St
Paul Tells Us How to Be the Church
Homily
for Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (12 July 2015)
Romans
15:1-7…………….Matthew 9:27-35
In his letter to the early
Christian community in Rome, St Paul takes a lot of time to tell them how to
live together as the Church—the people assembled in Jesus’ name. In Greek, the word is ekklesia; in Hebrew knesset;
in Arabic kniesseh. All of these mean “the assembly” or “the
congregation,” that is, the people gathered as the Church.
The passage from the
Letter to the Romans that we have read today sums up in just a few sentences
the four main themes of St Paul’s instructions on how to live as the People of
God.
First, those who have
strong faith have to work with those who have weak faith, in order to build
them up. We don’t get involved in the
church for our individual pleasure or profit; we are part of the church so that
all together we can grow closer to God, our loving Creator and Savior and
Comforter.
Second, the Bible—both the
Old Testament and the New Testament—was written to provide guidance and encouragement
for God’s people. We should read it,
study it, and understand it so that we can apply its principles in our own
lives and have hope in God’s love and mercy and justice and help for His
people. The Bible is not a rule-book or
an instruction manual. It is not a
science or law or history textbook. It
is a source of hope and encouragement.
Third, the Christian
people should live in harmony with one another, as Jesus taught, so that with
one voice—that is, in agreement—we can give glory to God. This doesn’t mean that all Christians must
think exactly alike or worship in exactly the same way. It does mean that we must respect each other
and that we must be in agreement on the basic truths Jesus gave us. We should concentrate on glorifying and
praising and thanking God, not on fighting among ourselves over who is right
about a certain point of doctrine or worship.
Not even all the different
churches together—Eastern and Western, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant—understand
God completely. We can’t. We can’t, because God is our Creator and we
are God’ creation. But in many ways, our
different ways of thinking and worshipping reflect God’s infinite variety and
incomprehensible completeness that we are trying to understand. Ultimately, though, all we can do is to seek
to know and love and obey God according to the best of our understanding and
ability, from divine revelation and human experience, with humbleness and
gentleness.
Finally, continuing this
theme of unity, Christians must welcome one another. Not just tolerate or respect one
another. We must actively welcome one
another. No Christian can ever say, “This
is our church for our people; you have to go to your own church.” We have to say instead, “Welcome to our
church; we hope you like our way of doing things even if it’s not what you are
used to.” We don’t try to change the way
other churches worship, and we don’t change our way to conform to what they
do. Every kind of Christian prayer and
worship, done in the right spirit, gives glory to God and adds richness and
beauty and depth to our limited human understanding of God’s will.
Not all forms of
Christianity are the same; not all are equal.
I’m not saying that one church is just as good as another. We believe that some come closer to a full
and authentic view of God’s plan for creation.
But we welcome and respect and love as brothers and sisters all who
believe in One God, the Creator and Almighty Father; in the only Son of God,
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior; and in the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus from
the Father to be with us always and to guide us into all truth.
To the One God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, be thanks and praise and glory now and ever and unto the ages
of ages. Amen.
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