“Not the Same”

(1 Corinthians 12:4-27 and Ephesians 3:14-21)

          I asked our girls’ permission to share with you the sentiment that inspired today’s sermon title.  For as we prepare as a family to head off on our sabbatical, allowing us to worship elsewhere for awhile, I’m reminded of their reactions when we’ve visited other churches in the past.  No matter their size, or the strengths of their facilities or programs, no matter the worship style or the type of snacks at coffee hour, no matter the volume of the praise band, or the number of kids their age in worship, when we ask them what they think of the visit, they inevitably answer: “it’s just not the same.  We miss our church.”

          I’m reminded, too, of a good friend of mine who when she left the church she’d been serving to take a new call, explained to her kids that Mommy would not be pastor there anymore.  Instead, she would be working at a new church.  Her younger daughter walked over to her, gave her an understanding hug, and said:  “We’ll miss you, Mommy.”

          For all of their excitement about our upcoming trips, I know our kids can relate to those kids.  All very well and good for us to take a sabbatical from our jobs, but why is it, again, that they can’t just come to their own church all summer?  Other churches are nice and all, but they’re just not the same.

          They’re right, of course.  Other churches aren’t the same.  WPC has a unique spirit, unique strengths and gifts, that are all its own.  What a privilege, for all four of us, to be engaged in ministry with such a wonderful church family.

          And this morning’s Scripture lesson reminds us that your uniqueness should not come as a surprise; it is an integral part of God’s overall design for the Church (with a capital C).  We more often read 1 Corinthians 12 with an eye toward the different individuals within a single church family – each body part as important as every other, each contributing gifts of the spirit for the common good.  But surely the same holds true for the individual congregations, presbyteries, national churches, international denominations that together compose the body of Christ worldwide.  We can be so very different from one another, but we are all one body. Not the same, but connected.  Different gifts, different strengths, but all one in the Spirit.  Playing for the same team.

          As we travel around to different churches this summer, there will be any number of reminders of that unity.  Some of them of the more spine-tingling variety– if you’ve ever had an opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s Supper across an ocean, or in a different language, you know how powerful that can be.  Other moments will be far less glamorous, but equally important reminders that we’re all in this together. WPC doesn’t, after all, have a monopoly on those pleas for Sunday School teachers for the new year, or finance officers who have to remind the congregation they are behind in budgeted income, or toilets that occasionally need plunging right in the middle of coffee hour… We’ll also find in other settings stampedes of kids for children’s time, beautiful moments of intergenerational connection in the pews before worship, faithful servants of God scurrying around behind the scenes to do whatever needs to be done on that particular day.  Not one of these churches is the same, but not one of them – WPC included – stands alone.  Churches around the country and around the world share similar struggles, and similar triumphs, for we are all one in Christ.

In terms of what makes each one unique, that’s where the Spirit’s particular gifts to a congregation are so important, including the gift of a unique combination of people at that place and that time.  To one church may be given the gift of large numbers, enabling a great deal of money and people power to be poured into mission or worship music.  To another is given the gift of intimacy, hospitality, a sense of family and belonging.  To one is given a passion for international justice, to another a passion for ending homelessness down the street.  To one is given a greater proportion of older adults per capita, and to another, a greater proportion of youth and children.  It makes as much sense for one of these churches to say to the other “we want to be the same as them,” as it does for the ear to say to the elbow, “hey, let’s switch jobs for awhile.”  To each is given particular gifts for the common good.  Each has a unique call to be faithful member of the body of Christ.

          So we look forward to returning to you in September with reports from the field, as it were, encouraging stories of what’s happening elsewhere in the body of Christ.  What forms of mission outreach are other churches trying?  How do they relate to the neighborhoods in which they are located?  How do they pray, sing, talk together about their faith?  What are the most unique qualities of those other congregations, and where will we find we really have an awful lot in common?

