UBC Sermon

23 April 2006

Preached by Anne Supplee

Jeremiah 6:16

Thus says the Lord:

Stand at the crossroads, and look,

And ask for the ancient paths,

Where the good way lies; and walk in it

And find rest for your souls.

 

 

The scripture reading this morning sort of sets us up for a little journey so I’m going to start with a bit of history. OK, almost a hundred years of history in a few brief sentences….ready?

Long before Jeremiah was a bullfrog he was a prophet. And I’m pretty sure the song isn’t about the prophet Jeremiah. Let’s just say that the Jeremiah quoted today is the guy from 627 BCE that had the misfortune of predicting destruction and calamity to an apathetic audience.  Most people ignored him entirely until it was far too late and then they all looked back and said, “Hey, that Jeremiah guy knew what he was talking about.”

Jeremiah disagreed with the king and ruling classes in Jerusalem who were living very opulent lifestyles and trying to maintain independence from foreign rule. Basically, they were being ruled by Egypt but Babylon was gaining power and they were trying not to fall under the thumb of the Babylonians…They were so intent on building their military that they justified the oppression  of the people and exploited the workers to finance the costs of those efforts and their luxurious lifestyles.  Ancient understanding was that God and the people had a covenant with one another. God would protect the Israelites and maintain a presence at the Temple; and the people were to be faithful, worship the one God and live justly. Jeremiah accuses them of expecting God to maintain God’s end of the covenant while not maintaining theirs.  Jeremiah beseeches them again and again to no avail.  The royalty ignored him, the temple was eventually destroyed by the Babylonians and the people exiled.

At the end of the book he does say that after a period of 70 years God will make a new covenant with the people. But most of the book of Jeremiah is calls to “reform your ways!” and “put not your trust in deceitful words!”  In the midst of this doom and gloom there is this little gem: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient path, where the good way lies; and walk in it and find rest for your souls.  At that time the people had strayed so far from God’s will that Jeremiah intended the ancient paths to direct them back toward faithfulness, back toward justice and right living.  For me, now, I seek the path that will ground me in faithfulness and justice as I move forward.

 

As most of you know, I’m finishing my second year of seminary and nearing the end of my internship here at UBC and one of the hardest questions I get asked is “what will you do when you’re finished with school?” I’m flummoxed every time because I really don’t know. As a Quaker I won’t be ordained which never really bothered me until a couple of months ago. One of the things I’ve learned in this internship is how much I think I’d like pastoring a church. I don’t think it’s my ministry but I’d like being in a community, listening to the sacred stories of people’s lives and journeying with them as they live into their questions.

I’m also very aware that if I were called to ministry, I’d have a ready answer for that “what are you going to do?” question….instead, I stand at the crossroads, trying to ask the right questions and gain the needed experiences that will help me discern next steps…

 

I think of this past year at UBC and the many paths that have lain before this congregation.  Do we lay down Families Moving Forward? What would that look like without new leadership in place? Do we sponsor another family from Burma? Do we have the resources to make that commitment? What will the sabbatical look like and how do we prepare for that? How do we best respond to a growing feeling of being shut out of a region that some have been a part of for so many years?  

 

Wouldn’t it have been nice to have had a map of the year laid out and been able to see all of the decisions that would need to be made? I picture a Candyland board game with the various brightly colored paths laid out in front of us.  Everyone could sit around and says “Oh, that way looks good!” or “when we get to that place, let’s turn so we can get to the purple square,” or “that’s where the good way lies; walk in it.” 

 

Standing in the crossroads. It sounds like you get to sit back and watch to see how things will unfold doesn’t it?  If only it were that easy…standing, looking from a distance…That sure isn’t what it feels like though.  It feels more like living in the crossroads…seeking the path -not as it’s laid out before us, but as we journey on it.

 

And really, all we can do in the while on the journey, in the midst of the decision-making is seek ways of finding rest for our souls.  Seek ways of renewing our spirits, as this congregation has chosen to do while Doug is on sabbatical.

