My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Last month I interrupted the series of meditations on the main points of our vision to say something about our role as clergy. This month I want to say something about the fourth main point of our vision: vibrant Christian community.

Oneness is at the heart of creation. Quantum physicists are talking more and more the language of theologians. They speak of the universe as a living organism of inter-being in which everything is interdependent. They talk of "fields of interconnection" in which everything is held together by "attraction" and "intimacy" - a world in which "no two particles can be considered disconnected, ever" (Brian Swimme, USA astrophysicist). Such insights have given rise to a whole new school of philosophy - integrative philosophy - in which Descartes maxim, "I think, therefore I am" has become "I belong, therefore I am." And that is the language of ubuntu on a cosmic scale.

However, even as physicists are discovering our radical interconnectedness, human society is also discovering the depth of our alienation from one other. Despite the laws of attraction and intimacy, the arrogance of sin perpetuates alienation and dis-connectedness. Teilhard de Chardin defined sin in terms of disunity, dis-ease and dis-integration, in which we are wilfully separated and disconnected from each other. The conflict and atrocities within our own communities and throughout the world bear daily testimony to this alienation and disonnectedness.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that "… whereas the primal relationship of man to man is a giving one, in the state of sin it is purely demanding. Every man exists in a state of complete voluntary isolation. Each man lives his own life, instead of all living the same God-life." That rampant individualism must be balanced by commitment - commitment to Christ and, in Christ, to each other. For just as, without Christ, we cannot know God or come to God so, too, without Christ we cannot know each other nor realise our oneness with the other.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to reconnect and reintegrate us, to bind us together (religio) in Christ. Christian community thus differs from all other communy in that it has its origins in, and is rooted in Christ. It is life "in Christ" - "we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread." As such it is not an ideal we strive to realise, but rather a gift, a given reality in which we are invited to participate. It is not human effort that brings about our transformation, but life in Christ. Human effort to create some idealised form of community is always futile and, at best, gives rise to what Scott Peck calls pseudo-community, a fake community in which everyone avoids conflict and pretends to love one other.

Christian community cannot be created, imposed or organised. It is gift; while we were still sinners Christ died for us and bound us together in one body. We are beloved of God, and because of that called to live together in love for God and one another. We are a forgiven people, and because of that called to a life of mutual forgiving. Instead of the sin of my brother or sister being an occasion for righteous indignation, it becomes a reminder of my own sinfulness and brokenness and of the grace of a God who forgives us, heals us, and draws us back into new life with God and with each other.

Christian community is not about "warm, fuzzy feelings" of love for one another, but is rather a love shown in unfailing respect for each other, in an unwavering commitment to the well being of the other, and an unshakeable gratitude to God for these brothers and sisters of mine, given by God to grow me into spiritual maturity. We are pilgrims together, and dependent upon one another as we journey. Tensions will, inevitably, arise, it is how we deal with them that is the test of Christian community. One of our 16^th century Anglican divines once said, the measure of our faith is not "see how beautifully these Christians agree together," but "see how beautifully these Christians disagree." When disagreements occur, as they surely will, instead of giving rise to accusations, recriminations, conflict, alienation and withdrawal, they becomes occasions in which we hold together in ways that challenge and shatter our petty stereotypes and boundaries and force us to make space in our lives for people who think and act very differently to ourselves.

At our Autumn School of Spirituality Jeremy Jacobs introduced us to the concept of Spiral Dynamics - an unfolding spiral of human consciousness. What was striking is that each new level of consciousness was characterised by growing inclusivity. If we confess Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we are committed to inclusivity because Jesus is and was. The revelation of both scripture and science that "everything belongs" and is dependent upon the other, can only be realised in Christian community; the challenge for us is to realise the oneness at the heart of creation as we journey there together.

Finally, Christian community becomes vibrant as the community is aligned around Christ, and works together to make the love and life of Christ visible within the community. As the community grows in alignment and increasingly seeks to live the same God-life, so the power of the Holy Spirit is unleashed in vibrant living. Jesus said: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness and all things will be added to you" - it only works that way around, not the other. And only then is the glory of God is revealed; seen and experienced in ways that changes lives and draws people ever deeper into the things of God and into the transforming and reforming power of vibrant Christian community.

May you know the power and joy of vibrant Christian community.,

+Brian

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