[As a side note, this will be a fun one – how do they relate to visitors?  We had the experience one time of visiting a church that prided itself on its racial diversity as well as its an increasing number of young families, so quite a lot of the members ran right up to us before worship to warmly welcome this family of four who fit their demographic niche so nicely.  But when we had to ‘fess up that we were friends of the pastor, and were only visiting for the day, every single one of them reacted the same way: “Oh. (heavy sigh.) Well, welcome anyway,” then turned on their heels and walked off! It was a powerful reminder to us to be careful how we welcome folks around here!]

But back to our text.  One body.  Many members.  To each, particular gifts given for the good of the whole.  But to each, the same basic imperatives given – to spread the good news of the gospel in word and action.  How does each church live faithfully into that calling?

Back on Easter we were reminded of our responsibility to tell the glorious truth that Jesus is alive.  Each church can do this in different ways, so we’re curious to discover in our travels how folks ‘show and tell’ they are people of the Resurrection.  It will be exciting to share with you when we return the testimony of the 30,000 member Young Nak Presbyterian Church in Seoul, and the testimony of the tiny Christian community of Iona, off the western shore of Scotland.  The testimony of the High Kirk of St. Giles in Edinburgh, and the testimonies of sister congregations right here in Seattle Presbytery.  How does each church ‘show and tell’ that they are people of Resurrection hope?

While we are busily gathering these stories elsewhere, your Long Range Planning Team and church officers will be leading you in conversation here about the testimony WPC offers to the world – how are you uniquely called, to share the good news with your neighbors?  How do you show and tell that Jesus is alive?  It doesn’t need to look exactly the same as other places – if 1 Corinthians 12 is to be believed, it probably shouldn’t. We’re just not the same as the church down the street, or across town. So for you to adopt wholeheartedly the precise pattern of ministry used elsewhere would be like the foot saying to the nose, “I’d like your job.”  Hardly a good fit! 

So  - where are the common elements, where can we be learning from others lessons that can help us in our ministry in this place? And which gifts of the Spirit has this family of faith been uniquely given, and how can we best employ those strengths, with all our hearts, to the glory of God?

Another great gift both of this sabbatical period, and of our connectional church, is of course sitting with us here in worship this morning: the combined wisdom, strengths, and pastoral leadership skills of two of our clergy colleagues from Seattle presbytery, Pastor Dennie Carcelli and Pastor Ray Smith.  And remember, they also bring with them another gift that can help us enormously in this period of discernment and visioning – the gift of fresh perspective.  After nine years, Ken and I have been here long enough now that the WPC way of doing things is about as familiar to us, as it is to the rest of you. But Pastor Ray and Pastor Dennie each bring with them an outsiders’ perspective at this important juncture in our long range planning.  I invite you to take full advantage of that gift.  For here is yet another way in which things being “not the same” for a time, could potentially be a great advantage as together we look ahead toward the future of this congregation and its ministry.

          Certainly the next four months will be different – for our daughters who are so very attached to their church family, and for all of us – but what wonderful gifts this period stands ready to offer.  Reminders of our unity in Christ with churches around the world.  Reminders that to each congregation is given unique gifts for the good of the whole body of Christ.  Stories of what the (capital C) Church is up to elsewhere and a chance to bring back ideas that could enrich our ministry here.  Opportunities for each of us to reflect more deeply on where the Spirit is leading this congregation next. And a chance for all of us to see our beloved WPC with new eyes.

          However clear we think our vision of the Church is, God invites us to rub our eyes, wipe our spectacles, and see it ever more clearly. However deeply we’ve attempted to try on our calling to live as Christ’s faithful disciples, God invites us to dig ever deeper.  However broad our sense of what God is up to in the world, God’s ways and plans and purposes are so much bigger.

          So don’t be afraid to Think big.  Dive deep.  Dream large.

          Our prayer for you in this time apart is also our second Scripture lesson for the morning, from Ephesians 3:14-21:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.  I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.  I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.