Epiphany 5C

When Wendy & I first moved to Australia, we were a little worried about finding a church. This assignment was not to an American base, but to an Australian base. We were there on our own. Thankfully, we were met by other Americans at the Consulate in our city who welcomed us and invited us to worship with them at their church.

So we went to their church with them for almost a year. It was a new church, didn’t have their own building yet, non-denominational, very casual atmosphere (come as you are), contemporary worship style and music. Now, I had been to a wide variety of worship settings at this point in my life, mostly attending military chapels, which varied with the background of the chaplain serving each week. So I was not opposed to being in worship that wasn’t traditional Lutheran. But something was missing. And I felt it every week, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

Until my mom came to visit us. That first Sunday came after she arrived, and we brought her to this little church with our friends. After we left, my mother asked me, “do you hear a message like that every week?” “What do you mean?” “Well, all I heard was, ‘go out and invite more people so we can grow’ - there was no spiritual food there. No teaching, no Good News. Just go bring in more people. That’s not worship. That’s Amway with Jesus branding.”

Well that woke me up. I finally realized what was wrong, and she picked up on it immediately. And I told her that she had hit the nail on the head. We didn’t go back.

In our Epistle reading for today, from Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul tells them “strive to excel in building up the church.” (vs 12b) I think this little church we had been visiting may have misunderstood this word of encouragement from the apostle. In particular, I think the problem is in how they interpreted “building up” as it is translated here.

When we think of what “building up” means, I’d bet most of us typically think of making the church bigger. More people coming to worship with us and share in the life of the congregation, more people joining us in fellowship, in charity, in mission work, in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. That certainly sounds like a reasonable definition of “building up” to me. And it is - absolutely it is. But it doesn’t capture everything that Paul meant by that…only part.

One way that we build up the church is by bringing our children into the Body of Christ, as we will witness shortly as we baptize our sister Reese. The church will grow today because her family is bringing her to God and letting her begin her journey of faith as a Christian. So yes, the church will be built up today in this Sacrament.

If you read this same verse from Paul’s letter in other English translations, you will hear it worded this way:

“seek those [gifts] that will strengthen the whole church” (NLT)

That’s not terribly different, but growing in numbers and growing stronger aren’t necessarily the same thing, are they? What does it mean for a church or a congregation to “grow stronger”? Well, for some people, the answer might be different for different people. It might have different meanings because of different challenges that church faces. It’s an answer that might be hard to nail down. Let’s consider another translation:

“strive to excel for the edification of the church” (NASB)

Ok, I don’t use the word “edify” very often, so let’s find out what Paul means by that. This term “edification comprises two aspects, on the one side inner strengthening in might and knowledge, and on the other outer winning and convincing. It corresponds to the congregation’s process of growth, but this is to be understood in terms of Christ, the Spirit and the act of faith… [Edification] is understood by Paul christocentrically, filled with agape, and exalted to be a critical element in the possession of the Spirit.” [Otto Michel, “Οἰκοδόμος,...” ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 142.]

In other words, edification means both growing the numbers of the church, but also growing in knowledge and faith. This growth is both as a community, and as individuals in the community - in the knowledge of God and His Holy Word, and in faith. The way Paul uses this word “edification” tells us that knowledge is the goal, but also it describes the “the inner growth of the community and the content and purpose of its liturgical life and its meetings.” [Ibid, 141.]

Let’s pause there for a moment. Our liturgical life as a congregation - the liturgy is the form of our worship. Our liturgical life is how we do this thing called “worship” together. Does that contribute to the building up, the edification of our community? Of us as individuals? How does it do that? Does it do it enough? Notice that said both “content” and “purpose”. What we do and why we do it - to grow in knowledge and faith. I know that this is MY goal every time we gather for worship. I strongly suspect that is YOUR goal as well…but it never hurts to spend a little time thinking about why we do what we do.

But notice, also, that the definition said more than just “liturgical life”…it also mentioned “…and its meetings.” Don’t everyone cringe quite so loudly. Yes, that’s our council and committee meetings. But it’s also our Sunday School classes, our women’s and men’s groups, our crafting groups, our fellowship gatherings. ALL of these should have in their charters, statements of purpose, or governing documents that each time they come together, it should somehow serve to grow in knowledge and faith, to build up that group and our church, and the individual members of that group. If the activities of that group DON’T serve that purpose, then there needs to be a discussion somewhere.

And let’s remember that this is both about “building up” the community, but also building up the individual. Each individual member of the church has a part to play here - in their own growth, and in the growth of the church. They participate in upbuilding of the community, and ALSO the development and spiritual growth of their brother or sister. Each individual helps to build up the community by receiving the encouragement of the Gospel and then sharing it with others. “The individual Christian contributes to the building and upbuilding because this is ultimately the true work of God or Christ.” [Ibid, 141.]

I’m not saying that we’re falling short anywhere here. I’m simply saying that these fundamentals are worth reflecting on and thinking about. I don’t want to find myself in a situation where people are leaving worship wondering why they felt like something was missing.

And the last part of that definition I read is really important: Christ is at the center of all of this, Christian love (agape) fills all of the efforts to grow, and the Spirit is driving it. My opening story, as I left it, is pretty harsh, and I haven’t exactly painted our non-denominational brothers and sisters Down Unda in the best light…yet…so let me say just a little more about them. I don’t think they were motivated by greed or pride or personal ambition. I think they believed that they were doing God’s Work and growing their Christian Community. I really do. And I believe that our American friends who invited us did so in Christian love and they were indeed hoping to share the love of God in Christ with us, too. This is all good and right and proper. But the problem is that they only addressed one part of edification.

If a tree grows too tall and its branches too broad before its roots can grow deep and strong, what happens to the tree? One good strong wind, and that tree is done. The same principle applies here. If the foundation isn’t firmly rooted and deep, when problems arise, there are likely to be problems.

On the flip side, if a tree is all root but few branches and no leaves or fruit, the tree will not thrive. It can’t all be about making the roots strong, either. There needs to be a balance. Edification - building up - means both.

Over the months ahead, we’re going to spend some more time and focus on the roots a little. We’re going to be talking about and working on being and growing as disciples of Jesus Christ. That is, after all, who we already are. Our Bishops and their staff have been working for several years on discovering and developing tools to help us learn how to be better disciples, to become better disciples, and to encourage others to do the same.

As we begin this journey, I hope you’ll see the very first part of the NALC’s core values: Christ-centered. It’s first because it’s the most important. Christ is the reason we are who we are as Christians, as Lutherans, even as human beings. As we look to build up the Church - the Body of Christ - He must always be at the center of anything we do to pursue that. It was His Agape, His Perfect Love that He showed us on the cross, that must fill our work and our worship. It is His Agape that we will receive today when we come to His Holy Supper. It is His Agape that Reese will receive as God claims her as His daughter. And it is the Holy Spirit bringing all of this together. It is the Holy Spirit who calls us through the Gospel to gather in worship, who enlightens us with his gifts, who sanctifies us, who keeps us in true faith… “just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church he daily and abundantly forgives all my sins, and the sins of all believers, and on the last day he will raise me and all the dead and will grant eternal life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is most certainly true.” [Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 345.]

Our purpose for coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ is not a mystery, and it’s not of our own doing. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, doing the Father’s bidding, being our Advocate and Helper until the Son returns on the last day. Our goals and vision are spelled out for us in the Scriptures. We have work that we are called to do. Let us build up the church (and the Church) by building up ourselves and building up our brothers and sisters. We might not know what that looks like yet, but rest assured that God will help us figure that out as we go. Just starting the journey - all of us together - is a step in the right direction.