Scripture: Romans 12:1-13
I want to say some words of appreciation on behalf of the church. Since it is a day when we have a congregational meeting and when we will receive some new members into the church, it is a day when it seems appropriate to lift up the church in prayer, and I feel called to do that some in the sermon as well.
Some years ago, the church I was serving was part of a program that involved having outside consultants come in to work with us. We were a relatively small urban church and there was a grant to fund the consultants, the idea being that churches like ours would not otherwise be able to afford having such consultants work with us. Because of money and other factors this just wasn’t something we would ordinarily consider. So these consultants were offered to us free of charge. Even then we weren’t so sure we wanted them, but we reined in our skepticism and decided to give it a try. It all turned out, as I recall—ok. I don’t even remember now what we were meeting about. But I do remember—and this is why I am bringing this up today—I do remember something one of these consultants said.
These were people who were trained both in theology or ministry and in the field of organizational development. One of them made the comment, which struck me at the time and for whatever reason I have always remembered, that of all the different kinds of organizations there are, the most complicated, the most complex, the most difficult to think about and analyze and work with…are churches. And that’s true even if the churches we’re talking about are relatively small in membership, don’t have a huge number of programs, have a fairly modest budget, and only one and a half paid positions, as was the case in the church I was serving at the time.
In some ways, of course, churches are human organizations and can be thought of in the same ways we would think about any human organization. They are made up of human beings and human beings act in certain ways, need certain kinds of rules and structures, tend to create certain kinds of problems for themselves, and so forth, pretty much wherever they are and whatever the kind of organization we may be talking about. At just that level the church is no more nor less complex than any other organization.
But then there are other levels that do make it more complicated maybe than other organizations, for instance the extent to which it relies on volunteers, which in itself has lots of implications, and which makes the church different from most other organizations, if not all. But what really makes the church’s life more complicated than other organizations is…well…God. I don’t remember if the consultant put it quite that way, but that’s the way I am translating whatever he said.
For one thing, it literally adds a whole other dimension to everything we do as an organization. Churches might like to presume that because they are churches that God is naturally and automatically involved in everything we do. We are churches after all. God is supposed to be part of the picture. But saying it’s so or presuming it’s so doesn’t make it so. And in fact the more we talk about God and the more easily we talk about God, the more we may need to question whether we are talking faithfully about God. And so as a general rule it can be said that the more God is authentically part of a church’s life, the less easy it will be to talk about God, which does complicate matters a bit, presents the church with something of a dilemma.
Also, we can never simply go about our business, whatever we think the business of the church is. We cannot simply go about our business, or ask how to go about it more efficiently or effectively, because every part of that business, every part of the church’s existence, is constantly thrown into question by the presence of God. Every question we ask ourselves—Do we think this or that policy is a good one? What should our budget look like? Can we afford this or that? What kind of Christian Education program do we want? What do we want membership to mean? How do we organize ourselves for outreach?—whatever the question is, every question we ask ourselves, small or large, has behind it a whole other set of questions. Is this what God is calling us to do? Is this at least consistent with what God is calling us to do? And not just are we doing the right thing? Are we even talking about the right thing? From God’s standpoint? Are all the things we think about, the questions we ask, the things we decide, are they bringing us closer to being a community, a faith community, that lives justice, that practices mercy, that tries to be humble in its expressions of faith. Or if there are other ways to say what God is calling us to do besides the words of Micah we turn to quite often, what are they?
All those questions linger around the edges of every question we ask ourselves, every decision we try to make. We may not know the answers to those questions. God help us if we thought we knew exactly and precisely and always what God was calling us to do. Micah does say something about walking humbly I believe. But just because we are reluctant to claim that we have a thorough understanding of the mind of God does not mean that the questions are irrelevant. That’s why they make the life of the church so complicated. We are always troubled by questions that on the one hand we can’t claim a sure answer to but on the other hand can’t dismiss as irrelevant. Again, something of a dilemma.
