What do you think of when you hear the word “learning?” Does the word conjure up good feelings, memories of stimulating teachers and interesting projects? Were you like me, eagerly awaiting the first day of a new school year, going to school in new clothes, wondering what was in this year’s workbooks and textbooks? Later on, did you like your French, and music, and algebra classes? Were you surprised to discover that a good essay should have a beginning, a middle, and an end? Or does the word “learning” evoke negative feelings, memories of critical teachers and boring work? When this time of year came round, did you loudly chant, “No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks?” Did you breathe a huge sigh of relief when you finally graduated from high school graduation? When you were baptized or confirmed, did you think that your formal learning in the faith was finally done? Do you believe the church should proclaim “the faith once delivered to the saints,” the saints of – pick your date – the first century, or the fourth century, or the Middle Ages, or the Reformation, or the 1928 prayer book? Should we as Christians and the church as a body be static and unchanging?
Once again this morning – and the for the last time this liturgical year – we hear Jesus’ speech to his disciples before his crucifixion, as recorded in the Gospel according to John. For the last two weeks, we have been reassured by Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his resurrection. Now we begin to get some clue as to what the Holy Spirit might actually do. We learn that, although the disciples had followed Jesus closely and had heard his teaching, they were still beginners in their new life of faith. They still had a lot to learn! “I still have many things to tell you,” Jesus told them, “but you cannot bear them now.” Can’t you hear them saying to themselves, “Say what, Lord? Haven’t we been through enough already?” Actually, they were just at the beginning of a faith journey. Jesus’ leaving them would not stop their learning. When Jesus did breathe his Spirit on them on Easter Evening, they were just at the beginning of growth in the life of the Spirit, growth that would last the rest of the lives. They didn’t have to understand everything all at once. The Spirit, they learned that last night, would guide them into all truth. The Spirit, the continuing guide by their side, would remind them of what Jesus had taught them. The Spirit would explain things to them, would share Jesus’ ongoing life with them, and would lead them forward into whatever God had prepared for them. Most importantly, the Spirit would draw them closer to Jesus, who would draw them more deeply into his own life with the Father, so that they too would be included in the community of divine love.
As fellow disciples of the same risen Lord, we too, with those first disciples, are called to be members of a learning community. Indeed the whole church is called to be a learning community – and has been since its very beginning. It took nearly four centuries for the early church to understand and clarify the meaning of God’s coming among us in Jesus. Although we now have creeds and a doctrine of the Trinity, for example, it wasn’t until late in the fourth century that the leaders of the church were able to say with some clarity that Jesus had shown us that we encounter God in three different ways, as God the mysterious creator of all that exists, as God the redeemer who died on the cross for us, and as God the Holy Spirit who continues to lead us and guide us. And throughout the rest of its history, right up to the present day, the church continues to be a learning community. As a church we have learned to value and appreciate the contemplative life, and we have deepened in our sense of responsibility to the poor. We have learned that all people, not just learned clergy, can and should worship and read the Scriptures in their own languages. We have learned that slavery is a sin. In our own day, we have learned that women and gay people can be ordained. The Spirit continues to remind us of our responsibilities to the poor, and that we too are called to partner with God in the bringing in of God’s kingdom of life and love.
In our individual parishes, we are also learning communities, or should be. Next week the paraments and liturgical color will change to green. We are now entering the season of Pentecost, the long season of growing in our life in the Spirit. Are we being led by the Spirit? Are we letting the Spirit guide us into all truth? If we are, then the first thing we have to do is to quit fighting with each other about interpretations of faith and Scripture. Jesus has promised us that the Spirit will guide us into all truth. We can trust that God will eventually show us how to reconcile our now differing understandings and practices as Christian bodies. Secondly, we as individuals need to acknowledge that our formation as Christians, our transformation into Christ, wasn’t completed at our baptisms or confirmations. The kind of learning that the Spirit leads us into takes a lifetime to master. Most of us probably cannot explain exactly what every line of the Nicene or Apostles Creed means. Many of us may not be sure that we even believe them all. That’s OK. The creeds represent what the church has come to understand as a faith community. We as individuals, as our faith deepens, evolve in our understanding of the teachings and doctrines of the church. Our understanding will change over a life time. What is important is that we continually stretch ourselves and allow ourselves to grow in our knowledge of God.
What is most important is that we realize that our knowledge of God isn’t primarily head-knowledge. To be sure, intellectual formation is important. Lay folks also need to know when and for whom the Scriptures were written. Lay folks need to know the history of the church. Lay folks also need to know something about theology, and especially what contemporary writers think about God, Jesus, the Spirit, and the church. But ultimately, if we are to deepen our knowledge of God, if we are to grow “into all truth,” then we must grow through our experience of Jesus at work in our lives. And we must let the Spirit lead us into those practices that help deepen us, that help us evolve into more faithful disciples of Jesus. We must allow ourselves to grow spiritually. That can only happen if a congregation offers regular opportunities for its members to grow in the spiritual life. What are some of those opportunities? Some of them may sound quite familiar, as they are really the classic spiritual disciplines that have sustained the church, and through which the Holy Spirit has been working, for two thousand years. We need to learn how to pray – not just the beautiful formal prayers of our Book of Common Prayer, but our own prayers, our own conversation with God. We might consider fasting, a very ancient discipline indeed, which is also a way to enlarge our insights into what much of the rest of the world experiences. We grow through service, as we follow our Lord’s model of caring for the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the unloved. We grow through experiencing the joy of giving, of helping individuals and groups, and of returning to God a small portion of what God has given us. We grow through confession, through acknowledging our sins and limitations to God and asking God to heal and strengthen us. We grow through experiencing God in silence, in creating a quiet space in our lives and our minds where God can do and be for us whatever God chooses. Finally, we grow through remembering that in God “we live and move and have our being,” through acknowledging, however briefly, God’s presence in all our minutes, hours, weeks, and years.
Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the father of the nuclear submarine, was skeptical of business school graduates. In interviewing them over the years, he found that they knew the jargon of systems analysis, financial manipulation, and quantitative management. But he thought that most of them had no appreciation for the importance of technical knowledge, experience, and hard work. "What it takes to do the job will not be learned from management courses," said Rickover. "It is principally a matter of experience, the proper attitude, and common sense -- none of which can be taught in a classroom."
Experience, attitude, and common sense. None of them can be taught in a classroom. Experience of God working in us, transformation of life, and deeper love for God. None of them can be taught in a classroom or a sermon. And none of them just happens. The Spirit will guide us into all truth – we have Jesus’ promise for that. When we as congregations and individuals engage in those practices through which the Spirit can teach us, we can be assured of the Holy Spirit’s working within us, and through God’s Spirit we will be led more deeply into God’s own life. And by God’s grace, at the end of it all, we will be Christ’s own forever.
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