The Adventurous Lectionary – The Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 25, 2025
Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10; 21:22-22:5; John 5:1-9
In Search of the Miraculous
Many people today are in search of the miraculous. We want to transcend the challenges of the daily news. We want a new world to emerge beyond the current injustices perpetrated by national leaders. We want to experience faith rather than hear about it. We want the living word of God’s presence and not just doctrinal words and ethical rules. We want the Spirit to well up within us as a living reality, not just a story from the past. We want the word to be made flesh and abstractions to take life in concrete actions for God’s realm. We want to be delivered from the evils of this present darkness of governmental leaders, hellbent on destroying the soul of the nation and the planet.
In that spirit, today’s readings join vision, spiritual transformation, and healing, and call persons to become everyday mystics and God’s healing partners in their personal and political lives. When we respond to God’s visions for us, we claim God’s healing touch and bring healing to ourselves and our communities. New healing energies are released, the doors of perception are cleansed, and we experience infinity in finite moments, eternity in the midst of time. We become the change that we are looking for in the world, and discover that with God’s grace, we are the ones that we have been waiting for to bring about God’s beloved community in our relationships, nation, and personal lives through our commitment to responding to God’s vision.
Mysticism and Mission
The reading from Acts describes Paul’s venture to Macedonia and the founding of the Philippian church. It begins with a visionary experience that is self-and-community authenticating not only to Paul but to his companions. God comes to us in a variety of ways, dreams, visions, encounters with Jesus, intuitions, and synchronous moments. God’s revelations always move us from where we are to where God wants us to be, whether the journey is geographical or spiritual, or both in tandem. We can have a dream, gather a community, and change our world.
A healthy congregation needs to be open to divine-human encounters, even though we seldom talk about them in mainline and progressive church. Yet, every time I gather congregants and community persons to talk about mystical experiences, participants describe their own or family members having encounters with angels, near death experiences, synchronous encounters, and visions. Honoring these experiences brings vitality to our congregations and opens us to new forms of mission. (For more on mystical and near-death experiences, see Bruce Epperly, “Angels, Mysteries and Miracles: A Progressive Vision.”)
Follow the Women
Paul’s vision lures him and his companions to Philippi, where he synchronously encounters a woman of substance, Lydia. Could God’s providence be involved in this meeting, the right place, the right time, the right person? Lydia is a spiritual and economic leader in the early Christian community. She is a religious seeker on a quest for a vital spiritual experience. Her leadership established the church in Philippi and reflects the significant role of women in the early church. Women are at the cross, the tomb, the roadways sharing the good news of the resurrection, leading worship, and establishing congregations. The role of women needs to be affirmed, especially in light of the current political and economic misogyny.
In remembering the stories of women in the first century, we affirm their leadership in our time and place and are inspired to continue the quest for equality for women in society, politics, and ecclesiastical life. [For more on Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s ministry with the Philippians, see Bruce Epperly, “Transforming Acts: Acts of the Apostles as a 21st Century Gospel”; Philippians: A Participatory Study Guide,” and “Spiritual and Religious: A Postmodern Preaching Pilgrimage with Philippians.”]
A World of Blessing
Psalm 67 describes a world of blessing. When we are blessed, we literally shine from the inside out. God has blessed us as individuals and as a people. God’s blessings are ultimately ethical and just. We are blessed to pursue equality. We are blessed to bless others through a commitment to justice for stranger and neighbor alike. God’s blessings are not restricted to humankind. We are part of an ecology of blessing that embraces the whole earth and compels us to ask, “Are we blessing the earth by our values? Are we blessing the earth by our current business and public policies?”
