Reading: I Corinthians 3:5-17
The church in Corinth was a dream church – a community with many gifted
leaders, great teachers, and dedicated workers ... who together could do great
things.
The church in Corinth also a
difficult church – a community with many gifted leaders, great teachers, and
dedicated workers ... who often ended up competing with one another for power and
influence, forgetting that the church was not theirs, but God’s.
One of the conflicts that developed was
between those who followed Paul and others who followed Apollos – each group
arguing that their teacher was the better. In the midst of this pastoral and institutional crisis Paul reframes the discussion by focusing attention on the church as God's garden and God's temple.
150 years! And still here!
A couple of years
ago on Canada’s 150th anniversary people put up signs in front of homes
and small buildings: “This building was
standing in 1867.” The point, of course,
is that the building is not only still standing, but is still being used to
some good purpose by people inside it. Under
that roof, inside those walls, in and out of those doors families are still
living and loving, businesses are still operating, work is still being done and
things are being worked out.
We missed it by 2
years. But 150 is still pretty
wonderful, and we’re not embarrassed or ashamed of our age. We’re proud of being able to live and serve
and be a good part of 21st century life in a 19th century
building. Pretty cool to be in a
heritage building in an emerging community like the new Winona.
I understand that
when it comes to our heritage designation, it’s really technically just the
front face – or façade of the building that’s designated and protected. Façade is not a bad thing, regardless of the
connotation the word sometimes has.
Sometimes a heritage façade, like an attractive and striking face (think
Lauren Bacall or Sean Connery), can be just what it takes to trigger and stir
something deep inside you.
A few years ago a
family new to the area was church-hunting.
And on the way home one day from another unsuccessful Sunday trial, instead
of taking the Queen E to Fifty Road and then home, they took Hwy 8. And as they neared Fifty Road from the east,
the wife suddenly shouted out to her husband, “Stop! Turn around!
Go back! That’s it!”
He turned around,
they came back, she went to the front door … and it was locked. Worship was over and everyone was gone. But they got the phone number, called, came
back the next Sunday, came in, and because of what they found inside are still
here. He is now Chair of the Church
Council, and the whole family feels at home here. Because of the feast they discovered and
became part of behind the façade.
The feast is a
central image in any church. In any
religious community. In any truly human community.
The feast they
found was the joy of the singing, and the welcome and enjoyment of children
into worship. It was the warmth of the
welcome that was offered, and the network of friendships that are part of life
here. It was the love for others in the
world, and the care and concern of this place to reach out to the poor, the
homeless, the hungry, the different and other.
It was the mission trips some of the members leave this place for to go
to places like China, Peru, Haiti, the Dominican, Rwanda. It’s the way many people come together here,
each doing what they can as part of a larger project for the good of all, and
they do together much more than any of us could do just by ourselves. It’s like being
light, salt or yeast.
When we gather inside this place we are fed by and nourished in a certain spirit. We become committed to this place – to being part of it, and helping preserve and protect it. But we are also not limited to it, and to what it is just for us. As our mission statement says, what we do here is to know and to share God’s love for all.
When we gather inside this place we are fed by and nourished in a certain spirit. We become committed to this place – to being part of it, and helping preserve and protect it. But we are also not limited to it, and to what it is just for us. As our mission statement says, what we do here is to know and to share God’s love for all.
As big or small
as we may be at different times in our history, as young or old, as weak or
strong, as confident or anxious as we may feel, there is a spirit here greater
than ourselves, a whole and a wholeness greater than just the sum of the
parts. A spirit that comes from beyond
us that has something to do with the renewal and healing of all Earth and all
life on it, and with the care and support of all people. Something to do with special care and
compassion for those who are on the underside, the outside, or on the outer
excluded fringe of society and what’s counted as worth considering and caring
about, and with helping the community around us to be and grow and act in truly
human, caring, compassionate ways.
A spirit inside
the building.
Some people in
this congregation swear there is a literal spirit – a ghost, if you will, that
inhabits this place. Some who have been in
this building at night say they have felt something, seen or heard things that
make them think twice about being here alone again at night. Not because the spirit is scary or
malevolent. The presence seems gentle. Content.
Welcoming. Some feel they know who
it is – a former elder of this church, and he’s not to be feared. Maybe he’s watching over us, and happy to see
and hear what’s being done here. It’s
just a little scary to let yourself be welcomed into the presence of something you
don’t really understand or control.
There’s also a
picture taken by one of our members a few years ago. She was out walking one night, and as she
passed the church saw an unexpected light shining through the stained glass
windows. She took out her phone, took
these pictures and posted them on our church Facebook page.
Whatever we make of
it – the pictures and the stories, it reminds us there is a life and a spirit at
work here greater and other than ourselves, that when we come here gathers us
up and carries us along.
It’s the life and
the spirit of Jesus, the Christ.
We know we are
not the only church in Winona, not the only community shaped and energized by
the life and spirit of Jesus, the Christ.
We know as well it’s not just the Christian tradition and message that
helps shape the community around us in good and healing ways; more and more
Winona is becoming as multi-faithed as the rest of the city and the country.
But we celebrate
that we are part of that emerging community and part of what makes it
good. That the spirit we come to know in
this place is the spirit of the God who lives and moves for good in all the
world. And that this building – as old
and marvelous as it is, because of the spirit we come to know within it,
because of the holy feast that awaits us behind the heritage façade, is as much
a part of the landscape of the new Winona as it was of the old.
This feast is
important to us. It helps feed us and
open us for what we are called to be.
We invite you to
join us, but we do not compel it. It may
not be your tradition. It may not be how
you identify with God and with your own true self.
So feel to share
in this time in your own way – sharing the bread and the cup with us, or
passing them by so you can spend these next few minutes remembering and giving
thanks in your heart and mind for the ways you connect with the life and the
spirit of God all around us.
Because isn’t
that what this building is here for, and what it’s always been – and still is, about?
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