Sermon 04/13/08
The Fourth Sunday of Easter
Gos Philip 79:18-33
One faith is bondage. Two
are free. In the trust
of old love, cultivation shows
a dark and graceful wilderness
at its heart. Wild
in that wilderness, we roam
the distance of our faith;
safe beyond the bounds
of what we know. O love,
open. Show me
my country. Take me home.
- Wendell berry
In a very familiar reading from his first letter to the Corinthian community, Paul says that, "Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love."
Our unknown author of this morning's reading from the Gospel of Philip seems to think that there is a fourth element important to faith, knowledge, and that no one element is more important than any other.
I find it to be an interesting choice of this author: to take the four basic elements of physical existence (earth, water, wind and fire) and use them as symbols or metaphors for the spiritual life.
Explore four elements as symbols of creation and symbols for the spiritual life.
You're going to have to help me with this!
EARTH
Humus and Human.
That out of which we came and to which we return.
That in which we take root.
What else? . . . .
We take root in God.
Faith/trust. The trust of a farmer.
WATER
The waters of creation, of the womb, of birth and rebirth.
The water of baptism.
Our body is about 90% water.
Water as cleansing agent.
Water as life-giving, sustaining power; especially for agrarian societies.
"Go with the flow!"
What else? . . . .
Be nourished.
Hope.
WIND
Spirit - breath.
Saying "yes" to life.
Sense of home and belonging.
Movement.
Pentecost.
What else? . . . .
That which stimulates and symbolizes growth.
Love.
FIRE/LIGHT
When humans first "discovered" fire. . . .
Awareness, transformation of consciousness.
The Phoenix fire bird.
The constant internal temperature of our bodies.
The fire of knowledge and creativity that Prometheus brought to humanity.
What else? . . . .
That which ripens.
Knowledge.
Concluding story
Includes the four elements (though the element of fire is never mentioned, it still plays an important part in the story).
From ancient Persia. (From the book, TALES OF THE DERVISHES, by Idries Shah.)
A stream, from its source in far-off mountains, passed through every kind and description of countryside, at last reached the sands of the desert. Just as it had crossed every other barrier, the stream tried to cross this one, but it found that as fast as it ran into the sand, its waters disappeared. It was convinced, however, that its destiny was to cross this desert, and yet there was no way. Now a hidden voice, coming from the desert itself, whispered, "The Wind crosses the desert, and so can the stream."
The stream objected that it was dashing itself against the sand and only getting absorbed, that the Wind could fly, and this was why it could cross the desert.
"By hurtling in your own accustomed way you cannot get across. You will either disappear or become a marsh. You must allow the Wind to carry you over to your destination." But how could this happen? "By allowing yourself to be absorbed in the Wind." The idea was not acceptable to the stream. After all, it had never been absorbed before. It did not want to lose its individuality. And, once having lost it, how was one to know that it could ever be regained?
"The wind," said the sand, "performs this function. It takes up water, carries it over the desert, and then lets it fall again. Falling as rain, the water again becomes a river."
"How can I know that this is true?"
"It is so, and if you do not believe it, you cannot become more that a quagmire, and even that could take many, many years; and it certainly is not the same as a stream."
"But can I not remain the same stream that I am today?"
"You cannot in either case remain so," the whisper said. "Your essential part is carried away and forms a stream again. You are called what you are today because you do not know which part of you is the essential one."
When he heard this, certain echoes began to arise in the thoughts of the stream. Dimly he remembered a state in which he - or some part of him, was it? - had been held in the arms of the Wind. He also remembered - or did he - that this was the real thing, not necessarily the obvious thing, to do.
And the stream raised his vapor into the welcoming arms of the Wind, which gently and easily bore it upward and along, letting it fall softly as soon as it reached the roof of the mountain many, many miles away. And because he had his doubts, the stream was able to remember and record more strongly in his mind the details of the experience. He reflected, "Yes, now I have learned my true identity."
The stream was learning. But the sands whispered, "We know because we see it happen day after day and because wet sands, extend from the riverside to the mountain."
And that is why it is said that the way in which the Stream of Life is to continue on its journey is written in the Sands."
Idries Shah, TALES OF THE DERVISHES, as quoted in Douglas Anderson, A NEW APPROACH TO FAMILY PASTORAL CARE
This is about growth and faith/trust. It is about our spiritual work. It is about resurrection.
The Gospel of Philip was an unknown gospel from late antiquity up to the modern age until its discovery in 1945 among the texts in the Nag Hammadi Library. It is composed of various reflections on faith and the sacraments which some scholars believe have been excerpted from earlier sermons and treatises and arranged in a haphazard way that makes it difficult to understand or interpret. Though the copy we have is written in Coptic, the Gospel of Philip was probably first written in Greek sometime between the late second to the middle of the third century CE.
Gospel of Philip 79:18-33
Farming in the world requires the cooperation of four essential elements. A harvest is gathered into the barn only as a result of the natural action of water, earth, wind and light. God's farming likewise has four elements - faith, hope, love, and knowledge. Faith is our earth, that in which we take root. And hope is the water through which we are nourished. Love is the wind through which we grow. Knowledge is the light through which we ripen. Grace exists in four ways: it is earth-born; it is heavenly; it comes from the highest heaven; and it resides in truth.
Copyright © 2008, the Reverend Rick Yramategui, All Rights Reserved