“The Body of Christ at WPC: Energy, Intelligence, Imagination, and Love”

(1 Corinthians 12: 12 – 27)

          We’ve been doing a lot of traveling in worship over the last month or so.  In addition to sharing stories from churches our family visited on our sabbatical, we were treated to a terrific presentation on the national Presbyterian Youth Triennium, we’ve been praying for our seminary student Emily McGinley as we all receive her emails from Lebanon, and we were invited on World Communion Sunday to be praying for countries as diverse as Columbia, South Africa, Pakistan, Peru, and Jordan.  We were also invited that day to place pins on our world map indicating places and people around the world that we are holding in prayer.  I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to see the map down in Fellowship Hall, but it’s a powerful statement of your awareness of needs far beyond our own community. Please feel free to add additional ‘prayer pins’ as the Spirit moves you.  (I understand some of our kids were doing this over the dinner hour at Tuesday Night Live, which is perfect.)

          I don’t know about you, though, but sooner or later, even after the most amazing trips, I find myself ready to settle in back at home.  And you’ll notice that’s precisely where we are in our sermon series this morning.  Returning our focus to the body of Christ right here at WPC.

          As you’ll remember, I highlighted a few distinct qualities from those other churches we visited this summer – for the High Kirk of St. Giles in Edinburgh, it was history and immediacy; for Young Nak Presbyterian Church in Seoul, Korea, courage and sacrifice; for the Iona Community in Scotland, truth and beauty.

          As I turned to consider particular qualities to highlight back here at home, the answer was simple, and came straight out of the questions we ask when we ordain and install new officers in the Presbyterian Church.

          What characterizes the body of Christ at Wallingford? Energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.

          First, ENERGY.  We visited a lot of worship services over those four months we were away, and nearly everywhere we went, we came away commenting on how much we missed the energy level in worship here.  Granted, it’s not something that happens every single time, but if you’ve been here for more than a couple of weeks, or if you have other church experiences to compare it to, you probably know what I’m talking about.  When the kids are dancing around up front during praise time and the place buzzes during the passing of the peace, and everyone is singing their hearts out, there can be a real spark in the air here when we worship together.  That’s something we shouldn’t take for granted.  To each part of Christ’s body different gifts are given.  Wallingford has clearly been given the gift of energy.  Enjoy it!

          Secondly, INTELLIGENCE.  Not that this is a quality other churches are lacking, but it’s valued particularly highly here.  I love the fact that kids and adults alike bring the same sharp, curious minds to church that you bring to the work of your Monday to Friday lives.  No theological question is off limits.  Contributions of serious biblical scholars are welcomed in sermons and Bible studies.  Nearly any topic in the news can be mined for its relevance to our lives as people of faith.  And this is something I’m hoping you’ll capitalize on even more when we launch our new small groups this year.  Loving God with all your hearts, souls, and minds.

          If you’ll permit me to jump out of order for a moment, equally obvious is your LOVE for one another.  For example, during the passing of the peace, we can hardly get you to stop running around offering handshakes, pats on the back, and full-on bear hugs as you enjoy the opportunity to reconnect with your brothers and sisters in Christ.  This is a community marked by lasting friendships, genuine concern for one another, and warm welcomes to those new to the family.  As long as you don’t let those warm welcomes get lost in the shuffle, as you enjoy catching up with dear friends, this will continue to be a real strength of this church.  From the way your Deacons care for you, to the way you welcome newly baptized children, to your prayers for one another, to the way you linger at coffee hour, they will know you are Christians by your love.

          But above all this morning, I want to draw your attention to the element of IMAGINATION. It took a lot of imagination for a Wallingford congregation with no children, a couple decades ago, to see itself flourishing again, and take the necessary steps to allow that to happen.  It took a great deal of imagination for the Ravenna Boulevard congregation to picture themselves thriving in a new location when Pastor Donna retired, rather than remaining where they were, and another mental leap for those in the former Wallingford family to picture what a church merger would look like here.  (Can you believe we have reached our third year anniversary as a merged church this month?  Though as my kids are always saying, it’s hard to remember a time when we weren’t one family.)

Likewise, it took imagination to look at a run-down basement a couple years ago and see the showpiece in place now in our junior worship room and fellowship hall.  You’ll be pleased to know that creative energy is being focused in similar directions once again as our Long Range Planning team looks toward future building improvements.  Lots of discussion around ways to demonstrate visually to our neighbors what a vibrant, energetic, active congregation lives here.

