In Liminal Space

PROPERS:          4 EASTER, YEAR A    

TEXT:                 ACTS 2:42-47

PREACHED VIA RECORDING AND INTERNET TO HOLY TRINITY, PENSACOLA, ON SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020

This is a meditation and not a sermon.

ONE SENTENCE:        We are living in liminal space and the challenge is which way we move forward.    

                                    

            Bishop Kendrick has a weekly Zoom Conference with groups of clergy, to check in with us and to discuss the challenges of this time.  I have been privileged to join those conversations.  The Bishop is a kind, wise, and gentle man.

            This past week, he was focusing on writer Richard Rohr’s concept of liminal space.   Liminal space has been a subject of Rohr’s internet meditations during the past week. Now, I’ve got to admit that term was not on the tip of my tongue but, through the conversation, I was able to discern its application in the conversation.

            It basically means transitional time.  If you reflect on the current times, that is precisely where we are.  In liminal space. We are transitioning from one place to the next.

            Liminal comes from the Latin word for threshold.  Whether we recognize or not, we are on the threshold of something new, something different.  That can be both frightening and thrilling.  It is like the Chinese word for crisis – it is a combination of the letters for danger and opportunity.  We are in liminal space – facing both the challenges of dangerand opportunity.

            There are various ways we can view these days. Phyllis Tickle, the late writer and church commentator, wrote of the rhythm of history and the axial ages.  The concept of the axial age refers to the transformative change cultures go through at key points in history.  

            There are different ways of interpreting history, but we can look back at pivot points, such as the rise of major religions, the reshaping of those religions, and the introduction of new thoughts, perspectives and philosophies.  Looking back, we see those moments of history which unsettle cultures but lead to new ways of being.

            Think of such moments of transformation – of being on the threshold of something new and different.  The Hebrews standing on the shore of the Red Sea as Egyptian chariots thundered toward them.  Danger and opportunity.

            The grief of Holy Saturday – the day following Jesus’ crucifixion – and the silence of the tomb. Danger and opportunity.

            The challenge of the religious authorities by Martin Luther, Thomas Cranmer, John Calvin, and others in the days of the Reformation. Danger and opportunity.

            The days following December 7, 1941, after a devastating blow had been struck against the United States by a foreign power. Danger and opportunity.

            In the midst of this pandemic, we face both danger and opportunity.  Which way will we go?  We are, no doubt, on a threshold.  Yes, there are dangers.  But opportunity abounds.  God calls us – the church – into a new way of being. In fact, God may be forcing our hand, to move us into new ways of being.

            That is precisely this position the disciples and the budding new church found themselves in in the lesson from Acts this morning.  The church had grown by 3,000 members in a very short and tumultuous time.  It was bound to have been chaotic. Religious leaders and the Roman authorities were trying to quash this new movement – either by pointing to orthodoxy or at the point of a sword.

            The church faced this duality of danger and opportunity. And the lesson tells us how the church responded: “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

            It was not a time or a movement for the faint of heart.  Neither is this moment a time for timidity.  We are in liminal space – on the threshold of something new – in a time of both danger and opportunity.  How we approach these times will determine the church’s future for decades – and perhaps centuries – to come.

            I am reminded of a cultural icon.  It was the 1989 movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indiana Jones was seeking the Holy Grail.  In his pursuit’s final stage, he finds himself standing over a yawning chasm, separating him from the goal of his quest – the cup of Christ.

            He is much more aware of the danger he faces – stepping out over the seemingly bottomless chasm.  But, he has hope that he will find opportunity by squarely facing the danger. And he steps out – and finds a walkway he could not see.  He embraced the danger and was rewarded with the opportunity.

            We are like the early church… and Indiana Jones… and all those who have found themselves in liminal spacesover the millennia.  The steps we take in these times of danger and opportunity will determine the future course of our branch of God’s mission.

            Let us move forward with boldness.