Reading for Epiphany
3C: 1 Cor. 12:12-27
January 25, 2004
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Self-help books suggest that you try to discover the meaning and purpose of your life by looking within yourself. While self-help books can be very insightful, this is the wrong place to start. If you seek meaning and purpose in your life, the place to start is with God. We were made by God and for God. And until we truly understand this, life will never make much sense no matter how hard we try. After we understand that we were made by God and for God, self-help books can assist us over the rocky pathway.
Today, I am going to continue our sermon series on the Purpose Driven Life. What on earth are we here for? In his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren summarizes five purposes that God has for our lives: Discipleship, Ministry, Fellowship, Worship, & Evangelism. We have already discussed Discipleship and Ministry in previous sermons. Discipleship is a call to “grow up” to full spiritual maturity; to become like Christ. Ministry is serving others with our gifts, talents, skills, and abilities. Fellowship is treating other believers as members of one’s own family. Today, being the day of our annual meeting, I would like to discuss the subject of Fellowship. Following Christ is not just a matter of believing. It also includes belonging and learning to love the family of God. I will use Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians as my text.
Around the year 50 A.D., Paul gave advice to the people in Corinth on how to better live in community. (Remember, the societies of the 1st century Mediterranean were very hierarchical.) In today’s passage, Paul encourages the people of Corinth to enhance the fellowship of their community. True fellowship includes giving and receiving, sharing the pain of others, forgiving, and authentic relationships. As newly formed Christians, the people in Corinth were not doing this and they failed to relate to one another with compassion and inclusivity. They were stuck in their own secular ways of relating to people through competition and hierarchy. Some of them were rich and were not mixing with the poorer members. Others had a more elevated notion of their spiritual gifts and position in society. Because of their “us” vs. “them” attitude, their community was experiencing a lot of conflict and they failed to treat one other as valuable members of a family.
Using one of the best-known images of the Church, Paul tells them that the Church is not simply an institution, a building, or a conglomerate of people. The Church is the Body of Christ and all baptized people are members of this body. In order for the body to function well, it must have many parts, each having a unique gift & function. Paul uses the metaphor of the human body to teach them how to be the Church. For instance, we know that if we were to cut off one of our toes (even though it is not as large as the foot or the leg), we would still have difficulty walking. In addition, our body would experience much pain from the amputation. And so it is with the body of Christ, the Church. “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” [1Cor 12] Like the toe that is severed from the foot and dies from a lack of blood supply, those who leave the fellowship of the Church or who practice their spirituality in private, put themselves at risk for spiritual decline and isolation.
The Corinthians, like all of us, were first born into a physical family. Thank goodness, most of us had a physical family structure to nurture us into adulthood. But through their own choosing, these Corinthians decided to be born again into another family through baptism. Healthy families, have healthy family pride. Members of a healthy family are not ashamed to be recognized as part of the family and to care for their own. As Christians, born into a second family, we need to be proud of our new family and to take care of our members who make up the body of Christ. Fellowship, is recognizing that each member of the community of St. Jude’s is part of our family and is worthy of respect, love, sympathy, mutuality, authenticity, and mercy.
The other day, Wesley (one of the children of St. Jude’s), suffered an infection. This infection left him dehydrated and sent him to the hospital. Having complications with the infection, he was transferred to Stanford hospital where he is now under the careful supervision of expert pediatricians. Immediately, the clergy and covenant group swung into action. Wesley was anointed by Pastor Mary while Barbara’s covenant group offered to baby sit the other child and to bring food and comfort. This family experienced the love and support of the St. Jude’s community because the family had formed authentic relationships and engaged in true fellowship during the previous three years. Meaningful relationships take time, effort, and sacrifice.
I think that if St. Paul were to write a letter to the community of St. Jude’s today, he would not have to challenge us on the issues of inclusivity, hierarchy, or compassion. We have already opened our doors with a posture of inclusivity: “Whoever you are, where ever you are on your journey of faith, you are welcomed here.” We do not have competing groups of folks who are puffed up with pride, believing that their spiritual gifts or position in society is better than others. We have many folks who extend a loving hand in compassion. However, the two issues that seem to pop up, time and again, which hinder the quality of our fellowship are: 1) the busyness of our lives; 2) the strong sense of individualism among our parishioners.
It seems that all of us have difficulty in finding the time to do all the things we would like to do. We are so busy. And in that busyness, we do not engage in enough fellowship with our new family in Christ. The pace of life in Silicon Valley has accelerated, leaving us frustrated and drained at the end of the day. This busyness prevents many of us from forming deep and authentic relationships within our community. Since fellowship helps us to face life’s problems, we often carry many burdens alone. But a meaningful and purpose driven life is all about loving relationships. It is in loving that we are most like God. It is in loving that the human person becomes fully alive. Love should be our top priority, primary objective, and greatest ambition. Love is not a good part of your life; it is the most important part of your life! It is not enough to say, “one of the things I want in life is to be loving.” Loving relationships must have priority in our life above everything else. The greatest gift you can give someone else is your time.
Busyness is a great enemy of relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing other goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love - God and people. Life minus love equals zero. God wants us to be in regular, close fellowship with other believers so that we can develop the skill of loving. Loving cannot be learned in isolation. The local church is the place to practice the life-long art of loving. Let love be your greatest aim. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things, transforms all things. Transformed lives transform the world.
In addition to our busyness, our individualism also hinders full fellowship. While strong individualism can satisfy an immediate need and give the impetus to compete and succeed, it can play havoc on community life. When each member of a parish does his or her own thing and does not choose what is best for the full life of the church, then fellowship is hindered. Our vision, our mission, our goals at St. Jude’s focus on the vitality and viability of the whole community, not on individual preferences. Since Christ is the head of the body, we must allow Christ to direct our community life. How do we know when the mind of Christ, the spirit of God, is in charge of our community? We will know by the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Following Christ is not just a matter of believing. It also includes belonging and learning to love the family of God. This is the definition of fellowship. The body of Christ needs you. You are a vital organ. A spiritual gift is given to each of you as a means of helping the entire church. We need you to worship with us each Sunday and to engage in true fellowship if we are to function in a healthy manner. “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Reach out and celebrate your time with your new family in Christ.
| Updated 1/24/04 |
|