Rev. Sally Iberg,
Minister for Mission and Ministry

A man should share in the distress of the community, for so we find that Moses, our teacher, shared in the distress of the community. 
from Judaism -Talmud, Taanit 11a

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
from Christianity - John 15:13

The believer who participates in human life, exposing himself to its torments and suffering, is worth more than the one who distances himself from its suffering.
from Islam - Hadith of Ibn Majah

Last Thursday our three-year old grandson spent the night with us.  Earlier that day we received a phone call from the daughter of a good friend who was coming to town with her husband and two children and was wondering if they could stay with us.  “Of course,” we said, looking forward to seeing Colleen and Todd and meeting their children.  They arrived during Sean’s nap.  When he woke up he felt shy, as children and lots of adults do when meeting new people. 

The shyness wore off almost immediately as Sean and Liam warmed to the idea of spending time with a fellow three-year old.  We soon discovered they also shared a great sense of imagination. They spent the night in the same room and when they woke they had an impromptu birthday picnic on Liam’s bed. Their similarities – age and imagination - made it easier for them to become comfortable with each other and play easily. 

On Monday, Jim, Kate, and I attended a Bastille Day celebration hosted by the French Institute, where I’ve been studying for two years.  How was this group of 100 strangers to get better acquainted?  Every guest was asked to take a card with a word or phrase from one of two glass jars.  We were then to find our mate – someone with a word or phrase that went with ours.  Kate drew the name of I. M. Pei, the architect.  Her match was the new glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre in Paris.  Jim had Provence and his match was la lavande.  Apparently, lavender grows in profusion in Provence.  I selected La Marseillaise (the French national anthem) and my match was le quatorze juillet (Bastille Day).  When you find your match you return to the front desk to receive a ticket for a drawing for prizes.  We were motivated. 

And yet, people ran the gamut in how they responded to this task.  Some kept the card with a word or phrase in their pocket.  Others clipped it to their name tag.  Some went around the room looking at the cards of others without so much as a greeting.  Others were match-making.  In fact, that’s how I found my mate – someone else pointed him out to me.  In a room full a strangers, the French Institute found a way of making it easier for us to get to know each other a little bit. 

Almost every Sunday, Jim and I take a walk by the lake.  It’s not a fixed time.  We go when it works with our schedules.  That walk is our time to slow down, to talk about what’s been bubbling up during the week, or just to enjoy the beauty of the day.  It’s one of the things we do that helps us focus on our relationship – to honor the commitments we make to each other.  And our dog goes along too.

Sean and Liam found an easy interaction with each other, due in great part to their similarities.  The French Institute offered a bunch of strangers an opportunity and some motivation to risk meeting new people.  Jim and I take time for a walk.  Each of these is an example of what it takes to be in community.  They are tiny examples, and they help us understand the complexities of community. 

Our readings today speak to some of the more difficult aspects of being in community.  Community is an easy thing when you look alike and think alike.  It’s much more difficult when differences are added to the mixture.  And yet those differences offer creativity and strength that are missing in a homogenous group.  One of the most important ingredients in building community is intentionality. 

When I go to the grocery store, I am not thinking about shopping as a community-building exercise.  I have my list and I work the aisles as efficiently as possible.  Yes, I will help someone get something from a shelf that is too high for them to reach.  And yes, I will tell someone who seems to be lost that tooth brushes are in aisle 15.  I am perfectly capable of being civil to these strangers, but I don’t expect to see the same people the next time I’m in the store.  I’m not really invested in the grocery story as community. 

Community has more consistency to it than that.  Here at Glenview Community Church we strive to become a strong community of Christian faith that welcomes and engages all people in personal and spiritual growth by learning, loving, and serving in God’s name.  We are intentional about being a faith community, about being a community.  As a community we can accomplish so much more than any of us can accomplish as individuals. 

