It Takes Coming Together
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
April 26, 2026
Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. The scripture I have chosen to support my message is from I John 3:18-24 from the New Revised Standard Version.
Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God, and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
Today is my last message before I begin my 3-month sabbatical this coming Friday. The last catalyst I wanted to talk about was “Speaking Truth to Power” as a way to bring back our joy, but after thinking about it more, I realized that I wanted to share some thoughts that are currently running through my mind – and in many ways this is speaking my truth this morning.
First, I am very aware that sabbaticals are incredible privileges and please know that I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. As well, I am very aware that I really need a sabbatical. I am grateful that the entire Sabbatical Team: Beth, Norma, Mary, Barbara, Vickie, and Patrick who have been gathering and preparing will hold things graciously and ably while I am away. As well, I am aware that this Meeting existed long before I came to serve among you–and will exist long after I am gone.
I am also aware that I need this period of rest so that I can return to you and do all I can to follow the Spirit’s guidance and nudging in helping make this community a stronger and more faithful embodiment of the Divine’s love to this world.
You may have noticed that our scripture text for today from First John is totally focused on love. So, we continue to listen for how the Spirit is instructing and nudging us on what it means to live together as a faith community in love. Have you ever considered the privilege it is to have the chance to echo the love of God in one another’s lives?
While the past several months in our nation has been a challenge in many ways, it has also given us an incredible opportunity to reflect on the deeper meaning of what we do, who we are, and what we believe as a Quaker meeting. Just last Sunday, I believe this was reflected beautifully in our meeting for business as we came together to make important minutes on the War in Iran and the Abuses of ICE. This made me proud that we could come together in such a united way.
Sure, these past months have intensified our lives, challenged us to reexamine long-held patterns, assumptions, and beliefs, but ultimately, we found one voice to Speak our Truth and that should bring us some joy as a community. It has been an exhilarating time to be a Quaker minister even as it has been at times difficult for my family, our community, and sadly even our world.
I have spent time these past few weeks leading up to my sabbatical, actually gathering thoughts and putting them into this message. I wanted it to reflect somewhat of a list of wonderings that my soul has been and is holding, about the challenges of ministry given our particular context here in Indianapolis.
When I take my walks at the gym or in my neighborhood, I often ponder what the church will be like in twenty years from now. I read what lands in my inbox about the decline in participation and membership among Quakers. I know the statistics and I feel the same anxiety that every other pastor feels at the end of each year when we look at our waning financial reports. I wonder what the next year will be like, and a certain fear robs me of my ability to be present–and faithful–in those moments.
In my best moments, I want to “be a good pastor,” just as every pastor desires to be in his or her time of ministry. In my worst moments, this desire slides into the shadow of success and accomplishment. It is very easy to begin to equate statistics on the page with hearts that are transformed, and we should be very cautious about this. But also, we must rejoice in all that we have accomplished and the many families and lives that have joined us on this journey of faith here at First Friends.
I try not to give into reading tea leaves when it comes to the future of the Church, but a few key areas have my attention these days. For one, I am paying particular attention to our many younger families and their children. There is a particular stress and anxiety, if you will, with young parents with children that needs our attention. And we have more children coming to First Friends in the near future, which is a beautiful and sustaining sign for our Meeting.
I wonder how we can more faithfully support the spiritual health of our children and young people in the world we all share at First Friends. I am so blessed that we hired Chrissy Sommer to share her gifts and talents to address the pressures that our children and families face and offer moments of hope and learning for them.
As I have tried to focus on and teach over my almost 9 years at First Friends, the work of spiritual growth and maturity is not easy, and it asks us to put under a microscope our own hearts, ask ourselves what we truly desire most, and then seek to participate with the Spirit’s nudging in nurturing this longing.
Being a Quaker in our world today means making choices–saying no to some things so we can say yes to others. What are you and I being called to say no to, so that we can yes to a more grounded life?
I know many of you love retirement and some of us look forward to it, and I celebrate the potential for this in my own life at some point, but given what we are facing now in this world, I say this to you from my heart:
It’s all hands on deck, right now!
We need our Ministry & Counsel, our other various committees, and each and every one of you.
We need your presence and your gifts as wisdom bearers and fellow Friends, to help us as a gathered community. There are six other days in a week to play golf or pickleball or take a boat ride on the lake, and I say this with all love and seriousness.
This community needs each of you to help us navigate the rapids we are facing in our world, because we are in treacherous waters.
We need to embrace the catalysts that bring back our joy that we have been exploring in this series: Holding each other in the Light, Gathering Together, Becoming a Community, Serving, Respecting, Encouraging, Forgiving and Speaking our Truth to Power, TOGETHER.
Already this year has shown us the importance of making choices in our lives and as a community.
· What do we deem a priority?
· What truly gives life?
· What do we need to say no to?
· How do we support each other’s growth?
Howard Thurman, that great mystic and teacher, once said that religion or spiritual life is better caught than taught. But to actually catch it, we have to show up and be present in close proximity to someone who is carrying it. We cannot simply stand on the outside and wait or demand it to change to what we want it to be. We must be actively involved together on a regular basis.