Judging by a recent trip into a bookstore, you can do that very thing-find rest for your soul-in 10 easy steps, in less than 5 minutes-a-day, by cleaning out your closets, by eating chicken soup, while trimming your thighs and for only $19.95!  

Why is it that the quick fix sounds so appealing? We move so fast that we have little time for our hobbies, relationships, self-care; we damage our sleep patterns, our physical well-being, our planet.  

 

We’re told that with all of our technology and new knowledge, we can skip steps, we can get to the good way without seeking the path, without reflection, without resting. And yet….isn’t it often that in resting our bodies we find rest for our souls? In the midst of the tumult and busy-ness there are the moments that call for us to stop. The child that asks for just one more story, a flower growing in the middle of an asphalt parking lot, lightening crisscrossing the sky, a loved one taking your hand.

Sometimes we need to stop and be.  The act of stopping is often thought of as stepping off the path, as taking a break. But really, it too is part of the journey.  It’s not a passive, do nothing time, but a time of simply being.  Sue Monk Kidd points out in her book When the Heart Waits that the words passive and passion come from the same Latin root, pati, which means “to endure.”  She writes that “waiting is thus both passive and passionate. It’s a vibrant, contemplative work.” 

That’s what I hope for this community during the upcoming sabbatical time…vibrant, contemplative work.  Learn new prayers, write new songs, read new books. And set aside time for being. All of our spirits need renewing, regularly. It’s often during the unprogrammed moments that we have those flashes of insight, the glimmers of hope. Virginia Woolf wrote that “it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.”

I believe that we each hold our own truths within us and that if we allow ourselves to just be, they do surface when we’re ready for them. And as I’ve experienced this community I’ve learned more about seeking the ancient path through living out communal truth. I’ve seen people go out on a limb with creative and bold ideas and others support them. I’ve watched as quiet hospitality has transformed space and energy without others really being aware of it.  I’ve seen extraordinary generosity to those in need –to those seeking refuge from far away places, and to those seeking refuge from their uncertainties and fears. I’ve personally felt the generosity of folks here in giving me feedback about my ministry, my miscommunications, in lifting up my gifts and areas of growth.  I’ve witnessed the search for living justly conflict with the expectations of others in the larger American Baptist community. None of it could have been planned out beforehand; we’ve truly been living in the crossroads, discerning each step as it presents itself, as you’ll do later today and in the next months.  Seeking wisdom from each other, relying on God’s love and having faith that the path will unfold and the way become clear. Living in the crossroads can be difficult and joyful, anxiety-provoking and completely right all at the same time.  That’s what makes it a crossroads I suppose.

And for the record, I’m not entirely sure that the “good” way ever becomes clearly identified. We’re just always in the next place on the journey. Most of us have made a turn somewhere that led us to a “bad” way, or at least a path we wish we didn’t have to travel….which of us hasn’t dealt with hardship or loss at some point? But most of us wouldn’t change the difficult experiences because they also contribute to who we are-as individuals, as families, as a congregation.  The yucky stuff also points to the truths we come to know about ourselves.  We walk in the path as it is-full of stones on which we may stumble or avoid and with scenic overlooks that encourage rest. We walk in the path as we are, broken, seeking, praising and questioning. The paths are around us as we live in the crossroads. And as my path diverges from yours for a while, know that the steps of our time together have been significant for me and will echo throughout my ministry, whatever it ends up being.

 

And now, a given season to renew your spirits… What a significant time, having just journeyed through Lent, to experience new opportunities, new leadership, new preaching voices, new resurrection as a congregation!  I am honored to know a community so dedicated to its own well-being. And I know that that commitment is what keeps you strong. The ancient path will continue to lead you to maintain justice and seek right living.  Be open to the quiet truths and be guided by that wisdom. I wish you rest for your souls.