On Being Sacred Community
Rev. Erik Swanson
September 21, 2025
You can watch the entire sermon here.
Yesterday I went to see a movie I didn’t expect much from, The Long Walk, and it surprised me deeply. The story, set after a devastating war, centers on a contest where 50 young men volunteer to walk until only one remains, with a huge financial prize at stake. What struck me wasn’t the endurance test but the way these men — so different in backgrounds and experiences — formed bonds of care and survival. They carried one another, built community, and revealed the beauty of human connection in hard times. It reminded me that community forms in many ways, and that what we call “church” is one of those sacred ways.
Community: God, Self, and Others Woven Together
As I look around at our congregation, I see diversity of experience, belief, and passion, and yet we gather to center our lives around a loving God. That is the heart of sacred community: God, self, and others woven together. My deepest hope as Westhope’s pastor is that we continue to deepen our understanding and commitment to living this out.
Welcoming and Inclusion
At our recent leadership retreat, we asked how we want to show up as community today. That question shapes not only our celebration today — with speakers, ministries, and newcomers among us — but also how we live into the future. Welcome matters, but inclusion matters even more. It’s about whether people can bring their gifts, passions, and ideas fully into our life together.
Living Our Faith So That Lives Are Transformed
I find guidance in the passage from Luke where John the Baptist, in prison, sends disciples to ask Jesus if he is the One. Jesus doesn’t argue or list credentials — he points to lives changed, the blind seeing, the lame walking, the dead coming to life. His ministry was embodied, healing, and transformative. I believe that is our roadmap too: to live our faith so that lives are transformed, not just in words but in action.
It Takes All Of Us
This work takes all of us. Many of you already embody it — through advocacy, tending the gardens, stewarding resources, writing overtures, or organizing events. Each act is part of the fabric of who we are becoming. Whatever your background — Catholic, Presbyterian, Buddhist, evangelical, or progressive — we come together around common values: love, compassion, justice, welcome, and healing. These are not easy commitments, but they are the essence of following Jesus.
It's Not Easy
Community is not easy work. It asks us to bring both our gifts and our flaws, to laugh, argue, forgive, and grow together. It reveals our blessings and our shortcomings. But community is also one of the greatest spiritual practices, because it shapes us as we embody values together.
Making a Sacred Community
The church has not always lived up to this calling of love and inclusion, but that is still our aspiration. My prayer is that we continue to make this a sacred community, where all are welcome, respected, and included, and where God remains at the center. It takes all of us, working together, but it is holy work. May it be so. Amen.