CELEBRATING:
SERMONS
18 - Jan 2009
A sermon delivered by Rev. Gordon How
Jan. 18, 2009 That All May Be One
Every church building has its own design characteristics.
This sanctuary, for example, is set out with pews all
the same and in straight rows. Its features are the
light, the height of the vaulted ceiling reaching to
the heavens and the bountiful windows. Often, the architecture
of a church is rooted in the particular theology of
the church. This could be, for example, the basic footprint
of the church - whether it be a cross, a circle, a semi-circle
or whatever. It reveals some principle or emphasis of
the belief of the people who worship therein.
Next weekend, we are to be visited by a Church Architect
who has been invited here to make some suggestions to
a committee that is considering what changes, if any,
to recommend regarding the chancel of the church - this
area at the front where the ministers and musicians
lead worship. The timing is right because our organ
is behind in its regular maintenance. It hasn't been
renewed and cleaned for decades. Included is a consideration
of changing the east wall of the sanctuary (below the
stained glass window) to enhance three things: 1) the
sound quality coming from the organ pipes; 2) the appearance
of the brown plywood wall of squares (which really only
looks attractive when something is hanging on it); and
3) the use of the wall for electronic projection of
images… I'm sure we will get heavily into these
considerations in the coming weeks. I want, today, however,
to make comment on two existing architectural features
of our sanctuary.
Did you ever wonder why this pulpit has such a place
of prominence? For example, it is higher than the lectern,
closer to you than the communion table, and is designed
as the prominent and fixed element of our sanctuary.
The reasons are simple. First, it is because the Protestant
church believes the preaching and teaching of the word
of God to be the most important aspect of our worship.
It is more important to explain the word of God than
even to read it from scripture; so the pulpit is higher
than the lectern. We can surround our worship with beautiful
music, we can enact the sacramental importance of Baptism
and Holy Communion - and we can bow in prayer - but
the preaching of the Word is to be the prominent aspect
of our tradition. The other reason that the pulpit take
six steps to climb up into - is because from this elevated
position, communication is enhanced - the speaker can
be seen - and to be seen helps with being heard.
A second architectural feature to note today - is the
rood beam above me here. It's presence is quite a contradiction
to our United Church theology. …. You see, we are
a church that believes strongly in the priesthood of
all believers, in the ministry of the whole people of
God; the ordained are no more important than the lay
people - but we don't completely reflect that with this
architecture. Likely, the architects who design our
churches were influenced by either historical church
architecture or by their own church backgrounds - which
may not have been United Church. Yet, here, we have
this beam which sets apart the chancel from the nave
(to use two old English terms.)
In medieval churches the primary purpose of a rood
screen or rood beam was to be fence or screen to keep
the clergy and the laity separated. The lay people were
not to be involved in presenting the worship, they could
only listen to it from a distance. The holy men of the
church were to be kept apart from the masses (or vice-versa,
depending on how you look upon these things.) How contradictory
that old way of doing things is to our way of being
the church. For us, it is the ministry of the whole
people of God, with no one more important than anyone
else, no hierarchies of importance.
The word rood - as in "rood beam" - is derived
from the old Saxon word "rood" meaning "cross".
And the rood screen, which later became mostly only
a "rood beam" held upon it, a Cross - hence
the name rood. However, there was another reason for
this rood beam to be placed here - in our church - by
the architects. And this reason I can accept, because
it is here only to carry a verse of scripture - which
is fundamental to the United Church of Canada - in fact,
UT OMNES UNUM SINT is the motto of the United Church
of Canada and it appears on the crest of our church
which is printed for you on the cover of this morning's
bulletin. I like this rood beam, because of what it
has written on it.
More people ask me about this Latin verse than any
other symbol or work of art in our church. We have the
glory of the Pentecost window of the west wall, with
its depiction of the Fire and Wind of the Holy Spirit
descending upon the church; on the East window there
are at least a dozen important symbols and high above
on the side windows are four repeated symbols from the
early church… but it is "Ut Omnes Unum Sint"
that creates the most questions… what does it mean?