As a community we have been able to support the dream that one of our members shared with other women to make an organization like Hands of Peace a reality.  Gretchen Grad continues to build on that dream and draw many others into leadership roles in order to secure a future for this important program.  Many of our members have played key roles in building Hands of Peace. 

Angeles Arien (The Four-Fold Way) has some guidance for us in building community.  She has four simple rules:  show up, pay attention, speak the truth in love, remain open to influence.  We’ve talked about this before.  We’ll talk about it again.  As a faith community, one of the most important places for us to show up is right here on Sunday morning in worship.  Whether we are here for the music, or the prayers, or the scriptures, or the sermon, or the time to just sit and reflect on our relationship with God – no matter the reason.  This is a very important place for us to show up.

We see each other, become familiar with each other, recognize each other.  We begin to form community.  We carry over that sense of community to other aspects of our life together: in congregational meetings, board and committee meetings, small groups, educational programs.  In these other gatherings we build on our sense of each other.  We also build on our sense of ourselves.  We get to know each other better.  We get to know ourselves better.  We learn about our strengths and challenges as individuals and as a community.

We have to show up in order to pay attention – at least in order to pay attention to community.  Paying attention means observing what is happening and listening to what is being said.  That’s much easier said than done.  Many of us spend little time listening.  When we see something happening or hear someone begin to talk we almost immediately begin practicing our response based on what we think they mean rather than on what they are saying and doing.  We may assume the worst.  We need to work at listening to each other.  When we have listened and confirmed with the other that what we have heard is what they meant to say, then it’s time for us to speak.

Speaking is not as easy as it sounds either.  Arien doesn’t say speak, she says speak the truth in love.  She’s telling us to avoid spreading rumors and hearsay.  She’s saying to speak carefully about what we have seen and heard – not what someone else has told us happened.  And we are to share our own thoughts and feelings carefully.  If we’re in community then we are trying to build up community, not tear it down.  Community can be very fragile.  It can also be very strong – its strength is dependent on each member’s willingness to participate by showing up, paying attention, and speaking the truth in love.

For some of us, the hardest part of Arien’s guidelines for community is the last part – remain open to influence.  That means that we’re willing to explore a topic without having a preconceived notion about the resolution.  We may have some ideas, but unless we’re really open to listening to what everyone has to say, we will not be able to contribute in a productive way to resolving the issue in a way that is best for the whole community.  If we require all decisions to be just as we prefer and are not able to trust the community as a whole, we’re not likely to remain open to influence. 

Show up, pay attention, speak the truth in love, remain open to influence.  Easy to say, hard to do.  But well worth the effort.  As I mentioned earlier, our readings today address the more difficult aspects of being in community.  Each of these readings, from the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, holds community in high regard.  Each of these readings also acknowledges the difficulties inherent in community.

A word about the Christian reading:  No one has greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  This reading is often used during Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day services to speak to the sacrifice that those who have died in service to our country have made.  While well intentioned, it is a misunderstanding of the meaning of the text. 

The original Greek in which the Gospel of John was written, has two words for our word “life.”  One of those words is “zoë” (or life) and the other is “psyche” (or soul).  If the author of this gospel had used the word “zoë” then this interpretation would be accurate.  It would mean to literally lay down your life, to die for another.  However, that word is not used, but the word “psyche” is.  That leads us to a different interpretation.  What we’re hearing in this text is instruction about being in community – which was very important to the author of this gospel.  To truly love another is to be willing to be present with them, to be open with them, to share with them what is true and real while listening to them about what is true and real for them.  Reciprocating in this way is to care for each other. 

The young people who participate in Hands of Peace this year are doing just that.  Every day of the two weeks they are here for the program they spend two hours in dialogue as a group, struggling to hear each other, struggling to understand each other, struggling with their differences so that they can find their common ground.  Every day they show up.  Every day they pay attention and speak their truth in love.  Every day their expectations are challenged and they are moved to remain open to the influence of others. 

May we be inspired to do the same here at Glenview Community Church.

Let us be in silent prayer.