"Becoming Church"
A sermon preached by the Rev. Christopher E. Yopp at Edgemont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) based on John 14:16-20.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the little girl who went to church for the first time. As she was leaving with her parents the pastor asked her how she liked the service. “I liked the music,” she replied, “but your commercial was entirely too long.” Little Johnny was in church one Sunday morning, getting rather restless as the pastor’s sermon dragged on and on. Not able to take it any longer, he leaned over to his father and whispered, "Hey Dad, if we give him the money now, will he shut up?” Now I promise that my commercial won’t be too long this morning.
I heard of a new pastor who said to his aging congregation, “I should start serving prune juice instead of grape juice during Holy Communion.” When asked why he would dare entertain such a thought, he said, "If the Holy Spirit won't move you, then the prune juice will!” I remember my grandmother telling me that my mother, when she was a little girl attended mass at a Catholic Church with some family. As the parishioners went forward for Holy Communion, my mother, seeing the round host or bread that the priest was giving to the Communicants, whispered to my grandmother, “Mom, can we go up and get an Alka Seltzer?”
I remember in a Worship and Liturgy Formation class that I took some time back, the professor saying that pastors and worship leaders should never assume that the congregation knows the order, structure and traditions of the church. In fact, we have to be careful that our worship services are planned and our bulletins are laid out in such a way that it is inviting and involving for the congregation or visitors.
For the past couple of years, on Christmas Eve I have attended a church in my neighborhood that offers a Christmas Eve Midnight Worship Service. And, I recall the first time I visited this church I had difficulty following their custom or tradition for distributing Holy Communion. This particular church is an ecumenical congregation in every sense. They have parishioners from many different backgrounds and their method or, perhaps I should say, methods for distributing Holy Communion can be confusing to a first-time visitor. They offer three options when it comes to receiving communion. You can receive it by intinction, which has become our practice here at Edgemont, which involves dipping the bread into the chalice. Or you can receive the bread and a small individual cup or you can receive the bread and then proceed to drink from the common cup. And, if you choose not to take communion, you are invited to come forward, kneel at the altar rail, cross your arms as such, and that lets the pastor know that you will not be receiving communion but would like to receive a blessing. The first time I went to the church I received communion three times along with a blessing. Just kidding! But it was confusing.
As one who enjoys visiting churches of all different denominations, it is interesting to see the different ways in which we worship and become church. No two churches are the same. No two churches worship the same. And this is certainly true even within our own denomination.
I recently read an interesting book entitled: Jim and Casper Go to Church. The book captures the experiences of Jim Henderson a former pastor and Matt Casper an atheist as they visit a wide range of church congregations from fundamental to charismatic, conservative to liberal, large to small. And as they visit these churches they take notes and later discuss their personal and collective experiences of each of the churches. They discuss what they like and don’t like about each of them. What they found inviting and not-so-inviting. What they found to be real and artificial, helpful and confusing, meaningful and disturbing. As you can imagine, each of their experiences were different. But it was interesting to gain their perspectives of worship and church. And certainly each of our perspectives and experiences of worship and church are different.
But in the book, Matt Casper, the atheist, makes some very interesting observations. His most interesting perhaps comes in the form of a question: “Is this really what Jesus meant the church to be and do?” But one other observation that I found interesting and helpful as a pastor is that a lot of emphasis was placed on how you don’t see the church’s social activity on a Sunday. And I think there’s a lot of truth to that. Other than looking over the announcements or taking home a newsletter, those on the outside don’t know what is happening on the inside, if you will. They don’t see what makes the church the church, what makes Edgemont, Edgemont. They don’t see what makes the congregation unique and special. The church is not defined by its worship, its creed, its minister or choir or church leaders, it’s not define by its children and youth program, it’s not defined by its Church School or Bible Study group. All of these things are a part of the church – they are vital and important qualities of the church, they are the makeup of the church, they are usually what attract us to a particular church, but they do not define the Church. What defines the Church is the Spirit of the One who gives the Church its life, its breath; the Spirit of the one who calls us to become Church, Ekklesia – “the called out ones.” And that’s ever so clear in our Gospel Lesson this morning. That’s ever so clearly defined in the celebration of this day known as Pentecost. It is the Spirit that makes up the Church – God’s Spirit in us and our spirit lived out in service or, better yet, God’s gift to us and our gifts to others.
Pentecost, gets its name from the Greek word pentekoste, which literally means “fifty.” This feast was known by the Jews as Shavuot and it was celebrated fifty days after the Feast of Passover. This was one of the three major Jewish feasts that required a pilgrimage of all Jewish adult males to the holy city of Jerusalem. It was a celebration of the firstfruits gathered as the result of the labor of those who completed the spring grain harvest. To the Jewish people, this feast also commemorated God revealing the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
What a fitting day for God to send the Spirit upon the early believers! On that first Christian Pentecost, which we read about in the Book of Acts, the focus was on a different harvest - a spiritual one. It was the beginning of the great harvest of souls who would come to know Christ and become a part of the kingdom of God through the Holy Spirit, which writes upon our hearts God’s law of love and grace. For it is in the giving of the Holy Spirit that we find the fulfillment of this ancient Jewish feast. And so every year, fifty days after Easter the Church celebrates the Day of Pentecost.
