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110220am 1 Cor 3:10-11,16-23 Matthew 5:38-48
There are lots of houses being built near where I live, and they can help us think about what Church is all about. Let's think about some of the things you need to build a house, and what you need to build the Church community. We call this building a 'church', but really church means the people who believe in Jesus and try to follow him.
First thing? Someone to do the work. What people do you need to build a house? (Builders – have we got any here? - plumbers, electricians, carpenters/joiners, surveyors, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, designers, glaziers, roofers, plasterers, painters & decorators, digger operators etc.) In the first reading, St Paul says that his job, telling people the good news about Jesus, is like being a builder. He was a preacher, he spoke to crowds and meetings, and in people's homes, he went around explaining all about Jesus, Son of God, came into our world as one of us, taught the truth, healed the sick, worked miracles, was killed on the cross, and rose from the dead – how he has destroyed death so that we can live for ever with God. So Paul and preachers since him are the builders.
Second thing you need to build a house? Somewhere to build it. What would happen if you built a house in wrong place, on soft or wobbly or slushy ground? (Fall down.) You have to make something for it to stand on, good and firm – what's it called? (Foundation.) If the foundation is wrong it can't stand up. Paul says By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder... no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. For our lives to be in the right place, strong and firm, so that we won't get in a big mess when things get hard, we need to build our life on Jesus – having him as our Saviour, our Lord, our friend, our guide; read about him, pray to him, talk to him, love him, follow him. So the foundation is Jesus Christ.
Third thing? Something to build it from. Materials. What do you need? (Bricks, stone, wood, cement, concrete, pipes, wires, roof tiles, gutters, glass, windows, doors, nails, screws, handles, plaster...). The church is built out of people. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's Temple? All sorts of people are welcome, valued and needed to make church – it's for everyone, rich people, poor people; happy, sad; clever, not so clever; tough, weak; strong, sick; sociable, loners; noisy, quiet; interesting, boring; even you.
Fourth, most important thing to make a house? Someone to live in it. No point otherwise! That makes a house into a home. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's Temple , and that God's Spirit lives in you? In Bible times, there was a special building in Jerusalem called the Temple, which was God's house. When Jesus came he said his own body was God's house/temple, and now
that he is risen from the dead, his people the church are his temple. So God himself and his Son Jesus live among us by his Spirit. When we gather together here on Sundays, or during week in our groups, cells, ABC, Bounce, Friday@6, youth cell etc. God is with us. He is here in his Word, he's here at his Table, in the singing, in Baptism. And when we go out from church into the world, he is
with each of us, living in our hearts. So the preacher is the builder, the foundation is Jesus, the materials are the people, and the owner and occupier is God. That's what church is about.
I wonder what you think of vicars? Paul says he is an expert builder who laid a foundation and someone else is building on it. Probably most people don't know what vicars do all day. But actually most of us don't really understand what each other's jobs are like, even our husbands or wives! Vicars are part of a team – building is a complex business! - and we are here to serve by building up the church, keeping it on the right foundation, joining people together. So we hope people will listen to what we try to say, and discuss and learn together. The reason Paul was writing this to the church in Corinth was that they were falling out about who they should follow as their leader, and Paul says it's not about that, it's about belonging to Christ.
I wonder what you think about the Church? I wonder if you rely on old memories, either good or bad, or just the images you get from the media? I wonder if you consider Church a place where you might actually meet with God living among us? … a community which you might need to be part of , and which might need you? And if you are are a regular member of the Church, I wonder what
you think of the part you play in it? The things that Paul says later in this letter about us each having different gifts to contribute – like parts of a body, or in this image parts of a building – are meant to encourage us to get stuck in serving and supporting each other. [[It's a serious misuse of this to say, I don't need to help with mundane or menial tasks because 'it's not my gift', or endlessly pondering 'I wonder what my gifts are?', instead of just getting on with stuff that needs doing.]]
Above all (or I should say, below all, because this is the foundation): I wonder what you think of Jesus Christ, where you are with him? No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. There is no point to church unless Jesus is the foundation and the Spirit of God is living among us. And how do we know if that is happening? It's not about whether the
Vicar is a wise leader and powerful preacher (present company excepted); it's not about whether the 'right' people come to church who would make it a great environment for you to enjoy. If anyone destroys God's Temple, him will God destroy, for God's temple is sacred, and that temple you are.
What are the things that destroy? Not knowing your Bible? Missing services? Forgetting to pray?
Not giving enough money? Believing dodgy doctrines? Well, I don't want you to do any of those things, but those are not the foundation. What destroys our community with each other and with God is quarrelling, unforgiveness, selfishness, hatred, divisiveness, pride. And what builds up our community is getting to be more like Christ, which means simply becoming more decent human beings – we heard a bit of it in the gospel reading: more forgiving, more generous, less selfregarding, more outward looking, loving your enemies, ready to ask people to forgive you when you have done them wrong (or even when you haven't), being good to people who aren't good to you – I don't need to draw a diagram. I want people in Pudsey to say, that Church is a great place to go. They welcome you whoever you are, they are genuinely interested in you, if you have messed up they forgive you, they never look down their nose at you, or talk badly about you behind your back... and you leave there feeling that you have met with God.
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