Prayer:

In the streets, in the busyness of our daily living, with family and friends, in unexpected places, we encounter you, Holy One, and our lives are changed. May your word be one that connects us to our calling and let us realize how to deepen our commitment to living in your way.

For the next 3 months our pastor, Jeff Krehbiel, is on sabbatical. It is assumed that after 3 months, Jeff will come back from Guatemala, Taize in France and Iona in Scotland with stories to share of new discoveries and a re-energized vision for his own faith journey and for this community.

Pilgrims isn’Äôt exactly a community that sits around and let’Äôs the world go on without it. So it was determined that we should have our own stories to tell after the 3 sabbatical month period. We should have experiences that help us in our own self discovery of faith and life together.

We can’Äôt exactly jet off for Guatemala, France or Scotland so what are our tools for re-discovering who we are and clarifying our common set of values? How will we go about creating stories to tell?

These are our tools that will guide us in community reflection: we have two words, an image, and stories of our faith

The two words: Connection and Clarity. These are our two major stepping stones or tools we will use to guide us into a deeper sense of identity and vocation together.

In January, a sabbatical planning group was formed and through some common spiritual reflection exercises, the group of Carol Huls, Gerry Hendershot, Hannah Nutt, Jeanne Mayer, and Anne Womeldorf came up with these two words and their definitions to set the stage
for our own sabbatical time.

Connection: By the time Jeff returns from sabbatical, we will have offered experiences that illuminate how as the body of Christ, both individually and in community, we are meaningfully connected, through our trust in God and Jesus Christ, to one another, to our city, and to the global village.

Clarity:

By the time Jeff returns from sabbatical, we will be able to see, with a new perspective,
the values and expressions of faith that matter the most to us, individually, and as a community.

As Christians, words matter. We have our own religious language that helps to define us and give shape to our lives; our religious language sets us apart from the secular language we use in
everyday life. We use theological words like discipleship, redemption, repentance, crucifixion, resurrection’Ķ.we use these words because they hold meaning for us and help us realize who we are as people living in the movement of God. These words hold the story of our faith.

For the sabbatical, we have two more words: connection and clarity. Words that I hope will reveal the stories of our faith and how and why we are bound together as a community.

Connection and clarity. These are our words to live by for the next several months. Connection. How we are connected to each other, to the city, to God’Äôs global village. Clarity. What we realize to be true about the values we share and the authentic expressions of faith that matter the most to us. I encourage you to listen in your daily lives for these two words. You will be surprised how often they come up.

So’Ķwe have our words. Now an image.

Take a look at the image behind me. Kathy Keler, a Pilgrim and graphic artist, created this image to give a visual shape to our sabbatical themes
of connection and clarity. This image is one of our guides, one of our spiritual tools.

What do you see in the image?

When I showed this image to Gerry Hendershot, he said the following:

I think that mental ambiguity may be what gives the strip its spiritual quality--it challenges normal perceptions. There is other symbolism in the strip. For instance, it looks like a 3-dimensional infinity sign. It also reminds me of the labyrinth in that it involves a journey in and a journey out. In the labyrinth this is a journey in to the center and a journey out to the world. On the strip it is a journey "under" and a journey "over."

Jean Stewart responded to the image with these words:

My response to the lovely image that Kathy Keler created for the sabbatical period is similar to Gerry Hendershot's in that I immediately thought of the infinity sign when I saw the loop--our connections inward and outward are without defined limits, a wonderful idea to me. The figures are facing inward, but leaning outward, another symbol of the inward and outward journey. The loop also looks like a link, linking us together in community, and like a Mobius strip, a concept of mystery and wonder.

My spiritual director and leader for our upcoming sabbatical retreat in May, Margee Iddings, had this to say about the image:

Such a strip symbolizes the vital connection between the inner life of the mind and spirit with the outer life of service and community. It also symbolizes the strength that comes not just from a rectangular strip made into a circle, but the even stronger sense that is inherent in the simple twist of that circle.

As Christians, images matter. We have images that help us visualize our faith and call us to use our imagination. We use images of the cross, of the cup, of a loaf of bread, of water. Like words, images contain the stories of our faith and let us think metaphorically about what the stories mean to us. Now we have this image to add to our imagination.

What do you see in this image?

Two words: connection and clarity. We have our image. Now the stories.

It is no coincidence that the primary lectionary texts for this period come from the Books of Acts. Over time, this book has been called ’ÄúActs of the Apostles.’Äù William Willimon, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, has suggested it might more accurately be called, ’ÄúThe Acts of the Holy Spirit.’Äù This sounds more appropriate, Willimon suggest because the work of the Spirit forms a constant thread, or connection, throughout the entire book. Calling the book Acts of the Holy Spirit doesn’Äôt negate the role of the apostles in the early church. Instead, Acts of the Holy Spirit places the apostles in the midst of an unfolding narrative of God’Äôs activity working through the Spirit and human agents to renew and expand community. 1

Throughout this sabbatical time, we will tell stories of connection and clarity. These stories will reveal and place us, Pilgrims from Church of the Pilgrims, in the midst of God’Äôs story. Our stories will name how we, as God’Äôs human agents, renew and expand God’Äôs community and our endeavor to live in God’Äôs Way. We will tell stories of connection and clarity to illustrate how we are already living in the movement of God.

These stories will help us realize how God’Äôs Spirit has been at work in us, bestowing identity and vocation on each one of us. We tell these stories to remind us that as we move through the shuffling of church life, we need to pay attention because God is consistently giving us experiences that define our faith and Christian identity and, ultimately, how we live out that faith in the world.

