Sermons Preached at Church of the Redeemer

‘I, but not I’ 

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

February 8, 2004

The Parish Annual Meeting

This is the third in my series of three sermons leading up to our Annual Meeting today, drawing on the readings from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians to look at basic questions of what the church is and what it ought to be up to in the world. 

In my first sermon I suggested that Paul understood the church much differently than we typically do today.  Paul had been seized in the midst of his life by the power of the risen Christ.  Christ’s resurrection was sign to Paul that God was doing a new thing:  God was at work in the world to bring the people of all nations into union with the God of Israel through faith in Jesus Christ.  Paul saw this new act of God at work as he went from city to city proclaiming the good news.  He saw others seized by the good news as he had been seized.  He saw a new People of God being gathered together by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He saw the power of God at work in this new community as broken lives were healed, the downcast were lifted up, and rich and poor, slave and free, men and women, Jew and gentile broke bread together. 

Paul would have found very strange our idea of church as a voluntary organization that individuals choose to join or not; to Paul the church was the gathering of people whom God had called together.  Paul also would not have recognized our notion that the church exists to meet the perceived needs of its members – even the need or desire for spiritual growth.  For Paul, the church did not exist to serve its members; rather, people were joined together by God as members of one body and given gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to serve God’s great mission in the world. 

The church serves God’s mission in the world by bearing witness to it.  Paul gives us a criterion by which to judge all that is done spiritually in the church:  there are many good things that can be done, but where the Lordship of Christ is proclaimed, that is the work of the Holy Spirit.  This gives us a standard by which we may evaluate all that is done in the parish – our budget, our staff, our programs, our worship, our buildings and grounds:  do they bear witness to the lordship of Christ?  Do they show forth the reign of God and the new thing that God is doing in the world? 

In my second sermon I suggested that there are three ways by which our church or any church bears witness to the reign of God:  The first is by our life together, in our worship and fellowship.  Does our worship glorify God in the power of the Holy Spirit?  Do we ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ in our sharing of the bread and wine made holy?  Do we know and love and care for one another as members of Christ’s body – bearing one another’s burdens, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep?  In short, do we experience our life together in worship and fellowship as a foretaste of the kingdom of God? 

Second, we bear witness as a sign to the world, proclaiming the good news of God’s work in the world by word and deed.  Do our lives show forth the good news?  Can people look at us and listen to us and know something of God’s love for the world?  As Episcopalians we have historically been leery of evangelism; we tend to see our faith as a private matter, and we wouldn’t want to impose ourselves or our views on others.  But, rightly seen, evangelism is no imposition; it is more like one hungry person telling another where food is to be found. 

The third way in which we bear witness to reign of God is by our service to others for Christ’s sake.  When we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned; when we work and give for justice, freedom and peace for all people; we are joining God in God’s great work of reconciliation and renewal in the world, and God works through us.  Not only are these good works virtuous in themselves, but also they make visible and tangible the power of God to heal, to lift up and to make new. 

There are three modes, then, by which the church – our church or any church -- bears witness to the lordship of Christ: we bear witness by our life together, in worship and fellowship; we bear witness by our proclamation of the good news in word and deed; and we bear witness by our service to the world in Christ’s name.  The particular form that our witness will take as a parish in each of these three modes will be unique to us – to our particular gifts and abilities, our particular history, our particular circumstances.  Just as each of us as individual Christians has a unique witness, so too our witness together as a parish will be unique. 

In our readings today we hear how God calls each of us in particular ways to bear witness to God’s work in the world.  God meets us where we are, speaks to us in a way that we can understand, and bids us to serve in ways that are uniquely suited to us.  In our epistle this morning we hear Paul in a petulant mood comparing himself to other apostles.  “I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church,” he says.  On the other hand, he considers that he hasn’t done half badly: “[God’s] grace toward me has not been in vain.”  Come to think of it, “I worked harder that any of them,” – but here again he reconsiders, for “it was not I, but the grace of God that is in me.”  God calls us just as we are, and we respond just as we are.  When we give ourselves to God’s service we do not become someone strange; in fact, we become more truly ourselves – and also more than ourselves as God’s grace works in and through and for us. 

