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Friends United Meeting |
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April 2000
THE WORD OF GOD IS LIKE A SEED
By Linda B. Selleck
I confess to a love-hate relationship with the liturgical church. While I delight in the liturgy, can sincerely recite the Apostle's Creed, and even once upon a time committed the Latin mass to memory, I know from experience that it is not enough to speak words others produced eons ago. They must spring genuinely from the heart.
In the early 1980s our family worshipped with unprogrammed Friends for two years. I loved the quiet calm of the meeting room, the unrushed spiritual ease in which we descended into an ages-old corporate discipline. Yet part of me was unnurtured, hungry to hear the transcendent melodies and inspired poetry of great hymns of the church, the beauty of flowers arranged artistically to remind us of God's created glory, the camaraderie of a choir with voices raised in praise of the Almighty.
So, one Easter morning I found myself rising early in order to attend a main-line denominational liturgical worship service. The sanctuary was packed, the tympani tuned, the fanfaring trumpets raised as the pipe organ burst into triumphant sound and all rose to sing "Christ the Lord Has Risen Today." Not only flowers, but bushes, flowering shrubs, even trees had been hauled into the front of the sanctuary, a veritable explosion of the beauty of God's holy artistry. During the children's message, the lid of an old trunk was lifted, and a great banner proclaiming "Hallelujah!" was drawn by hidden strings up to the very top of the exposed beam ceiling.
Then the sermon began. The minister, apparently trained in the fine art of speaking without offense, delivered to my astonished ears a carefully prepared talk that not once included the name of Jesus, much less the mystery of redemptive suffering through the Cross, the wonder of the uncovered tomb, the awesome glory of the Risen Lord. Mention was made of dry paths in the desert. I realized my senses had been fed, but my spirit was dying of thirst. I sat throughout the remainder of the service, embarrassed at my incessant weeping, and left feeling empty.
Quickly I made my way back across town to our meeting for worship. Entering quietly, I found a space and sat in the silence. The beauty of the hardwood floors, benches and paneling around the large square room was enhanced by sunbeams drifting through the tall plain windows. More than thirty minutes passed without one word spoken. As the Spirit gathered us into a deeper unity, one Friend stood and spoke of the mystery of the Cross, the passion of Christ, the gift of his love for all humankind throughout ages past and ages to come.
Minutes passed. Another Friend rose and spoke of the salvation that God has offered humanity through the Risen Christ, the hope of the world, the first fruits of a newly created order. This Friend said more about the nature of this incomparable gift from God, through this redemptive work on that first Easter Sunday. "O death, where is Thy sting? O grave, where is Thy victory?" In tenderness, the vocal offerings entreated those who found this news difficult to believe, to open their hearts, submit to the Truth revealed, to receive God's Good News through Jesus Christ.
I sensed a calm and centered shift in my spirit. I felt healed, complete. And I felt a grateful relief that Christ's sufferings and God's gift of everlasting life through the Resurrection had been proclaimed and offered to all present. I left worship with a contented heart.
There is much to be said for music and the liturgical arts in enhancing and preparing the spirit to worship and to offer praise. Yet nothing-nothing-can take the place of the Word of God which grows like a seed within each man, woman and child. This Seed produces a Living Faith grounded in the knowledge and experience of the immediate presence of the Living Christ. When eyes are open and ears can hear, we trust in the rightness of the Word proclaimed. This Word has been revealed to us through the Holy scriptures inspired by God, in the lives of the saints, and across two millennia of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever the style of our worship, we experience only deadness unless the Seed of God is allowed to germinate through faithful adherence to the Good News of Christ. This is what early Friends meant as they gathered in silence to wait upon the movement of the Spirit amongst them, what George Fox called feasting upon "the celestial flesh of Christ" in the midst. This communion with the Living Christ offers to complete us, to make us whole, to restore and redeem and enable us to move forward as the Church Universal, whatever our culture or worldly circumstances, in the building up of God's kingdom on earth.
Jesus is the sower of the Word. In Matthew 13:36, Jesus' disciples asked him to explain the parable of the weeds in the field, where the good seed and the weeds are allowed to grow together until harvest. Jesus answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom." As we ponder the mystery of Easter, may our interior spiritual gardens be bursting with new life and faith in Jesus, who continues to sow seeds of faith, hope, and love.
Linda Selleck is a minister at High Point Friends Meeting, North Carolina. She and her husband Ron have two daughters, Sarah and Rachel.
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