LATEST SERMON; Church building

Sermon Easter 5, May 3

Readings: Acts 7. 55-60; 1 Peter 2. 2-10; John 14. 1-14

Theme: Church Building

Growing any community requires effort. The bonds which hold people together come through time spent building relationships that can often endure for a lifetime. These relationships anchor a community in a shared history and overlapping stories that intertwine individuals and families in bonds of solidarity.

In the case of church communities all this is true. Church buildings often hold the collective memory of a community even when that community has undergone considerable change. Records of marriages, deaths and births are one form that this memory is held in a church building, and these matter to people because they connect us to a past we may have forgotten or may even have never known. Memories situate a community in a particular place over time. They help us to belong even when the belief may have ebbed away.

But church growth is somewhat different than simply belonging to a set of shared memories about family heritage. It involves an active belief in the message which the building is built for and whose very stones house the memory of. This is a message of hope that never dies because death itself has been overcome through it. This is the message of the gospel, and it is one whose memory gathers us together as church to sing God´s praise.

We are blessed this Sunday to celebrate two baptisms. Moving back to the larger hall in San Pedro has enabled us to celebrate baptisms again there. This is a wonderful sign of growth in our church as we seek to ever more faithfully proclaim the mighty deeds of God’s kingdom.

When we reflect in the light of the scriptures on how a Christian community grows it is necessary to pattern our work for this on that of the building of the spiritual house that is spoken of in our second reading from 1 Peter. Growth, in this sense, is not simply due to human efforts. If there is authentic growth then it is the work of the Holy Spirit among us animating it. It is the Spirit who works among and through us to build the church into “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.” And, as we are told in the gospel, this work of the Spirit is even greater than the pre-resurrection works of Jesus because now the powers of evil and death have been defeated, as Jesus has returned to his Father following his resurrection.

However, this victory of the Lord came at a price. It involved suffering. Therefore, as we seek to grow the church, we should not be surprised that this is accompanied by suffering. Were it not the case then this work would not be following the authentic pattern of the building of the spiritual house which is the church.

This is another way of saying that understanding the resurrection should not be separated from the crucifixion. If it is, then it is not the message of the gospel that we are following and proclaiming. When church growth happens, it is accompanied by suffering. There is no resurrection without the cross.

This is witnessed to in our first reading from Acts. The first martyr of the growing early church, Stephen, is stoned to death by those who were resisting this growth. Yet, in this crowd there is one who will be called by the Lord to build the early church with a transformed zeal. Saul, later named Paul, is standing by and those who do the stoning place their coats at the feet of this young man.

Church building goes through the same paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of the Christ. This is the godly design according to which the church grows into a spiritual house. Stephen dies, but it will be Saul who is chosen by the Lord to zealously build the new church throughout the Roman Empire. This is the work of the Spirit among us. It is this same Spirit who builds the church into the living stones of a spiritual house with Christ as its cornerstone.

When we view our church building in this way, we see that it is a team effort. Each one of us is important to it. Christ as the cornerstone makes sure of that. Nobody should ever feel that their work in building the church is unimportant or unnoticed. Christ notices it all and in gratitude we as the body of Christ recognize all members as its living stones.

Therefore, it is fitting that we celebrate baptisms this weekend as we respond to the call of the Lord to grow the church for the sake of his kingdom, because baptism is the entering into the death of Christ so that we may be reborn in the Spirit. It is through baptism that the church grows into a spiritual house, and as we welcome Orson and Margo into the church on this fifth Sunday of Easter, may they be a sign for us of what it means to build the church through the sufferings of Good Friday and the Joy of Easter Sunday.