PENTECOST AND THE CHALICE FLAME by Cliff Reed, minister emeritus, Ipswich Unitarian Meeting
Last Sunday those who were here heard the Rev. John Midgley talking about the place of ritual in our lives, notably in our religious lives. And he singled out for mention that uniquely Unitarian ritual with which we commence our worship – namely, the Chalice Lighting. The Flaming Chalice has been part of our denominational life in the United Kingdom since the beginning of the 1960s, but its origins lie in the 1940s. During the Second World War the American Unitarian Service Committee had a presence in Europe doing humanitarian work. It was based in Lisbon, in neutral Portugal. The USC’s Lisbon operation was run by a minister named Charles Joy and he felt that the USC should have a distinctive symbol or logo (as we would now call it) and asked an artist named Hans Deutsch to design one. The first version of the Flaming Chalice was the result.
Deutsch himself wasn’t religious and Joy wanted something without divisive pre-existing political, national or religious overtones but which expressed the USC’s humanitarian objects. Deutsch, it is said, took his inspiration from the vessels of holy oil that burnt on temple altars in the ancient world as a “symbol of helpfulness and sacrifice”. Other factors came into play, though, one of which was the story of 15th-century religious reformer, Jan Hus, with which Deutsch was said to be familiar from Czechoslovakia.
Hus had challenged the Roman Catholic Church on a number of issues, one of which was the practice, in the mass, of offering the chalice – the wine – to the clergy only. Hus said that the chalice of communion should be offered to the laity too, so recognising the equality of all Christian believers. And he not only said it but he did it. For thus defying the authority of the Church, Jan Hus was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake in 1415. As a result, the chalice of communion and the flames of martyrdom and sacrifice are also symbolised in the Flaming Chalice.
From the Unitarian Service Committee the Flaming Chalice found its way into America’s Unitarian churches more generally and, in 1961, it was officially adopted as the logo of the Unitarian Universalist Association. And from the adoption of the logo came the ritual of ‘lighting the chalice’ at the beginning of Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist worship. From America it was introduced here and eventually to Unitarian movements around the world. It is variously said to symbolise religious freedom, liberty of conscience, the light of truth, and the martyrdom of our spiritual forbears who suffered and died for their faith – and ours.
And at Whitsuntide, another aspect of the Flaming Chalice’s symbolism comes to the fore, and that is the story of the ‘flames like tongues of fire’ that marked the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus at Pentecost. The Flaming Chalice is thus a symbol of a religious community, a community of equals sharing, as it were, a common cup; a community which celebrates the Divine Spirit at work in human hearts; a community sharing the Breath of God which enables the flame to burn and us to live. That makes us a community of the spirit, a spiritual community, so what does that mean?
The descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was an event of profound significance. The events of that day – as recorded in Acts chapter 2 - are traditionally thought of as the beginning of the Christian Church as a distinct and universal religion. It marked, or prefigured, the transition from a Jewish sect to something for all humanity. Thus the polyglot crowds in Jerusalem heard the apostles preaching “in our own tongues” and, as Peter proclaimed – quoting the prophet Joel – “I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind and your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Yes, on my servants and my handmaids I will pour out my Spirit in those days…”
This was not a repudiation of the Jewish tradition but rather the affirmation of its universal significance – something already inherent in prophets like Joel and Isaiah and in the teachings of Jesus which they inspired. Among the early Christian leaders none laid greater emphasis on the centrality of the Holy Spirit, the Breath of God, in moulding, uniting and directing the Christian community than Paul. The supreme gift of the Spirit, said Paul, is love, and he urged the communities he addressed to “serve one another in love; for the whole law is summed up in a single commandment: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Galatians 5: 13-14).
To follow the way of love is to be in accord with our spiritual nature, to be guided by the Spirit, whereas to surrender to selfishness and spite is to give way to our unspiritual nature. “But”, as Paul wrote, “the harvest of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control.” What he called the “old nature with its passions and desires” must be “crucified” and we must choose the spiritual path. As Paul put it, “If the Spirit is the source of our life, let the Spirit also direct its course” (Galatians 5:25).
So what are the implications for us as individuals and as a community of the Spirit? We are spiritual beings, alive with the Divine Spirit, the Breath of God, but are we sufficiently aware of that? We cannot live without the Breath of God as it enters our bodies, enters our lungs, invigorates our blood and courses through every organ in a life-giving and purifying flow. But do we give thanks for this, for the miracle of breath and life? Do we live lives that are worthy of this miracle? Do we celebrate it? Or do we take it all for granted, grinding out an existence without wonder, without gratitude, without meaning? Do we lead spiritual or unspiritual lives? The spiritual life is the life of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control.” It is the life that blesses the world, blesses all who come in contact with it. It is the life that should distinguish a community such as this one, if it is serious about spirituality. This should be a place of sustained welcome, of mutual respect, of sympathy, of concern for each other, of simple kindness and the courtesy that makes living in community possible. Without these we cease to be a community of the Spirit, we become unspiritual with all that that means – as Paul put it, “quarrels, a contentious temper, envy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, party intrigues, and jealousies” (Galatians 5: 20-21). As we know such unspirituality is all too evident in the world, not least in religion when it is intolerant, judgemental, self-righteous, corrupt, cruel, unjust and even murderous. A true community of the Spirit is called, not to lecture the world, but to show it a better way by the quality of its life – both internally and in its engagement with the wider world.
A religious community that is not also a true community of the Spirit is of no real value and has no real future. In his critical review of the so-called “seven churches of Asia” the author of the Book of Revelation, who gives his name as John, provides a contrast between a church that is true to the Spirit and one that is not. To the church at Thyatira he writes, “I know what you are doing, your love and faithfulness, your service and your endurance; indeed of late you have done even better than you did at first” (Revelation 2: 19). But to the church at Laodicea he writes, “I know what you are doing: you are neither cold nor hot…Because you are neither one nor the other, but just lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3: 15-16). To be lukewarm is another way of being unspiritual, because a church whose members lack any enthusiasm, any real commitment does no good and will just fade away.
And to another church community who are failing to live up to their spiritual origins, that at Sardis, John writes, “people say you are alive, but in fact you are dead…” But then he exhorts them, “Wake up, and put some strength into what you still have, because otherwise you must die” (Revelation 3: 1-2). So there is hope! And as John sums up: “You have ears, so hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:32).
We light our chalice to affirm the values we hold dear, to remember the “flames like tongues of fire” at Pentecost, and we light it to profess the Spirit that gives us life, the Breath of God which is our life and the life of the world. And may we always be a community where the Spirit dwells, true to our spiritual natures and channels of loving kindness to a world that always needs it.