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The gospel reading this morning is borrowed not from the lectionary but from a Y-GELI retreat. It seemed to me a text that helps us imagine/image what being one with Christ might feel like. Being one with Christ is a chunk of what Paul is trying to say in his letter to the Galatians – today’s epistle which is the lectionary text.

We grow when we understand ourselves to be part of something/someone bigger than ourselves. We grow when we understand ourselves to be intimately connected to every person on earth. We grow when we trust God’s leading more than our own or our peers.

We grow when we wrestle, avoid, return and wrestle some more with what it means to identify ourselves as Christian.

Paul says that those who are baptized into Christ are clothed with Christ. I think that might mean that there is something about us, what we do, how we live in the world, that lets Jesus be visible. We are clothed, called and commissioned to continue Christ’s risky and essential work. Christians, followers of Christ, understand God’s directive as one of honoring life and lives.

We are to remember at all times from whom we came and how it is that we have life. We are to welcome the stranger and enemy because they too are created by God. We are to create societies and communities which value and practice compassion. Especially when it isn’t cost effective or affirmed. We are to make sure people, regardless of gender, class, relationships, skin tone, and all the other things that assist us in drawing big and little circles of exclusion, are understood to be one human family.

Jesus made several lifelong friends by extending such hospitality and compassion. His own world was nurtured and challenged. He grew. Jesus also made some enemies I guess one could say. There’s a unit I teach in confirmation (our covenant class) called, "Jesus the Boat Rocker." The fisherman’s friend and rabbi not only calms storms, he stirs them up! The ka-zillion dollar question then and today is how does one know which revolution to join? And today as then, same faith communities are divided.

Faith, not one’s denominational affiliation but one’s inner foundation, informs the revolutions we join or resist. Faith. Knowing about faith is different than having faith.

Rock climbing presents a great faith metaphor. There you are, sitting in a circle listening to the instructor. Before you are seat harnesses made of webbing, caribiners, ropes, and helmets. In front and above you stands a rock face of multiple colors and shadows. The instructor is explaining what the equipment is and what it is for. The harness webbing is strong enough to pull a small car out of a ditch. The rope can withstand thousands of pounds of stress. (not repeatedly. Ropes are replaced as needed and part of the activity is paying attention to the rope braid.) You know the rope is in excellent condition. The aluminum and steel caribiners are also designed for strength when used properly. There is every reason to trust both the instructor and the equipment. The equipment specs can be verified. Books. Manufacturer websites. Expert testimony. There is no question that the gear is more than capable of supporting one human being, even a very overweight human being. The instructor is an outdoor recreation professional. Accidents are bad for business and her reputation. A big reason you are here is because this organization hires professional high adventure leaders. They do this for a living.

Your turn is approaching. You have been fitted with a seat harness. Your helmet is secure. You know the specific language used to communicate necessary messages while climbing. Why don’t you feel comforted? Why is your mouth dry? The instructor is patient and reassuring. You tie in to the belay rope and signal to the belayer that you are now "On belay." The belayer responds, "Belay on." Long pause. The next communication is given by the climber, "Climbing."

I suggest that what ultimately allows a climber to begin his journey up a rock face is not the high caliber of the equipment. That certainly is a variable but knowing about equipment or an instructor’s reputation is not enough. Facts do not motivate most novice rock climbers. At some moment, in a certain breath, a person risks and takes a step of faith.

We have shelves of theological books that tell the story of our faith ancestors and scripture. We have memorized the 10 Commandments and Lord’s Prayer. We have or can access the "facts." We know that love is front and center to Christianity. Why then is it sometimes hard to believe or practice what we preach? Because religion and faith are not the same. Facts are not faith.

Faith, one’s inner foundation, informs the revolutions we join or resist.

In theological or serious church circles, law and gospel are realities like salt and pepper or day and night. Two distinct aspects of a whole. Today’s snippet from Paul challenges our reliance on the law (the facts) over faith. Jesus and subsequent teachers were seeking to be a corrective to some sects of Judaism. The letter of the law had superceded the spirit of the law. In time the criticism became divisive. It is not uncommon to read or hear the Old and New Testaments described as Law and Gospel. Jesus came to bring the gospel of faith, which is superior to the Law of Moses. In our early Jewish-Christian church, anti-Semitism was a natural consequence of breaking away from Judaism.

Lest I get bogged down, let me tell you where I am going. This week several members of Christ Congregational Church are getting on airplanes and flying to another continent. They do so, to a large degree, on our behalf. They are setting out to sing and pray with strangers. They are identifying themselves as Christians, members of the United Church of Christ. Their conversation, spoken, sung and silent will connect them with the sacred. We can only imagine how God’s spirit will interface with the lives of our CCC friends and those in Switzerland, France, Italy, Croatia, Germany and Slovenia. 

We can only imagine how their lives will be changed. We cannot imagine what might be the ripple effect of concerts, street exchanges, workshops and worship. We never know how we impact all those we encounter. We each have our stories of being influenced by a "chance" or unexpected meeting. We are often clueless as to how we shape certain lives.

My words this morning seek to affirm the organic nature of faith. Faith like seeds, begins immature. It can go the many routes of a garden. Faith is not knowing facts, it is knowing God (as much as one can know God). We are made one by faith, not by doing works of the law. Paul writes, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. …There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, you are then Sarah and Abraham’s offspring, heirs to the promise."

To all sojourners this season of taking trips, I pray that your faith grow. I pray that you find ways to share what your faith means with at least one other person. I pray that you plant seeds of hope and peacemaking. I pray that you bump into a new understanding of Paul’s statement: There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. I pray that you commit yourselves to something important because of your time away. I pray that CCC experience a new or refreshed perspective regarding our ministries because of you. And of course we all pray for one another’s safety.

In closing, I’d like to highlight something from another Y-GELI retreat day. We were read a section of the UCC Statement of Faith and asked to discuss certain parts. Listen to this in the context of the choir and youth going into the world as people of faith. Listen to this and ponder what it may mean for you and I, persons living and working in the Washington D.C. area, a member or visitor to Christ Congregational Church.

"You call us into your church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be your servants in the service of others, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory. You promise to all who trust you forgiveness of sins and fullness oh grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, your presence in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in your realm which has no end."

God is with us - in our trials as well as in our rejoicing. god provides us courage when the struggles become overwhelming. God meets us at the end, which is not an end but a new beginning. And, to believe all this requires faith. May our faith grow deep this summer. Amen.