The Perfect Church¹
I Corinthians 12
Rev. Matthew M. Fry

As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Give us, we pray, O God, thoughts higher than our own thoughts, prayers better than our own prayers, powers beyond our biological possibilities, that we may spend and be spent in the preaching and hearing of Thy Word. Amen.

Hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Listen.

I Corinthians 12:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.  ²You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.  ³Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.  ⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.  ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  ⁸To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  ¹¹All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.  ¹⁵If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  ¹⁶And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?  ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be?  ²⁰As it is, there are many members, yet one body.  ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  ²²On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; ²⁴whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.  ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.  ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?  ³¹But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

In a sermon preached to a meeting of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Dr. George Wirth, Pastor/Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church Atlanta told this story. See, if you have been looking for “The Perfect Church”, he found it. In fact, it’s right here in Atlanta GA. Driving home from a Presbytery meeting a little while ago, it was found.

Down Ralph Abernathy Boulevard, cross over McDaniel Street, suddenly there it was, right before Dr. Wirth’s eyes. The sign on the front of the building read “The Perfect Church.” It was like accidentally discovering Utopia, or getting lost and asking for directions at the Atlantis Gas Emporium. Imagine a minister’s surprise. We don’t know of such a church ever existing.

Dr. Wirth parked his car, made his way to the front door and knocked on it, because what is any pastor going to do but want to see the Perfect Church. We’ve got best practices to share. Unfortunately, there was no answer. So, he went around to the side door, and knocked there, and then to the back door, knocking as he went, but nobody was there. A quick check of the windows, walk over to a children’s playground, but no one was in sight. It appeared to him that the church was empty.

So, later that afternoon and again at night, he called on the phone, but couldn’t reach anybody. He tried again in the morning, and again no answer. The place was empty.

After hearing Dr. Wirth speak about it, and since I was in that area several times last November and December, I decided to do my homework, check this out for myself. Sure enough, it is a Church of God, and you can knock on the door until your hands fall off, but you can’t get an answer. And now, no matter what time of day you call, while you don’t get endless rings, no person answers except on the machine to say where they are located and that they are The Perfect Church.

Somebody has finally figured out how to create “The Perfect Church.” Simply put a sign by that name on the front of the building, apply for tax exemption, and then, don’t let any people in! Because, without people, there would be no problems, no pressures, no fights or financial difficulties, no congregational conflicts or denominational controversies. The Perfect Church. Indeed. And if you have been looking for it, it is right here in Atlanta, on the corner of Ralph Abernathy Boulevard and McDaniel Street.

For any church, not just The Perfect Church, the search committee is commissioned to find the perfect pastor. Not that many committee’s would admit to it, but the profile usually includes a preaching voice like James Earl Jones, pastoral care skills akin to Mother Theresa, the administrative ability of a Fortune 500 CEO, the stamina of an Olympic marathon runner, the humility of Thomas Merton, and a sense of humor similar to Johnny Carson.

You can picture it right, the perfect pastor and the perfect church, how great it would be.

However, one of the popular things to do now, when churches are looking for an ordained Pastor of some kind, be it Head of Staff, Solo Pastor, Associate, Director of Christian Education, whatever, is to take a different approach. Look in the Presbyterian Outlook or the Christian Century Magazine, and you may find one that reads something like this:

“Imperfect church with imperfect staff seeks an imperfect candidate for pastor in order that grace may abound…Interested parties should forward information to the imperfect chair of the imperfect nominating committee…”

I love it when I see those kinds of ads, because I think they come dangerously close to the Gospel and good news of Jesus Christ and to the New Testament vision of what the church can be and could become.

Many of my pastor friends, especially Presbyterian pastor friends, have all noticed that we have claimed this day, Worldwide Communion Day, and taken it as the opportunity to reinforce the idea of church sticking together, which is a prophetic sermon in the day and age that our denomination currently lives. Today, all churches gather around the table, and we affirm that we will all be together one day around God’s table. Today, we are reaffirmed in the image of our oneness, an image that we as a denomination have sometimes forgotten, or set aside in our desire to get our way. And I think that is a sacrilege and an attempt to destroy to the gospel.

Jesus said Let the greatest among you become a servant to others…and the first shall be last and the last shall be first. He wasn’t enamored with size or success, prestige, position or prominence. Instead, our Lord said that at least one condition for entering the Kingdom was humility.

Jesus said Judge not, lest ye be judged. And take the log out of your own eye before you try to take the speck out of someone else’s. In other words, instead of coming down on others for what they have done or left undone, for what they believe or do not believe, look in the mirror and come to terms with your own imperfection.

If it wasn’t Jesus who said the following, then it was someone who looked just like him. “I have come not to minister to those who were self-righteous, but rather to those who are sick and suffering and have lost their way.” Which was his way of saying that perfection was not and never will be a litmus test for the Christian, or a mark of the Christian community. No, the church Jesus envisioned and founded has always been open to imperfect people like the disciples on down to you and me.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all…

Perhaps Paul was writing those people in Corinth a message we still need to receive, that in the midst of our diversity, God alone can weave together a sense of unity in the church. And we are not supposed to act alike, look alike, think alike or be alike. But we all have been called to serve together and be the body of Christ.

For the body of Christ does not consist of one member, but of many members. The foot, the hand, the ear and the eye belong together, and no part of the body can deny or disclaim their connection to any other part of the body, because we need one another to be complete.

That is why it is not only sad, but contrary to the Gospel and to Biblical Christianity to say, “I don’t want to be with you because you disagree with or are different from me.” It is just as sad, and just as contrary to the Gospel and to Biblical Christianity to say, “Well, if you want to leave, then good riddance.” What the Christian community needs so desperately today is a reaffirmation of our commitment to the Body of Christ mentality. We are all in this together, connected as members to one another, and nothing, absolutely nothing should ever be able to separate us from the love of Christ or the fellowship of other believers.

The Body of Christ, the Christian Church, including the Presbyterian Church (USA) is made up of many members, just as it reads in I Corinthians chapter 12. And we’re all different – we don’t all act alike or think alike or dress alike, and we surely don’t all have exactly the same theological or Biblical point of view…because we are not supposed to. God made each one us unique, and if you read the Bible carefully, it reveals that the Lord delights in that kind of diversity!

So I hope and pray that the time will come for us to open our hearts, our minds, and our arms to other Christians who may not agree with our own interpretation of the scriptures, or our understanding of the creeds, or our personal opinions about church doctrines, or our deeply held convictions regarding amendment G 6.0106b, which is the controversial section that our denomination has been fighting over ever since it was put into the constitution in 1996. We all belong to the Body of Christ and are therefore connected, joined at the hip you might say, and joined heart to heart, hand in hand, with you and with me.

Paul encouraged the Corinthians that “…there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Or, if you prefer, United we stand, divided we fall.

A couple of people have asked if we could have forums at NPC about the main issue that divides in our denomination, Amendment G-6.0106b, the issue of ordination standards and particularly how it relates to homosexual people. So, we’re going to do that, the next couple of Wednesday nights. Starting this Wednesday, the 4^th, come for quiche, and I will be making egg substitute quiche for those whose cholesterol doctors won’t let them near an egg, and stay for an open forum discussion that Chris and I will lead on the issue of homosexual ordination. But I will have you understand this: If you are coming to spread your agenda, if you come with a closed mind, if you come willing to divide the church to make a point or get your way, I will stop you. I will address comments on either side of the issue that don’t build up the body, or that leave any person with a different viewpoint behind. I will say something like, “Can you say that in a way that won’t leave anyone behind, in a way that shows how we love and respect each other here?” I’m not sure how many weeks we will do this, we’ll play it by ear. We’ll start this Wednesday with some history and background, and open it up. We’ll three Wednesdays. But understand this, here is the whole point of doing this. They say you should never give out the point before taking on the process, but I’m going to anyway. Our oneness as the Body of Christ not only trumps this issue, but makes it of such little consequence, that I have come to feel my call as a young Pastor who loves the Presbyterian Church is to prophetically lead to oneness, and to call out divisiveness. Or, in other words, I will not abide in this or any church divisiveness without saying something about it. I’m tired of it folks, and I’m taking my stand. Bring your divisiveness here knowing that when you do so, you will find an opponent in me.

Which comes from my understanding of the 27^th verse from the 12^th chapter of I Corinthians: “Now, you are the Body of Christ and individually members of it.” Which means, that as long as Christ is the center of our life together, there is nothing which can separate us from one another or from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The advertisements in the magazines that we preachers take read, “Imperfect church…seeks an imperfect candidate for pastor in order that grace may abound…” With Christ at the center of our life together, may that same spirit of humility, peace, unity and purity prevail as we seek God’s will and God’s way for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Amen.