Scripture Readings:
Acts 7:55-60
Rev 22:12-14, 16-17,20
John 17:20-26
The Implications of
our Oneness
They say if you want
someone to remember something you have to repeat it at least 3 times.
Advertisers use this all the time and you might hear a phone number or slogan 3
times during a 30 sec ad. That’s sort of what we get in the Gospel tonight: “I
have given them the glory that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are
one, I in them and you in me.” 3 times the author of John has Jesus repeating
this idea of being one; he really wants us to remember and understand this
concept. So what does it mean to be One? And what are the implications of this
One-ness in how we live our lives?
Science tells us
that on the most basic, molecular level we are one with the universe. The same
particles and atoms present from the beginning of time, present in thousands of
exploding stars are now present in our bodies. I even heard the other day that
the proportion of elements in our body is the exact proportion found in the
universe! We are so connected to the cosmos that we are each little individual
incarnations of the cosmos contemplating itself when we look up at the stars in
wonder. This is the intimate connection we have with all of creation and with
God. This is what Jesus is asking us to remember and live in the Gospel
tonight. That as we know God is in Christ and Christ is in the atoms of the
universe through the incarnation, so we too are now not only made of star
stuff, but are part of the story of divine incarnation into the world.
Theologian Elizabeth
Johnson puts it like this, “Jesus carried with him the signature of the
supernovas and the geology and life history of the Earth. The genetic structure
of his cells made him part of the whole community of life that descended from
common ancestors in the ancient seas. The flesh that the Word became thus
reaches beyond Jesus and other human beings to encompass the whole biological
world of living creatures and the cosmic dust of which we are composed.” She is
saying that through the incarnation, all of the particles that make life
possible are now connected to God in an even more intimate way than ever
before, bringing unity between the creator and the creation. Theologians have
started to use the phrase “deep incarnation” to express this radical divine
reach into the very tissue of biological existence and the wider system of
nature.
So all signs point
to unity, to our oneness with God and the Cosmos. This is amazing and powerful
to contemplate and meditate on. But what does it all mean for how we live our
lives? What are the implications of being One?
I would like us to
think about bodies: our own body, the bodies of other human beings, and the
body of the universe. We start with our own bodies, where we have the most
power and control. If I recognize and accept that my body is part of the larger
web of life and is in fact part of the divine body at work in the world, then
not only for my good but for the good of the whole I must take care of it, I
must nourish it, I must let it rest, I must listen to it, I must protect it, I
must love it. This first step can often be the hardest because there are a lot
of voices out there telling us that our bodies aren’t good enough for one
reason or another, that they don’t deserve to be loved and cared for. But it is
holy work to counter those negative narratives and messages and practice
self-love and self-care, and it is actually necessary for the good of all
creation that we love and care for our bodies.
I get how hard and
counter-cultural this is, because for a long time I tried to ignore my body as
much as possible and focus more on the spiritual rather than the physical
because I had internalized all of these negative messages about my body not
being good enough, or pretty enough, or quite frankly able to embody the divine
in the same way as a man’s. This shifted for me when I started doing liturgical
dance, and my prayers and connection to God moved from words and thoughts, to
physical movements. You can’t do liturgical dance and ignore your body. Praying
with my whole body opened up a new, deeper, intimate connection to the Spirit
moving through me than I had previously experienced, and I came to see my
physical body not only as good, but as an equal part in the Divine body on
earth, and knowing that changes the way I see and treat my body.
And being able to
see and accept how my body is good and holy and embodies the Divine Spirit of
the Cosmos, it becomes easier for me to see how your body is good and
holy and embodies the Divine Spirit of the Cosmos. The Gospel tonight ends with
what is behind this reality of living as one: Love. Jesus prays “that the love
with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” Living as one means
loving all bodies as my body, as the One body of Christ, so that means when
black bodies are attacked, my body is attacked, and when immigrant bodies are
attacked, my body is attacked, when Muslim bodies are attacked, my body is
attacked, and when transgender bodies are attacked, my body is attacked. And if
I will stand up and defend my body with fierce love, then I MUST stand up and
defend OUR collective body with fierce love. Because what happens to you does affect me, and what happens to me does affect you.
And being One does
not mean we are all trying to be the same, in fact as Teilhard de Chardin talks
about, it is imperative that we welcome and embrace our vast diversity because
“the unity of the human family can only be brought about as all individual
human beings cultivate within themselves their own uniqueness to the highest
degree, hence increasing the complexity of the unity to be brought about in the
human family.”
This vast diversity
and complex unity is also seen throughout all of creation. During Lent our
community read Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment Laudato Si, which
says repeatedly that “it cannot be emphasized enough how interconnected
everything is.” He goes on to say, “Nature cannot be regarded as something
separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of
nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it.” Our physical
bodies are dependent on our environment for survival. When we pollute the air
we breathe, we are polluting our own lungs and the oxygen that pumps through
our blood. When we spray or inject harmful chemicals into the food we eat or
the soil that grows our food, we are poisoning ourselves. Our bodies are 60%
water, so when we allow our oceans, lakes and rivers to be polluted and the
wildlife they support to die, we are killing ourselves. We are one with
the Earth.
And when we gather
around the simple earthly elements of bread and wine each week, we bring
together the body of the cosmos, the human bodies of our community, and our own
body. When we gather around this Eucharistic table, it is to remind ourselves
of Christ’s prayer, his mission to bring wholeness and unity, so that we may go
out in the world and live our one-ness. We say the ancient words of the
church that we though many are ONE BODY, for we all share in the one bread, and
in the one cup, but do we live those words when we leave this table? When I
receive Communion I have a simple prayer and meditation that I take back to the
pew with me so that these words that we say do not remain simply words but
incarnate and take flesh in my own body. My prayer, which you can adopt for
yourself, is this: May your body be my body and may my body be your body.
I challenge and
encourage us to live in such a way that honors the truth of Jesus’ prayer in
the Gospel tonight, that as God is in Christ and Christ is now in us that we
too are now in them. My body is your body and your body is my body and our body
is ONE with the Divine who holds us all together with Love.
Amen
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