Wednesday, November 2, 2022

“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord[a] and ours…” (1 Corinthians 1:2, New Revised Standard Version)

                A gulp of cormorants.

                Apparently, according to Google, that is what one calls a flock of cormorants, an old French word meaning sea-crows. We saw many cormorants on Lake Erie, one gulp as large as maybe well over a hundred birds, flying low over the water, skimming not far off the surface.

                A parliament of owls, a coven of crows, a gaggle of geese and a gulp of cormorants. If there are only two or three cormorants is that just a sip of cormorants? Sorry, I digress.

                What do you call a group of Christians?

     Maybe, you might suggest a church or a congregation or a community of believers. But Paul calls a group of Christians, saints. A loaded word, suggesting some sort of holiness, near perfection, do-gooders, sanctified and washed clean or as the Message Bible describes sainthood, “believers cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life.”

                But let us be very careful about what it means to be part of the sainthood of all believers. Remember that old platitude, “If you are looking to join a perfect church, once you join it, it is no longer perfect.” I don’t mean this as a put-down but as a reminder that even as Paul used the word quite regularly in his writings, he was also acutely aware that he was writing churches which were far from being saintly but could be filled with rancour, jealousies, factions, rigidity and church wars.

                Nothing has changed much in churches in these times. The colony of saints is made up very human would-be saints. This is to say that churches are sometimes messy, chaotic, beleaguered, broken, vulnerable, struggling, and fraught with human feelings, emotions and reactions.  And to use an old Groucho Marx line, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” Simply put, no church is perfect.

                Paul knew that better than anyone but nonetheless he understood that the church, this gaggle of saints, had its work cut out for it.  He understood the potential for greatness. He appreciated the possibilities for service and sacrifice. He extolled the virtues of love and community among them. He exhorted the practice of acceptance, tolerance and grace.

                 “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Ephesians 4: 15 -16, New Living Translation)

                “Instead” – that word speaks volumes, doesn’t it? Churches would do well to practice the theology of “instead.”  Instead of judgmentalism, dogmatism, and intransigence, we practice gracious acceptance, love and inclusiveness. Instead of living in our brick and stone boxes, cloistering against the world, holding tight to the past or even human sin, we open our hearts, minds and souls to love all others as we have been loved. Instead of thinking only of punching our tickets to heaven, we begin to build Jesus’ Kingdom in the corners in which we live and worship. Instead of the veneer of our Christianity, we dig down deep and reveal the essence of being a sainthood, a follower of Jesus Christ in both word and deed.

                “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12: 1 -2, The Message Bible)

                Saints alive!

Dale