In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     It is often commented today that "spirituality" is on the rise in America. Not religion, not Christianity per say, but "spirituality". And there are many studies and books that have been written about this American quest for spirituality. The interesting thing to note, however, is that rather than seeking a deep, lasting spirituality, what most are looking for is something they can dip their toes into when they want, but not dive into altogether. For example, Robert Wuthnow wrote a book titled, The Restructuring of American Religion, in which he studies how religious patterns have changed in America since the 1950's. His summary is basically that "professional and social mobility makes it hard for Americans to sustain spiritual life because they don't feel rooted in one place; therefore, they embark on spiritual searches 'characterized more often by dabbling than by depth." What results is often, what Wuthnow terms, "practice-oriented" spirituality-which means people dabble, not in organized religion-they get involved, not in communities which hold them accountable, but rather, they claim to be finding their spirituality in individual reading, private prayer, and personal practices that require no firm commitment, no scheduled meetings, no expectations placed upon them. Rather, their spirituality is a periodic "dabbling" in spiritual practices, as time allows, as they have interest, as is convenient for them. On the one hand, many today would say, "well at least they're making some attempt to relate to something sacred"-while on the other, we would wonder-"but how can one ever experience, not something generally, universally sacred, but God, in all His fullness?" That's, of course, where the rubber hits the road. Will dabbling in something sacred, from time to time, when it's convenient and comfortable, bring one into a right relationship with the one true God? Or will such dabbling simply fulfill our human curiosity, while limiting us to the shallow waters of an abstract, non-specific "spirituality"? In 1999, George Gallup and D. Michael Lindsay wrote a book titled, "Surveying the Religious Landscape", in which they concluded, while "93% of Americans have a copy of the Bible, or other Scriptures in their household, only 42% of the nation can name even five of the Ten Commandments." They surmise, "Spirituality in America may be three thousand miles wide, but it remains only three inches deep."

     Think about that-"spirituality in America may be as wide and broad and diverse as our country, but it's still only three inches deep." Most Americans are only dabbling at religion and spirituality, and we could assume that means most Christians, as well. And probably, most Lutherans. We, too, have become "dabblers", haven't we? We dabble in worship-most Lutherans only worshiping three times in 10 Sundays. You wouldn't call that deep commitment to worshiping God, would you? And we've wrestled with why that is, and why Christians today are satisfied with worshiping only 30% of the time. And it seems to me these explanations are as good, or better, than most. As Wuthnow says, "professional and social mobility makes it hard for Americans to sustain spiritual life because they don't feel rooted in one place; therefore, they embark on spiritual searches 'characterized more often by dabbling than by depth." Other religious sociologists have referred to this as "tinkering" with religion. And you'd have to admit, Lutheranism seems to be filled with a lot who are just "tinkering around" with Christianity. No real commitment, no deep involvement, unwilling to take on any responsibility beyond the superficial and the shallow. Lutherans today, and church members of many denominations want to show up when they want, participate how they want, and want nothing to be expected of them. And beyond the question of how the Body of Christ can function in the world, with members such as these, the greater question that must be asked is, "can such a Lutheran, or any Christian, have a deep, personal relationship with the one true God, while dabbling in the faith, merely tinkering with worship and prayer and Scripture?" Or will such a one remain only three inches deep in their experience of the sacred? And with such a shallow faith, will one ever be drawn more deeply into the dark, mysterious waters of true spirituality, or, when troubles come, when challenged to make a real commitment to God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, do the powerful waves frighten us, and we run scared, back up onto the dry, barren sand?

     Our first lesson for today gets at just these questions, as St. Paul, visiting Athens, stands in front of the Areopagus and addresses these "religious", or as some translations have it, these "superstitious" Athenians, who, in their spiritual quest, have not just temples and altars to Athenia, Zeus, or Apollo, but even to unknown gods, dare they fail to acknowledge and dabble in all religious expressions. And there was not just one altar to an "unknown god", they were all over Athens! And Paul just happens to stumble on one of them, and yet uses their shallow devotion to this unknown god, to invite the Athenians into a deeper, more significant relationship with the one true God-who is not unknown, not hidden, but revealed-in flesh and blood. Paul encouraged them to move beyond their limited understanding of gods who were distant and alien, to come into a relationship with the God who is, indeed, not far from each of us. In the past, says Paul, people would search for God and perhaps grope for him-but now, He has revealed Himself to us, so that in Him, we can live and move and have our being. And not only can we know Him, now-now, this God commands all people everywhere to repent of their prior ignorance, to repent of their dabbling in and tinkering with religion-now, we are to repent, and turn to this one true God, because the time of dabbling in and tinkering with abstract spiritual practices, is over-now, God has fixed a day on which He will have the world judged in righteousness by one whom He has appointed. In a word, Paul is saying, the time of searching for unknown gods and religious curiosities is past-now we can turn to the Known God-to the God who has revealed Himself as the creator and redeemer of humankind, and who, through the incarnation, death and resurrection of His only begotten Son, has made it possible for every man and woman and child to come into a relationship with Him-and not a shallow, trivial relationship; not a "three-inch deep" relationship-but this God, the True God, wants to dwell with us, and in us, so that we will know our God and Father deeply, and intimately, so that we will not have to struggle through life alone, without roots, without grounding in truth, but with a foundation that is as sure as the pillars of the earth, which this God established, when He laid the footings for this world. And how do we know this God? How do we know that this God desires a relationship with us? How does this God come to us, and live in us?

     Jesus Himself, again, during the Farewell Discourses at the Last Supper, tells us, "I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate, Helper, Comforter, who will be with you, forever. And this other, will be the Spirit-the Spirit of Truth-and He will abide with you, and He will be in you. Because," says Jesus, the Son of God, "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. Because I live, you also will live. And you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. And those who have my commandments and keep them, are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father and I will love them, and I will reveal myself to them." That's how we come to know God. That's how He comes to be with us, and to be in us. That's how He reveals Himself to us.through His love for us, and our love for Him-through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth-who leads us into the Truth. Peter writes in our second lesson, "For Christ also suffered for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God!" Jesus, the Son, the Christ, died and was raised, to bring you to God-and not just you, but all-each and every one of us-to bring us to the one true God, who has, and is, revealing Himself, to us. So that we need not dabble or tinker with this or that spiritual practice-so that we need not fiddle around with this unknown god, or that superstitious religion. Jesus has come, to bring us into the fullness of relationship with the one True God. Jesus has come to invite us, and to lead us, into a deep, abiding, fulfilling relationship with the God who has created and who sustains the world, the universe and everything in it. We are not called to be dabblers or tinkerers. We are not called into a three-inch religious experience. We are called to jump feet first, body and soul, into the waters of baptism, not as removal of dirt from the body, but to be reborn, into God's kingdom, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are called to worship God with our every breath, to receive His gifts of grace, not now and then, but every week; we are called to live with Christ in us, and us in Him; we are called to love Him and keep His commandments, so that our lives will be rich and full and meaningful. This is the life Jesus won for us. This is the life Jesus invites us, and leads us, into. This is true life and real life-because it is life, in God-in the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen!