Posts

For Moses, it was the burning bush.  He was out, hiding out, really, with the flocks of his father in law.  Glad to be away from people, politics, and danger since he had left Egypt a wanted man after killing an overseer who had beaten a Hebrew slave.  It was safe in the wilderness with the sheep.  Here, Moses could stay out of trouble and make a positive contribution to his family by helping with the livestock.   He had a community and a purpose.  

And then there was the burning bush.  And the call to free the slaves in Egypt.  And Moses resisted.  He protested.  He tried to get out of it.  But God would have none of it.  And, we know the story.  Moses, along with his brother Aaron, and sister Miriam, were instrumental in helping the slaves escape from Egypt through the Red Sea.  This was followed by 40 years in the wilderness, and then into the promised land.  Moses had a calling.  A purpose.

And so did many significant figures in the stories in the Bible.  Abraham was called, late in life, in his very old age, to relocate with his wife Sarah.  And they were told they would be the progenitors of many nations.  Which did not happen until they were elderly.  You just never know.  Then there was Samuel, who was called into God’s service as a child.  Awakened by God in the night.  And given his purpose.  And we know the calling of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the story of the visitation by the angel Gabriel telling her of her purpose. And Paul being knocked off his horse, struck blind, and being told of his calling.   So many stories of calling in the Bible!

And though its no longer Bible times, many of us today have a calling; we have a purpose revealed to us in some way.  For me, I was walking home from church one Sunday when I was in college, and I was overcome with the feeling that if I made one person feel like this, in my whole life, then I would have fulfilled my purpose.  So I became a pastor.  

This is work we associate with a calling.  Our daughter, Angela, was contemplating becoming a lawyer, until she attended her grandfather’s memorial service.  He had been a pastor.  She heard the stories about him and got her calling.  She wanted to do what he did.  Have that kind of an impact on people.  

And our son, Sterling, in high school, he told me, “I can’t not paint.  You should understand that, Mom.”  And, of course, I do.  And so he went to art school and is a painter living in Los Angeles.  

And there is Robert Reich, the professor, who immediately resonated with teaching and knew that is what he was to do with his life.  The story of his career is beautifully presented in the movie, “The Last Class.”

In the book, The Women, by Kristin Hannah, the main character, Frankie McGrath, finds that she wants to make a difference.  She is from a well to do family in Southern California.  It’s the 60’s.  She decided to become a nurse.  Until she got married.  But after encountering an injured soldier in a San Diego hospital, she decided that she, like her brother who is serving in the Navy in Vietnam, she too, can serve her country.  “‘I could serve my country,’ she said to the man [patient] whose hand she held.  It was a revolutionary, frightening, exhilarating thought.”  [The Women, Kristin Hannah, p. 14.]  Frankie enlists in the army to serve as a nurse in Vietnam.  She finds her purpose.  Which, it turns out, is not validated by her family or by society.  Because she is a woman and the service of women in wartime was not acknowledged or respected.  But she listened to her heart and saved lives.  

This is manifestation of Divine Love, at the heart of reality.  God so loved the world, that not only was Jesus given to the world, but each and every person is given to the world to be a vessel of love.  Of compassion.  Of caring. Everyone one is needed.  Each one of us is here for a purpose. In our Christian tradition we see that purpose as love, of self, love of God, love of neighbor, and love of enemy.  We are here to love. This life.  This earth.  And the people of this earth, whoever they may be.  Our purpose is LOVE.  

Now, because we live in a culture of extractive capitalism, the society around us wants to convince us that we are here to be consumers, to buy things, to spend money, to make money for other people.  We are here to work, so that we have the money to spend to make a profit for others.  We’ll get more into that next week for Labor Day Sunday.  But we are indoctrinated, brainwashed, to see ourselves not as moral beings or as beings of compassion.  We are indoctrinated to see ourselves as economic beings.   Our purpose is to engage with the economy.  To buy, sell, spend, invest.  Where does love fit into that picture?

We are also bound up in a society that is addicted to measuring and counting.  Anything that is worth doing must have a measurable outcome.  We are obsessed with quantifying what we do to justify our actions.  What difference does something make?  How do we know it is a worthy purpose?  Well, there is a measurement to back it up.  

That is not Biblical.  We are never told how many slaves were freed from Egypt.  We aren’t told of the economic implications or the measurable outcomes of most of what happens in the Bible.  Because love, well, it really can’t be measured.  

