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“CORPUS CHRISTI CONSTRUCTION”

I CORINTHIANS 3:10-23

 

[10] According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

[11] For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

[12] Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—

[13] each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

[14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

[15] If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

[16] Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

[17] If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

[18] Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

[19] For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

[20] and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

[21] So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,

[22] whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,

[23] and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

 

You know the routine.  Someone comes up to you and says, “I’ve got some good news for you and I’ve got some bad news for you.”  When someone says that you figure that you better brace yourself right?  A little while a go I came across a pastoral version of the good news bad news routine.  It went like this:

Good news:             You baptized seven people in the river last Sunday.

Bad news:             You lost two of them in the swift current.

Good news:             The Women’s Guild voted to send you a get-well card.

Bad news:              The vote was 10 to 9.

Good news:            The Council approved your new job description just the way you wrote it.

Bad news:            They also formed a search committee to find someone to fill the position.           

Good news:            Mrs. Jones loves your sermons.

Bad news:            Mrs. Jones also loves “The Gong Show” “The Three Stooges” and             “The                                     Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”

Good news:            Your women’s softball team finally won a game.

Bad news:            They beat your men’s softball team.

Good news:             Church attendance rose dramatically the last three Sundays.

Bad news:            It was while you were on vacation.

Good news:            The Council wants to send you to the Holy Land.

Bad news:            They’re waiting until the next war breaks out.

 

Sometimes even the best of news can feel like it’s a mixed blessing.   For example, the doctor announces it’s a boy.  After the euphoria wears off your brain goes to work. You wonder, “Where am I going to get all the money to pay for his college education?”  Here’s another example. Your boss tells you that you’re going to get that important promotion.   You’re excited because the promotion means a big raise but you also know it means more hours and a lot more stress. 

 

Here’s one more. The Church Council decides that the time has come to explore the possibility of calling an associate pastor.  You say to yourself, “That’s great.”  Then you say to yourself, “Oh no.  What have I gotten myself into here?  Am I leading the congregation in the right direction?  Will I be able to handle these new responsibilities? Can we afford to do this?  Can we afford not to do this?”

 

Since the Council did vote to move forward on the question of calling an associate pastor this past week we’re not talking about some hypothetical questions here.  So, as we wrestle with these questions and others it might be helpful to remember that we’re doing the same thing that the Apostle Paul did 2,000 years ago. 

 

Listen again to the words that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.  For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest…If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.”

 

Like Paul, we’re building up the Body of Christ. We’re building a community of faith that makes the love of Christ real for people who are struggling, people who are searching, people who are celebrating, people who are stressed out and people who have no song in their hearts. We’re building a Body of Christ that sends a bright light into a dark and sometimes cynical world.

 

A couple of months ago someone sent me a story that captures a little of that cynicism.  The story is about a man who works at the post office.  One day, a few weeks before Christmas he came across a letter that was addressed to God.  Since the letter couldn’t be delivered the man read it.  In doing that he discovered that it was from an 83 year old grandmother who didn’t have enough money to celebrate Christmas. She needed $100 to buy some presents for her grandchildren and to buy the things she needed for a simple Christmas dinner.  The man was so touched by the letter that he took up a collection.  By the end of the day he had $96.  It wasn’t quite the $100 the elderly grandmother asked for but it was still pretty good.  He put the money in another envelope and mailed to the elderly grandmother.  A few weeks after Christmas the man came across another letter addressed to God.  Realizing that the letter was from the elderly grandmother everyone in the post office was anxious to see what had happened. The letter began with the words,

 

“Dear God,

How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?  Your love made it possible for me to provide a wonderful dinner for my family and watch my grandchildren joyfully open their presents.  I told everyone how YOU made it all possible.  P.S. The envelope only had $96 in it.  I think those stinkers at the post office took the other $4.”

 

The world is full of cynicism.  The world is full of sin.  The world is full of selfishness but this Body of Christ is doing so much to counter that with our deeds of loving kindness.  Every Friday night we have between 25 and 35 youth up in Fellowship Hall. We have a spiritually rewarding mission trip every summer and our fair continues to bring people together every December in a spirit of joyful laughter and love.

At a time when so many churches are struggling to survive this Body of Christ is thriving but there is so much more that we can do.  So much more that we need to do. We’re meeting the spiritual needs of our teenagers but what about our young adults who have just graduated from college?   We’ve got a good Sunday School ministry but what about all the families that are just starting out and bring their babies to us to be baptized? What ministries do we have to meet their spiritual needs? Then there are the people who join but then get lost in the crowd and disappear forever.

 

All of this is the reason I can tell you this with absolute certainty.  If we do make the decision to call an associate pastor we’re not going to do it to make my job easier.  We’re going to do it so we can meet the spiritual needs that I just can’t get to because I don’t have the time.  No matter what we do I’m still going to be the same work-a-holic pastor who is always looking for new challenges and new mountains to climb.   I realized that about myself a few years ago when someone asked me a question.  She said, “Do you know what the five scariest words are that you can hear in the Union Congregational Church?”  When I said, “No. What are the five scariest words that you can hear in the Union Congregational Church?”  she smiled and said, “It’s when the pastor says, ‘You know, I’ve been thinking…’”

 

The Apostle Paul wrote: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.  For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

 

That’s what we’re doing here.  We’re building a Body of Christ that will bring the grace of God, the love of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit into this little piece of the world.   So, as we wrestle with this important decision I also want to make you a promise;   actually two promises.  The first promise is that I will still be there to weep with you when you weep and laugh with you when you laugh.  I will walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death and I will rejoice and be glad when you experience one of God’s grace filled moments.  If we do call an associate pastor it won’t change my love for you one bit.  The other promise is that if we do take this step I also  won’t be the least bit offended if you like that associate pastor so much that you want him or her to do a wedding or a baptism for you.

 

That’s because the Apostle Paul was right.  Building the Body of Christ isn’t about Paul.  It isn’t about Apollos.  It isn’t about Peter.  It isn’t about Rev. Rick.  It’s all about Christ and making his love real!  It’s all about making it possible for people to experience the grace filled moment that a little boy experienced one day while lying on a hospital bed.  The little boy was confused and frightened.  So, the nurse decided to try and put him at ease.   She did that by putting her stethoscope in his ears and then putting the disk over his heart.  “Now listen,” the nurse said.   The little boy had a puzzled look on his face and then his eyes got wide as he listened to the tap tap tapping deep inside his chest.  Suddenly a big smile appeared on his face.  He looked up at the nurse and asked, “Is that Jesus knocking?”

 

As we continue to build this Body of Christ that’s the only question that needs to be answered.  What else do we need to do to help people hear the Jesus knocking? Amen.

 

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes                                                                              February 20, 2011