Setting Up Our Own Shop

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
First Presbyterian Church
Washingtonville, New York
January 29, 2006
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Setting Up Our Own Shop
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Mark 1:21-28

“Ecclesiology”
That’s one of those wonderful words
that roll around in your mouth
and tickle your tongue as you say it.
Ecclesiology.
Do you know what it means?
It sounds “churchy”, so it must have something to with faith,
religion, the church, right?

My dictionary defines it as “the branch of theology
that is concerned with the nature of the church.”
(American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.)
Ecclesiology is the study of the church.
But churches come in every shape and size,
so ecclesiology is complicated.
In this country alone, there are more than 11,000 Presbyterian
churches; here in the Hudson River Valley,
we are home to more than 90 Presbyterian churches.
I have visited enough churches over the years to know
that no two churches are alike;
every church is unique, even if the liturgy sounds the same,
the church architecture looks the same,
even if the people in the pews look the same.
A church in a city will feel different from a country church;
a newer church will feel different from an older church;
a southern church will feel different from a northern church.

Ecclesiology is the study of what makes a church tick.
Ecclesiology looks at the culture of the church:
what it is within the church that gives the church life.
The church is not, after all, a building;
you and I are the church,
for we are the Body of Christ.
Every church is as unique as the people who worship
learn, work, and grow within the walls of the building.

“Church” is a collective word,
it is everyone in this church, from the youngest to the oldest.
We are the ones who give this church its particular character,
its flavor.
Our church will be a faithful spiritual place
if we are faithful and spiritual people.
If we work at growing spiritually,
then our church will grow spiritually;
If we don’t grow spiritually,
our church won’t grow spiritually.

Church is community.
Church can never be about the individual.
Our Lord teaches us, “for where two or three
are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
(Matthew 18:20)
Jesus is the head of our church,
the reason I leave the chair here
in the center of the chancel empty.

We cannot hope to learn on our own;
grow in spirit on our own.
We learn in community, grow in community
We become spiritual in community.
As we become more spiritual within our community,
our community becomes more spiritual.
As our community becomes spiritual,
each of us becomes more spiritual.
We create a cycle that builds
one another and our community.

In the same way that God called me to ministry,
and called me to the pastorate of this church,
God has called each of you here;
called you here because God knows you need to be here,
called you here to grow in faith,
called you here to grow in spirit.
The very word “ecclesia” comes from the Greek meaning
“an assembly that is called”
a group of people called together,
called together by God.
You may think you walked through the doors of the church
on your own, but you came here because God called you by his Spirit.
Every time you walk through the doors of this building,
you do so because the Spirit has called you,
called you because God has work for you to do.

The Spirit pulls us in,
and, if we keep ourselves open to God,
the Spirit will lead us, direct us, and teach us.
Do you remember Jesus’ promise to his disciples?
It is the same promise to you and me:
The Spirit will "teach you everything, and remind you
of all I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

But of course, the Spirit will do that only if we
open ourselves to the Spirit;
Only if we are open to learning in community,
growing in community.

If I were to ask you to describe our church,
would you call this a “spiritual” place?
I am guessing that while most of you might describe
our church as friendly, inviting, active, energetic, fun,
the word “spiritual” would not be high on your list.
Many churches are not spiritual places.
A church may be filled with people, buzzing with activity;
the worship service may be elegant, dramatic, beautiful;
the committees may be models of efficiency,
the budgets may be scrupulously followed,
all things may be done “decently and in order”,
But the Spirit may be complete absent.

Churches can even be filled with bad spirits,
unclean spirits, in the same way the man in our gospel lesson
was filled with an unclean spirit;
spirits that are not so much demonic as they are
malicious, mean-spirited, cold,
judgmental, self-righteousness, arrogant.
Ultimately, the spirit of this church will be a reflection
of every man, woman, and child in the church,
of our individual and collective spirituality.

It is getting more and more difficult
to create a spiritual culture in churches.
In our consumer society, we each define what church is,
we define what we want from the church.
What happens is that a person joins a church
and after about a year begins to build his or her own shop
within the church, creating the church that he or she wants.
Eugene Peterson, the Presbyterian minister and teacher
who wrote “The Message”, has seen this pattern again and again,
and warns us against this kind of thinking:
he writes, “Spirituality is always in danger of self-absorption,
…God [winds up] treated as a mere accessory
to [one’s own] experience.”
(Subversive Spirituality, 15)

The person’s focus is on the experiential:
they want worship to be a certain way,
they want certain hymns sung,
they expect things to be done their way.
The “ecclesia”, the community,
becomes a backdrop for the individual.
The church exists to comfort the individual,
to make the individual feel good,
to affirm his or her thoughts, words, and deeds.

