"LIFE TOGETHER"
16th Sunday of Pentecost James 5 : 13 - 20
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was martyred in 1945 at the hands of the Nazis for involving himself in a plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler. He was a notable, Lutheran Pastor and a tremendous theologian. But, by the time he was 39 years, he also was an incredible man of enormous conviction. Bonhoeffer's ideas continue to live through several of the popular, theological books he wrote. My favorite is a little book – only 100 pages long – entitled, Life Together.
A passionate call to Christian community, the little book arises out of Bonhoeffer's experience of leading a clandestine seminary during the years leading up to war. It gives practical advice about how life together, in Christian community, can be sustained in families and groups. The book talks about simple things like singing together, dining together, and reading together. And the very important roles of communal prayer, breaking communion bread, and service are treated in simple, yet profound words.
I have always been intrigued by the idea that life together in the church is the very essence of what religion is or should be about. And I am fascinated by the possibility that what we do here, week after week, is at the heart of God's plan for the world.
Sometimes theologians refer to a Pastor who has a high regard for the importance of Christ as one who has a high Christology. I suppose I would also be one with a high ecclesiology, which is a similar high regard for the importance of the church. I just happen to believe that the church has a lot to do with what life is all about…
But, like so many things in life, I know that not everyone shares my views. Many think church is an optional aspect of a “spiritual” life. I know a number of people who feel their life is just fine without the church, and I’m certain you know them, too.
Jim was that way. It took six, strong men to get Jim into church. Every time I saw him he had dust on his boots. Though Jim was 78, he was still running the family farm with hundreds of acres of Vancouver strawberries and hazel nuts. His whole family came to First Church. His son was an elder; his wife and daughter sang in the choir, but Jim never came. He told me he accepted Christ as Savior while in his youth and, if he knew one Bible thing for sure, you don't have to go to church to be saved.
Other people could go so they can earn a “better” reward in heaven, but Jim was satisfied with his. He wasn’t looking for more stars in his crown. He didn't want a big mansion in heaven. He just wanted to be sure to get there. And since he had already taken care of that part, he didn't think he would bother with church. But he finally did come… for his funeral. And six, strong men carried him through the front doors.
Lorraine wouldn't come to church because she loved her television preacher… She fed on a steady diet of his teaching. Over the years, she had contributed thousands of dollars to his TV ministry. And she told me she would probably come more often if we didn't have our worship service at the same time as his broadcast on Sunday mornings…
She knew all about her TV preacher, knew about his family, knew about his trips to the Holy Land and his Caribbean, Bible study cruise. However, her TV preacher didn't know her. He never visited her even when she was in the hospital. But I did.
And John loved hunting even more than he loved his Dodge RAM, "hemi,” pick - up truck. He told me that he worked hard at the Camas, paper mill five days a week. And when the weekend finally did come, he felt he had a right to hunt. “Besides,” he reminded me, “God is everywhere!” And John could worship inside a duck blind dressed in “camo” just as well as others do in a Sunday pew in their shirt and slacks.
These are not people for whom faith is completely lacking. They are not guilty of Christology which is not high enough. If guilty of anything, they are simply guilty of a low ecclesiology. And their stories can be repeated thousands of times: by all manner of people who can find all manner of excuses to avoid coming to church.
And yet, I have never, really, understood what is so hard about coming to church. It doesn't really take a profession of a profound faith, or an expression of profound commitment to get up on Sunday mornings and come sit in the pews for an hour or so. Some folks seem to think it is like asking them to rise early enough so that they can pack up, rope up and hike or climb to the summit of Saddle Mountain before breakfast!?
Personally, I can't imagine life without regular worship. For me, church really is "life together." And it’s not just a matter of sharing time together in the same space. It IS sharing much of life with those who care about me, as well as with those who are aware: life is lived under the watch and care of something greater than ourselves.
In church, we are reminded there is a God's-eye-view for all of life. And that is the message I get from this passage in James. Much of what James has written in these few verses has been misunderstood and misapplied. These verses have been used to support the doctrines of last rites and confession. They have been used by some to endorse the uncomfortable practice of holding special services of healing. While others actually refuse formal, medical treatment, believing it violates this passage. But I believe this section of James’ epistle is about life together: in a typical, local church. It’s about worship and prayer, illness and healing, sinfulness and confessing.
"Is anyone sick?" James asks. "Let them call the elders." Now, that doesn’t mean there is a “hierarchy of righteousness” – as if the prayers of a Pastor (or an Elder) are more powerful or effective than anyone else's prayers. James is advocating that the most natural thing in the world for those of us, in church, to do is to reach out, and invite others to help care for/about us. For example, often the church puts our names on a prayer chain... It’s just what happens when we live in community. And it is that sense of community which makes our lives different: it means our lives ARE together.
Bible commentator and Preaching professor Fred Craddock says, "Everyday needs are addressed in this Scripture passage. It pictures a community of faith in which people suffer and pray, they rejoice and sing, become sick and get well, sin and are forgiven. This picture reflects “congregational life” as we know it: people looking to community for help and encouragement… and the church is there to offer that assistance in compassionate ways which are genuine, appropriate, and effective."
In her bestselling book, Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott explains why she makes her son go with her to church. She says, "The main reason is: I want to give him a taste of what I have found in the world: a path, and a little light to see by. Most the people I know who have what I want – purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy – are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community; who pray, and practice their faith… people willing to band together to work: on themselves, and on behalf of others. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they’re part of something far bigger and much more beautiful.
Our funky little church is filled with people working for peace and freedom, who are both outside on the streets and inside on their knees. They are at home writing cards and letters, and they’re in shelters with platters of food. And when I was at the end of my rope, the people at church tied a knot in it for me and helped me hold on."
I like Anne Lamott's description of church. This really is the place where you can find people who are practicing a deep sense of spirituality… Here are people who willingly share their lives together with purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, and joy. Church is the place where people practice their faith however imperfectly. We too can get to the end of our rope, but the church family helps us to tie a knot and hold on.
James pictures the church as the place where praying and singing go hand in hand. Verse 13 says, "Are any among you suffering? You should pray. Are any of you cheerful? You should give thanks and praise." It’s a place where people confess their sins to one another and can be restored, where people call or visit the sick and give them hope. It’s a place where those who are cheerful, as well as those seeking cheer, sing for joy.
On any given Sunday, this room contains people whose family members or friends may be near to giving birth – and those whose family members or friends are near to death. On one side of the room is a woman who feels her life will never be right again after a divorce, and on the other side is a woman who might soon be engaged, who anticipates marriage will change life completely and for the better. There’s a man who’s not sure he believes in God anymore, and there is one preparing for a work trip to be God’s hands and feet. There is a member who fears for his/her life following a difficult diagnosis, and there is one celebrating survival of a life-threatening illness.
There is a man who is despairing over the loss of work, and there is one who just landed an opportunity which will enable his family to recapture some of their dreams. There is a child (or grandchild) so surrounded by love and attention that she thinks all the world is her stage… And, in another pew is a woman learning to understand and cope with an abusive childhood, and is now learning to appreciate the healthy affection she has received since. There are those who feel they couldn’t possibly take or deserve Communion because everyone knows their faults and failings, and there are those who have loved and forgiven who are restoring lost relationships…
I couldn't help noticing that Anne Lamott called hers a "funky little church." Every church is a bit funky, I think, with its own quirks and its oddities. There is no such thing as a perfect church – because every one is made up of imperfect people. But these are imperfect people who are, at very least, trying to live in community. Real religion is learning that true faith can be found in just such “funky little churches.”
Our denomination, and several others like it, was born out of a desire to restore the New Testament church. But I would ask which one of the New Testament’s funky, faulty, fledgling, faith communities would you want to go back to? We could be like the first church at Thyatira which, reportedly, tolerated a “false teacher” for a time. Or like the church at Laodicea which, reportedly, was “neither hot nor cold.”
How about going back to Corinth? Paul makes it clear: there were divisions in that challenged church – with some of the faithful following Apollos, some following Paul, some following Peter, and some not trusting the words of any human teacher and believing only in the recalled or recorded words of Jesus. And Paul says some were abusing the Lord's Supper: unwilling to share communal food offerings with the poor.
Every New Testament church was a little bit funky, just like churches today. But it was those funky New Testament churches which enabled following the Lord Jesus to grow beyond a subversive movement. It was those funky faith communities that birthed the Gospel and passed it on for all the generations to come… Undoubtedly, God has always chosen imperfect people and imperfect churches just like this one.
In her book, Anne Lamott relays another story told by her pastor. When the pastor was seven, she had a best friend who became hopelessly lost. "The little girl ran up and down the streets of town, and could not find a single, recognizable landmark... She was, understandably, frightened. Thankfully, a policeman stopped to help. He put her in the front seat of his car, and they drove around – until she, finally, spied her church. She pointed it out to the policeman and told him confidently, 'You can let me out now. This is my church. And, I can always find my way home from here.'"