So as our lives unfold and we are thinking about why we are here and what our purpose is, we are programmed to think in terms of measurability.  And love just doesn’t work like that.  

In my mother’s last months in the nursing home at Westminster Suncoast, she really couldn’t talk much at all and she couldn’t walk.  She couldn’t dress herself.  She couldn’t feed herself.   What was her purpose?  To provide a job for an aide?  Maybe.  But there is one thing she did do.  And she was known for it.  And people used to stop and greet her in the hall way of the nursing facility.  Because she would always smile.  And they loved to see her smile.  They knew that if they greeted Gertie, she would brighten their day with a smile.  So, even in her reduced, compromised condition, she had a purpose.  She could still love with a smile.  How many lives did she brighten a day?  Who knows?  That’s not the point of love.  Of purpose.  

So I think measurability is one thing that can be an obstacle when we think about purpose.  And here’s another thing.  We are in a culture that values being busy.  And there are many tasks we need to do to keep our everyday lives on track that take time.  When we are younger, it’s work, relationships, parenting, keeping up house and yard, helping elderly parents, so many things demanding our time.  And as we get older, there are medical appointments, helping with grandchildren, loss of energy, physical ability and mental acuity slowing us down.  These things fill our days.  So, where is our capacity for love and service?  We are so busy!  Do we even notice where we are needed?

We don’t see Jesus consulting his calendar all the time – two healings this morning, followed by an exorcism.  Lunch with the lepers.  Then in the afternoon, walk to the next town, have dinner with a religious leader.  Then offer some teachings lakeside before turning in at the home of a random local.  Oh, next week, we’ll be in Capernaum.  We’re scheduled to give a talk there and to cast out demons. Then we’ll cross the Sea of Galilee by boat.  That night I will calm the storm.  I mean, it just doesn’t work like that with Jesus.  He has space and time in his life, and the inclination, to spend his days fulfilling his purpose which is to show people how to love, God, Creation, themselves, and others.  That is his purpose.

For God to get in and give us a message about what we are needed to be doing to love, well, there has to be some space, some emptiness, some readiness.  Moses was out in the scrub with the sheep.  Plenty of time and room for God to get a word in edgewise.  

We also live in a time where we are trained to expect immediate results.  We click.  We tap.  We post.  We email.  No waiting days or weeks for a response.  We are used to getting the response now.  Instantly.  It’s like feeding the beast.  I want it now.  The likes.  The thumbs up.  But so much that has to do with purpose, well, we may never get a response.  Or the outcome may be a long time coming.  Sharing love and compassion, working for justice, creating a society that honors human rights for all, these things take time.  Twentieth century theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr, once said, “Nothing worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.”  When it comes to purpose, to channeling the love of God, we must realize that we may never see the results.  It’s not something that we do so that we get immediate gratification though there are studies that show that helping others does actually improve physical health outcomes.  But we may never see our efforts come to full fruition.  Any teacher can tell you that.  Teachers pour themselves into their students and who knows what becomes of them?  Maybe a few stay in touch but most go on with their lives and the teachers never know what impact they have had.  

Another thing that I think influences our sense of purpose today is that we know so much about what is going on in the world around us and that can make the problems seem overwhelming.  We don’t think we can make a difference.  There’s too much.  And it’s too big.  And what can we do?  

Yet we are here, we are put here, we are intended to be here, to channel Divine Love.  We are here, like Jesus, to make the love of God manifest to the world around us. 

This week I read about a camp for old people and young people combined that took place in California last month. The older people taught the younger people things they don’t necessarily learn today like how to sew, or embroider, or play a musical instrument, or cook.  The camp was started by a high schooler who lives with her grandmother.  The intent was to help teens learn from their elders, and help address the loneliness and isolation experienced by many seniors.  The younger people were thrilled to benefit from these interactions with their elders which included doing things like card making, embroidery, clay, jewelry making, Instant Pot cooking, and fruit bouquet making.  And the elders learned about life today for younger people.  [“Seniors Teach “Lost” Life Skills to Students at Intergenerational Summer Camp,” Nice News, Daily Edition August 22, 2025.]

