Transforming Spirit: Ecstacy and Inclusion (Bruce Epperly)

 Acts 2 is one of the most exhilarating passages of scripture.  It marks a new beginning for the early Christians, as they receive the promised baptism of the Spirit, are empowered to declare the gospel in multiples of languages, and begin a movement of growth that continues to this day.  Bruce Epperly offers in this essay the third installment of his journey through Acts, focusing on the ecstatic and inclusive work of the Spirit in the church and in our lives.  I invite you to ponder this text and this commentary.  

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Adventurous Theology #3
Transforming Spirit:  Ecstasy and Inclusion
Bruce G. Epperly
Acts 2:1-41

Living with the Acts of the Apostles will transform your life and your community of faith. Spirit-centered faith is both ecstatic and inclusive.  Strap on your safety belts and put on your crash helmets when the Spirit shows up in dramatic ways!  Be prepared to go to unexpected places!

 In the dynamic call and response of the divine-human relationship, prayer leads to an opening for a surprising and dramatic revelation of God's Spirit.  Yes, God was present in the ongoing prayer and community life of the earliest Christians.  God's still small voice echoes through stillness as well as storm.  But, when we pray, we open a field of force that enables God to be more creative and powerful in realizing God's vision for ourselves and the world.  Prayer is an act of partnership with God and creation in which we take our place alongside God in creating the future for us and the world. On the day of Pentecost, the prayers of the first Christians were answered with a deep and convincing experience of God's presence, not just for themselves but for the wider community.  The Spirit is never a private possession, though we may experience it in moments of solitude; it always drives us from individual transformation to communal and planetary transformation.  The Spirit always lures us toward unexpected missions for transforming the world.

Ecstatic experiences transcend nation and ethnicity and call us to see everyone as God's beloved child.  The apostles speak in other languages awakening the pluralistic Pentecost community to the message of Jesus the Christ.   People hear God's words of hope in their own tongues and not the tongue of an external or imperialistic power.  Pentecost is about ecstasy and drama, but it is just as importantly about unity amid diversity.  The gifts of ethnicity and diversity remain, but find  their  meaning in the larger divine vision for humankind.  We can never fully experience God's revelation apart from our affirmation of God's presence in strangers and aliens.   God's healing includes all creation and we cannot be fully healed – indeed, fully saved – without the salvation of creation in all its diversity.

The global and universal are always experienced personally.  God's Spirit will enliven “all flesh.” All groups of people – young men and women, elderly persons, rich and poor – will receive visions and dreams.  Today, we must expand our concepts of divine revelation to include persons of all gender and sexual identities, immigrants, homeless persons, children, persons of other faiths, and enemies.  God can and does speak through all things.  The whole earth will be transformed by our mystical experiences.

The interplay of divine call and human response leads to deeper and more inclusive experiences of call and response.  Those who have been touched by the Spirit ask for further guidance and receive greater energy and power.  Everyone who calls will be answered personally in terms of her or his experience and social location.  In this instance, calling on God requires repentance, that is, a renewed mind and transformed behaviors, fitting their transformed experiences.  As the apostle Paul proclaims, “Be not conformed to this world [the familiar world of injustice, materialism, self-interest] but be transformed by the renewing of your find.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Pentecost is a challenge and invitation to be spirit-centered; to open to surprising manifestations of God's Spirit, to expect miracles (quantum leaps in spirituality and healing energy working within natural forces) and accept them when they occur even when they challenge our current world views and religious practices.  Progressive and moderate Christians can have worship, praise, preaching, and spiritual practices as lively as the Spirit's movements.  The Spirit lures us onward on a holy adventure, which includes creation in all its wondrous beauty.

Bruce Epperly is a seminary professor and administrator at Lancaster Theological Seminary, pastor, theologian, and spiritual companion.  He is the author of seventeen books, including Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living, a response to Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life.  His Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry, written with Katherine Gould Epperly, was selected 2009 Book of the Year by the Academy of Parish Clergy.  His most recent book is From a Mustard Seed: Enlivening Worship and Music in the Small Church, written with Daryl Hollinger.

Why Progressive Theology Matters: God is Still Speaking (Bruce Epperly)

There is a verse that appears near the close of the book of Revelation, which suggests that anyone adding to the book faces divine curses.  Some have taken this little message to be speaking of the Scriptures as a whole, so that if you share any revelatory materials beyond this passage, then God will get you.  In other words, God has spoken once and for all and is now forever silent.  But is God forever silent?  Could it be that God might still be speaking?.  Remember that this passage only works because of its placement at the end of the canonical books of the New Testament, a placement that was in doubt as late as the fifth century.  But, if God is still speaking, how is God speaking and what does this mean for us?  Bruce Epperly once again points us toward progressive theology, suggesting that it has resources that might help us hear God's voice today. 

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Why Progressive Theology Matters:

God is Still Speaking

Bruce Epperly

My denomination, the United Church of Christ, proclaims “God is still speaking” in much of its literature, but is still trying to figure out what this statement truly means for moderate and progressive Christians. I believe this statement takes people in the United Church of Christ and other denominations much further than its original intent: it asks us to become practically-oriented mystics. In fact, the affirmation that “God is still speaking” is at the heart of a spirit-centered progressive faith that can transform the face of North American Christianity. In light of the recent Pew Center report, indicating that 50% of mainstream Christians have had mystical experiences, today’s progressive and moderate Christians are challenged to claim their spiritual experiences and develop open-ended practices appropriate to progressive Christian theology.

Today, progressives need to claim a holistic spirituality that embraces action and contemplation, and mysticism and social transformation. Progressive theology has untapped resources for holistic mysticism and spiritual transformation. First, of all, progressive theology affirms the universality of God’s presence and revelation. God is moving in and through all things; no one is exempt from revelation. God touches everyone and everyone can touch God. Second, progressive theology affirms that God is alive and constantly creating in our world. The affirmation that “God is still speaking” embraces and joins spirituality and social transformation. God is constantly doing a new thing in widening the scope of liberation and healing for us and all creation. God’s new vision invites us to go beyond biblical literalism and exclusiveness to affirm God’s presence in science, medicine, evolutionary theory, and gender and marriage equality. But, just as important, God is inspiring us in new ways as individuals, calling us to explore new dimensions of spiritual formation and healing and wholeness. Third, the dynamic divine-human “call and response” brings forth constantly new possibilities for creativity and adventure in spirituality, politics, and relationships. Our changes inspire God to act in new ways and divine activity inspires us to embody new paths of faith and action.

The God who is “new every morning” and “new every moment” invites us to novel forms of spirituality and social concern appropriate to our time and place. A joke among United Church of Christ folk is “God is still speaking, but is anyone listening?” Listening to God implies that we trust God’s voice in our lives as we open to the many media of revelation – in moments of quiet contemplation, intuitive experiences, dreams, encounters, literary work, meditative practices, yoga and energy work, and calls to service. Listening to God inspires us to let our lives speak through actions that transform our relationships and social structures.

Today, progressive Christianity needs to come out of the closet and claim its spiritual gifts and resources. Our churches need to become laboratories of the spirit, inspiring our care for this good earth. Today’s Christianity needs holistic spiritual practices, embracing the traditions of Christianity in a new and creative ways, and open to the insights of non-Christian spiritualities.

Progressive Christianity can be a leader in dynamic global spiritual formation that embraces the quests of seekers within and beyond the church.

Bruce Epperly is Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Continuing Education at Lancaster Theological Seminary and co-pastor of Disciples Community Church in Lancaster, PA. He is the author of seventeen books, including Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living and Tending to the Holy: The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry.