Reach, out, people, reach out! Hold fast to stars, To the elusive, the intangible, the never-fully-known. For stars fall to earth sometimes And the miracle of love is kindled in the ashes of our broken dreams. The light of hope rises from the shadows of our unspeakable loss. Reach out, people! And fear not, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So desire a better country. Look forward to the city that has foundations whose architect and builder is God. Reach out, people! Hold fast to stars. For by their light you will be led home.

As I was pondering and praying with the scriptural passages from the lectionary assigned to this day, the tenth Sunday after Pentecost, three qualities of the spiritual life seemed to be lifted up. What would you guess that these qualities might be?

First, I see the quality of pleasure. Second, I am aware of the spiritual quality of living in the present moment. Thirdly, the spiritual quality of desire seems evident.

Perhaps many of you thought I would mention other qualities when you heard the words “spiritual life.” Things like piousness, sacrificial obedience, somberness, or other disciplines of lofty historical significance. Imagine the surprise and curiosity in some of our forbears if in 1669 these were the qualities of the spiritual life that were proposed? Perhaps for many of them and some of us all pleasure was to be suspect, the present moment was always to be moved into delayed gratification and desires were things that would only lead you astray. I do not doubt their wisdom in many of these areas. But I also know that balance is needed if one is not to be overwhelmed by the prospect of life in the Spirit, in which we “practice the presence of God” and bring our whole life before God.

Surely Jesus was pointing out something important to his followers when he said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.“ Jesus is telling us that God does not shun pleasure. And it is the pleasure of God to love us and to offer us life with God lived without fear.”

But then just what is “good pleasure”? Surely we are to understand that pleas-ure that is good does not depend upon injustice or unfairness to others for its gratifica-tion. That good pleasure seeks mercy and forgiveness at its center. The love that creates without possessing, acts without expecting, guides without interfering--this is the love that allows pleasure to be at its center.

Perhaps it is only after a sweltering week like the one we have just experienced that we can understand the pleasure of a cup of cold water on our parched lips, the pleasure of a dip in a pool or pond or even a fountain like the one across the street. The pleasure of a moment’s connection, or of just being alive after a close call with a serious illness, or the incredible pleasure of a reunion after a long and painful absence. An understanding of the gift of life itself and the privilege of the senses opens in us a great pleasure.

Poet Mary Oliver, a Cape Cod resident, may help us understand something of pleasure in her poem, “The Roses”:

“All afternoon I have been walking over
the dunes, hurrying from one thick raft
of the wrinkled, salt roses to another,
leaning down close to their dark or pale petals, red as blood or white as snow.
And now I am beginning to breathe slowly and evenly- the way a hunted animal breathes, finally, when it has galloped, and galloped-when it is wrung dry, but at last is far away, so the panic begins to drain from the chest, from the wonderful legs, and the exhausted mind.

Oh, sweetness, pure and simple, may I join you?
I lie down next to them, the salt roses, on the pale sand. But to tell about what happens next, truly
I need help.
Will somebody or something please start
to sing?”

The second part of our Gospel brings to us the issue of being ready, staying awake, living in the present moment. Perhaps you have seen the t-shirt that says, “Jesus is coming. Look busy.” A rather negative view of a loving Christ.

But if we are honest about it, most of us would love to snooze through much of our lives, gliding seamlessly from one day to the next in some sort of serene state. We love our little rituals that help us float through the day, from our morning coffee and pa-per to our late night milk and cookie. Part of this is our human nature.

But Jesus is pointing out that the present moment is the only place where life actually exists. We may be happy to bask in our glorious history or dwell obsessively on our comfortable and secure future, but to be alert and awake in this moment is where life is.

The wonderful English writer C.S. Lewis in his “Screwtape Letters” tells us of the devil’s henchman, Screwtape, writing to one of his workers, Wormwood. To para-phrase, he says, “My dear Wormwood, Whatever you do make sure you keep people as far from the present moment as possible. Get them to dwell on their past or focus on their future, but whatever you do do not let them be in the present. The present mo-ment is one of our worst enemies, for it is the closest thing to eternity people will ever experience and it is where God has the most opportunity to influence them.”

An important theological idea, the eternal Now. The “I Am” of God living always in the present. And unless we are willing to live in the present we will never be ready to let go and release all into God who will welcome us home. We will still be carrying all the baggage of regrets, sorrows, unfinished business, resentments. We are to live here and now and be ready. Now is the time to seek forgiveness, to finish our busi-ness, to release our resentments, to experience our pleasure.

There is the story of the woman who went into therapy and was asked how it was going. “Very well, “she said. “I went into therapy thinking I had some baggage to unload--maybe an overnight bag or so. But now I know I have really been carrying ar-ound about 5 steamer trunks for much of my life.” Such is the reality of waking up.

Some of you are familiar with the music of Chanticleer, an a cappella men’s group. One of their songs, “I Have Had Singing”, has lyrics written by Ronald Blythe who visited the village of Akenfield (population 298) in order to record tales of the lives of English country folk-farmers, pigmen, grave-diggers, gardeners, fruit-pickers and the like--vanishing breeds in the face of progress. He was startled by the harshness and beauty of their lives. This text is the reminiscence of eight-five-year-old Welsh horseman Fred Mitchell as he is lying on his death bed.

“The singing. There was so much singing then and this was my pleasure, too. We all sang; the boys in the fields, the chapels were full of singing, always singing. Here I lie. I have had pleasure enough. I have had singing.” Will we be as ready as he? Will be able to say: I have had.pleasure enough! I have had singing!

And our third quality of the spiritual life: desire. In Hebrews we read, “They desire a better country.” and “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

God desired the world into being.
God desired the creation of humankind.
God desires You, God’s beloved child!

The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that by faith we may be called to set out for a place, knowing not where we are going. And that by faith we may have been given the promises without yet having received them. But our desire for those promises to become realities is what will make these things that are not yet seen become visible.

Our desires connect us to the deepest part of our lives. How is God calling to you through your greatest desires?

The desire of Jesus to include all: the least, the last, the lost in the realm of God’s family. “If you have offered a cup to the least of these, you have offered it to me.”

Martin Luther’s desire to reform a corrupt church, desire that had him nail the theses to the church door and say, “Here I stand. I can do no other.”

Martin Luther King exclaimed, “I have a dream.” And the desire for an end to bigotry and injustice, the desire for racial equality was evident in his whole being.

And on a far less global scale, each of us may have a desire that God is work-ing with us to bring into a visible blessing for creation. And if you wiil forgive the per-sonal reference, as a gay child growing up in the German Congregational Church in rural South Dakota, I prayed that God might lead me to a place in which I could be whole. And my life partner George and I arrived here at Old South Church ten years ago desiring a place we could worship God freely, fully, as a family taking our place in the community of Christ gathered here.

We as a church, as the body of Christ, have desires too! When our desires are full of justice, mercy, love for all of God’s creation, inclusiveness of Christ’s invitation to all, it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom of love and light. As the writer of Hebrews says, we may die in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance we saw and greeted them. And if we had been thinking only of the land we left behind, we would have opportunity to return. But as it is, we desire a better coun-try. In seeking God’s realm there is no going back. That is why the idea of returning to some “past fossilized golden age of Christianity” is so flawed. The kingdom of God is not in some idealized past. It is in our present moment of desire for fulfilled promises in the future.

Jesus said, . .“where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” I cannot hear this without thinking of the Legend of San Lorenzo, a story I have shared with you before but I believe bears repeating.

According to the legend, the conquerors came to the city gate of San Lorenzo, a walled-medieval city. They said to the inhabitants, “Bring us your riches.” The people went back into the city and came forth with lepers, diseased, those feeble and frail of body, mind, and spirit, carrying them lovingly in their arms and upon their shoulders. “These are our treasures.”

Immediately the conquerors dropped their weapons and took off their armor. “May we come to live with you?” they asked. “This is the city we have been searching for our whole lives.”

Perhaps a city whose architect and builder is God?

Author Paul Monette put it this way. Home is not so much a place you come from. Home may be a place you finally get to.

So as we go let us not forget these qualities of the spiritual life:
1. Pleasure
2. The present moment.
3. Desire

“Fear not, little flock, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Let us pray: 0 God, help us to reach out and hold fast to your promises of inclusive love, justice and mercy. You are the desire of our hearts. Help us in faith remember that we are the desire of your heart. Give us courage to live in the present moment ready to be with you whenever and wherever you come to us. Give us the hope of your promises and the joy of life with you! We pray this in the name of your child Jesus, who lived the pain and pleasure of a fully engaged life. Amen