We Cannot Do It On Our Own
Christopher E. Stern
New Foundation Fellowship, 1995; Reprinted with permission of the author.
This Document is on The Quaker Writings Home Page.
Introduction
Stephen Crisp spoke about the first Quaker meetings: We should use them as poor, desolate,
helpless people, that are broken off from all their own confidence and trust, and have nothing to
rely upon but the mercy and goodness of God.(1) Crisp noticed that, fifty years after their
beginning, Friends were already starting to lose the power and presence of God in their meetings.
He felt this was a direct result of their losing a sense of their complete dependance upon God and
Christ. They were beginning to depend on their own ability and power.
Modern Friends have continued the move in this direction. "There is that of God in everyone" has become the center of many Friends meetings today. this early Quaker phrase is misquoted to declare that human beings have within themselves the ability, the power, to get in touch with God. In this contemporary view a living experience of Jesus is seen as obsolete, replaced by many different philosophies of religion. Yet these philosophies lack the "life and power" found among early Friends.
In contrast to this modern view, early Friends had no confidence in themselves. Their faith was
not a philosophy, formula or system. They found that they had no power of their own. Their
worship was not focused on their ability to get in touch with God. When the first Friends came to
a place where they did not know what to do and did not know where to look for help, God spoke
to them. The Quaker faith was born out of this experience. George Fox records in his journal:
And when all my hopes in them [priests and preachers], and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, not could tell me what to do, them, Oh then, I head a voice which said "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition," and when I heard it my heart did leap for joy. (2)
The center of the first Friends meetings was not "that of God in everyone." It was the simple
promise, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst." I am
writing because I believe that this simple faith is the answer for Friends today. Here is an example:
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Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.
In Quaker Meeting we wait upon the Lord to know HIm in our midst to guide us and bring direction into our lives.
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1. We Cannot Do It On Our Own
I went to see a good Friend in the hospital. he was dying and had much on his mind. We sat
together in silence for a while and then he spoke. "When I was a young man we believe that we
were going to be able to solve many of the world's problems. There was a great hope and
enthusiasm in higher education. It was thought that if people were able to become more educated
then they would be able to get along with each other.
"Yet as we became educated we found that our problems still remained. Our hope then turned to
science and technology as the answer. But now more than ever we are aware of both the benefits
and perils of modern technology. We now have the capacity to destroy all life, and yet we still
cannot find a way to heal our broken lives and world.
"We must realize we cannot do it on our own. We need the help of God and Christ in our lives.
We cannot do it on our own."
My friend was "convinced" in the true meaning of the word: He had come to the end of his own
resources and had asked God for help. He was a man whose life was full of many trials. Yet, in
the midst of all these struggles, he found a living faith that had completely changed his life. This
faith sustained him throughout his lifetime.
We are called to be convinced. this is a call to a life-changing experience. When we are convinced,
the Light of Christ shows us our lives as they are without God. We see that our own resources are
not enough. When we are in this place, Jesus shows us our condition. He shines in the depths of
our hearts and shows us what a mess we have made of our lives trying to live without him. He is
then able to help us to change and learn to live our lives anew following him.
To be convinced today we must be a people who have come to the end of our own resources. Our
hope cannot stand in our won ability to heal our broken lives and world. We cannot look to our
own strength to find a way forward. With no visible way forward and nothing left to hold onto,
the way will be opened to us. this is how the early Friends described their convincement. Edward
Burrough writes:
2. The Presence In The Midst
Friends meetings today can often put too much emphasis on individual spiritual growth. this leads
into a gathering of individuals all working on their own spiritual development. This approach
often ends up with us focusing on our own abilities. It may in turn bring us to believe that we are
the ones responsible for our worship. "If we work on it hard enough, we can get it right." We
then look to all kinds of methods and systems for religious self improvement.
This is the way that I first approached meeting. There is a strong emphasis today on "centering
down." I practiced all kinds of methods to try to accomplish this elusive inner stillness. They all
focused on the individual although they talked a lot about God. I began to view religion as an
individual experience that relied upon my "spiritual growth." I wondered why I even needed to
meet with other people. After all, if God's spirit is within me then why not just meditate or read
the Bible at home?
When I read the early Quaker writings, I found that they had a completely different focus to their
worship. They did not focus on themselves. If you asked the early Friends why they gathered for
worship they would say, "Because Jesus says he will show up."
The promise of Jesus to be present in the midst is a promise of central importance to our worship
(Matt. 18:20). It is more important than anything that we can produce or do ourselves.
The presence of Christ in the midst is not a system of religion. This is not something we can
accomplish if we try hard enough. This presence is a gift of love from our loving God. He comes
to a freely. This gift is not given because we have done anything special. It is given because we
desperately need it.
When this wonderful gift is given to us in meeting, our hearts become knit together in a deep and
abiding way. We find a purpose and meaning for our lives together that is greater than any of our
own.
When through God's mercy and grace we are able to experience Jesus' presence together, we are
no longer simply a group of individuals. We become a community of modern-day disciples
meeting with our risen Lord. This is a call to discipleship to the living Christ. It is not a method
for spiritual self-improvement.
As we enter into this new relationship with God and one another we are a "new creation." We are
not simply meeting together for our own edification. God has brought us together and has a
purpose for us. Just like the disciples of old, we are shown ways that we might be
"commissioned," to carry this "good news" to our world. This is not of our own doing.
3. To Know and Do God's Will
Exeter Friends Meeting gave the following description of a Friends meeting. (Berks County, PA,
newspaper supplement, 1989.)
The presence of Christ in the midst is essential to the Friends Business Meeting. He is present to
help us with the questions and problems that are before us. The business meeting does not revolve
around mastering a process or procedure. It revolves around "the presence of Christ in our
midst."
