Sermon: Church Means People

Statistics show that the majority of people in the United Kingdom claim to believe in God, and also that most people pray in some form or another.  Similar statistics show that a substantial number of people in the UK claim to be Christians.  This may indeed surprise us in what many call a secular age.

On the other hand, statistics show that the number of people who attend Christian churches in the UK has been steadily declining for some years, although the decline has by now somewhat levelled out.   Even so, only about 6 or 7 percent of people attend a church today.  

What is the reason for this discrepancy?   It appears that people fail to see a link between their faith and the Christian Church.  Indeed, many people fail to understand why the Church exists at all  and consider they can do all that God requires without the need to go to church.

It could be that the problem is that many think of “church” as a building,  as a place to go to, where in fact in reality, “church” is people, not a building.   It is of course possible to have a church without a building,    but impossible to have a church building if there is no one to worship in it.

As we think of the church in its earliest days, we find it had no church buildings at all and its members worshipped in each others’ houses.   It was to such churches that Paul the apostle wrote his letters that we find in the New Testament.  As Paul travelled around telling people the good news of Jesus, he founded new churches in many places, and after he had gone, when news got to him of problems in those churches, he wrote letters to them to give them some advice.   The problem that most concerned the church in Thessalonica was that they expected Jesus to return soon, and they wanted to know why that had not happened and when it would.  Paul tells them that this will happen in God’s own time but tells them that for the present what matters is how they behave towards one another as Christians.  This of course shows us that the church is people.   Church is community, and the way members of a church community relate to each other is of supreme importance. 

Chapter 5  of Paul’s  first letter to the Thessalonians where he gives them some concluding advice as to how the members of a Christian community should relate to each other.

He begins by asking them to respect the leaders in the church,

“We ask you to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. “

As we meet here this morning, we are from churches of different traditions.  Each of our traditions has different forms of church leadership and government,  some churches are of a presbyterian style of government while  others are of an episcopal style of government,  Some churches belong to a wider group where there is a central  authority while others stress the authority of the local church.  However what Paul is saying can apply to us all as we are all called to respect those who are in positions of leadership in churches, but always in a spirit of Christian love.

Next he tells them. “Live in peace with each other”   What a wonderful sign that is for those outside the Church to see a Christian community at peace This does not mean that Christians within churches and between churches don’t have disagreements, but being at peace means settling any disagreements in the spirit of Christian love and leaving no grudges.  I once saw a poster with a picture of a mother nursing a baby, and the caption was  “Grudges are like babies.  The longer you nurse them, the bigger they grow. “ 

What a wonderful example it is the world when the Church is seen to be made up of members who are at peace with one another.  Such things could make the people think again when they say you can be Christians without Church.  Church is a community thing.

Next Paul tells them “We urge you, to warn those who are idle.”  This is a reminder there are no passengers in a church.  Every baptized Christian is called to some kind of Christian ministry be it ordained or lay.   Once again this shows the community aspect of the Church.  Church is about being together and sharing the work.

Then Paul says to Thessalonian Church “Encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Encouragement is a wonderful Christian virtue. There are times in our lives when we all need to encourage others in Christ’s work and times we need encouragement ourselves.  These can be those little things that mean a lot.  I still remember to this day when a couple whose wedding I had officiated at returned later in the say to say thank you and a family in bereavement called to say thank you for officiating at the funeral of their loved one.

Some may not feel they have a part in Christian work, this is what Paul means by the timid,  Christ has Christian work for us all and we should encourage one another in that and rejoice when another is doing any Christian task, however small the task may be.

Paul advises to help the weak.  This speaks for itself.   There will always be those who strength is not what it was,  but they too are very much part of the Christian community and have a real part to play.

Also he tells us to be patient with everyone.  Sometimes in any church community, we need to be reminded that the Christian faith is a journey, some have been on that journey for a long time, others are just beginning it.  We cannot expect everyone else to be on the same stage of the journey so  that is why we called to be patient.  Remember the old saying, “patience is a virtue”

This is all wonderful advice, and as relevant to our churches today as it was to the church in Thessolonica in the first century, but because humans are not perfect, the Church  is not perfect.  So Paul’s next advice is what to do when things don’t go right.