          I also love that your imagination isn’t limited by these walls.  You not only picture a church family that extends in every direction around the world.  You can even imagine a world in which the hungry are fed, and AIDS is eradicated, and peace is possible.  You joyfully sing of a world that can turn – is turning even now – toward the God that makes all things new. 

          Dare we combine the two kinds of imagination?  Dramatic building improvements and our desire to change the world?  Consider the fact that we actually have on hand funds for our most pressing building needs (restricted money we can’t use for other things).  Rather than requiring a huge Capital Campaign just now, this could free us up to launch what some churches call a Jubilee Campaign, to see just how many of those building dollars we could match with Mission funds!  How many hungry people could be fed, how many homeless people offered blankets and shelter, how many Heifer Project animals sent around the world from our small church even as we improve our facility?  So that when we welcome visitors to a transformed building, they’ll find within a community transformed by its passion for outreach.

That kind of imagination isn’t something you find just anywhere.  But here – if the CROP walk and Peacemaking Offerings are any indication – extravagant generosity toward Mission is becoming a big part of your identity.

          Speaking of church identity I ran across a fun exercise recently that is apparently being used by church consultants around the country.  Playing with today’s Scripture lesson about the church as the body of Christ, they invite congregations to imagine their church as a particular human body.  After all, bodies come in all shapes and sizes, all races and social conditions and states of health.  So if the church is the body of Christ, the question becomes, what kind of body is your church? 

I particularly enjoyed the examples Janet Cawley shares in her book Who is Our Church? Imagining Congregational Identity.  For instance, one rapidly growing but increasingly chaotic new church development described itself as a 13-year-old boy.  Boundless energy, but can also fall asleep for long periods of time.  Terrific at short-term projects, but easily bored if anything went on too long.   Not to mention growing out of his shoes every few months.  Once they had identified the kind of person their church was, and even affectionately nicknamed him Eddie, they could get down to the work of determining what a healthy middle class 13-year-old boy like Eddie needed, and what he could do with his life. Those discussions sparked exciting new possibilities for ministry that might not have been possible if they hadn’t fully appreciated Eddie’s uniqueness (Cawley, pp. 62)

Another congregation self-identified as a Sarah, because, although she was an old woman, she seemed pregnant with new life.  Yet another church chose as its image a busy career woman, with a few kids at home, who struggles to make time for her spiritual life.  In one particularly poignant story, a church described itself as a wounded war vet, acknowledging a deeply painful episode in their past, but was able to describe that same individual as having worked through the worst of his trauma, and becoming increasingly hopeful about his future.

It makes me wonder how the various churches we visited this summer would self-identify.  Because it’s one thing for me to picture the Iona Community as a 30 year old guy in jeans and Birkenstocks, and the body of Christ at St. Giles as a well-heeled older woman in a Pendleton suit.  But the exercise really only works from the inside.  The community is meant to imagine itself.

We don’t have time in service today to do it much justice but I do invite you to stretch your imaginations for a few minutes, just for fun. I’ve left some blank space at the back of the bulletin, in case anyone feels inspired to jot down a few descriptive words, or even draw a picture of this individual who represents our church family (If so, be sure to pass your notes and scribblings on to me later.)  But you’re also welcome simply to enjoy the associations that spring to mind as I ask the following questions…

If you were to describe this congregation as a person, about how old would this person be?

What does this person look like? (think general appearance, style, clothes – I was having fun imagining our building and grounds as the ‘wardrobe’ we present to the world; is our look classic? hip? shabby chic?) 

What does this person do? (think occupation, lifestyle, hobbies) 

What is this person’s state of health and fitness?  (think physical, emotional, spiritual health)

If you really want to have fun, what is this person’s theme song?

If you had to introduce this person to a friend, what would you say?

I’m curious to know how you would describe our individual Wallingford body – in fact, this may be something we do want to return to in more of a retreat setting.

For now I want you to know that this task of describing the identity of our congregation is, to a certain extent, what our long range planning team has been up to over the past year. They’ve certainly used different words for that process. But they’ve been clear from the start that before we can know where we are called to move ahead in the future, we need to know who we are. A strong sense of our identity as a distinct, unique part of the body of Christ is essential as we listen for God’s call.  Because congregations, like individuals, aren’t asked to be just like someone else, but to be our own best selves, using the particular gifts we’ve been given, to serve Christ in the world.

So as I say, I hope we’ll have occasion to return to this exercise at a future point – I’d love to hear your ideas.

          Meanwhile, however you imagine that particular individual that represents the Wallingford body of Christ, whatever characteristics come to mind, be sure you find a way to represent your contagious energy, your keen intelligence, your courageous imagination, and your genuine love.  Amen.