Christ is present to help us to know and do God's will. This claim, that it is possible for us to
know and do God's will, is not a statement about our own ability. It is a testimony in faith to the
power of Jesus Christ to lead and teach the gathered group itself.
In order to be led, we are asked to put our own agenda aside. We are asked to "check our bags at
the door." Jesus tells us, "The ones who are to be my disciples must deny themselves, take up
their cross, and follow me." (Matt. 16:24)
Our confidence is not in our own ability to know what is right in the situation before us. Our
confidence is in God's grace to show us the way. All of this is possible because of the presence of
Jesus in our midst.
4. Called To Vocal Ministry
There is not process for achieving a gathered meeting. The meeting for worship is not a
human-run worship service. Meetings for worship are not held on the basis of silence or on the
basis of anything else. They are held to wait upon the Lord.
William Stafford addresses this clearly in his essay on Quaker worship.
The first Quakers did not adopt silence as a form of worship. Silence by itself has a random
quality. It is a matter of chance what will intrude on the emptiness. The silence of the first Quaker
worshipers was anything but random. They were not just waiting, they were waiting upon the
Lord. Gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they stilled themselves in order to recognize
his presence among them. Their silence was always coupled with an expectancy resulting from
their faith. They did not receive a lot of separate truths. They were not exchanging opinions of
working for consensus. They listened and heard together.
Vocal ministry should not be a human-led intellectual experience of sharing on a common theme
(although this has become the modern model.) A message in meeting must be greater than the
speaker's own best thinking or sharing.
In waiting upon the Lord, there may be those who are called by him to speak. Vocal ministry is a
calling which carries great responsibilities. Those who are called to speak should not do so in their
own ability. At times people who are called to speak may be embarrassed and even frustrated by
the call to minister. They often feel unworthy, unable, virtually incapable of answering the call.
The great mystery of vocal ministry is that somehow in the midst of all these feeling, God
provides the ability.
The message, when given in this way, is a gift to the meeting. The meeting responds by listening
and sitting for a while with the message. The whole meeting is deepened.
Others who speak do so in consideration of what has been spoken but not in response to it. They
may feel led to add to the first message or they may be given something completely different to
speak. They experience the same "fear and trembling" as the first speaker, having the same
responsibility of faithfulness to the meeting.
The meeting responds as before. With each of these gifts, and in the silence, there is a deepening.
A gathered meeting does not come from its own work. It is not the result of a group of
harmonious messages. It is the result of the deepening of the meeting that comes from the sense,
even the recognition, that Jesus has blessed us with his presence. He has come according to his
promise and He has gathered the meeting with his presence.
5. A Word On Vocal Prayer
The disappearance of vocal prayer form our meetings is directly related to both the move toward
self-reliance and the individual approach to spiritual seeking found in our meetings today.
An older friend of mine remembers hearing vocal prayer in meeting as a child. The person who
was praying would kneel and the whole meeting would stand in support until the prayer was
finished. This made a profound impression on her.
My friend grew up and went off to college. When she returned four years later, she was amazed
to find that vocal prayer had all but disappeared form her meeting. As "that of God in every one"
became prominent in these meetings, vocal prayer began to disappear. After all, why pray aloud if
God is within us? This individualistic, self-reliant view has taken a great toll on Friends meetings
for worship.
Vocal prayer, whether spoken or sung, is an essential part of vocal ministry. This ministry is a
great gift to the meeting. It can draw the meeting together as no other message can.
Vocal prayer was often used by early Friends at the conclusion of a message. This served to take
the focus off of themselves and guide the community instead to the feet of its present Teacher and
Lord. It is certainly difficult and scary to pray aloud in meeting for worship today. Yet, if we are
faithful, it is a great blessing.
God in his infinite grace and mercy, sends his Son to us. Jesus comes to us in the midst of our
confused and troubled world. He brings Light and LIfe to us. He calls us the be his disciples,
molding us into a new community by his Spirit.
It is my prayer that all may be gathered form the mountains of self-reliant religion to come to
partake of the Water of Life that flows from Christ our Lord. May we be blessed with his holy
presence among us today as he was in the beginning.
Notes
1.Stephen Crisp, "The Kingdom of God Within," Scripture Truths Demonstrated. London: 1707,
the second volume (bound with the first), pp. 86-87.
2.George Fox, The Journal of George Fox, rev. ed.,by John L. Nickalls. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1952, p. 11.
3.Edward Burrough, The Works of George Fox, pub. by New Foundation Fellowship, State
College, Pennsylvania, Reprint of 1831 ed., Vol. III, p. 13.
And so we ceased from the teaching of all men, and their words, and their worships, and
their temples, and all their baptisms and churches; and we ceased from our own words, and
professions and practices in religion, in times zealously performed by us, through divers
forms, and we became fools for Christ's sake, that we might become truly wise. And by this
light of Christ in us we were led out of all false ways,and false preaching, and false
ministers, and we met togather often, and waited upon the Lord in pure silence from our
own words, and from men's words, and hearkened to the voice of the Lord...(3)
"Christ has come to teach his people himself." These words of George Fox, the founder of
the Society of Friends, sum up the Quaker understanding of Christian worship and church
order. For the Church of the new covenant, Jesus Christ himself is prophet, priest and
king.Because he is always available to give us inward teaching and guidance, as individuals
and as communities of faith, his people need not human priest or pastor.
It is the risen Christ himself who directs our worship. If we are faithful to his leading, he
tells us when to speak and when to remain silent. He tells us when to preach and when to
pray. He opens the scriptures to our understanding. He reveals to us our ministries, to one
another and the world...