Then, Lamott concludes, "And that is why I have stayed so close to (my church) – because no matter how bad I am feeling, how lost, or lonely, or frightened; when I see the faces at my church and hear their voices, I can always find my way home." Amen.
A passionate call to Christian community, the little book arises out of Bonhoeffer's experience of leading a clandestine seminary during the years leading up to war. It gives practical advice about how life together, in Christian community, can be sustained in families and groups. The book talks about simple things like singing together, dining together, and reading together. And the very important roles of communal prayer, breaking communion bread, and service are treated in simple, yet profound words.
I have always been intrigued by the idea that life together in the church is the very essence of what religion is or should be about. And I am fascinated by the possibility that what we do here, week after week, is at the heart of God's plan for the world.
Sometimes theologians refer to a Pastor who has a high regard for the importance of Christ as one who has a high Christology. I suppose I would also be one with a high ecclesiology, which is a similar high regard for the importance of the church. I just happen to believe that the church has a lot to do with what life is all about…
But, like so many things in life, I know that not everyone shares my views. Many think church is an optional aspect of a “spiritual” life. I know a number of people who feel their life is just fine without the church, and I’m certain you know them, too.
Jim was that way. It took six, strong men to get Jim into church. Every time I saw him he had dust on his boots. Though Jim was 78, he was still running the family farm with hundreds of acres of Vancouver strawberries and hazel nuts. His whole family came to First Church. His son was an elder; his wife and daughter sang in the choir, but Jim never came. He told me he accepted Christ as Savior while in his youth and, if he knew one Bible thing for sure, you don't have to go to church to be saved.
Other people could go so they can earn a “better” reward in heaven, but Jim was satisfied with his. He wasn’t looking for more stars in his crown. He didn't want a big mansion in heaven. He just wanted to be sure to get there. And since he had already taken care of that part, he didn't think he would bother with church. But he finally did come… for his funeral. And six, strong men carried him through the front doors.
Lorraine wouldn't come to church because she loved her television preacher… She fed on a steady diet of his teaching. Over the years, she had contributed thousands of dollars to his TV ministry. And she told me she would probably come more often if we didn't have our worship service at the same time as his broadcast on Sunday mornings…
She knew all about her TV preacher, knew about his family, knew about his trips to the Holy Land and his Caribbean, Bible study cruise. However, her TV preacher didn't know her. He never visited her even when she was in the hospital. But I did.
And John loved hunting even more than he loved his Dodge RAM, "hemi,” pick - up truck. He told me that he worked hard at the Camas, paper mill five days a week. And when the weekend finally did come, he felt he had a right to hunt. “Besides,” he reminded me, “God is everywhere!” And John could worship inside a duck blind dressed in “camo” just as well as others do in a Sunday pew in their shirt and slacks.
These are not people for whom faith is completely lacking. They are not guilty of Christology which is not high enough. If guilty of anything, they are simply guilty of a low ecclesiology. And their stories can be repeated thousands of times: by all manner of people who can find all manner of excuses to avoid coming to church.
And yet, I have never, really, understood what is so hard about coming to church. It doesn't really take a profession of a profound faith, or an expression of profound commitment to get up on Sunday mornings and come sit in the pews for an hour or so. Some folks seem to think it is like asking them to rise early enough so that they can pack up, rope up and hike or climb to the summit of Saddle Mountain before breakfast!?
Personally, I can't imagine life without regular worship. For me, church really is "life together." And it’s not just a matter of sharing time together in the same space. It IS sharing much of life with those who care about me, as well as with those who are aware: life is lived under the watch and care of something greater than ourselves.
In church, we are reminded there is a God's-eye-view for all of life. And that is the message I get from this passage in James. Much of what James has written in these few verses has been misunderstood and misapplied. These verses have been used to support the doctrines of last rites and confession. They have been used by some to endorse the uncomfortable practice of holding special services of healing. While others actually refuse formal, medical treatment, believing it violates this passage. But I believe this section of James’ epistle is about life together: in a typical, local church. It’s about worship and prayer, illness and healing, sinfulness and confessing.
"Is anyone sick?" James asks. "Let them call the elders." Now, that doesn’t mean there is a “hierarchy of righteousness” – as if the prayers of a Pastor (or an Elder) are more powerful or effective than anyone else's prayers. James is advocating that the most natural thing in the world for those of us, in church, to do is to reach out, and invite others to help care for/about us. For example, often the church puts our names on a prayer chain... It’s just what happens when we live in community. And it is that sense of community which makes our lives different: it means our lives ARE together.
