August 17, 2003 - The Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58

I'd like to begin today by sharing with you a funny little piece that originated at St. John's Church in Hyde Park, London. It's made the round of churches, so you may have heard it somewhere before, but I like it well enough to share it again today. It's called, The Building's on Fire.

"During a recent ecumenical gathering, someone rushed in shouting, 'The building's on fire!'

* The Methodists gathered in the corner and prayed.

* The Baptists cried, `Where's the water?'

* The Quakers quietly praised God for the blessings that fire brings.

* The Lutherans posted a notice on the door declaring the fire was evil.

* The Jews posted symbols on the door hoping that the fire would pass.

* The Congregationalists shouted, `Every man for himself...'

* The fundamentalists proclaimed, `It's the vengeance of God!'

* The Christian Scientists agreed among themselves that there was not a fire.

* The Presbyterians appointed a chairperson who was to appoint a committee to look into the matter and make a written report to the Session.

* The Episcopalians got out the incense."

I'm sure most of you can remember your last driving vacation. Remember those little towns of a few hundred to a few thousand population? Have you ever noticed the various churches and wondered which church is which as far as denomination is concerned?

The big neo-Victorian brick building with twin towers is obviously the Roman Catholic Church. The neon cross in red on the short broad bell tower and the mammoth colored glass windows identify the Baptist Church. The Lutheran Church also has a bell tower. It's cornerstone bears an inscription in German. Of course you can't miss the Episcopal Church. Big or small it's dignified.

All this is to introduce my point for this morning, and one of the ways in which we can view our Gospel reading. I don't usually title my sermons, but I'm going to call this one, The Church and it's Architecture.

In the beginning, when a Church building program is started, all considerations are usually centered on the architect. Choosing the architect is probably the single most important step taken in the building of a Church. I think everyone would agree that to embark on the building of a new Church without serious consideration of who the architect is going to be is pure folly.

Now, so far, we are talking about the building of just that, - - a building; a building of brick, wood and steel. But if we move on to the point of our Gospel and of my sermon, we are not referring to the building of a church made of brick, wood and steel. The Church I'm talking about is built of the people of God by the Father-Creator, the Son-Redeemer, and The Holy Spirit. So, the architect in this project should be obvious. The architect is God. To elaborate further, the architect is God and the Church is people.

With God as the architect and Jesus as a member of the architectural staff, the Church was under construction. As a member of the architectural staff, Jesus designed the Church for expansion outwardly, in numbers and mission, and inwardly in grace and truth. This is the rock of foundation upon which wise builders build.

In any good building program the people build in harmony with the architect's intentions. These wise people are avid students of the architect's counsel and plans. They also stay in touch by living in a personal relationship with the architect. They go back and forth with each other. They dialogue with one another. Without such a relationship a building program can very easily and quickly crumble into nothingness. The greatest vision turns to dust, without this living relationship. Even enthusiasm, commitment, community concern, common sense, plus abundant financial resources cannot take the place of a living relationship with the original architect. So, in the building of the Church of God, new ideas are necessary and a strong organization ranks high in priority, but they cannot substitute for the presence of Jesus Christ. The true food and drink of the Body and Blood of Christ is unmistakably experienced in the daily living and working together, in harmony with God's intention for the Church.

The stuff of the building of the Church is Jesus Christ. He is the body; we are his members. - - - He is the vine; we are the branches. - - - He is the Good Shepherd; we are the sheep. His flesh and blood are the brick and mortar, the framing and plaster, of the one, holy catholic and apostolic Church. When Jesus says such things as, "I am the bread from heaven," it is as though he is saying, "I am the brick and mortar, the steel and the plaster of your life." T

he building of the Church, then, not only consists of the faith, hope and charity of those involved in the mission of Church building, but it also consists of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. As he said, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; . . ."

The stuff of the Church is the very living reality of the architect's being. The Church is study, prophetic concern, worship, faith, hope and love, - - - - and there is more. The Church is thanksgiving. Eucharist means giving thanks. As Paul puts it, this architect's building, the Church, evokes from all of us ". . . singing and making melody to the Lord . . ., giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The Church is so much more than meets the eye. The Church is more than committees, vestries and conventions. The Church is more than buildings. The Church is even more than the people. The Church is the living reality of him who gave himself for the Church. The Church is Jesus' flesh and blood, and through his design we are sacramentally integrated into that reality, now and forever. To see the Church present and at work in our world is to have the gift of insight, - - but for us to be that Church, present and at work in our world, is the original architect's plan. We are called to always work together as one body, united in the Body of Christ, regardless of what we might hastily think of doing when someone rushes in and shouts: "The Building's on Fire."

Amen