His advice is. “ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else”

It can seem a natural human reaction that if someone wrongs us then we should do them some wrong in return. We call this “tit for tat”.  It is to be seen everywhere from the local community to the world stage. This is not the way of Christ.  The way of Christ is to be kind to those who wrong us;  kind to everyone in our Christian community,  and kind to everyone else too.  This is often not easy, but it is not impossible as we claim to have the loving and healing  power of Christ to transform ourselves and others. 

I know that even today we hear people quote old sayings like “an eye for an eye and, a tooth for a tooth.”   I very much like the comment of the onetime great Indian leader, Ghandi.  a man of the Hindu faith but whose comments on “eye for eye and tooth for tooth” are good advice for people of all faiths and of none  His comment on that saying was  “That way the whole world would be blind and toothless”

We know the advice Paul offers to the Thessalonian Church, is true, advice that if taken seriously would build up and strengthen the church community in our day. It is of course not easy to achieve.  So next follows a little more advice.

“Be joyful always”.  This isn’t always easy.  We face all kinds of pressures in our own lives and in church life  but joy is more than happiness.  Sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sad. These are natural feelings and emotions,  but joy is something deeper.  Joy is an inward reality, knowing that although storms may rage around us, we have that victory of Christ who conquered evil. So we can be joyful. 

“Pray continually”   We can never underestimate the value and effect of prayer.  It was Tennyson who said  “There are more things wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”  We can pray alone.  We can pray together.  We all face problems in our lives and in our churches.  How often as churches do we pray about them?   How often do we encourage church members in their prayers at home to do this?   We may find that could make a huge difference. Nothing is too great, or indeed too small to pray about. I’m sure we call all remember times when we felt the joy of answered prayer.

Next,  “Give thanks in all circumstances”.   That’s a tall order.  Sometimes we just don’t feel like giving thanks. We all have those days where everything goes wrong from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. How can we thank God for a day like that?  - but if we stop to think, there will always be something to give thanks for.  We know the old song “Count your blessings one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done “  

I am reminded of the story of the little girl who was given a dinner that she didn’t like and was told there was nothing else available.  She ate her dinner and afterwards her parents asked her to thank God for her food.  At first she refused, saying “How can I thank God for a meal I did not enjoy? “  They encouraged her to think again, and eventually she said,  “Thank God I wasn’t sick! “ 

Why do we do all this?  Why do we belong to Christian communities? We read in this passage of scripture  “ for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”   What is God’s will for us as churches in this town?   What is God’s will for us all?

There are times when we may feel moved by the Holy Spirit, as individuals and as churches to move forward in a new way.  Sometimes this makes us feel uncomfortable and afraid, fearing if we should move forward or not.  St .Paul’s advice is  “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire”

He also advises “Do not treat prophecies with contempt”

We don’t hear much about prophets in today’s church, but we do hear a lot about all kinds of specialist ministries, both ordained and lay.  Was John the Baptist the last prophet?   Has the age of prophecy died or is there room for new prophets?  A timely question to ponder, I think.

When the Holy Spirit is urging us to do something or we feel the need to speak God’s word, we may well ask ourselves “Will this work?”  or  “  How do we know this is of the Holy Spirit.  “

It is not easy to know, but the advice we are given, is  “Test everything.”  In other words – give it a try. Better to try and fail than not try at all.

And finally,  St.Paul; advises “Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”

As we remember the central theme of this passage that the Church is community, we are called to look for the good in everyone. We shall find some good in everyone.   In other words we are made in the image of God.  There is something of Christ in us all and through the power of the Holy Spirit if we listen to the promptings of the Spirit; that which is of Christ in each one of us will grow;  and pray God our churches will grow in the Spirit and experience transformation.