim who you are. Amen.
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