At the recent clergy day, we heard from the Reverend Canon Martha Tatarnic who spoke eloquently about her more recent book: “Why Gather? The Hope and Promise of the Church”. The stories shared included the moment she had received the final proof copy of the book, that last review opportunity before it would be published. At the top of each page, where it should have said “Why Gather?” in reference to the title, it said, instead, “Why Bother?” Perhaps that is the more important question to raise of those of us who call ourselves Christian and gather regularly for worship.
Why bother? Why do we come together? For what are seeking when we gather here? What longing are we hoping to find fulfilled? To what extent is our participation our way of reaching up, like the branches of a tree, wanting to be nourished, wanting to find meaning, wanting to feel connection?
Why bother? Perhaps the same question could have been posed to the Ethiopian Eunuch who had intentionally travelled some 4000 km from Ethiopia to Jerusalem. Why bother? Why would someone with considerable resources and connections risk life and limb to journey somewhere new? For what were they seeking that they couldn’t find in their hometown? Why did they feel a need to learn about another religion, and be willing to potentially learn another language to do so? For what were they reaching when they sat in that chariot to make this journey?
Why bother? When we meet the Ethiopian Eunuch, they were on the way home. We don’t know how they were treated while in Jerusalem. We do know that they were an outsider – different by virtue of their ethnicity and gender. As a eunuch, they would not have been welcomed among the men and are not a woman. Their resources were sufficient to get them a copy of a scroll from the prophet Isaiah, but not enough to overcome their differences and give them access to the guidance they needed to truly understand and appreciate the contents. They left Jerusalem with an ongoing longing. They left still reaching up, like the branches of a tree, wanting to be nourished, wanting to find meaning, wanting to feel connection.
Why bother? The Holy Spirit works in and through the lives of those open to listening. The Spirit leads Philip into an encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip hears the longing as the chariot passes. The exchange between these two strangers illustrates deep need from one and loving compassion from the other. It is in this encounter that the reaching transitions to receiving.
It is in encounter that reaching transitions to receiving. This is where the ‘six postures of prayer’ takes us next. The response to reaching, to that stretching upwards with longing and hope, is to allow ourselves to let go, to let gravity take over as our arms fall gently downward expectantly and humbly receiving gifts offered. The gifts can come from those close to us or from strangers. God works in and through all of Creation. When we trust this truth, when we let go of our need to control, be independent, and do for ourselves, we create space for grace and possibility. To receive is to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and trust the gifts of others. To receive is to let go and let God.
To receive is to let go and let God. This is what the Ethiopian Eunuch chose to do when they stopped the chariot and engaged with Philip. They set aside their power and privilege to humbly learn from a stranger. In so doing, they had a transcendent experience, an encounter not only with the stranger, but also with God, that Divine presence that had brought the stranger to the chariot in the first place. There was such a profound experience of meaning and possibility that the Eunuch asked to be baptised. They found that for which they were reaching and received the gifts eagerly.
To receive is to let go and let God. Of what do we need to let go to receive the gifts we are being offered right now? In what ways do we need to allow gravity to transition our reaching into receiving? What does it look like for us to set aside our power and privilege to humbly learn from a stranger, or a friend, or creation? How is the Holy Spirit working in and through the world right now so that we can receive what we need?
Why bother? Why gather? How is this moment, how are God’s gifts a response to our longing? How is our reaching being transformed by God’s love to create space for receiving? May we have the courage to let go and let God as we transition from reaching to receiving in our prayers this week. This we pray as we sing: 399 Now thank we all our God