Mysticism and Shalom
The reading from Revelation portrays a vision of the future, the world as it could be in the interdependence of divine call and human response. John of Patmos’ mystical vision describes a realm fully open to God’s presence. The world the author experiences is bathed in light, where justice reigns and tears are no more. God’s temple is everywhere, and God’s light touches everyone. Such a world does not yet exist, but it remains a horizon of possibility, judging every human political achievement. The spiritual and moral arcs of history place our nation and economy under divine judgment: the moral and spiritual arc of history may be slow, and our actions can accelerate or impede its progress. Often, we are tempted to give up hope, but the horizon of hope leads us onward.
John’s mystical vision presents an impossible possibility, the realm of Shalom. Indeed, these days, it seems that we have chosen to abandon God’s vision of Shalom, especially at the national level in the US, and the leaders in denying God’s Shalom claim to be Christians. Still, impossible ideals must lead us forward, even when we must, to use the language of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, seek – along with God – the best for the impasse. Divine possibilities are both personal, and in the moment, grounded in “what is.” Divine possibilities also lure us toward impossible dreams. The Spirit of Adventure takes beyond realism to the world of our dreams, and even if we don’t make it, the journey leads us closer and closer toward Home, God’s Shalom.
Do you want to be healed?
Jesus’ encounter with the man at the pool focuses on the question, “Do you want to be made well?” This question is addressed to the man at the pool and also to us. Do you want to be healthy? Do you want a healthier family life? Do you want healing of relationships? Do you want to be a healthy and effective professional? Often, we know what is good – whether in terms of diet, lifestyle, and behavior – and fail to do it! Like the man at the pool, we often make excuses, when God calls not only to stand up but is willing to provide the energy for us to start moving toward the future.
This same question can be asked of our institutions and political system. Do you want to be well? Do you want justice to prevail? Do you want the hungry to be fed and the homeless to be housed, and what are you willing to do to achieve it? Do we want to become the land of the free and home of the brave, in which all persons are seen and treated as equals, reflecting God’s image and deserving our reverence even in the challenges of political decision-making.
Getting well, whether physically, relationally, spiritually, or politically, requires us to make significant changes in values and behavior. We must be willing to stand up, responding to God’s call and move forward in partnership with God’s vision of abundant life. As we respond to God’s call to health, we must be agents of transformation, trusting God fully, yet being agents, actively seeking wholeness for ourselves, our communities, and the planet. [For more on Jesus’ healings, see Bruce Epperly, “Healing Marks: Healing and Spirituality in Mark’s Gospel,” “Healing Worship: Purpose and Practice.”” God’s Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus,” “Process Theology and Healing,” and “Jesus: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet.”]
Visionary experiences, openness to possibilities, and willingness to be blessings to others guide us toward the future. When we open to God’s creative vision, miracles occur and transformative energies are released that transform cells as well as souls – not contrary to nature – but emerging from nature. Open to God’s vision, God will accomplish more than we can ask or imagine. We can claim our vocation as God’s companions in healing our congregations and the world.
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Bruce Epperly is Theologian in Residence at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, Bethesda, MD (https://www.westmorelanducc.org/) and a professor in theology and spirituality at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is the author of over 80 books including: “Homegrown Mystics: Restoring the Soul of Our Nation through the Healing Wisdom of America’s Mystics” (Amazon.com: Homegrown Mystics: Restoring Our Nation with the Healing Wisdom of America’s Visionaries: 9781625249142: Epperly, Bruce: Books) “Jesus: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet “(Jesus: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet: Epperly, Bruce: 9781625248732: Amazon.com: Books), Saving Progressive Christianity to Save the Planet”( Saving Progressive Christianity to Save the Planet: Epperly, Bruce G: 9781631999215: Amazon.com: Books), and his most recent book, “God of the Growing Edge: Whitehead and Thurman on Theology, Spirituality and Social Change.” (The God of the Growing Edge: Whitehead and Thurman on Theology, Spirituality, and Social Change: Epperly, Bruce G: 9781631999291: Amazon.com: Books The God of the Growing Edge: Whitehead and Thurman on Theology, Spirituality, and Social Change: Epperly, Bruce G: 9781631999291: Amazon.com: Books)
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