John 17: 20 'I ask not only on behalf of these, but
also on behalf of those who will believe in me through
their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father,
are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,*
so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22The glory that you have given me I have given them,
so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them
and you in me, that they may become completely one,
so that the world may know that you have sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me."
So, the you see the inherent contradiction in this
rood beam - rood beams were originally to separate Christians
one group from the other - whereas, this one is used
to highlight "That All May Be One" - the opposite
of separating Christians!
I have always celebrated the belief that our United
Church is a uniting church. It has been and must continue
to be all about bringing people together. Ecumenical
and inclusive - acting in unity, and in cooperation
with those who share our churches values and hopes.
Our church began in 1925 - a union of all the Methodists
in Canada, all the Congregationalists in Canada and
2/3rds of the Presbyterians. I mention this today because
that scriptural motto is crucial to this Sunday - earmarked
throughout the world as the start of the Week of Prayer
for Christian Unity. The week of prayer for Christian
Unity was in much more favour 20 and 40 years ago -
when local clergy and churches of the Anglican, Roman
Catholic, United and Lutheran churches would get together
for special services to celebrate an ecumenical spirit
of oneness in purpose.
That all seems to have faded rather completely nowadays
- I suppose this is a result of a more competitive approach
by most churches - a circling of the wagons to aid survival,
of setting up theological boundaries that make two categories
- insiders and outsiders - and outsiders are not welcome
inside, there are not even to be met nor prayed with!
It is like our politics now - working against the other
political parties is more important than the common
good of everyone.
Within the wider church, this lack of ecumenical sharing,
programming, worship, attitude and effort is truly a
sad loss for me and my understanding of the faith -
because I have learned so much from my ecumenical experiences
in the past 30 years. I want to tell you about three
Christians of other churches I have met over the years
and from whom I have learned valuable lessons. They
happen to be: an Anglican, a Methodist and a Russian
Orthodox.
I met all of them first in 1981 when I traveled to
GDR to attend meetings of the planning committee for
the 1983 Assembly of the WCC to be held in Vancouver.
Dresden, GDR was the first European city I visited -
it was still behind the Iron Curtain then, and there
20 of us began the pRussian Orthodox Churchess of planning
a meeting to be held two years later in 1983, that would
draw together 4000 people to the UBC Campus, for 2/12
weeks.
The Anglican was Bill Perkins - a career ecumenist
(or "ecumeniac" as we called him) who had
spent most of his life as a bureaucrat in the WCC in
Geneva. He could speak 5 languages and knew hundreds
of people in the leadership of the members churches
throughout the world. He was assertive, he had a memory
that kept track of policies, budgets, programs, events,
people and places that was swift and sure and impressive.
We worked well together and I think the reason was that
we respected each other and trusted each other. So that
is my first ecumenical lesson - on this Sunday that
marks the beginning of the week of Prayer of Christian
Unity. In order to work cooperatively and effectively
together on the ministry of Jesus Christ, people must
respect each other and trust each other.
It has long been a sure lesson of the ecumenical movement
that those who move easily in such circles are people
who are confident about those own history and own theology
that they can creatively engage in conversations with
people of other persuasions - because they have trust
that God's Spirit will lead them into new working relationships
which only serve God's purpose.
Later that year, I went to Geneva to meet again with
Bill Perkins and on the first Sunday I was there, he
took me to an English speaking Lutheran congregation
in the heart of old Geneva. We worship with 200 others,
many from the WCC and the LWF who came together to worship
in English. They were Methodists from Africa, Presbyterians
from Asian, Anglicans from Australia and others from
the Pacific Island, the Mediterranean and Scandinavia…
It was the most uplifting worship experience of my life.
Cross cultural, ecumenical and inclusive… The music,
the prayers and the Eucharist were for everyone. It
was a delight and it made me think what the "one
true church" might just be like.