So, what is our purpose?  To love.  To express love.  If you like to cook, then cook a meal for someone, and better yet, enjoy it with them.  That’s purpose.  Listen to someone’s troubles.  Just listen.  Pay attention.  That’s purpose.  If you have money, share it.  Where it is needed.  To help someone.  Or to make the world a better place.  Give it away.  That’s purpose.  If you like to write, post things that offer insight and encouragement.  Share joy.  Expose injustice.  Write.  Write.  Write.  That’s purpose.   If your are a musician, make beautiful music.  To move others.  To bring joy.  That’s purpose.   Call someone you know who is lonely.  And maybe down.  That’s purpose.  Helping someone carry in their grocery bags.  That’s purpose.  Giving someone a ride to the doctor.  That’s purpose.  Taking care of someone’s children when needed, that’s purpose.  Purpose is an orientation of the heart.  

When we were in Kentucky recently, we did a lot of hiking.  There was a lot of up and down,  uneven paths, rocks and roots and boulders to traverse.  With my arthritic knees that don’t like to bend, it could be a challenge.  I was down on all fours.  Or going up backwards on my butt.  Whatever it took.  In one spot, I was down on all fours, climbing over a rocky formation, and a young man and woman came up behind me.   The man, maybe in his thirties, he kind of hovered near by as I proceeded.  My family had gone on ahead.  I encouraged this couple to go past me and continue on.  I told them I’m slow. Go ahead.  But his man just couldn’t do it. He finally said, “It’s just not in my blood to walk away when I could help someone. . .”  Well, I affirmed that!  And I let him know that my husband, son, daughter, son in law, and soon to be daughter in law were here with me, so it was ok for him to head on.  And then he did.    

Purpose does not mean that you have a grand calling, part of a big scheme, to transform the world, or make a lot of money.  Purpose means that you are trying to be open to letting love flow through you into the world, some way, some how, whatever your situation, abilities, or circumstances.  Purpose means that it’s in your blood to help.  To give.  To contribute.  To speak up.  To listen.  To smile.  To love.  

We may not all get marching orders like Moses.  But the presence and power of Divine Love infuses our world and our reality and calls us to channel love.  As long as there is breath in our bodies, our purpose is to love.  That’s is what we are here to be and to do.  Writing in 1856, poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning picks up on the burning bush and reminds us:  

“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” 

[Poem:  Aurora Leigh.]

You are welcome to take off your shoes!    Amen!

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

A legend tells how, at the beginning of time, God resolved to hide within Creation.  

As God was wondering how best to do this, the angels gathered round to be part of the conversation.  

“I want to hide myself in my Creation,” God told them.  “I need to find a place that is not too easily discovered, for it is in their search for me that my creatures will grow in spirit and in understanding.”

“Why don’t you hide yourself deep in their earth?” the first angel suggested.

God pondered this for a while, then replied, “No.  It will not be long before they learn how to mine the earth and discover all the treasures that it contains.  They will discover me too quickly, and they will not have had enough time to do their growing.”

“Why don’t you hide yourself on their moon?” a second angel suggested.  

God thought about this idea for a while, and then replied, “No.  It will take a little longer, but before too long they will learn how to fly through space.  They will arrive on the moon and explore its secrets, and they will discover me too soon, before they have had enough time to do their growing.”

The angels were at a loss to know what hiding places to suggest.  There was a long silence.

“I know,” piped up one angel, finally.  “Why don’t you hide yourself within their own hearts?  They will never think of looking there!”

“That’s it!” said God, delighted to have found the perfect hiding place.  And so it is that God hides secretly deep within the heart of every person, until that person has grown enough in spirit and in understanding to risk the great journey into the secret core of their own being.  And there, the human discovers its creator, and is rejoined to God for all eternity.  (“God In Hiding,” retelling of a traditional story, from One Hundred Wisdom Stories from Around the World, Margaret Silf, pp. 32-33, adapted.) 

The request this week was for a sermon about Christ consciousness and to me this idea of being aware of the Divine is something that I think we can associate with Christ consciousness.  

Before we go much further, let me say that Christ is not Jesus’ last name.  If he were referred to with a last name, it might be something like ben Joseph, son of Joseph.  It would not be Christ.  The word Christ is descriptive; it is a title.  We might say that Jesus was the Christ.  We might even say that he was a Christ.  

One way to think about the Christ consciousness is using the symbol of light. We listened to the story of the creation of light from Genesis.  And we think of the Divine creative presence as part of that story.  And we associate that presence with the figure of Wisdom that we discussed last week, the Divine Feminine.  And we also associate that symbolic moment of the creation of light with Christ, as we heard in the prologue from the gospel of John.  In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God.  The word was in the world, the word was the light of the world.  This we hear as a reference to Jesus.  And we can associate that symbol of the light with the Christ consciousness.  Then in the gospel of Matthew, we are told of Jesus teaching his followers that they are the light of the world.  So light, this symbol of Divine presence and power, that we associate with Jesus, is also manifest in his followers.  

Now we are used to thinking about Jesus as the Christ.  Fully God.  Fully human.  Jesus, a new being, a one and only.  Exceptional.  Unique.  

But in the first century, the categories of divine and human were not separate and isolated.  The concepts of human and divine were on a continuum.  And there was overlap.  And there were divine beings that were thought to take on human forms.  And there were human beings who were thought to take on divine forms.  And this was the reality that was accepted in that context.  So the idea of Jesus, a human, and Divine, and being alive after death, this was not a story of a one and only occurrence.  [See Bart Ehrman, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee.]

Yes, it was thought that in Jesus people experienced the unconditional love of God, the power of God, the abundance of God, the mercy of God, the liberation of God, the compassion of God.  And they experienced connection to one another, to all of humanity, and all of creation.  All connected.  A single, diverse, whole.

And this kind of experience has historically been associated with the Christ consciousness.  There is the story of Paul in the book of Acts, being knocked off his horse and struck blind and hearing the voice of Christ.  He goes from persecuting followers of Jesus to recruiting them.  This can be seen as an experience of the Christ consciousness.  We can think of Thomas Merton, a 20th century mystic, standing on a busy urban sidewalk and being overcome with a feeling of connection and love for everyone he saw.   We think of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity through prayer, discipline, and devotion, cultivating love for the most unlovely in the world around them.  The way of Jesus is a portal to Christ consciousness.  We can think of the centuries’ old practices of seeking transcendence and mystical oneness through ingesting psilocybin and other organic substances and drugs.  People report a feeling of oneness with the universe and being overcome with love.  

Several years ago our daughter Angela and I, went to a church conference sponsored by the Center for Progressive Christianity.  One workshop was being given by Bruce Sanguin.  I have his book, If Darwin Prayed: Prayers for Evolutionary Mystics.  At the opening of the workshop, he told us he was not going to talk about the published topic.  Instead he was going to tell us about going to South America and participating in a ritual involving ayahuasca and how it changed his life.  This is something we can associate with experiencing Christ consciousness.  

I can never forget a visit to the Grand Canyon as an adult.  We stood on the rim, overwhelmed with the beauty before us, and wept.  Nature has always been a doorway to Christ consciousness, along with meditation, prayer, devotion, worship, and service.  So many ways for our lives to be illumined and shaped by the incredible power of love.  To experience a sense of oneness and connection through the power of love.  It’s like our opening story suggests, God within us, just awaiting discovery.  And we are never the same.  

Albert Einstein is remembered for saying:  “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”  To live as if everything is a miracle, this is what we see in Jesus.  But it was not intended to be limited to Jesus alone.  Jesus was about helping people to become aware of that consciousness in themselves and in each other.  So Jesus is remember for saying, You are the light of the world.  And, You will do greater things than I.  YOU.  Those who come to know the Christ consciousness within themselves.  Because that is what Jesus was trying to give to people, to manifest to people, to share with people.  This is who I am.  And this is who you are, too.  

There’s a story about a mother at home with her kids and trying to keep them entertained on a wet Saturday afternoon.  The children were getting bored and they were starting to get on each other nerves, and on the mother’s nerves, with their restlessness and complaining.

But the mother was inventive, and suddenly had an idea.  She took down a magazine from the shelf and opened it up, looking through it until she found a map of the world printed on one page.  She tore this page out of the magazine, and proceeded to cut it up with scissors into small pieces.  Then she jumbled up all the pieces and placed them in a pile on the floor, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Then she set the two children the task of putting the map together again.  Thinking that this would keep them quiet and busy for a good long time, she left the room and went off to make herself a cup of coffee.  

Imagine her amazement when, about five minutes later she came back to find the map neatly and accurately put back together again.  

“How did you manage to put it back together again so quickly?” she asked them, taken aback by their accomplishment.

“Oh, it was easy,” the younger child replied.  “You told us it was a map of the world, and when we looked at the pieces, at first we didn’t know where to begin to sort it all out.  It seemed impossible.  But then we realized that there was a picture of a person on the other side of the page, so we just put the person back together again.  When we turned it over, the world had come back together again as well!”

“Yes, Mom,” chimed the other child. “It was so easy.  If you get the person right, the world is OK.”  [“The Map,” source unknown, Silf, pp. 194-195, adapted.]