In our Gospel Lesson this morning, we hear Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Christ with us. You know, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the great Comforter or Paraclete. In the Greek it is the word parakletos, which literally means “one who walks along side.”
Jesus assured his disciples that even though their relationship was changing, it wasn’t ending. Even though he would no longer be with them physically; they would remain connected to him, spiritually, through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. And it is this Spirit which not only connects us with God, but also connects with one another.
With the celebration of Pentecost comes the wonderful opportunity for us to consider what it means to be the Church, to celebrate this Spirit which connects us to God and to one another. Without the Spirit there is no Church. Without the ruach and nephesh – the wind and breath of God’s Spirit we would be like the dry, dead bones of Ezekiel’s vision. But it is God’s Spirit which gives our strength like bones and covers us with love and grace like skin and breathes into us breath, and life and vitality.
Renowned preacher and author, Fred Craddock talks about how the Church has a tendency to only view Pentecost as a noun – an event which occurred in the life of the Church. But we should also see Pentecost as an adjective. You see, Pentecost isn’t just something to be celebrated - it’s something to celebrate! The great event of Pentecost didn’t stop some 2,000 years ago with Peter preaching and 3,000 joining the church. That was only the beginning. The Spirit of Pentecost continues to live on, and it must be live out and experienced! Pentecost is a part of the makeup and anatomy of the Church. Pentecost is the origin of the Church. Just as we read in Genesis chapter 1 at creation, the Spirit of God moved bringing order, and light and beauty out of chaos, darkness and void; so the same is true with the creation of the Church. At Pentecost, the Spirit of God brought life and order, light and beauty from an unorganized, confused, afraid and uncertain group of believers. That’s what the Spirit does! And so, let’s celebrate that Spirit among us and in us, and let’s allow the Spirit to move and work through us that we might truly become Church whose lives reflect the very life and spirit of one who empowers us – Christ Jesus. And the challenge is to allow this “Spirit” to be seen in all areas of our church life and even in own individual lives.
I want to close by sharing with you the words of a hymn that I have just recently become familiar with through a colleague of mine. The hymn is entitled: “All Are Welcome” and was written by Marty Haugen. Listen to the words of this hymn and may they become our words here at Edgemont as we strive to be and to become Church as Christ calls us.
I heard of a new pastor who said to his aging congregation, “I should start serving prune juice instead of grape juice during Holy Communion.” When asked why he would dare entertain such a thought, he said, "If the Holy Spirit won't move you, then the prune juice will!” I remember my grandmother telling me that my mother, when she was a little girl attended mass at a Catholic Church with some family. As the parishioners went forward for Holy Communion, my mother, seeing the round host or bread that the priest was giving to the Communicants, whispered to my grandmother, “Mom, can we go up and get an Alka Seltzer?”
I remember in a Worship and Liturgy Formation class that I took some time back, the professor saying that pastors and worship leaders should never assume that the congregation knows the order, structure and traditions of the church. In fact, we have to be careful that our worship services are planned and our bulletins are laid out in such a way that it is inviting and involving for the congregation or visitors.
For the past couple of years, on Christmas Eve I have attended a church in my neighborhood that offers a Christmas Eve Midnight Worship Service. And, I recall the first time I visited this church I had difficulty following their custom or tradition for distributing Holy Communion. This particular church is an ecumenical congregation in every sense. They have parishioners from many different backgrounds and their method or, perhaps I should say, methods for distributing Holy Communion can be confusing to a first-time visitor. They offer three options when it comes to receiving communion. You can receive it by intinction, which has become our practice here at Edgemont, which involves dipping the bread into the chalice. Or you can receive the bread and a small individual cup or you can receive the bread and then proceed to drink from the common cup. And, if you choose not to take communion, you are invited to come forward, kneel at the altar rail, cross your arms as such, and that lets the pastor know that you will not be receiving communion but would like to receive a blessing. The first time I went to the church I received communion three times along with a blessing. Just kidding! But it was confusing.
As one who enjoys visiting churches of all different denominations, it is interesting to see the different ways in which we worship and become church. No two churches are the same. No two churches worship the same. And this is certainly true even within our own denomination.
I recently read an interesting book entitled: Jim and Casper Go to Church. The book captures the experiences of Jim Henderson a former pastor and Matt Casper an atheist as they visit a wide range of church congregations from fundamental to charismatic, conservative to liberal, large to small. And as they visit these churches they take notes and later discuss their personal and collective experiences of each of the churches. They discuss what they like and don’t like about each of them. What they found inviting and not-so-inviting. What they found to be real and artificial, helpful and confusing, meaningful and disturbing. As you can imagine, each of their experiences were different. But it was interesting to gain their perspectives of worship and church. And certainly each of our perspectives and experiences of worship and church are different.