Bible commentator and Preaching professor Fred Craddock says, "Everyday needs are addressed in this Scripture passage. It pictures a community of faith in which people suffer and pray, they rejoice and sing, become sick and get well, sin and are forgiven. This picture reflects “congregational life” as we know it: people looking to community for help and encouragement… and the church is there to offer that assistance in compassionate ways which are genuine, appropriate, and effective."
In her bestselling book, Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott explains why she makes her son go with her to church. She says, "The main reason is: I want to give him a taste of what I have found in the world: a path, and a little light to see by. Most the people I know who have what I want – purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy – are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community; who pray, and practice their faith… people willing to band together to work: on themselves, and on behalf of others. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they’re part of something far bigger and much more beautiful.
Our funky little church is filled with people working for peace and freedom, who are both outside on the streets and inside on their knees. They are at home writing cards and letters, and they’re in shelters with platters of food. And when I was at the end of my rope, the people at church tied a knot in it for me and helped me hold on."
I like Anne Lamott's description of church. This really is the place where you can find people who are practicing a deep sense of spirituality… Here are people who willingly share their lives together with purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, and joy. Church is the place where people practice their faith however imperfectly. We too can get to the end of our rope, but the church family helps us to tie a knot and hold on.
James pictures the church as the place where praying and singing go hand in hand. Verse 13 says, "Are any among you suffering? You should pray. Are any of you cheerful? You should give thanks and praise." It’s a place where people confess their sins to one another and can be restored, where people call or visit the sick and give them hope. It’s a place where those who are cheerful, as well as those seeking cheer, sing for joy.
On any given Sunday, this room contains people whose family members or friends may be near to giving birth – and those whose family members or friends are near to death. On one side of the room is a woman who feels her life will never be right again after a divorce, and on the other side is a woman who might soon be engaged, who anticipates marriage will change life completely and for the better. There’s a man who’s not sure he believes in God anymore, and there is one preparing for a work trip to be God’s hands and feet. There is a member who fears for his/her life following a difficult diagnosis, and there is one celebrating survival of a life-threatening illness.
There is a man who is despairing over the loss of work, and there is one who just landed an opportunity which will enable his family to recapture some of their dreams. There is a child (or grandchild) so surrounded by love and attention that she thinks all the world is her stage… And, in another pew is a woman learning to understand and cope with an abusive childhood, and is now learning to appreciate the healthy affection she has received since. There are those who feel they couldn’t possibly take or deserve Communion because everyone knows their faults and failings, and there are those who have loved and forgiven who are restoring lost relationships…
I couldn't help noticing that Anne Lamott called hers a "funky little church." Every church is a bit funky, I think, with its own quirks and its oddities. There is no such thing as a perfect church – because every one is made up of imperfect people. But these are imperfect people who are, at very least, trying to live in community. Real religion is learning that true faith can be found in just such “funky little churches.”
Our denomination, and several others like it, was born out of a desire to restore the New Testament church. But I would ask which one of the New Testament’s funky, faulty, fledgling, faith communities would you want to go back to? We could be like the first church at Thyatira which, reportedly, tolerated a “false teacher” for a time. Or like the church at Laodicea which, reportedly, was “neither hot nor cold.”
How about going back to Corinth? Paul makes it clear: there were divisions in that challenged church – with some of the faithful following Apollos, some following Paul, some following Peter, and some not trusting the words of any human teacher and believing only in the recalled or recorded words of Jesus. And Paul says some were abusing the Lord's Supper: unwilling to share communal food offerings with the poor.
Every New Testament church was a little bit funky, just like churches today. But it was those funky New Testament churches which enabled following the Lord Jesus to grow beyond a subversive movement. It was those funky faith communities that birthed the Gospel and passed it on for all the generations to come… Undoubtedly, God has always chosen imperfect people and imperfect churches just like this one.
In her book, Anne Lamott relays another story told by her pastor. When the pastor was seven, she had a best friend who became hopelessly lost. "The little girl ran up and down the streets of town, and could not find a single, recognizable landmark... She was, understandably, frightened. Thankfully, a policeman stopped to help. He put her in the front seat of his car, and they drove around – until she, finally, spied her church. She pointed it out to the policeman and told him confidently, 'You can let me out now. This is my church. And, I can always find my way home from here.'"
Then, Lamott concludes, "And that is why I have stayed so close to (my church) – because no matter how bad I am feeling, how lost, or lonely, or frightened; when I see the faces at my church and hear their voices, I can always find my way home." Amen.