Are we There Yet?

I wonder if some of you have taken vacations over the summer?  Our family went on a road trip.  The point about our road trip is that we set out without any particular destination in mind.  And without any plans.  We just piled the car up with two weeks’ worth of clothes and goodies, and set off.  We were heading in the general direction of Canada, and Montreal.  Some days we drove many, many hours in a day.  Has anyone ever driven in a car for 8 hours with three kids?  You begin to understand why some species eat their young.  But it was all good fun.  I would not trade an hour of it. 

Our kids were in the backseat, and there was a symphony, a chorus that regularly came to us, and you all know what it was saying:  “Are we there yet?” The answer was, “Yes.”  And then the next question was,  “When are we going to get there?”  And we would always answer,  “We’re already there.”
We tried to explain to our kids every day for two weeks that we did not know where we were going every day.  We didn’t have any particular plans, wherever we were at that time, that’s where our holiday was.  It’s a hard concept for children to get their head around.  But in any case, that’s the question that came to us. 

I wonder whether some of you have come back to church this morning with certain questions in your mind, and certain expectations.  I wonder whether some of you have a sense of what progressive Christianity is, but are wondering whether we have arrived there or not.  Are we there yet?  When are we going to get there?  My answer is “we’re already there”.   Wherever we are, that’s where progressive Christianity is experienced.  Wherever you are is where you need to be. 

Looking for Wisdom

I heard a wonderful story about coming to a home looking for answers.  This story is set in a very remote village.  In this village thee is a huge mountain, and on top of the mountain is a home.  The home is surrounded by mystery.  Rumor has it that a very wise old man lives in the home.  People make the pilgrimage up to the house, and visit the wise old holy man in his home, and bring all their life questions to him, and he will talk with them, and answer the questions.  So one man in this village decides to visit the holy man, and sets out on a daylong trek up the mountain, a tough walk up to the house, and knocks at the door.  A very old decrepit man, with no teeth, answers the door.  He invites the visitor into the house and says, “What can I do for you?”  The man begins to explain what some of his questions are, some of the burning questions that he’s come to the house with, and they begin to walk through the house.  The visitor is assuming that he is being taken to the holy man, all the while chatting to the doorman.  And they go through room after room, and the visitor peers around the rooms looking for the holy man, and they keep walking.  Eventually they come right out to the back door of the house.  The doorman opens the back door, shakes the visitor’s hand, and wishes him well.  You can imagine this visitor was devastated and a little bit shocked.  He turned and said, “But when do I get to meet the holy man?”  At that point the doorman says, “You already have.  Every person that you meet in your life, if you meet them as a holy man or woman, that’s what they will be.  If you greet every situation that arises in your life as if it is an opportunity for learning wisdom, then all the problems you have brought here today will automatically be solved.”  So the man began his daylong trek back down the mountain, thinking about all that the doorman had said. 

In this organization, I am the doorman.   I still have my teeth, but nevertheless, I am the doorman.  Bob, my colleague, and all the rest of the staff, and the leadership of this church, are the doormen and women.  You come here with your questions about life, and you come here wondering when we will get there, and our role is simply to walk along side you through life, through the many buildings of life that we travel through, and point out the wisdom that is already there.  Our role is to unlock the treasures that are in each and every one of you.  Treasures of wisdom, truth, courage, compassion and integrity.  It’s all there.  And so if you say to anyone of us as the door people, “Are we there yet?” our answer will be, “Yes.”  If you ask us, “When are we going to get there?” our answer will be, “We already are.” 

Let me read to you these words from John, Chapter 14.  Jesus, speaking to his disciples:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

4And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

Here we have the disciples asking Jesus some big questions, wanting clear cut answers. They seem to be expecting Jesus to point them to something outside of them, some path towards some place or destination. Jesus answer to them is that his presence is the answer. He manifests God with and for them.

Treasures Within

The treasures are locked within you.  The treasures are locked between us.  And the treasures are in nature, and all we need to do is open our eyes, have ears to hear, and all the treasures that we could possibly need for life are right there for us.  All of our problems are automatically solved when we approach life as a teacher.  The path becomes clear when we approach others as if they are manifesting God for us and when we approach nature as being a treasure chest of wisdom. 

I’ve seen it happen in this community in the last two weeks.  Two weeks ago I stood before you with a very urgent announcement about the finances of this church.  At that point I really did not know what the response would be.  I felt a certain anxiety at that point, but I knew that I simply had to put the message out there to you, the people.  I couldn’t solve the problem for you, rather, I needed to put the problem out there, and we needed to see if we could own it together.  And that’s what I’ve seen happen.  In the last two weeks I’ve seen people self-empowered to take responsibility for this problem, take responsibility for the challenge that lies before us, and own it.  As soon as we own it as our problem, we automatically begin to solve it.  As the doorman, I’ll take my part in that challenge, my colleagues will be there alongside us, but this is our challenge, and we’re already meeting it. 

Everything that we need is already there before us.  We are already complete.  Will we grow? Will we learn and change in the future? Of course, but we don’t need to.  We will learn and grow and change because that’s what happens when you are alive.  Not because we need to. Everything we need is already there for us.  When will we be there?  We already are.  And having set out on that journey, we can’t do anything else than succeed. 

I’ve seen, in the last two weeks, a community succeeding.  I’ve seen a community coming together, owning its present, and building its future.  And so going forward, if you ask me the question, “When will we get there?” I’ll answer you, “We already are.”  And if you ask me the question, “How will we get there?” my answer will be very simple:  We get there by living authentically in the present.  Be yourself.  That’s how you get there.  Just be yourself.  Be yourself on the journey to the Self in community.  Be yourself on the journey to the heart of life.  You have a divine spark within you, and in you exists all other people, and all other situations.

That’s the beauty of John 14.  If we take the exclusiveness of the traditional interpretation out of our mind, this is a wonderful passage where Jesus represents for us the existence of all people, even divinity, in himself.  If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the father.  If you have seen the doorman, you have seen the father.  When will we get there?  We already are.  How will we get there?  We will get there by living authentic, fully grounded and present, lives together.  We’re already there.  We’re already doing it.  Everything that we need is a treasure that is within, and between, and in nature.