But in the book, Matt Casper, the atheist, makes some very interesting observations. His most interesting perhaps comes in the form of a question: “Is this really what Jesus meant the church to be and do?” But one other observation that I found interesting and helpful as a pastor is that a lot of emphasis was placed on how you don’t see the church’s social activity on a Sunday. And I think there’s a lot of truth to that. Other than looking over the announcements or taking home a newsletter, those on the outside don’t know what is happening on the inside, if you will. They don’t see what makes the church the church, what makes Edgemont, Edgemont. They don’t see what makes the congregation unique and special. The church is not defined by its worship, its creed, its minister or choir or church leaders, it’s not define by its children and youth program, it’s not defined by its Church School or Bible Study group. All of these things are a part of the church – they are vital and important qualities of the church, they are the makeup of the church, they are usually what attract us to a particular church, but they do not define the Church. What defines the Church is the Spirit of the One who gives the Church its life, its breath; the Spirit of the one who calls us to become Church, Ekklesia – “the called out ones.” And that’s ever so clear in our Gospel Lesson this morning. That’s ever so clearly defined in the celebration of this day known as Pentecost. It is the Spirit that makes up the Church – God’s Spirit in us and our spirit lived out in service or, better yet, God’s gift to us and our gifts to others.
Pentecost, gets its name from the Greek word pentekoste, which literally means “fifty.” This feast was known by the Jews as Shavuot and it was celebrated fifty days after the Feast of Passover. This was one of the three major Jewish feasts that required a pilgrimage of all Jewish adult males to the holy city of Jerusalem. It was a celebration of the firstfruits gathered as the result of the labor of those who completed the spring grain harvest. To the Jewish people, this feast also commemorated God revealing the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
What a fitting day for God to send the Spirit upon the early believers! On that first Christian Pentecost, which we read about in the Book of Acts, the focus was on a different harvest - a spiritual one. It was the beginning of the great harvest of souls who would come to know Christ and become a part of the kingdom of God through the Holy Spirit, which writes upon our hearts God’s law of love and grace. For it is in the giving of the Holy Spirit that we find the fulfillment of this ancient Jewish feast. And so every year, fifty days after Easter the Church celebrates the Day of Pentecost.
In our Gospel Lesson this morning, we hear Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Christ with us. You know, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the great Comforter or Paraclete. In the Greek it is the word parakletos, which literally means “one who walks along side.”
Jesus assured his disciples that even though their relationship was changing, it wasn’t ending. Even though he would no longer be with them physically; they would remain connected to him, spiritually, through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. And it is this Spirit which not only connects us with God, but also connects with one another.
With the celebration of Pentecost comes the wonderful opportunity for us to consider what it means to be the Church, to celebrate this Spirit which connects us to God and to one another. Without the Spirit there is no Church. Without the ruach and nephesh – the wind and breath of God’s Spirit we would be like the dry, dead bones of Ezekiel’s vision. But it is God’s Spirit which gives our strength like bones and covers us with love and grace like skin and breathes into us breath, and life and vitality.
Renowned preacher and author, Fred Craddock talks about how the Church has a tendency to only view Pentecost as a noun – an event which occurred in the life of the Church. But we should also see Pentecost as an adjective. You see, Pentecost isn’t just something to be celebrated - it’s something to celebrate! The great event of Pentecost didn’t stop some 2,000 years ago with Peter preaching and 3,000 joining the church. That was only the beginning. The Spirit of Pentecost continues to live on, and it must be live out and experienced! Pentecost is a part of the makeup and anatomy of the Church. Pentecost is the origin of the Church. Just as we read in Genesis chapter 1 at creation, the Spirit of God moved bringing order, and light and beauty out of chaos, darkness and void; so the same is true with the creation of the Church. At Pentecost, the Spirit of God brought life and order, light and beauty from an unorganized, confused, afraid and uncertain group of believers. That’s what the Spirit does! And so, let’s celebrate that Spirit among us and in us, and let’s allow the Spirit to move and work through us that we might truly become Church whose lives reflect the very life and spirit of one who empowers us – Christ Jesus. And the challenge is to allow this “Spirit” to be seen in all areas of our church life and even in own individual lives.
I want to close by sharing with you the words of a hymn that I have just recently become familiar with through a colleague of mine. The hymn is entitled: “All Are Welcome” and was written by Marty Haugen. Listen to the words of this hymn and may they become our words here at Edgemont as we strive to be and to become Church as Christ calls us.
“Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as a symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine, and wheat;
a banquet hall on holy ground where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
and love and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and joy and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace,
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter: all are welcome in this place.”
Happy Pentecost Sunday! And Happy Birthday Church! Amen.
a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as a symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where love is found in water, wine, and wheat;
a banquet hall on holy ground where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger: all are welcome in this place.
Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
and love and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and joy and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace,
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter: all are welcome in this place.”
Happy Pentecost Sunday! And Happy Birthday Church! Amen.
posted by Pastor Christopher @ 11:40 AM
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