But the church does not exist to make any of us feel good, does it?
It doesn’t exist to affirm our words and deeds.
No, we are called into the church to worship God
and to serve as our Lord served us.
Even the most loving parent does not always affirm
and agree with his or her child.
Even the most loving parent tells his or her child,
“you are wrong" or "you are acting selfishly”.
Even the most loving parent challenges his or her child
prods them, pushes them,
moves them out of their comfort zone.

This is not your church;
This is not my church;
This is the church of Jesus Christ,
all of us called to work together to build the Kingdom of God.

How can we tell whether we are moving in the right direction,
growing as a spiritual community,
or whether we are place
where people are building their own shops?
Three weeks ago when she met with our Elders and Deacons,
Harriett Sandmeier talked about
one of the more obvious warning signs:
the notorious “parking lot conversation.”
That is where a few folks gather to gossip about others,
where small groups gather not to grow in faith
but to criticize, carp, complain.
Have you ever walked into the kitchen after church
and found two or three people chatting,
and noticed that they stopped talking as soon as they saw you?
That’s a pretty clear sign that they are not engaging
in spiritually nurturing conversation.
Harriett’s advice was strong: don’t get
pulled into such conversations;
walk away and tell the people you will not participate in them.

Positive signs include things like reading groups,
prayer groups, small groups that meet regularly in community.
Are we focused on mission, on ministry,
on service, on finding ways to resolve problems,
or are we focused on limitations and what we cannot do?

Anthony Robinson, a pastor in the UCC,
has written a number of excellent books and articles
on church growth and transformation.
In a recent article he wrote,
“the church belongs to and owes its existence
to God and not to us.
God has created and claimed the church for God’s purposes.
The Church then is not simply whatever we want it to be
or what we choose to make of it.”
(From “Congregations” , Winter 2006, Alban Institute)
This church exists not for our purposes,
but for God’s purposes,
to carry out God’s work.
We can either get in the way of God’s work
or we can be God’s hands, arms, and heart
carrying out God’s work in faith.

Two weeks ago I said that we begin growing spiritually
when we look at one another as “beloved in Christ.”
I spoke of Henri Nouwen’s term “Heart-knowledge”
that we approach everything with equal parts heart and head.
“Actions speak louder than words” is an old aphorism
and one that is true.
You may speak of another as beloved in Christ,
you may speak of your desire to grow in spirit,
but do your actions match your words?
Do your actions speak of spiritual growth?
Are you focused on mission, ministry,
service, prayer, outreach?
Are you focused on listening
listening for God’s constant call to you?
Are you building a culture of discipleship
grounded in spirituality within this church?
Are you focused on bringing out the best
not just in yourself, but in everyone in this church?
Are you working to build up one another,
members and staff, including me,
or are you focused on setting up your own shop?

If we are not working together well here within this ecclesia,
how can we hope to work well in the larger world?
Peterson reminds us:
“The world does not need more of you; it needs more of God.
Your friends do not need more of you; they need more of God.
And you don’t need more of you; you need more of God.”
(Subversive Spirituality, 30)

The world is filled with a cacophony of voices
and in all that chatter and buzz, God is speaking to us.
We struggle, as we have since Moses’ time, with trying to discern
which is God’s voice, what God’s words are to us,
the loving affirming words
and the challenging and prophetic words.
Quiet yourself.
Listen.
Don’t be so certain you have all the answers.
Let God work here in his church.
Let Jesus lead us,
the Spirit guide us.
Grow in spirit yourself
so that we can grow a spiritual church.
Begin by looking at everyone – yes everyone
as God’s beloved.
That is the culture our Lord Jesus Christ,
the one who is the head of the church,
expects us to create.

Howard Thurman reminds us that in the story of the three servants
and the talents, the servant who was cast out
was punished not because he failed to make a profit;
he was cast out because he did not try;
he did nothing with the gift given him by God.
(Disciplines of the Spirit, 62)
We have been give the gift of the Spirit,
and we have been give the gift of this church.
Are you making the most of each?
Only if you make the most of each,
can we make the most of each.

Our task is simple: we have been called by God through the Spirit
to work for the Kingdom of God,
so here, and everywhere,
let us do just that: work with Christ,
and guided by the Spirit, to build the Kingdom of God.
AMEN