Up to that point, Lewis and Clark had used canoes to travel. They assumed that canoes would be what was needed to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, but when they reached the Rockies, they had to leave the canoes behind and find another way to travel through to the Pacific. Bolsinger imagines the church is the same position. We can't go forward with the same tools. What's ahead looks very different from where we've come. We need our imaginations to help us determine how we go forward.
Bolsinger also talked about a spirit of adventure. Lewis and Clark could have given up. They could have deemed the mission a failure and gone home. Being explorers though, they continued on and were the first Americans to cross the Rockies.
Where is this spirit of adventure in the church? I think many are feeling a sense of failure because of a loss of numbers and resources in the church. Some are ready to throw in the towel. Some are angry and bitter and placing undeserved blame.
When Jesus left his disciples, they also had to find a new way forward. Jesus had broken new ground and brought to them a new way of seeing. On Pentecost Sunday (the seventh Sunday after Easter), we remember the Holy Spirit rushing into their midst and filling them with power. It's an iconic moment in the church and is celebrated as the birth of the church. It's a time when 12 disciples, who had lost their leader, decided to keep going forward, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and continuing his ministry of teaching, healing, and non-violent resistance. The Holy Spirit brought them a "spirit" of adventure that inspired them to go out into the world.
Each of us can be filled with the Holy Spirit and take this spirit of adventure into the world in different ways. Some of us will become ministers. Some will become social workers or health professionals. Some will become teachers or go into politics. We all, through our professions or outside of our work, share our spirit through the time we offer, the compassion we share, and how we walk with those in need. When we let the Spirit into our lives, we are transformed and the world changes. The problem is that those with this spirit of adventure, those that might bring new ideas to the church, those who have a call to do a new kind of ministry, are stifled, silenced and held back by those who don't. They are expected to toe the line, follow the rules, and do it the way it's always been done.
We need to be fostering this spirit of adventure. We need to support and encourage those who have the passion and energy to bring forth new ideas and new ways of being in the church. We need to be lifting them up and offering them the resources they need to continue. When they fall, we need to be there to help them up; when they fail, and people with new ideas will fail, we need to encourage them to keep trying. We need to begin saying "Yes!" more often, rather than, "Not at this time," or "Sounds great but we can't help.," or "No, you're doing it wrong."
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to inspire us, to fill us with power like fire, and to make our tongues feel like they are burning. Not everyone feels this fire, so the rest of us need to be inspired by them, to be awed by the energy they bring, to offer wisdom and advice when needed, but to also get out of the way. Let's foster this spirit of adventure in our church and see what happens when we have to leave our canoes behind and cross those Rockies. Who knows what we'll find on the other side?
Hi Deborah, would you consider the Rev. Gretta Vosper as having left the canoe behind?
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