We talk all the time about what is going on here at Pilgrims: Open Table, The Pilgrimage, WIN actions, etc. But do we take time to share the stories that reveal what exists within us? What experiences have shaped who we are today as disciples of Jesus Christ? Do we take time to share the stories that reveal how our common life together has God unfolding in us?

We need to hear each others stories. We need to listen to how the Spirit has changed our lives
within this sanctuary and beyond. Indeed, we encounter Christ in the sometimes dramatic turnings and quiet, unfolding experiences that change us. 2

Our story this morning from the Acts of the Holy Spirit of Saul’Äôs, call to living in God’Äôs way
takes on those characteristics. As we know, Saul will soon be the Apostle Paul. But this story is the first of three narratives that tells us how God called Saul to new life. Our text tells us that at this time in ancient history, Saul was breathing down the necks of Jesus’Äô disciples. Saul was out for the kill. Saul was anything but connected to living in the way, the truth and the light. After a blinding, dramatic experience and hearing the voice of Jesus calling him by name, Saul experiences gracious hospitality of his companions. Now Ananias, one of those companions, is challenged to be transformed, too. While hesitant to trust Saul, Ananias is transformed by Saul
who changed his ways, ended his reign of terror on God’Äôs people in Jerusalem, and was welcomed by the redemptive love of God. Ananias is to go to Saul and heal him through the laying on of hands. Right after the laying on of hands, something like scales fell from Saul’Äôs eyes---he could see again.

Here was a moment of clarity for Saul---the destructive, violent ways of his past seem to melt away and he now had the ability to visualize a future with God. Saul got up to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with his companions to eat a hearty meal. In this moment of connection, Ananias and Saul are both transformed, weaving their lives together and encountering the Risen Christ.

This connection doesn’Äôt stop at this two person relationship but is taken into the outer realms of life and transforms a community. For Saul’Äôs call is one of creating connections. Saul is called by God-- to build a community of Jews and Gentiles---his mission was to connect two communities, reveal that they can co-exist and that they are one body in the mysterious plan of God.

This week, we had a horrific reminder of what happened in an extreme case not of connection but of disconnect and isolation. Seung Hui Cho, the shooter in the VT murders, seemed to be ravaged by his disconnects; disconnected from himself, his mental illness, his family, community’Ķdisconnected from any mental health services that would do him justice.

But in the images in the media throughout the week, I’Äôve seen glimpses of deep connection in the midst of grief and trauma; images and stories of students and faculty saving each others lives, the VT community creating rituals of remembrance, public displays of grief, worship services, moments of prayer, thousands of people lined up, waiting for the campus convocation on Tuesday. These are all experiences of connection in the midst of horrendous loss and numbness.

The images show me that in the midst of what we thought was unimaginable, a community can still have power to be connected and walk the road of healing and recovery together. The VT community didn’Äôt flee the campus after Monday. They stayed. They needed each other.
They needed to connect and be together. One psychologist remarked that his fear is when the students and faculty leave for the summer in 3 weeks and they are disconnected, separated from each other and alone with their memories and feelings. The psychologist said what they need more than ever is to be connected; processing this grief with people who understand the magnitude of the violence.

This week, even in this case where we’Äôve witnessed the most horrific violence and loss, strength and connections are still possible and are essential.

Encountering Christ whether in moments of joy or extreme suffering, calls us, restores us and builds Christian community. The way these connections take place vary widely, but the connections lead to renewal of our call and identity as disciples. Stories of connections and clarity remind us in whose presence we live and in whose name we serve. 3

In what ways, and through who, have you been connected to Pilgrims? One of our goals for the sabbatical is to have us experience worship in new and challenging ways. We are going to start living into that goal right now. Each one of us has stories, embedded within us, about how we have felt connected to this congregation and, subsequently, how this congregation has connected
us to the city and to the concerns of the world. I invite you to turn to your neighbor sitting near you in the pew and tell a short story about how you have felt connected to Pilgrims.

What experiences have left you feeling part of this community? Who here at Pilgrims helps you feel connected to this body of faith? To the same neighbor, tell a story about how Pilgrims connected you to this city. Tell a story about how Pilgrims connected you to the concerns of the world.

What experiences through Pilgrims have left you feeling like you are invested in the well being of this city and the world? If you are here at Pilgrims for the first time or are new to us, tell a story about how you have felt connected to a particular community and how that community let you feeling invested in the well being of a particular city or the concerns with the world.

Take a few minutes and share with someone next to you how you have felt connected to Pilgrims, this city and to God’Äôs global village.

The story of Saul and Ananias is a story of transformation. We also have these stories of transformation. We have been changed. Now is the time to share these stories so we can be renewed and restored in God’Äôs Spirit.

Connection and clarity ---this is our way together for the next few months. Listen. Witness. Share your story. Let us be guided by God’Äôs spirit so we can deepen and strengthen our connections with one another, our city and to God’Äôs broken yet powerful world.

Prayer:

As you have met us in many places, O God, thank you for meeting us again here and now. In this time of worship, in one another, in the music, in the prayers, in the scripture, and in this time of sharing. In all that we do, may we encounter Christ and feel connected. In those connections, may we realize that our lives are transformed and renewed. Amen.

                        ✞

1, Seasons of the Spirit CongregationalLife Lent, Easter:  90.

2. Seasons of the Spirit: 92

3. Seasons of the Spirit: 92

© 2006 Ashley Goff