Sacred Spaces -- A next step

 I believe that every child of God, every person in this world, needs and deserves to find sacred space.

I believe that churches should be sacred spaces. I believe that God intends for church to be safe space, sacred space in the way I have described. And, I believe that few churches meet this intention, or even think about it.

This, I believe, is tragic. It is sinful. Fundamentally, it is wrong.

Throughout history, churches have tried to set themselves apart from society as places to meet God. They have done this through gathering together, massive and beautiful buildings, careful planning and preparation, Biblical reading and preaching. Too often, though, the sense of being "set apart" leads away from the sacred instead of into it. Rather than finding safety, one experiences judgement. Rather than invitation, threat. Instead of a grace-filled journey toward wholeness, a piece-meal collaboration of cliques and rules and unspoken demands that engender confusion, fear, and isolation. Churches so often invite people toward wholeness in name only, and invite them into illusory lives through the living, being, and teaching of the church.

Sometimes, even now, one finds God in church. Certainly, God makes her presence known in sacrament (bapitsm and communion, in the Lutheran tradition), in worship, through community. God makes her presence known through good ministry to "the least of these" and care for her children. But far too often, God becomes known in spite of pastors, congregations, and churches instead of because of them. Far too often, God's presence in these places becomes something seldom noticed or sought; a nice idea that becomes taken for granted because church is supposed to be a holy place, and therefore it must be, right?

I do not mean to indict any particular person or tradition, but simply to name a reality in which I live and of which I am often guilty myself. What would it mean for church to be truly sacred space? Can we envision a church where there is not judgement but a grace that holds us accountable and calls us out when our actions or attitudes bring hurt and harm? Does the possibility exist that we could create an embodied presence of God through safety, respect, and relationship? Might there be a whole congregation in which people feel embraced for who they are, foibles and all -- and also called to live courageously into the people God is calling them to be?

I believe this must be possible. Perhaps, I believe this because it is my vocation -- my calling from God -- to be a pastor in the church. God has tied me to Church in a way that I cannot (and, if I'm honest, dare not) escape. I believe all people deserve sacred space. I believe all people need sacred space. I believe God calls us as Church to be sacred space. And so I believe that God calls me also to take part in creating sacred space, in my congregation and in the larger church. 

And this is where I falter. Why me, O God? What does this mean, O God? How are you moving, O God? What are you calling me to do (or worse?), who are you calling me to be, O God?

For now, today, I have received no answers. Only questions. God often works this way, I think... calling us to ask important questions long before providing insight. Inviting us into reflection first, and action later. I prefer the action step. But for today, I will live in the tension... and I will pray that my colleagues and friends, my congregation and God's church, will live in the tension too. May we be seeking God's presence, God's sacred space, in our lives and in the church. And may we follow the path God is creating for us, even now, to create that space among us, too.

Today, I live in the tension... with courage and with trepidation, too.