What it might mean to “fit in”…

Epiphany 3 What It Might Mean to “Fit In” 1/18 & 21/07

God provided your 14 elected leaders, the Church Council of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Springfield, Ohio, a 48-hour retreat just this past weekend ---or, as I prefer to call it, a week-end “advance,” as God is moving us into the future. We spent time looking at the grand history of this congregation, back as far as the “horse and buggy” days…getting acquainted with where we have been so to gain clarity as to where, what, and Whose we are today. We sought to put a present “face” on this congregation …how do we describe/how do others describe Grace Church, why do we exist, what are our strengths, and what needs work? We even attempted to express this with drawings, though “artistic expression” is not the “strong suit” of this Council! We mercifully shredded all evidence of our efforts, never to be seen by non-Council-eyes! We identified the spiritual gifts God, through His Holy Spirit, has bestowed upon this 14-member body of believers, discovering that we have much in common, yet seeing and celebrating great variety in how we work & think.

Look around at the people in this room! Go ahead! Take the risk of eye-contact and you’ll very likely receive a smile and likely offer one yourself. What do you see in this place? Are we all adults? All male? All female? Are we all young? Are we all elderly? Are we all the same physical shape and dimensions?---Be careful answering this one! Do we all receive the same size paychecks? Do we all work for the same employer? Do we all attend the same school? Do we all live in the same neighborhood, or on the same street…or even in the same city…or even the same county? Do we all sing well? Are we all attractive? Are we all popular or successful? In short, do we all act alike, look alike, and live alike? To this litany of more than 20 questions we have generally answered ‘NO”. Our common, unrehearsed answers acknowledge our differences! This one congregation is the sum total of its many people and “parts” and each part, each person, is valued.

I have served our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with, and within, this congregation for nearly 20 full years. I know this congregation as well or better than most anyone else, rejoicing that some of you have been in this family of faith even longer than I. I’ve been on Church Council for all 20 years, served on most Task Forces and committees and study groups established during these decades, and helped choose every staff member. I’ve married, buried, and baptized, confirmed and consoled, greeted and bid “Goodbye”, laughed and cried with countless people as we have sought to live out our faith. These have been “rich” years, as God has richly blessed this congregation and richly blessed innumerable people through us!

How do you “fit” into this particular expression of “the body of Christ”? Quoting St. Paul, and applying his writings to this Grace congregation: “This body is a unit, it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”(1 Corinth 12: 12) It saddens me when I’ve heard individuals say, “I just don’t fit in to this congregation!” What does it mean to “fit in” to this congregation? Certainly “fitting in” does not require that we all be identical or all that much alike! I remind us of the many questions we all together answered earlier in this sermon. A strength of this congregation is the variety and differences we bring. Again, turning to St. Paul: “We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--- If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body” (1 Cor. 12:13, 19-10). There is unity in our diversity, by God and, by God we are created and assembled!

We acknowledged our similarities early on in our worship as we confessed our sins, our failure to love God above all else, and our choices each day not to love one another as we love ourselves. Our similarities will, again, be voiced when we confess, through the words of the Nicene Creed, what we believe…notice, please, how each of the three Articles or parts of this Creed begin! As the Church, the body of Christ, we need each other…I need you and it may be that you need me…. In this body of Christ, “…its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Cor. 12:26) Hear the words of a song I heard at a recent memorial to MLK, Jr. / “I pray for you. You pray for me. I love you. I need you to survive. I won’t harm you with the words from my mouth. I love you. I need you to survive. It is His will that every need be supplied. You are important to me. I need you to survive.” In this body of Christ, if you are an eye, see clearly; if an ear, listen intently; if a hand, hold gently; if a foot, walk with courage. Live the gift you’ve been given and, in so doing, “fit in” as God intends. That is life in the “body of Christ”! Amen.