Theological Truth: Salvation is freely given, but costs us everything.
In some traditions, the minister addresses the congregation as “Church,” as in, “Good Morning, Church!” It’s a helpful reminder that we are not alone; we are part of the holy, catholic, universal body of Christ. In other congregation, ministers will ask the congregation, “Who is the Church?” To which they respond, “We are the Church!” A reminder of our identity and our responsibility. Who is the Church? We are the Church!
One of Trinity’s newest members told me this week that two things drew her to Trinity: the Tiffany windows and the Noon Lunch program. Such opposites! The windows in here; Noon Lunch over there. The windows, primarily visible on Sundays; Noon Lunch available every weekday. The windows, beautiful in their timeless artistry; Noon Lunch, beautiful because of its Christ-like ministering to human need. She’s right. Both are significant parts of what makes Trinity a church…maybe they’re not so different after all.
Both the Tiffany windows and the Noon Lunch program exist because of the generous gifts of many people over multiple years. They didn’t fall out of the sky. They haven’t been maintained by magic. Every church can be the Church—in all the various ways God calls us to be the Church—when we respond to the same appeal St. Paul made to the early church in Rome, that is, when we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. This is holy and acceptable. This is our spiritual worship—our self-offering patterned after God’s eternal self-offering.
But notice that this unreserved offering of ourselves comes after we have received God’s offering to us. It’s a response, not a prerequisite. Prof. Nancy Lammers Gross of Princeton Theological Seminary emphasizes that the word “therefore” in the first line of our reading from Romans signifies an important turning point in the letter. She says, “When Paul writes, ‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy …’ Paul might well have said, ‘I appeal to you, therefore, on the basis of this mercy of God I’ve been talking about …’ It is on the basis of mercy—it is possible because of God’s mercy—it is essentially required of us consequent to this mercy—that we present ourselves, our bodies, as a living sacrifice to God.”
(https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-21/commentary-on-romans-121-8-7, emphasis mine.)
Rev. Cara reminded us last week, that the Kingdom of God is all about mercy. We have been saved by the merciful love of God in Christ Jesus, therefore, we continue building the Church by joyfully, generously, gratefully offering “our selves, our souls, our bodies,” to be a living sacrifice. When we do, God works through the church to change lives and save lives. Right here at Trinity. I’ll give you an example.
This Wednesday morning in the middle of Men’s Bible study, a young man burst into the Foster Room breathlessly begging for help because he was being tormented by the voice of Lucifer. I sat and prayed with him. Another member, a mental health professional, called for help and offered him reassurance. When he requested to be Baptized, I took him into the kitchen and baptized him right next to the Hobart and assured him that he had been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever. This calmed him down enough for us to sit with him until two of Staunton’s finest police officers could drive him to get further treatment.
I bring this up not to illustrate how eventful Men’s Bible Study can be, but to point out the layers and generations of people involved in showing this young man the merciful, saving love of Christ. He found us because of the prominence and 280 years of permanence on this site. The doors of the Parish House were unlocked that Wednesday morning thanks to the people who started and have continued this Bible Study—members from Trinity as well as Emmanuel and other traditions—to say nothing of everyone whose pledges help pay the utilities! The sink that served as a baptismal font and the kitchen where it sits have been purchased, cleaned, and maintained by hundreds of people.
All those offerings worked together Wednesday morning to extend mercy to this desperate young man—the same mercy we all desperately need, and the same mercy it is God’s good pleasure to give us. It is all about mercy. The Church is all about mercy. And its work requires us all.
The word “church” makes its biblical debut in today’s reading from the sixteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel. It comes after Simon Peter’s inspired confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus blesses Simon for having received this divine revelation and nicknames him Rocky. Well, “Rock” to be more precise, or Peter, according to our translation of the Greek word for rock: “petra.” But you get the idea. Jesus says in essence, “Peter, your faith, your trust, is rock solid, and on this solid ground of trusting God’s mercy, I will build my church.”
Peter and the gang still had a lot to learn about the unlikely power of this Messiah of Mercy and his cross-shaped path to victory. They haven’t seen the blueprints, but they’ve identified the right architect and builder. And like all construction projects, it’s going to take longer, and cost more, than they imagine. This church will be the body of Christ—freely given yet costing everything. It still does.
In Greek, the word we translate “church” is ekklesia, which means an assembly, or called out group. Before churches had buildings, we were an assembled group of people, called out and set apart, on the foundation that God is saving the world through the love manifested in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. This generous, selfless, sacrificial love is the very heart of God given freely for the life of the world. We assemble in order to join God in offering this salvation to the world. We bear witness to the mercy we have received and offer that saving love to the world.
Therefore, friends, thank you for the many ways you are presenting yourselves as a living sacrifice so that Trinity can be a place where we worship the Lord in the beauty of holy and historic stained-glass windows, where we feed the hungry and welcome the stranger, and where those desperate for healing can come crashing through our doors.
If you are searching for your place in this mission of mercy, come to the remaining Discovery Sunday or ask Katie Faulkner to send you the information that’s been presented in the previous ones. There’s a place for you here, a place that is none other than the living, breathing, mercy-bearing body of Christ in the world. Take your place in this mission of mercy, because who is the Church? We are the Church!
