One Voice

 

PROPERS:          6 EASTER, YEAR C    

TEXT:                JOHN 14:23-29

PREACHED AT ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL, MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, ON SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022.

 

ONE SENTENCE:        The Spirit largely speaks through the measured wisdom of those groups open to its guidance.     

 

            Just over a week ago, Nora and I oversaw the election of the XII Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.  We were there to total the votes and to report the decisions of the diocese’s electing convention.

 

            It was the seventh such convention of which I have been a part, and it is always moving.

 

            The discernment process of a bishop’s election goes on for months – bathed in prayer, study, conversation, and consultation, leading to nominees and an election.

 

In order for an election to take place, a nominated priest must receive a majority of votes from both the gathered clergy and gathered lay delegates on the same ballot.  In the case of the Louisiana election, the majorities were reached on the first ballot.  Our work, and the work of the convention, was quick. But much had gone into it.

 

            One of the hallmarks of the church over the centuries has been the practice of speaking with one voice – through a process involving a group. The church resists sudden, impulsive actions. Solitary voices have little role. The roots can be traced back to the First Council of Jerusalem in A. D. 50, when the leaders of the church decided on ethical and moral standards for members of the young church. They did so as a body.

 

            It was etched more fully into the fabric of the church with the Council of Nicaea in A. D. 325.  It is largely from that council – a gathering of bishops from across the known world – that we trace the orthodox statement of belief known as the Nicene Creed.

 

            Many of you likely recall the Second Vatican Council, organized under Pope John XXIII, which met from 1962 to 1965.  It was an effort by the Roman Catholics to modernize the church and embrace a broader view of Christianity. It built significant bridges.

 

            To this day, it is characteristic of the church to discern God’s will as a group.  As Episcopalians, it is in our DNA.  The Episcopal Church in the United States meets in convention – with over 800 delegates and 150 bishops in two different houses – every three years.  

 

On a diocesan level, decisions are made through canonical structures of laws, committees, and conventions. The decision power on a parish level is entrusted to a Vestry.

 

            The call to ordained ministry is guided by discernment committees and commissions on ministry.  Search processes for new rectors are vested in search committees and vestries.

 

            The Holy Spirit’s movement through groups is a key part of our polity – who we are.  The sole voice of one person is tested through the church’s structures. Prayer, planning, and discernment are the guideposts.

 

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            In the gospel lesson today, Jesus gives his disciples a sneak preview of what is to come: "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

 

            In two weeks, we will celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  It is that Spirit, animating the church, which guides the faithful today.  It is the church’s understanding that the Spirit moves through the discernment of those bodies formed in Christ’s name.

 

            To be sure, the church is both a human body and a divinely-called body.  As such, it has and will make mistakes.  That is as true as the fact that you and I – though we seek to do otherwise – will sin and fall short of the glory of God.

 

            But the church is involved in the long game, not a sprint.  When we are in error, the Spirit will move us toward the right direction. The trajectory is long – beyond our ability to see fully.

 

            As co-workers with the Spirit, we are called to truly discern the directions in which we are called to travel.  That means that base and human motivations should not infect our decisions.  We should always listen to our better voices and seek to be guided not by our own limited understandings but by the spark of the divine within us.