Come, Holy Spirit, and fill us that we might be
your action in this community. Amen.
You know how sometimes in school we have vocabulary tests? We study the definitions so that we know how to properly use the words. Having the right word for the right moment can be like a treasure. Well, this morning as we celebrate our patronal feast of St. Luke, I want to think about the word “church” and what it means. In particular, I want to think through what part of speech church is.
Some
would say that church is a noun. I remember learning that a noun is a person,
place, or thing. So I get where that understanding of church as a noun comes
from. We speak about going to church – which might make us think that church is
a place. Certainly, this is a church in which we find ourselves. But we also
know that a church doesn’t have to be a physical location. If we’re out and
about and someone gives an impassioned talk about justice, we might say “they
took us to church.” Well, we don’t mean that they physically carried us to a
noun.
Others
remember that rhyme that the church is all about the people. We often speak
about the body of Christ, which is a gathering of people. To be clear, the body
of Christ, the beloved community, the communion of saints, whatever we want to
call ourselves, we are important. But we have to remember that God is always the
primary actor when it comes to faith. What makes the church the church isn’t
us, but God.
And
while we might say that the church is a “thing,” an institution or set of doctrines,
we all know that faith is about our lived lives, not just a philosophical
construct. This is made clear in Jesus – the Word made flesh.
This
isn’t to say that there aren’t noun-like aspects of the church because the
church involves people and places. But fundamentally, the church is not an
object; noun is not the most precise part of speech to help us understand what
the church is all about.
Another
option could be that the church is an adjective or adverb – that church
describes how we are to be in this world. This would be understanding the
church as a set of rules, norms, and morals. But the church is not defined by ethics.
When people say “Don’t act all churchy,” they don’t mean that as a good thing.
While we certainly care about the formation of character and virtues, this is
not primarily what the church is. Church is not an adverb.
If
you think back to grammar lessons, there are also prepositions, conjunctions,
and interjections – but it would take some really creative thinking to figure
out how to claim that the main definition of the church is one of those.
This
leaves us with one part of speech and it’s the best one to help us define
church – church is a verb. I know we don’t use it that way, but it would be
helpful if we would at least think of it in those terms. I saw her churching at
Rowan Helping Ministries. When he was making that decision, he really churched
it. Isn’t it amazing to see so many people churching in response to the
hurricane?
The
church really is a verb because the church is dynamic and active. The church is
about movement and action. We aren’t a thing made of bricks and stone, we aren’t
even a people who come and go, nor are we a static set of beliefs. No, we are a
verb that describes the Holy Spirit’s business and activity in the world.
So
let’s say we’re going to amend all of the dictionaries so that when we look up “church”
we see those funny-looking pronunciation letters that help us to pronounce it,
and we see a “v” which tells us that we’re looking at a verb. And then we need
to add some definitions. So what does church mean?
Well,
one definition is that we are merciful, forgiving, and forbearing to those who
aren’t particularly forgivable. We church when we lay aside our resentments and
instead choose reconciliation.
Church also means giving
generously out of a sense of abundance as opposed to scarcity. Churching is
giving when we consider the needs of the other before our own comforts and preferences.
Churching is also about
how we see the world, it is an enchanted sort of vision where we see deeper
truths and embrace mystery instead of forcing an explanation onto everything.
Church
is also a definition of those moments of being defiantly hopeful. We might say
Easter is when God churched death into Resurrection. Nick Cave is an Australian
musician who is known for his punk rock style. He’s experienced horrendous tragedies
in life, as two of his sons died in separate instances. He knows pain and loss.
Cave writes an online blog in which he receives and responds to questions from
around the world. In one such post, he responds to someone who writes in to say
that they are becoming cynical and losing faith.
In part, Cave writes, “Cynicism
asks almost nothing of us, and it is highly infectious and unbelievably
destructive. In my view, it is the most common and easy of evils. I know this
because much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it
in contempt. It was a position both seductive and indulgent… It took a devastation to teach me the
preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people… It took a
devastation to find hope. Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes
demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place
on earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It
is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or
loving act, as small as you like, such as [reading to a child or helping
someone in need], keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its
inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth
believing in.” That sort of belligerent and persistent hoping against hope – that’s
what church means.
Another
definition of church is telling the truth, even when it doesn’t serve us and
isn’t convenient. Jesus tells us that the truth sets us free and if nothing else,
the word church and truth should go together.
Church is also a good way
of describing jubilant praise and connection to the divine – those goosebumps
you sometimes get when saying a prayer, singing a hymn, or encountering beauty –
we might say that we are churching when we unite our voices in praise to the
Almighty.
And, of course, churching
is the act of liberation, of working against estrangement, hostility, and
captivity. Churching is when we pursue justice and mercy because we see and
acknowledge the dignity of every person and creature.
So
those are some definitions of church. All in all, the verb church describes
what the Holy Spirit does when our lives are commandeered and used by God in
Christ. As we think about our own parish, I want to review our identity as a
way of reminding us of how it is we church.
We
heard in the reading from Sirach about the healing ministry of physicians. St.
Luke was a physician which is why we heard that read today. One way that we
church is that we strive to bring healing and reconciliation to our
relationships. We call this instantiation of our activity beloved community.
In
the Psalm, we heard “Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to God! How
pleasant it is to honor God with praise!” The primary reason why we exist and
gather is to praise God – everything else we do flows out of that sense of
gratitude and allegiance, and the gifts that we receive from God through
liturgy are what enable and empower our ministry in this world. This is why we
prioritize intentional worship as a core part of our identity.
In
the letter of Second Timothy, we heard the admonition to “do the work of an
evangelist.” An evangelist is someone who has been entrusted with reporting and
sharing the good news. The most important news there is the message of abundant
grace – that we are the beloved children of God and this isn’t something we
have to earn or keep. Our dignity, belonging, and belovedness can never be
lost. This is what we’re all about. No matter who you are, what doubts you
have, what wrongs you’ve done, or what oddities you bring with you, you are
welcomed, accepted, cherished, and loved. And there’s nothing, absolutely
nothing, that any of us need to do in order to this gift of God’s love and there
is nothing we can do to lose it. Nor is there anything we can do to get more of
it. It’s a pure gift and is given in infinite and extravagant abundance.
Grace
is a radical and needed message because we live in such a consumeristic and meritocratic
world. Faith isn’t about deserving, it’s about belonging. As St. Paul puts it
so powerfully in Romans, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That’s the message of God’s
abundant grace. Internalizing and sharing that message is what it means to church.
These
three things: beloved community, intentional worship, and abundant grace are
what we invite people to come and see. These things are the difference Christ
is making in our lives and our world. In the reading from Luke, Jesus is
preaching his inaugural message as he quotes from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus
speaks about the liberation and release that we are given. And then he says, “Today
this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
In
other words, there is something to come and see right now. Faith isn’t about
what happens after we die. Sure, eternal life continues after death, but eternal
life has already begun. Jesus has fulfilled the promise of God to always be
with us and always be for us. The verb of the church is in the present tense.
Today, right now, Christ makes a difference in how we relate to those we
disagree with, Christ makes a difference in how we deal with adversity, Christ
makes a difference in how we relate to money.
Speaking
of which, as we’re in the midst of our stewardship efforts around the 2025 budget,
we give in order to invest more fully into this verb of the church. We can
think of it as adding an exclamation point to things. Because church, as a
verb, is in the active tense, not the passive. Church is a verb that we all participate
in doing and being. And while there are many ways to church – generosity and supporting
this verb is is essential to our identity and vocation.
The
last bit of grammar to hold close when it comes to the verb of the church is
that church is always a plural verb. Church is about “we,” not “me.” This isn’t
to say that we don’t have personal experiences of churching, but we never
church as individuals. The way theologians from South Africa put it is to say
that “I cannot be me without you.” We are united to God and one another in a
tapestry of love, spun together by the activity of the Holy Spirit, which we can
define as churching.
As we thank God for this wonderful parish and ask for the Spirit’s continued blessing and guidance, we do so with a conviction and commitment to a lively faith in which church is a verb. Amen.
