Church as it ought to be
Note: This sermon was originally written and preached by the Rev. Sarah Fanning at Parkwoods United Church, on Sunday May 6, 2007. With her permission, I retooled the text for context and adapted it for Christian Family Sunday at Clarkson Road. I am indebted to her help during what was a very busy week.
Texts: Acts 11:1-18, John 13:31-35
Why is it that for me to be ‘up,’ someone else has to be ‘down?’ Why is it that for me to be important, somebody else has to be unimportant? Why is it that for me to feel valued, somebody else has to be devalued? Why is it that for me to be loved more, somebody else has to be loved less? Is it just human nature to feel like that? Or is it part of the baggage we pick up at an early age and carry with us throughout our lives?
Tom and Dick Smothers used to get incredible mileage out of, “Mom always liked you best!” Is there anyone who has brothers and sisters who hasn’t felt like somebody else was getting more than their share of the pie? More ice cream, a bigger allowance, more freedom? I have a brother… a younger one at that… I know… trust me, I know.
There are degrees of dysfunction in every family, every set of relationships… every life. “Nobody’s perfect,” we say. “It’s human nature.” And one of our ways our ‘imperfectness’ shows up is by always imagining someone is ‘better’ than we are. So we spend our energy and intelligence trying to move up the scale, trying to better ourselves. Maybe it’s a sense of competition, of wanting our place at the table, our share of the pie.
Our families aren’t the only places we experience this. We see it in the workplace, the marketplace, in education systems, in our neighbourhoods and cities, and even in our churches. Somehow we’ve developed this idea of a social status ladder within these groups… it’s rarely ever formal… but it is designed to keep some of us ‘up’ by making sure others of us are ‘down.’
But listen to this: the Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to that… “No” to the ideas and constructs that we make that rob us of our freedom and steal our self-esteem by keeping us desperately seeking a ‘place’ on the ladder.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to that whole thing by proclaiming a love that says an unconditional “Yes” to all God’s people… all God’s people… all God’s people, wherever they may be located in the world. God does not like some of us better than God likes others of us. God’s love for all God’s people, spoken with such grace-full power in Jesus Christ, is unconditional and universal. God’s love defies every human attempt to make it more available to some than to others…
Pretty hard to believe, isn’t it? It goes against everything we’ve spent our lifetimes learning. It devalues all the investments we’ve made: all the ‘capital’ we’ve amassed in love’s bank account is worthless if love can’t be bought by knowing the right people, living in the right neighbourhood, driving the right car, belonging to the right club, or kissing the right thing at the right time… or even by doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God.
It’s all given… to all people… free of charge… no strings attached… no obligation to buy anything… pretty hard to believe.
Even the early church as depicted in Acts found it hard to believe. If we read through those stories, we find out that over and over again in the first decades of the Church they had controversies… fights, even… and the fights were in one way or another all about the same thing: Who could be included? Who was in, who was out?
Jesus’ first disciples were Jewish, just as Jesus himself was Jewish. They observed the Jewish Law, practiced the dietary regulations, and celebrated the various festivals. These first Christians spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ with passion and urgency. They talked about it everywhere, and pretty soon, people who had not been Jewish began to believe in Jesus and wanted to be Christians. So the first Christians thought they had a decision to make about who could be included: did people have to become Jews before they could be Christians?
That was no small thing. To convert to Judaism from something else involved issues not only of theology but of culture, customs… you had to learn the Torah and the Law. You had to learn commentary and interpretation of the Torah. If you were a male, you had to be circumcised.
When the first Christians thought about it, discussed it, prayed about it, they always came up with the same answer: No, people did not have to be Jews before they could be Christians. The love and forgiveness and grace of God were not bounded by the limits of the Jewish religion. Anyone who believed in Jesus Christ as Saviour could be included; it was belief in Jesus that mattered. So they’d baptize whole households of people into Christianity, receiving people with open arms into the community of faith.
But it was pretty hard to believe, and it kept coming up again and again. Okay, they didn’t have to be Jews, but shouldn’t they be circumcised? It was the sign of the covenant, the sign of belonging within the people of God, a sign, interestingly, that applies only to men.
So another controversy happened. But when they really thought about it, discussed it, prayed about it, they always came up with the same answer: people did not have to be circumcised before they could be Christians. The love and forgiveness and grace of God were not bounded by the limits of the Jewish religion. Baptism with water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit was a sufficient sign of a new covenant, a new way to belong within the people of God. So they received all kinds of people into the church, welcoming, including, with open arms… because, they believed, God welcomed, included, with open arms.
But it was pretty hard to believe, and it kept coming up again and again. Okay, they didn’t have to be Jews, and they didn’t have to be circumcised… but shouldn’t they at least keep the Jewish dietary laws… if for no other reason than to show respect for those who thought it was important and kept those rules themselves?
