A Church of Living Stones

The essence of this church is not about bricks.
Its not about mortar.
Its about – and its always been about – men and women subject to the living lord and engaged in ministry to one another and to the world!

I’ve used the story about the deck chairs before, but I think it’s a good one.

During a session at Lucy’s Psychiatric booth, Charlie Brown is sitting there looking despondent.
And, Lucy is listening to his latest tale of woe.
Finally she responds with her magnificent insight and wisdom.
"Maybe I can put it another way....Life, Charlie Brown, is like a deck chair."

Charlie Brown says, "Like a what?"

Lucy says, "Have you ever been on a cruise ship?
Passengers open up these canvas deck chairs so they can sit in the sun...
some people place their chairs facing the rear of the ship so they can see where they've been....
other people face their chairs forward...
they want to see where they're going!"

Finally, she gets to her point and asks,
"On the cruise ship of life, Charlie Brown, which way is your deck chair facing?"

Charlie just looks at her. "I've never been able to get one unfolded......."

Do you ever feel like that?

When we look at what’s going on in the world around us,
when we take stock of what we think is important in our lives,
when nothing is the same as it was,
when things happen to our bodies and our minds,
when life starts to cave in on us,
it is easy to feel somewhat bewildered, and confused, and overwhelmed, isn’t it?

Today, we remember the history of this church, and celebrate those who worked so hard to bring their vision into reality some 84 years ago.

There was a definite feeling in those days that the deck chairs were being arranged to face forward.

In your bulletin there is a list of 21 members who have been a part of this church fellowship for at least 50 years!
And, you know what, if you look around, some of them are here today!
And, they are some here almost every Sunday!
There is a lot of history here.
They remember how things were.
How things used to be.

They remember how they used to have to set up extra chairs in the aisle to accommodate all the folks wanting to worship here.
They remember the circles,
they remember the women’s activities,
they remember the mens clubs,
they remember the Sunday School,
they remember the youth groups,
they remember Vacation Bible School,
they remember the mission aide societies,
they remember how people’s faith was nurtured here.

For those who remember the good ole days, it is easy to feel that this is not what it was,
and we tend to arrange the deck chairs to face where we’ve been.

But, you know what, the folks that started this church 85 years ago wouldn’t understand that.
They were forward-looking kind of people.
I am sure, if they could stand where I am they would see that over half of you here today, were not here twenty years ago.

And they would be very happy about that.

For the most part, we do drink from the wells that others before us have dug.

We must always remember and acknowledge that, but, this is the twenty-first century – 2011!

We live in our times.
Our ship cruises our seas.
To be sure, we may face uncharted waters,
and we may not know what’s ahead for us,
but that’s where the excitement is,
that’s where action is,
that’s where our God is.

As the years and events go by, it is so easy to miss the forest for the trees –
especially when we have to deal with the day to day, week to week, hour to hour events that happen just to keep on keeping on.

Now that we have culminated the sale of building here that sits between Turner and Foss Avenues on State Road in Drexel Hill,
we need to rework the idea that is so embedded in our minds about what a church is.

Two years ago, I wrote an article to remind one and all that our church was not for sale –
while we were seeking to sell the building,
our church was not for sale.
For our church is not this building.

We may call this a house of God,
and, like the Psalmist, we may feel gladness when we come here,
but, our New Testament faith is about something else.
For sure, the Temple was an important part of the faith of Jesus’ time.

As long as the Jews were a nomadic people,
they traveled with their faith.
God’s place was portable.
They carried the symbols of their faith with them were ever they went.
And they celebrated God’s presence in their midst under all kinds of circumstances.

But, as they settled down to a more agrarian society, there were many movements to formalize and concretize a center of faith in the midst of the city where the king lived.
For years, each time it was brought up, God would say “No”. Don’t do it.

But, finally, the need of the people to have a building – a specific place they could point to and say “That’s it!” Prevailed.
And a temple was built – it stood in the center of things for all to see.
That’s our God’s house.
That’s the center of our faith.
That’s our temple.
And, we are told, it was a most substantial building, indeed.
And, by the time of Jesus, the temple was a central part of their faith and life.

That Jesus did almost all of his ministry outside of the walls of the Temple should have given his followers a clue,
but it took some years after his death for the followers to come to understand that God was active outside of the confines of the temple.

It was so much a part of their faith that the very idea that God can do without temples did not come easy to the Apostles.
James held on to the temple image to the last.
Peter barely managed to break away from it –
but he did.
It actually took a special dream –
some would say, nightmare –
before he was able to cut loose and affirm that the Gospel belongs in the marketplace.

Peter gets it,
and begins to understand that if God is found in all kinds of actions where we are engaged in ministry to the least of these,
the image of the temple needs to be revamped.
The new idea is, that this new temple,
this new church,
is being built with living stones.

Our church is not this building of bricks and mortar, no . . .
For some 84 years now, this church has stood built on living stones –
flesh and blood people who make up this spiritual house of God –
celebrating the Gospel in the midst of the people.
The essence of this church is not about bricks.
Its not about mortar.
Its about – and its always been about – men and women subject to the living lord and engaged in ministry to one another and to the world!

From the beginning, and throughout its history,
this church was composed of living stones –
people who have given themselves to the God who has called them to a ministry of compassion and concern:
people in whose hearts and lives the Kingdom of God has been built.

I pray that this essence does not get lost in the next era in this church’s history.
May we continue to celebrate the Gospel in the midst of the people,
proclaiming the wonderful acts of God.
For, the word is that God breathes through living stones –
and wherever the Spirit is breathing, there is life and hope – even after 84 years.

Each of you are living stones
with which this church thrives –
through which the presence of Christ gets expressed –

As long as you are here,
as long as God uses you to minister to others,
as long as God’s breath resides in you and me,
this church will continue to be a part of God’s work for time to come.

As you and I gather around the Lord’s Table today, let us remember the souls of all those who have gone before us.
And let us pray that the same Spirit that was with them and guided them in their endeavors,
be with us and guide us to further give witness to the presence of Christ in the world around us today – in our days and times –
as we prayerfully seek a revisioning of our ministry and our church for the days ahead.

When the inquiry is made,
“Dr. Living-stone, I presume,” let each of us answer,
“Yes! That’s it!”
Amen.