|
Third Sunday After the Epiphany
Nehemiah 8:2-10
“. . . the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Neh. 8:10 When you worked on that last Habitat for Humanity house, did you happen to miss the nail and hit your thumb with the hammer? Did it just make you hurt all over? And then there was the constant reminder of your thumbnail as it grew back out to its normal color. I have trouble driving a nail straight, so I’ve never smashed my thumb working on a Habitat House. But not so many years ago I broke my little toe while cleaning my own house. It was a silly accident. It was late in the evening and I was tired. I was barefooted and was rushing around, and a door facing or something jumped right out and caught my toe. I invented several new dances. I was in so much pain that my stomach felt nauseated. Then I couldn’t sleep well and I woke up with a headache. As if that was not enough, when the x-ray showed a lengthwise fracture in the bone, the doctor put me in one of those big shoes that immobilized all my toes on that foot. This caused me not to be able to get my regular exercise, which put me further out of sorts. It’s hard to imagine that my toe could cause so much trouble. It’s so little. I hardly ever look at it, but that night and for several weeks thereafter, it really got my attention. My point is, of course, that if one part of our body suffers, our entire body suffers with it or because of it. Our Epistle reading for this morning is that familiar passage in Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. It is in the twelfth chapter which has a lot to say about spiritual gifts, and how our gifts all fit together to make the church function in the way it should. I like to think of Chapters twelve, thirteen and fourteen of First Corinthians as a sandwich. Chapters twelve and fourteen are the bread, while Chapter thirteen – the “love chapter” -- is the peanut butter and jelly. Paul throws us more than a crust of bread in his comparison of the body of Christ – the church – to a human body. He gives us an unforgettable analogy of how the mystical body of Christ functions: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” This is true of each local church. When someone dies, we weep with those who weep. When someone is born, we get a new spark of enthusiasm. When there is a wedding, we rejoice with the happy couple. This extends further to Christians everywhere as we are all connected to each other. If we hear that a Christian has fallen from a position of high respect, we hurt somewhere deep inside. Maybe we don’t even want to identify with that person. Maybe we are tempted to say – “Oh, but they are of a different denomination. I’m not sure what they believe.” But the truth is that a properly baptized professing Christian is a professing Christian, and our identity is tied to their identity. Maybe they are a foot and they stumbled, and we are an eye and we saw it. We have to claim them. Our identity with each other, as St. Paul says, all starts with Holy Baptism. Essentially Paul says to us, “You’ve been baptized. Now -- act like it.” In Holy Baptism, we “receive the Sacrament of new birth” and become members of the body of Christ. Baptism and Holy Communion are the two primary marks of the church, so we who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit share in the body of Christ far and wide. When Christians suffer for their faith, as many around the world do, it should make us wince. If there is anything we can do to relieve their suffering, we should jump in and do it. When Christians are honored or succeed in some way, it should cause us to stand a little taller and feel a little more joyous. I recently read a magazine article about the growth of “house churches” in Holland. It seems that Christianity has made a resurgence of remarkable proportions in that country, and it appears primarily to be a movement of the under-thirty crowd. There are prayer groups springing up in business offices and even in some government offices. Young people are crowding into Friday night gatherings to pray together and sing praises to God. This should be cause for rejoicing in our own country. We live in a small universe. As we thrill to hear good stories about Christians that make us proud, our joy bubbles just a little higher. What is the source of our joy? Let’s trace it back. In our baptism with whom do we identify? The church, of course. We “join” the church and thus identify with other Christians. But we are buried together with Christ in Baptism and rise to walk in newness of life. So, our identity as Christians is tied to Jesus Christ. And Jesus is joyful. This joy of the Lord is the source of our strength and our identification with each other. Our baptism puts us into radical solidarity with Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. Holy Baptism therefore also puts us into radical solidarity with each other and with Christians everywhere. In our Gospel passage for today, we hear Jesus crying out with joy: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor . . .” Jesus was joyful to be preaching the Gospel, and he was eager to get started. He knew where it would lead, but even so nothing could dampen his enthusiasm. There is a difference between joy and happiness. Joy is a bedrock attitude of our souls that is inspired by God. Happiness, on the other hand, is often tied to our immediate situation. Even when happiness seems remote, we still can be joyful. In the midst of sorrow, in our darkest hour of tragedy or loss, we can be joyful in God, because God is always with us. Our sadness will not overcome our joy that is born of God. Joy is tied to hope, and our hope is in Jesus Christ. Another comparison might be that joy is “still water that runs deep” while happiness is something like a brook through which you can see the rocks. I hope that you at King of Peace know you are a cause of great joy for me. This is the third time I have preached at King of Peace, but today I come with a combination of joy and happiness that approaches giddiness. I am the Founding Pastor of your daughter church – The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek. I have been working hard already and will continue to work very hard to make you proud. Our growth will be an extension of your growth. I hope we will bring much joy to you. I know you also know that the new Church will become a reality only through the sheer grace of God. I hope that you are praying for me and your new church plant at 11:04 either a.m. or p.m., because we hope to launch the new church on the fourth of November -- 11/04. I want our two churches to work together on projects just for fun and also for the betterment of Camden County. I want us to feel our connectedness, because we are “the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Amen.
On the grounds of Honey Creek
The Rev. Linda McCloud, Pastor |