Yes, if we get the person right, things will be all right with the world.  And part of getting the person right is getting the person to be aware of the connection to the Divine, to something beyond ourselves, yet within us.  The sacred.  The holy.  This is the power and connection that we associate with love and that we might name as the Christ consciousness.  When we experience that connection, when we tap into that power, we manifest love the way Jesus did.  Our light shines as his did.  We live from our connection with all forms of life and our connection with the planet and the universe in ways that are life-giving and life-sharing, not in ways that are abusive and oppressive and self-serving.    

Now let’s remember that Jesus, whom I would describe as the most compete manifestation of the Christ consciousness in human form, was crucified.  He wasn’t accepted as all ‘peace love dove.’  He wasn’t given the Volunteer of the Year award.  Or even a Good Samaritan medal.  Again and again in the gospels we see how Jesus was embroiled in conflict.  And he finally died by capital punishment.  

You see, to fully embody and manifest Divine love, the Christ consciousness, is about being at one with all of Creation.  All life.  It is about living fully and freely from a core of unconditional love.  And the power of that witness is a threat to power structures that seek to divide and conquer.  It is a threat to leaders who control people through fear.  It is a direct affront to the tactic of separating people and creating animosity between them to maintain power and control.  The Christ consciousness is a direct threat to arrogance and oppression and domination and greed.  It is not about who will get there first but how can we get there together.  

So, it is easier for us to leave the heavy lifting to Jesus.  He was the Christ.  Jesus Christ.  Only Jesus.  He’s the one who was crucified for love.  He did it.  For us.  So, we don’t have to do it, is the insinuation.  But we are told that WE are the light of the world.  Jesus was never keeping anything to himself.  He was never positioning himself above his followers.  He was always sharing power, love, access to the Divine.  It was about our growing in our Christ consciousness.  This is not just about Jesus this is about us.  

I remember going to an Ecclesiastical Council some years ago.  This is a gathering of people from nearby churches within the United Church of Christ to examine someone who wants to enter the ministry.  The candidate shares a paper about their beliefs, call, and preparation for ministry.  And then the gathered clergy and congregants of the area churches are invited to ask questions.  I remember someone asking the candidate at this particular gathering, Is Jesus God?  To be honest, I can’t remember the person’s response.  I was too busy being stunned by the question.  Was Jesus God?  My first thought, I’m glad no one asked me that at my Ecclesiastical Council in 1985.  Yikes!  Then I thought about what I might answer if that question was put to me now.  Was Jesus God?  Our creeds have something to say about that.  Fully God.  Fully human.  The Trinity.  What would I say?  This lingered with me for some time.   This is the best I could come up with, since I could not bring myself to lie or deceive.  Is Jesus God?  I don’t know.  But I think Jesus was the fullest manifestation of Divine Love in a human being that we know of.  And I think he came to show us that whatever he was, that is who we are, too.

I don’t think the Christ consciousness is just about Jesus.  I think it is about the capacity of human beings to love, fully and freely.  And I think this impulse, to love and to live from our oneness with all that is, is demonstrated not just through Jesus and the Christ consciousness of the Christian tradition, but in different ways in different religious expressions around the world and across time.  When you go to a yoga class and bow saying namaste, you are saying the holy in me greets the holy in you.  To me, this is the Christ consciousness of the Christian tradition.  Manifest in another form.  Our way is only one way of understanding the cross- cultural longing for oneness with Creation and one another.  

Meister Eckhart, a mystic of the Christian tradition who died in 1328 explains what we might call the Christ consciousness this way:  

God gives birth to the Child as you, as me, as each one of us.  As many beings, as many gods in God.

In my soul, God not only gives birth to me as a child, God gives birth to me as Godself, and Godself as me.  I find in this divine birth that God and I are the same.  I am what I was and what I shall always remain, now and forever.  I am transported above the highest angels; I neither decrease nor increase, for in this birth I have become the motionless cause of all that moves.  I have won back what has always been mine.  Here, in my own soul, the greatest of all miracles has taken place – God has returned to God!  [“The Divine Birth,” from Meister Eckhart, in Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ, Andrew Harvey, p. 282, adapted.]

May our life’s journey reveal to us our truest selves and what we have always deeply known.  Amen.

Resources used in this sermon:

Ehrman, Bart, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee.

Harvey, Andrew, Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ.

Fredriksen, Paula, From Jesus to Christ, second edition. 

Rohr, Richard, The Universal Christ:  How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.