Well, one Saturday night as I was working on my sermon, Sam turned on Nascar – I did a mental eyeroll – and he was telling me that this race was different. Sam very patiently explained that they were doing what was called a “shootout” with a two car draft. What caught my attention was that they weren’t all running around trying to pass each other. They were teaming up. Now I’m aware that they all have team mates, but mostly in the races, it’s each driver for himself.
But that night, the cars paired up – one would drive up behind another – and push him. Using this technique I'm told the cars could go on the average 20 miles an hour faster… So now you have all these cars going around this track at about 200 miles per hour – with pairs hooked up bumper to bumper, driving right next to another pair beside them going 200 miles an hour – and maybe another pair trying to come up between them or around the side.
To make a long story short, in the last lap, there were two pairs out in front, way ahead of the others. As they approached the finish line, the lead “pusher” decided to make a run for it. He dropped back, passed his teammate that he had been pushing, and tried to win himself. What happened was that the other pair stayed “hooked up” and they managed to pass both of the two single cars so that the front car of the second pair won the race.
Now, the question is, why have I just spent the first portion of my sermon talking about Nascar? It’s because that night, I saw teamwork in Nascar designed to accomplish a purpose - to win. That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in our lesson from 1st Corinthians today. Three weeks ago, Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were baptized in the name of Christ – not Paul or Apollos or Cephas. He picks back up on that theme today.
Sometimes division happens in the church because people divide themselves into little groups, make cliques, over some little differences. That’s what we find in our lesson from First Corinthians. Here Paul is doing what he so often does. He is writing to – responding to – a community that he helped start. He has received word that there is a lot of bickering going on – people arguing over who they belong to – Christ or Paul or Cephas or Apollos… They have divided into little cliques, each one trying to prove their importance over each other. They bicker. And he asks, “Whose name were you baptized in?” His point is that Paul and Cephas and Apollos were all working toward the same end – to spread the word that Jesus Christ is Lord. None was greater than the other. (It reminds me somewhat of people bragging, "I'm an Episcopalian," or "I'm Baptist" or "I'm Catholic" or whatever...)
Paul’s job was to plant seeds and he did that. Apollos came along later and watered those seeds – not unlike what happens in churches today. Each person stayed to do their job, then turned it over to someone else to continue the work so that they could go on to the next town and spread the word there.
You might remember the story I told in the Outpost this month about the young rabbi. I like that in several places our prayerbook says, "The people may kneel or stand." Because your physical posture doesn't really matter. What matters is the position of your heart, not your body.
Yes, even today churches find members bickering with one another over any number of things. People not only bicker over traditions, they also bicker over things – maybe items donated to the church. Doesn’t Aunt Sophie’s old couch look great in the parlor? Or Uncle Bill’s old piano (which no longer works) is a great addition to the parish hall. Don’t move that dying fichus tree because Grandpa Tom gave that to the church.
I love seeing the playground here and seeing it used. One church I served bickered over having a playground. One group thought it was important to have a playground for the children to attract younger couples. The other didn’t want to have a playground because of the liability factor. They still don’t have a playground and they still have trouble attracting younger families.
Churches bicker over rules, ideals – they bicker over all kinds of things – whether the new rolling cart with the cutting block top is to be used as a cutting board, or as a decorative serving station. Our bickering comes from a human need to have others conform to our way of thinking. Jesus calls us to a higher ideal – that of unity – where we can agree on principles without having to conform to minutia.
One of the worse things we can do, the least productive thing is to compare ourselves to one another. God judges each of us on our own merit, not that of another. Each of us is uniquely made - by God - and God's purpose for us will be served - one way or another. Whether we are called to lead or to follow, to serve or be served, or to design or to build, God uses us to complete his purpose, not ours. Yes, it may not seem fair that there might be different standards for different people, but God has a purpose for us all
Paul tells the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So the one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose… for we are God’s servants, working together.” We should be hearing the same message – we are invited to be in communion with one another, working for a common purpose, not doing the exact same thing, but supporting each other along the way.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus tells us, “If you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council. . . When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”
The lesson we didn't read this morning from Ecclesiasticus sort of holds the key for us. It starts out, “If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.” We have to remember that we make our own choices, our own decisions about how to act, what to say, whether to respond to others in love or with something less that love.
We have to make the decision of how to respond to those around us – to work with them or against them. Sometimes there are bumps in the road, and that’s when we leave that gift at the altar and work out our differences. If we can get past any differences and all work together, then we know that we will be spreading the gospel of Christ – the good news that Christ is alive and well within this church known as Grace.
This month we have a number of things that are going on - the Boy Scout Dinner, the Garage Sale and the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. I hope everyone will be here to support our Scouts who do quite of lot for the church. But we need hands on deck for the Garage Sale and for the Pancake Supper. Please sign up to help with one or the other.
Now to take this idea even further, During his sermon at the opening Eucharist on Thursday, Bishop Doyle (operating out of the Parable of the Good Samaritan) told us that we are to look for Jesus in that person who has been beaten and left on the side of the road to die. On Friday in her Plenary address, Francene Young said her church once noticed that Jesus was missing from the crèche after Christmas. They went out scouring the neighborhood looking for the missing Jesus. She encouraged us to go out and look for Jesus in the "hood." All during Diocesan Council, we were told that our mission is to seek out the lost, the broken, all those in need of God's love and care.
We have people at Grace Church who are reaching out in various ways: We have several who work with Meals on Wheels to take lunches out to those who can't do for themselves. We also have several who work with The Gathering Place, a ministry to Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers. We can demonstrate our Christianity by working in one of the these ministries or maybe there is some other way that we can serve. What other ways that we can be involved (or need to be involved) in reaching out to those in our community who are in need of help? We are called to seek out those who are not part of us, but who need our help. Grace Church can be a light to this neighborhood as they see us working together and loving each other and caring for those around us. Where is Christ calling you to serve?
Amen.
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