"For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us." -John Winthrop, First Governor of Massachusetts, 1630
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." -Matthew 5:14
"A city built on a high hill and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden." - Gospel of Thomas, Logion 32
The Puritan mothers and fathers of New England are an easy target for ridicule. But many of the ideas that those men and women shared were not so very different from our own, indeed there is a reason why New England is a compassionate, liberal place today. There is a reason why this old corner of the New World has become a focal point of a new life in the Spirit, and the proud host of the 2009 Johannite Conclave, beyond the fact that the Puritans left us such a tasty recipe for brewing Boston ale.
The City of Boston was built on a hill, Beacon Hill to be precise. Today you can see the golden dome of Bulfinch's "new" State House gleaming on top of that hill. But this New England wilderness was carved into a city by people whose conception of that hill found its metaphorical origins in the ancient gospels of Matthew and Thomas. Before landing here, John Winthrop gave his famous sermon popularly known as "The City upon a Hill". In actual fact, that sermon given before the passengers of the English ship "Arbella" in 1630 was entitled "A Model of Christian Charity".
As Father Anthony and I began to prepare for this historic gathering of clergy, seminarians; family and friends, I sat down one Sunday morning looking out at Boston Harbor and began to read Governor Winthrop's sermon. I can tell you that I was shocked to see how many points of agreement we share with these tough, scrappy Puritans.
The very first item that Winthrop addresses is the mystery of the human condition, the plurality of experiences and positions: rich and poor, powerful and submissive; all imbued with the dignity of our divine origin. He gives three reasons why the Ineffable has allowed our condition to be as it seems.
1. THERE IS WISDOM IN THE PATH OF DIVERSITY, AND IN US, AS DIVINE AGENTS. The road is as important as the destination. Winthrop adds that the Father counts "himself more honored in dispensing his gifts "to man by man", than if he did it by his own immediate hands." I don't think there will be much dissension from that statement in this host of esoteric, Gnostic Christians.
2. LIFE SHOWS US THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT AND GRACE. None of us would ever wish to be unhappy, but we also know that we would not experience the integral nature of the Spirit, nor would we fully appreciate grace and love, without the perceived injustices and pain of the journey. 3. TO LEARN THAT WE NEED EACH OTHER. Winthrop writes "that every man might have need of others, and from hence they might be all knit more nearly together in the bonds of brotherly affection. From hence it appears plainly that no man is made more honorable than another or more wealthy." I don't know about you, but I'm finding it difficult to disagree.
Governor Winthrop tells his band of rock-ribbed English Puritans that in this new City Upon a Hill, there is a four-fold social and spiritual dynamic. Justice tempered by mercy, the Law of Nature tempered by grace. He reminds the colonists that "the Gospel commands love to an enemy. Proof: If thine enemy hunger, feed him; 'Love your enemies... Do good to them that hate you.'" (Matt. 5:44)
But it is the personal responsibility spoken of and repeated by John Winthrop that strikes so close to what we strive for in the Tradition of the Two Saints John. Not looking for a magic God to do our work, but realizing that we are the effective agents of the divine. Winthrop exhorts: "when there is no other means whereby our Christian brother may be relieved in his distress, we must help him beyond our ability rather than tempt God in putting him upon help by miraculous or extraordinary means. This duty of mercy is exercised in the kinds: giving, lending and forgiving."
Winthrop ended his plea by asserting the positive: "Therefore let us choose life, that we and our seed may live, by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity."
Our hope is that after this time together in Boston, we will be strengthened in our resolve "to be what we see and receive who we are". Let's return to our homes and parishes and continue to be the builders of the New Jerusalem in spirit and in stone.
To read Winthrop's entire sermon see: http://religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/sacred/charity.html