Thus, proximity matters. And we also need to be aware of the importance of spiritual proximity. We need to ask ourselves, what does it mean to dedicate ourselves to the growth and activism of First Friends? How am I involved and participating fully?
It is imperative that we all focus our attention on our practice of faith. And by our practice of faith, I am not talking about just coming to meeting on Sunday mornings and then living during the week as though what we say we believe on Sunday morning has no bearing on changing our life patterns.
If we are not moved by what we see happening in the world around us after hearing what the Divine Spirit is calling us to do, we simply aren’t paying attention. How much are we conscious, and how much are we going through the motions?
When it comes to what we do, we remember that the Gospel of Christ that we all share is inherently political, because it actually deals with people’s lives. I don’t have any interest in dressing up any party platform in religious clothing, but we cannot deny that Jesus focused his attention on challenging the political and economic systems that were exploiting and reeking havoc in the souls and lives of his day.
He spoke about the dangers of coveting and greed, about falling prey to worshipping wealth, about seeing our fellow human beings as a means to gaining a profit for ourselves. So, Jesus called his disciples and US to make choices that were grounded in faith, hope, and love.
To be a follower of Christ does not mean that we turn our backs on the world; rather, it means that we turn our face towards the world and seek to embody Christ’s love in how we live on a daily basis.
Look again at the text from I John from this morning: “Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” Let us embody our faith so that our children and our neighbors in the community notice a spectacular strangeness about us. We Friends have long been considered “peculiar people” (as we say) and I want to give you permission to embrace that peculiar-ness! It is like when we lived in Portland – they had bumper stickers that read, “Keep Portland Weird” - I think we should have our own that says, “Keep Quakers Peculiar!”
Folks, what you and I share together should change us. At this point in my own ministry, I am tired of any religious practices that just focus on the appealing, the cherished, or the comfortable.
If I share the peace with someone on Sunday during greeting time and then continually act like a jerk on Monday morning, what exactly am I doing?
If I come to enjoy the beautiful music during the service and don’t allow that beauty I experience to open my heart, I am missing the point. It is not a concert for entertainment; it is a catalyst for change within me.
I am far less concerned with our sacred cows and traditions at First Friends (and admit we have several), than I am that you see how coming together as a community inspires you to care for your neighbor and help lessen the level of outright meanness and pettiness in our world today.
At this point in my ministry, and in my life, I agree with the Dalai Lama (and so many other wisdom teachers, of course) when they remind us to see how our practice of faith should actually change the way we live in the world.
If it doesn’t actually inform how we live, then what exactly are we doing? And why?
These are the hard questions we face today, but we must ask them.
This deeper dimension of faith is calling to us, at this time. We never arrive at a point where we have it all figured out, and if we think we have arrived at this point, God, please send someone to shake us out of our arrogance.
So, this morning, I am challenged to ask: what does faithfulness look like for me? For you? Now, I cannot answer what it looks like for you, although my ministry and call to First Friends is to help you discern that and live into it for yourself within this community.
That is what it looks like to be fellow Friends: we support one another to grow into the full participating members one unto another. Just as we committed to do in Theo’s dedication this morning.
We are facing many challenges today, aren’t we? I have to remind myself–or be reminded–that I alone cannot solve world hunger, or poverty. I cannot solve the problem of racial injustice, or social inequality or greed or environmental destruction. I cannot fix the economic struggles of those around me. Like Paul in scripture and others remind us, we have no power within ourselves to fix ourselves; rather, we rely on the Spirit as we discern together how we can faithfully embody Christ’s ministry in this world.
You and I cannot fix the problems of our world; however, YOU AND I CAN BE FAITHFUL.
And, to be clear, there is not one passive thing about being faithful. Being faithful is, to return back to where we started, about the active, engaged, practice of faith in our lives. It is about cultivating relationships, dedicating time, and making it a priority to pay attention to the Spirit’s presence in our daily lives.
You and I can be faithful. And for me that means that I can honestly speak the truth as I know it, recognizing my own limitations. I can speak my truth as I know it, and I can listen for those around me who may know the truth better than I do.
That is a hallmark of Quaker community, because when we are faithful together, then the energy of that intentionality can inspire and uplift. It can be caught, as Howard Thurman would say.
If this morning you are wondering what our meeting can do, I would say this:
First Friends will be able to do what we all are actually willing to do, because we are a Beloved Community and our faithfulness is directly linked to our willingness to dedicate our lives to answer the Spirit’s nudge and call.
We, together, make up the Meeting, this Beloved Community, and the Spirit is calling us, at this moment in time, to look around us at the enormous opportunity we have to claim again the call to action and to speak our truth to power in our world, just as we did last week in business meeting.
So, the only query I want to leave you with to ponder as I begin my sabbatical later this week is,
What are we willing to do, TOGETHER? Really consider that while I am gone.
Again, thank you for the privilege of allowing me to take a needed sabbatical. I know you are in good hands, and I will pray that while I am gone, you will embrace that query and find refreshment and hope in this community, TOGETHER! Amen.