That was the issue in the reading we had today from the book of Acts. Peter, apparently, had been hanging around with people who were not keeping those rules, and had even taken some meals with them. They got on Peter’s case about that. They accused him of consorting with the wrong kind of people, so Peter had to explain to them why he was doing this.
He talked about a dream he had about something like an enormous sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners, and in the sheet were all kinds of birds and animals that would have been declared unacceptable… unclean according to those ancient dietary rules. And there was a voice saying, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat.” And Peter said, “No way, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything unclean!” And the voice said, “What God has made clean you must not call profane.” Three times this happened in Peter’s dream. Just as he was waking up from his dream, three non-Jewish people showed up, whom Peter ended up telling about the Christian faith… and while he was still speaking, “the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.”
And Peter ended up telling his accusers, for whom God’s inclusion was so hard to believe, “If God gave them the same gift God gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should hinder God?” When they heard this from Peter, they shut up… for a while. And the community of faith praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles”… even to the Gentiles…still having trouble with it, they were! “God has given even to the Gentiles… to the non-Jews… the repentance that leads to life.”
So, when they really thought about it, discussed it, prayed about it, they always came up with the same answer: people did not have to obey the dietary laws before they could be Christians. God was inclusive: the love and forgiveness and grace of God were for all people, and all kinds of people could be in the church, because, they believed, God welcomed, included all people with open arms.
It’s a strange belief, isn’t it? Strange to us, that it’s not necessary for somebody else to be down in order for me to be up; that it is not necessary for somebody else to be unimportant in order for me to be important; that it is not necessary for somebody else to be devalued in order for me to be valued; that it is not necessary, in order for me to be loved, that somebody else has to be loved less…or loved not at all!
It’s a really strange belief, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ has had to fight for it against heavy odds over and over again… throughout history… and throughout our lives. Can’t we, as women and men, claim our true value as God’s people, without some of us having to put down the rest of us? Can’t we, as people of many races, colours and backgrounds, think well of ourselves without thinking poorly of others? Can’t Mom and Dad love us both… even love us differently… without my having to imagine they love me less?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to the ideas and constructs that we make that rob us of our freedom and steal our self-esteem by keeping us desperately seeking a place on the ladder. The Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to that whole thing by proclaiming a love that says an unconditional “Yes” to all God’s people… all God’s people… wherever they may be located in the world. God does not like some of us better than others. God’s love for all God’s people, spoken with such grace-full power in Jesus Christ, is unconditional and universal.
An Old Celtic proverb says it well:
There’s so much good in the worst of us
and so much bad in the best of us
That it hardly behoves any of us
To talk about the rest of us. Amen.
Texts: Acts 11:1-18, John 13:31-35
Why is it that for me to be ‘up,’ someone else has to be ‘down?’ Why is it that for me to be important, somebody else has to be unimportant? Why is it that for me to feel valued, somebody else has to be devalued? Why is it that for me to be loved more, somebody else has to be loved less? Is it just human nature to feel like that? Or is it part of the baggage we pick up at an early age and carry with us throughout our lives?
Tom and Dick Smothers used to get incredible mileage out of, “Mom always liked you best!” Is there anyone who has brothers and sisters who hasn’t felt like somebody else was getting more than their share of the pie? More ice cream, a bigger allowance, more freedom? I have a brother… a younger one at that… I know… trust me, I know.
There are degrees of dysfunction in every family, every set of relationships… every life. “Nobody’s perfect,” we say. “It’s human nature.” And one of our ways our ‘imperfectness’ shows up is by always imagining someone is ‘better’ than we are. So we spend our energy and intelligence trying to move up the scale, trying to better ourselves. Maybe it’s a sense of competition, of wanting our place at the table, our share of the pie.
Our families aren’t the only places we experience this. We see it in the workplace, the marketplace, in education systems, in our neighbourhoods and cities, and even in our churches. Somehow we’ve developed this idea of a social status ladder within these groups… it’s rarely ever formal… but it is designed to keep some of us ‘up’ by making sure others of us are ‘down.’
But listen to this: the Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to that… “No” to the ideas and constructs that we make that rob us of our freedom and steal our self-esteem by keeping us desperately seeking a ‘place’ on the ladder.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to that whole thing by proclaiming a love that says an unconditional “Yes” to all God’s people… all God’s people… all God’s people, wherever they may be located in the world. God does not like some of us better than God likes others of us. God’s love for all God’s people, spoken with such grace-full power in Jesus Christ, is unconditional and universal. God’s love defies every human attempt to make it more available to some than to others…
Pretty hard to believe, isn’t it? It goes against everything we’ve spent our lifetimes learning. It devalues all the investments we’ve made: all the ‘capital’ we’ve amassed in love’s bank account is worthless if love can’t be bought by knowing the right people, living in the right neighbourhood, driving the right car, belonging to the right club, or kissing the right thing at the right time… or even by doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God.
