Have you ever watched a young child squeal with delight as he or she, held aloft by a parent, soars through the air? Have you ever been at the airport and watched with amazement as dozens of planes soar about without any hint of impending collision with each other? Have you ever been to Rattlesnake Point and watched the turkey vultures soaring ever so gracefully on the currents of the wind?
Have you ever looked up in a pine forest to see the dance of the branches as they soar in a summer breeze?
Have you, in the depths of your spirit, ever experienced such a sense of freedom and peace that you felt as if you were soaring?
Throughout the month of September, we are going to focus on what it means to soar, and more specifically, what it means to soar as individuals and as the community of Erin Mills United Church.
Today we will explore how deepening connections can help us to soar. Next week will focus on soaring as we create partnerships and in the last week, we will look at soaring by living in community.
At EMUC our unofficial motto over the years has been "Put down your roots and let your spirit soar". At the back of the church just to my left of the centre doors, you will find painted on the wall a tree with doves soaring upward from its branches and the words "Put down your roots and let your spirit soar".
At first glance this motto may seem to be contradictory. The roots of a tree hold it fast in the earth and keep it from being born aloft. If we, or any other creature or object wants to soar, don’t we need to be free of anything that holds us, don’t we have to break the connections and sever the roots in order to be free to fly?
But on closer examination, we do discover the truth of our church motto – we really can’t soar without being aware and attentive to our connections.
In its flight, an airplane depends upon a strong connection with the crew in the traffic control tower in order to stay aloft without collision and without crashing.
The turkey vulture’s ability to soar gracefully is dependent upon the strength of its connection with the wind currents.
And without roots deep into the soil, a pine tree that once danced in the wind, can be felled and broken by a strong gust on a stormy day. This year’s summer storms have revealed the truth of this. The trees that once stood proudly on rocky shore lines in much of the Halliburton region now lay broken with their huge network of roots pointing to the sky. Because of the thin layer of soil on the rocks, the roots were not able to penetrate deep into the earth where they could give the tree more stability and strength. So, when the wind storm came, the trees were easily knocked over.
And like the trees, we too need to have deep roots and connections if we are to soar – otherwise there is significant risk and danger that we too will come crashing down.
In our bible readings today, both the apostle Paul and Jesus teach us that the only way to live freely, the only way to let our spirits soar is to stay connected, grounded and rooted in love.
Yah I know, it’s always about love. And that being true, we can never take love for granted – we can never become complacent in giving love, in receiving love, and in seeking to discern just what we mean when we talk of love.
What I’d like to emphasize today is that first and foremost, the love that Jesus speaks of draws us ever deeper into connections – with God, with our neighbour, and with our own complex being of body mind and spirit. Such love is not a possession, it is not even really a feeling - rather it is the intentional and deliberate activity of all that we are - our heart, strength and mind.
Love isn’t something we wait to express and act upon until we have a feeling of affection for another (although happily that can be a result of our actions). We express and act in love because of our experience of God’s loving activity. In love God has created a world where life – all life depends upon the strength and the health of its connections. In love God has created a world woven together by infinite and intricate connections that need to be nourished and strengthened and deepened in order to life to flourish, in order for the Spirit to be free to soar.
So as individuals and as a congregation seeking to put down roots and to let our Spirit soar, we are called by Christ to nourish, strengthen and deepen the connections that God has created among us and among all life on this planet.
That means that we don’t have the luxury of being selective. We can’t choose to act in loving ways just to our own family, or just to those whom we happen to like, or just to those who have the same values that we have. We can’t choose just to love and care for the plants and the air and the soil in our own neighbourhood or in our own nation and then close our eyes as we dump our garbage or abuse the land in another country.
The love that Jesus calls us to live by isn’t neat and tidy, it isn’t convenient and simple. Once we establish one loving connection, it leads to another, and other and before we know it we are part of an ever widening network – a network that is all about supporting life.
Here in this community of Erin Mills, we are drawn together as the family of Jesus Christ so that we can nourish, strengthen and deepen the connections – ever widening our network, ever expanding our capacity to express love and to support life.
How is this happening? How can you be part of these connections? How can you help to be part of widening the network of love?
Well, two weeks from today on September 24th you are invited to be part of a unique opportunity to discover ways that you participate in the life of EMUC – a life that is committed to nourishing and strengthening and deepening the connections of God’s love.
We will begin with worship and then continue with an all ages interactive event that includes a lunch. Groups and individuals will give you a snapshot of how they experience the soaring of God’s Spirit through the connections that they are part of.
You will have an opportunity to explore connections that you might wish to deepen and expand. You can offer your suggestions for new connections that you would like to see as part of the life of EMUC.
And in a very real way as you worship with others, share a meal with them and engage in this activity, you will have the opportunity to deepen your connection with the people, young and old of this congregation.
I encourage all of you to make time to be part of this special Sunday. You know, whether this is your first Sunday attending worship here or whether you’ve been here for 10 years, we all have common roots and a common connection. We are all made in the image of God’s love, we are all held close in the love of God, and we are all set free in God’s love to soar with the Spirit.
And in the words of Jesus, we are all neighbours here – neighbours intricately connected to each other by the love of God, neighbours called to love God, to love one another, and to love the world community God has created. This is our life.
Sunday the 24th offers an opportunity to deepen the connection with our neighbour, to nourish our connection with God, and to strengthen and widen our connection with the world community. Sunday the 24th is an opportunity to put down our roots in the love of God and to soar with the Spirit.
I began this sermon with some examples of soaring. I’d like to return to the image of the child held aloft and soaring in a parent’s arms. I’d like you to think of God as that parent, whose love holds you up and holds us up as a community of faith, giving us the strength, the courage and the freedom to soar with joy and delight.