Another person present at that meeting, who became
a life-long friend was Pauline Webb, whom many of you
met here two years ago when she and several Methodist
friends of London passed through Vancouver one Sunday
morning - lifting our spirits and sharing worship with
us. Granted Methodists are very similar to us in theology
and practice - but Pauline taught me some important
lessons about the unity of the church. She is a daughter
of a Methodist Minister and she had all the gifts, skills,
experience and faith to become a minister - but the
Methodist Church of England in those days of the early
50s would not yet ordain women. So Pauline chose to
serve the church as a laywoman - and she rose to the
top both within her church as its first woman Moderator,
but also as a gifted preacher and communicator - both
in Methodist circles and in her widely-respected role
as BBC Religious Broadcaster. Pauline taught me that
the role you play is not as important as how well you
do your job! We can't all be elected to the highest
office, nor lead a section in the choir, nor land the
huge contract, but we can all excel at the assignments
we have and the roles we are asked to play. Surely this
applies to all of living, including what we do within
the church.
The third person I met at that meeting was a young
Russian Orthodox Bishop - young I can say because he
is 4 years my junior! Very Russian, very committed to
his culture and his church - Bishop Kirill was a brilliant
man of warmth and scholarship. As a Bishop of the Russian
Orthodox Church, he could not marry - clearly we was
wedded to his church! We enjoyed walks and meals together,
his heavy Russian accent making most colourful our English
dialogue. He wanted to know about Vancouver, the Assembly
location, its programs and so on… What would be
the daily schedule, what would be the theme of the Assembly,
who would be the impressive speakers invited from Canada
and abroad, where would the delegations be housed, what
facilities could be booked for hospitality events and
so on… he had to know all of this so as to inform
his Archbishop in charge of the Russian Delegation.
Kirill was a busy young man. In those days, he divided
his time between Geneva where he was the official representative
of the Russian Orthodox Church and St Petersburg (still
called Leningrad then) where he was a professor in the
seminary. But I learned from Kirill, that the details
on planning to meet and work together as churches is
most important - participants must know that their efforts
can be focused on the issues not on the logistics which
enable the meeting.
The interesting aside to this story of Bishop Kirill
is unfolding next weekend in Moscow. In the 80s and
90s and into this decade Kirill rose up through the
Russian orthodox hierarchy. He was soon elevated as
an Archbishop, then a Metropolitan (the highest office
below that of Patriarch). He also maintained his responsibilities
as a leader in the External Affairs Dept. of the Russian
Orthodox Church. He is now the Chairman of the External
Affairs Dept. which means he has led the dialogue and
working relationship with the Roman Catholic Church
and with the many member churches of the World Council
of Church. It also overseas the working relationship
with all of the sub-units of the Russian Orthodox Church.
This is vitally important role because, for example,
of the political dynamics between Russia and the Ukraine
and with the rest of Europe.
When I read the news in early December of the death
of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church: Alexy
II, I wondered to myself if this would affect Metropolitan
Kirill… so I searched from news via the Internet
- only to find - to my surprise - that Kirill was appointed
as the Interim Leader of the Russian Orthodox Church
until January 27, when a successor to Alexy will be
elected and installed as Patriarch.
Obviously, Kirill must either be a leading candidate
for the election as Patriarch , or is a very trusted
middle-option between two favorites for the office.
The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church is clearly
the most important public figure in Russian after the
president and Prime Minister because the church is seen
as the institution which retains the culture and ensures
that the heritage of Russia remains … and Kirill
just might about be that person as of next weekend.
"Ut Omnes Unum Sint" that all may be one
- declares the Gospel and our Rood Beam. I feel blessed
to have had those three friendships over the years -
and I feel greatly blessed to be part of a church which
seeks to follow the gospel imperative to bring Christians
together - not for the sake of the church - but for
the sake of God's world, and the ministry of Jesus Christ.
As our UCC Creed declares - in part: "We are not
alone, we live in God's world. We believe in God: who
works in us and others by the Spirit. We trust in God.
We are not alone. Thanks be to God."
Sermon Resources: John 17: 20-24.
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Shaughnessy Heights United Church
congregation is a Christian faith community respecting
each other in our diversity and reaching out to all
who seek God’s love.
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West 33rd Avenue,
Vancouver, BC V6M 1A7
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604-261-6377
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