That’s one way God complicates the life of the church. Just as God does in our personal lives, and of course God does lots of other things in our personal lives too, but whether we’re talking about our individual lives or our church life, God causes us to ask questions of ourselves that we wouldn’t otherwise have to ask. Is there some divine word we need to hear here? Is there a holy presence or some calling we need to heed? Are we living not just productively but in some sense at least faithfully? God does complicate our lives with such questions, and I’m wanting to be appreciative this morning of how that can make our decision-making not such an easy thing.
But I also have something else in mind this morning. I think of the people who are joining the church this morning, I look out at the people who are here on any given Sunday, I look at everyone who is part of Sojourners and I can’t help but think of all the very different journeys that have brought us here. I dare say few of us have followed a straight line to get here. Maybe some of our younger members who have grown up at Sojourners, that’s a pretty straight line. As for the rest of us, the paths that have led us to Sojourners have been pretty winding ones, what I know of them, and I know at least a little something of many of those stories. And although I don’t know everyone’s story, I am sure we all have a story to tell, and the story we have to tell is not just a recitation of the important facts about how it is that we came to be here, but those stories would tell of our spiritual journeys, beliefs maybe that have been lost and found or returned in different form, stories about hopes and joys that have been lost and found, found and lost, stories about people who have been part of our stories, about the things that are important to us, that were once important but not so much any more and what has taken their place, all sorts of things that have contributed somehow to our being here and that affect in some way what we hope for from the church. If we each told our stories well, if we knew how to do that and were free to do that, they would be profound and profoundly moving, every one of them.
And my faith is that God has been involved in those stories, every one of them. Not that God somehow dictates those stories or the events that make them up. Not that God is responsible for every twist and turn, some of which have been very painful. But my faith is that God is involved, has been involved, as a fellow traveler along those winding roads we have all traveled. Which leads me to say that I believe we have all been led here, mysteriously but truly, we have all been led here by the spirit of God. The Holy Spirit will lead some of us away from here in the future, and will bring other people to us. But for now we are all here by the grace of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. And I think of that, I look at all our faces and think of the stories that lie behind the presence of everyone here, and I think of how God has led us to be here at this place at this time and I can’t help but think of it as a miracle, this coming together of stories into something resembling a community of faith, though we are always struggling to become that or to do it somehow better, and are always aware of how fragile and tentative such communities can be. But I am thinking of the church this way today and just wanting to be appreciative of all the stories that we bring, appreciative of God’s presence in them, appreciative of how complicated they can make our being together sometimes because of how different they are, but also how much to be treasured they are.
And so when Paul writes in Romans that the church is like a body, and is indeed the body of Christ, made of many members but all with differing gifts to contribute to the body and all of them needed by the body…when he writes about this, I can easily say amen. But I also want to add to what he says, if I may be so bold, that it is not just the examples he gives about how people have differing gifts and qualities—some excel in generosity or teaching or being passionate or generous or cheerful. It is not just a matter that we have different gifts, that some people sing or play music, that others may be more comfortable writing poetry or putting thoughts on paper, that some people like to read or speak in public and others would do just about anything to avoid it, that some people are good with hammers and paint brushes, that others prefer working with numbers, that some are gifted with patience and some are gifted with impatience, that…well you know what I’m saying…and what the scripture says. Everybody has certain gifts, certain things they’re good at doing and nobody’s good at everything and so we need everyone and everyone has a role to play.
That’s all true, but it’s not just that. Those gifts we have are not just talents and skills and interests. They are our stories. We bring all of ourselves into the community of faith, and the stories we bring are themselves the gifts we bring. And I want to acknowledge that, to respect that, to honor that, to appreciate that, to give thanks to God for all those stories that make us who we are as people and as a community, as a community of faith, flawed as we are, beloved of God as we are. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Jim Bundy
January 27, 2008