It’s all given… to all people… free of charge… no strings attached… no obligation to buy anything… pretty hard to believe.
Even the early church as depicted in Acts found it hard to believe. If we read through those stories, we find out that over and over again in the first decades of the Church they had controversies… fights, even… and the fights were in one way or another all about the same thing: Who could be included? Who was in, who was out?
Jesus’ first disciples were Jewish, just as Jesus himself was Jewish. They observed the Jewish Law, practiced the dietary regulations, and celebrated the various festivals. These first Christians spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ with passion and urgency. They talked about it everywhere, and pretty soon, people who had not been Jewish began to believe in Jesus and wanted to be Christians. So the first Christians thought they had a decision to make about who could be included: did people have to become Jews before they could be Christians?
That was no small thing. To convert to Judaism from something else involved issues not only of theology but of culture, customs… you had to learn the Torah and the Law. You had to learn commentary and interpretation of the Torah. If you were a male, you had to be circumcised.
When the first Christians thought about it, discussed it, prayed about it, they always came up with the same answer: No, people did not have to be Jews before they could be Christians. The love and forgiveness and grace of God were not bounded by the limits of the Jewish religion. Anyone who believed in Jesus Christ as Saviour could be included; it was belief in Jesus that mattered. So they’d baptize whole households of people into Christianity, receiving people with open arms into the community of faith.
But it was pretty hard to believe, and it kept coming up again and again. Okay, they didn’t have to be Jews, but shouldn’t they be circumcised? It was the sign of the covenant, the sign of belonging within the people of God, a sign, interestingly, that applies only to men.
So another controversy happened. But when they really thought about it, discussed it, prayed about it, they always came up with the same answer: people did not have to be circumcised before they could be Christians. The love and forgiveness and grace of God were not bounded by the limits of the Jewish religion. Baptism with water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit was a sufficient sign of a new covenant, a new way to belong within the people of God. So they received all kinds of people into the church, welcoming, including, with open arms… because, they believed, God welcomed, included, with open arms.
But it was pretty hard to believe, and it kept coming up again and again. Okay, they didn’t have to be Jews, and they didn’t have to be circumcised… but shouldn’t they at least keep the Jewish dietary laws… if for no other reason than to show respect for those who thought it was important and kept those rules themselves?
That was the issue in the reading we had today from the book of Acts. Peter, apparently, had been hanging around with people who were not keeping those rules, and had even taken some meals with them. They got on Peter’s case about that. They accused him of consorting with the wrong kind of people, so Peter had to explain to them why he was doing this.
He talked about a dream he had about something like an enormous sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners, and in the sheet were all kinds of birds and animals that would have been declared unacceptable… unclean according to those ancient dietary rules. And there was a voice saying, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat.” And Peter said, “No way, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything unclean!” And the voice said, “What God has made clean you must not call profane.” Three times this happened in Peter’s dream. Just as he was waking up from his dream, three non-Jewish people showed up, whom Peter ended up telling about the Christian faith… and while he was still speaking, “the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.”
And Peter ended up telling his accusers, for whom God’s inclusion was so hard to believe, “If God gave them the same gift God gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should hinder God?” When they heard this from Peter, they shut up… for a while. And the community of faith praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles”… even to the Gentiles…still having trouble with it, they were! “God has given even to the Gentiles… to the non-Jews… the repentance that leads to life.”
So, when they really thought about it, discussed it, prayed about it, they always came up with the same answer: people did not have to obey the dietary laws before they could be Christians. God was inclusive: the love and forgiveness and grace of God were for all people, and all kinds of people could be in the church, because, they believed, God welcomed, included all people with open arms.
It’s a strange belief, isn’t it? Strange to us, that it’s not necessary for somebody else to be down in order for me to be up; that it is not necessary for somebody else to be unimportant in order for me to be important; that it is not necessary for somebody else to be devalued in order for me to be valued; that it is not necessary, in order for me to be loved, that somebody else has to be loved less…or loved not at all!
It’s a really strange belief, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ has had to fight for it against heavy odds over and over again… throughout history… and throughout our lives. Can’t we, as women and men, claim our true value as God’s people, without some of us having to put down the rest of us? Can’t we, as people of many races, colours and backgrounds, think well of ourselves without thinking poorly of others? Can’t Mom and Dad love us both… even love us differently… without my having to imagine they love me less?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to the ideas and constructs that we make that rob us of our freedom and steal our self-esteem by keeping us desperately seeking a place on the ladder. The Gospel of Jesus Christ says “No” to that whole thing by proclaiming a love that says an unconditional “Yes” to all God’s people… all God’s people… wherever they may be located in the world. God does not like some of us better than others. God’s love for all God’s people, spoken with such grace-full power in Jesus Christ, is unconditional and universal.
An Old Celtic proverb says it well:
There’s so much good in the worst of us
and so much bad in the best of us
That it hardly behoves any of us
To talk about the rest of us. Amen.
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