Tour of Worship

The writer of the book of Ephesians says he thanks God daily for the faith and the love that the Ephesians have. He has never been to their church but he has heard about their faith and their acts of charity and love by word of mouth and reputation. That is really what it is all about isn’t it? The faith and hope we have in God through Christ and the love we share with one another. Let the main thing be the main thing – as we use to say. We are not a service organization in a shopping mall meant to cater to people’s every whim. We are a church, the body of the living Christ – a place for faith and love.The church that Ephesians describes is more like this example from Barbara Brown Taylor: A woman with recurrent cancer who is told she has 6 months to live. The church gathers around her and her husband – laying hands on them, bringing them casseroles cleaning their house. Someone comes up with the idea of giving the woman a foot massage and painting her toenails red, which does more for her spirit than any visit from the pastor. She gives her jewelry away, she lets her driver’s license expire; she starts to write poetry again. She prepares to die, but instead she gets better.

On Christmas Eve she is back in church for the first time in months, with her oxygen tank slung over her shoulder and a clear plastic tube running under her nose. After the first hymn, she makes her way to the lectern to read the lesson from Isaiah. Her tank hisses every 5 seconds. Every candle in the place glitters in her eyes. “Strengthen the weak hands,” “she reads, bending her body toward the words, “and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.’” When she sits down, the congregation knows they have not just heard the word of the Lord. They have seen it. They have experienced being a church.

When I look at this mornings scripture about John the Baptist and his call for repentance, there is this phrase we used a lot down South – maybe you use it here as well – I do not know – I’ve not heard it said yet. The phrase is: “Are we good?” and the correct response is “We good.”A friend who is a mechanic would come over and fix your car and a few months later you go over and help them paint a room in his house and you’d say: “Are we good?” “Yeah, we good.”

Your best friend takes your girlfriend from you – and they break up about a month later. He comes over hat in hand, takes you out for a drink – tells you how wrong and regretful he is – offer you his dog and best shotgun and then he says, “Are we good?” And you go, “Well – I guess we are good”…

…A friend’s brother many years ago cut away from the family – no contact – the pain of many unresolved family issues over many years. Every year – every year she writes him a personal letter at Christmas telling him about her life and that she thinks and prays for him.

I say, “But he never writes you back?” “No, unfortunately he has never written back.” “Well then, why do you send him a letter? Is it out of guilt for something in the past? Is it because you feel sorry for him?” “No, it is none of that – it’s because it is what I can do – and I’ve decided it is not up to him to determine what it is right for me to do – it is up to me.”

And the crowd asked John the Baptist how they can make good – “What then should we do?” And John said, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Don’t wait for others to tell determine how you should live. Do the right things. “And then will we be good?” “Yes, then, then, we will be good.” “Yes, by the grace of God we good.”