In our gospel today we hear Luke’s account of Simon Peter’s calling as a disciple.  Jesus comes to him at the lakeshore where he and his partners are washing their nets after a long nights work.  A crowd gathers, and Jesus commandeers Simon’s boat as a speaking platform.  Then Jesus speaks to Simon:  “Put out into deeper water and let down your nets for a catch.”  We can imagine Simon taken aback.  “Religion is all well and good; it has its place,” he might have thought.  “But now this guy is trying to tell me how to run my business!”  Nevertheless, Simon does as he asks, and the result is a net so full of fish that it threatens to sink his ship.  “From now on,” says Jesus, “you will be catching people.”  Jesus has come to Peter where he is, called him in terms that he can understand, and given him a ministry that will be uniquely his. 

This morning we will convene our parish annual meeting.  It is a time for us look together at the whole picture of our ministry as a parish and to ask ourselves:  are we being true to Christ’s call?  Are we faithful in our witness?  As we review our budget and consider reports from parish leaders and staff, we can listen together for Christ’s call as it may guide our future life in ministry. 

In recent months we have held many conversations – in  vestry and in parish forums – concerning the future of the parish.  Often these conversations have focused on the question of numerical growth:  is God calling this parish to set out on a deliberate strategic course to encourage growth in active membership?  Numerical growth would bring changes in the life and governance of the parish.  Some would see these changes as desirable and others would not.  Is there some other way in which God may be calling us to grow – to grow inwardly, to grow in faith if not in size? 

Christ comes to each of us where we are and calls us into ministries unique to ourselves, our histories, and our circumstances.  Christ’s call to this parish is unique – and there is no one to hear it but you.  No one can tell you what your unique witness should be – not a bishop, not a consultant, certainly not an interim priest.  Only you can hear the call. 

On the other hand, it is not something distant or mysterious.  There is no hidden key, no secret code.  In fact, I believe that you already know what God is calling you to do. 

I read it in your parish profile, the result of a series of open parish forums held before I arrived.  In describing the kind of leadership you are seeking in a new rector, you also describe the kind of parish you believe you are called to be, and the directions in which you are called to grow. 

The primary point is one of maintenance, of preserving the traditions of the parish and its distinctive style of worship – and this is understandable.  There is much that is good and strong, beautiful and true in your worship and traditions, and they ought to be preserved.  They are a unique and valuable witness; they aren’t broken and they don’t need to be fixed. 

The profile expresses other desires as well.  There is a desire for growth in spirituality, growth in our ministries with children and youth, and growth in service to the community.  This, too, is as it should be.  I believe that these desires are signs of God’s Spirit moving in this parish and calling it to deeper waters.  I believe that God does indeed call us to growth in these aspects of our witness as a parish.  But beware!  There may be unintended consequences! 

If you did set out for deeper waters; if you did grow as a spiritual community; if you did grow in your ministry with children and youth; if you did become known as a church dedicated to service in the wider community – then your witness would not go unnoticed.  Others would see your light, and they may be drawn to it.  You may pull your nets in and find that they are unaccountably full of fish.  They may number so many that they threaten to upset your boat.  What will you do then?  Will you cut the ropes and drop them back into the sea? 

There is only one way to avoid this.  You can say no to the promptings of the Spirit.  You can refuse the call to deeper waters.  You can decline to let Jesus tell you how to run your business.  You can continue to run your church, your life, and your world your way.  But that is ultimately the way of isolation, debility and death. 

There is a world out there that is hungry, a world broken, divided, wayward, oppressed and suffering.  There is a world in need of salvation, and there is a power at work in the world to save – a power to bind up the wounded, recover the lost and lift up those who are cast down.  You can ally yourself with this power or not, but you can only do so as its servant, surrendering yourself to follow where it leads. 

Christ calls this parish to deeper waters, and you have heard his call.  Will you follow?  Will you give yourselves faithfully – your time, your talents, and your treasure – to grow in spirituality; to grow in ministry with children and youth; and to grow in service to others?  Will you put down your nets, knowing that the parish may be changed in ways that you cannot control? 

The good news about numerical growth is this:  as one member of the parish said following a recent forum, the parish table is already set: there is already room for fifty more, or a hundred.  You already have the space, the staff, the program, and the resources to accommodate them.  Will you invite them in? 

God is abroad in the world with the power to save.  God has seized you; God has gathered you; God has given you gifts and called you to witness to the new thing that God is doing in Christ.  Don’t miss the adventure.

-Steven Bonsey

Return to Sermons Page