THE MOST SPIRITUAL PEOPLE IN AMERICA
Deuteronomy 10:11-22

A sermon given by the Rev. Richard H. Taylor
November 21, 2004 / Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

As my life has grown older I find that I have changed in what I am thankful for. When I was younger, I think I prayed the normal Thanksgiving prayer that might include thanks for the turkey, the yams, the pumpkin pie, and being together. Things and who’s around also seemed to play prominent parts in many of my Christmas and birthday prayers as well.

But somehow I now find my thanks spreading out to include what I don't see and what's not present. Something I give thanks for a lot lately is the people that touched my life. Many have been long dead. Others I seem to at times even to have forgotten until some memory, some mention, some photo, suddenly floods me with contacts, incidents, occasions that were life changing – that were watershed experiences, even if I have sometimes buried them. Some of these people that I am grateful for were in my family. Some lived in my neighborhood growing up. Some were school teachers. Others came along much more recently. Some gave me long term continuing care, some only encountered me briefly, but were there at the right time, just with the right word.

I particularly remember those that were spiritual people, those who opened to me the words and ideas, the emotions and the actions of the Gospel.

Take a moment – if you will – to remember one or two people for whom you are grateful. Particularly think of the spiritual people, people who touched you with the Gospel.

What do I mean by spiritual people? Our text in Deuteronomy today spells that out rather well: someone that walks in God's ways, serves God with heart and soul, keeps God's commandments. The writer then goes on to spell out what some of those key commandments might be – to be spirited – to be like God: do not be stubborn, no partiality, no bribes, justice for the widow and the orphan, love for the stranger, providing food and clothing, praise.

I have known such people in my life, and I am grateful. Think – who have been the spiritual people in your life? Give thanks.

When I think of some of the great heroines and heroes in my life, I often wish I could be more like them, learn from them, gain some of their gentle compassion.

Tony Campolo tells us that a Gallup Poll was conducted a few years back on spiritual practices. They wanted to find out who were the most spiritual people in America. So they checked out spiritual practices against a variety of demographics: age, race, family setting, region, tasks. Their questions focused not only on do you do this or that, but on what do you believe? How would you react if this situation came into your life? How do beliefs and actions interact?

There are a variety of ways that the questions were asked, and then a variety of ways to test out if there were clusters, activities and ideas that seemed to come together. The poll discovered a cluster of four things that scored high together. These four items seemed to lead the pack. The pollsters came to conclude that these four items, when together, reveal our most spiritual people.

It is amazing to me how much these four areas overlap Deuteronomy ten. The four things that they found together were compassion, prayer, forgiveness, and Bible study; compassion, prayer, forgiveness, Bible study. Compassionate people care for the widow, orphan and stranger. Prayerful people seek to serve the Lord with heart and soul and walk in all God’s ways. Forgiving people have opened their hearts and are stubborn no longer. People who engage in Bible study remember the loving ways of the Lord to them and to others and follow closely. Spiritual people are like our text.

But also, the pollsters say, people who are compassionate tend also to engage in Bible study; people who are forgiving tend to pray. While we can think of individuals that might do one of these four things, they have a special relationship in a definition of "spiritual." A secular person may forgive, but may lack the humility of a life of prayer.

So these are some marks of spiritual people: compassion, prayer, forgiveness, Bible study. I am thankful for people in my life who have embodied these things.

But let me push this farther. Who are the most spiritual people in America? Where are you likely to find them? As I said, the pollsters asked demographic questions as well. I would like to meet more spiritual people and learn from them. Where might they be found?

Where do you think? What about age for instance? Do you find compassion, prayer, forgiveness, and Bible study more in young people or in elderly people? What they found is that elderly people are more likely to be spiritual. If you are young, don’t worry, you have the opportunity of becoming old!

And what about race? Now in asking this I do not mean to say that racial identification in any way automatically makes a person more Godly. However, because of racism certain races have some common life experiences that other races do not have. Because of history the cultures of certain racial groups have developed practices that have not been seriously developed in other populations. So which racial group exhibited the most spiritual living? In the United States Blacks are more spiritual.

And what about gender? Which gender tends to exhibit more compassion, prayer, forgiveness, Bible study? You know the answer: women.

Well, when they put all this stuff together here is what they found: the most spiritual people in America are elderly Black grandmothers in the South, raising abandoned children. I'll try that again: the most spiritual people in America today are elderly Black grandmothers in the South that are raising abandoned and forgotten children.

If you would like to experience more spiritual people in your life, to gain depth, compassion, meaning, then you need to meet more elderly Black grandmothers in the South who are taking care of abandoned children. Indeed if you need someone to emulate in your own spiritual journey, someone to copy, someone to learn from, someone to lead you along the way, then seek out elderly Black grandmothers in the South that are raising abandoned children.

Now I know full well what I am saying here, and it doesn't bode well for white male single people in the North, like me. Compassion, prayer, and forgiveness are not generally found in my demographic. But I knew that already. I knew that, and I know that most people like me need to change. Forgiveness is not high on the radar screen of those white males who are in charge, compassion is not a chief attribute of those that are rich, and prayer is not a common activity of those that are overly busy thinking they are indispensable.

But if you want to be thankful this week, if you want to grow more spiritual this week, then I urge you to enter the life experience of elderly Black grandmothers in the South who are raising abandoned children. Of course if you have taken on the task of raising abandoned children, you have to be compassionate. You have to pray. You have to forgive people who abandoned the children, and the children themselves when they cry out of their despair, or otherwise you will only reinforce a sinister straight jacket all the day long. Acts of compassion can stimulate a life of prayer.

Spirituality and compassion go together. If you don’t have very much compassion, you are really not very godly, no matter what false picture of yourself you try to present.

The only way to take on the task of caring for the mass of abandoned human souls is to pray unceasingly, and to have a deep well of Biblical story to help you to understand your place. A closeness to God involves taking on a task of God – making this world a better place night and day.

The joy that we find in the spiritual people who have touched our lives comes out of the joy of the tasks they have taken on. Now I don't know who you thought of when I encouraged you to remember and give thanks for someone in your life. I don't know who they were or what they did for you. But whomever they were, I suspect that prayed for you when you were not there, and encouraged you to your face. I suspect that had a wealth of stories to tell you. I believe they were compassionate. I believe they were forgiving. Test your memory against these standards.

And if these are the people who brought joy to your life, and these are the people for whom you give thanks, can't you be like them? Can't you grow within you the genuine compassion you have experienced?

This spiritual thanksgiving is just something we pass on. Take it. Rejoice it in. Revel in it. Give thanks. And pass it on. That's enough.

Amen.