Union Church

November 2, 2008
Matthew 23:1-3, 11-12

Our scripture reading has Jesus telling the people that the religious leaders don’t practise what they teach. It is all about them instead of it being about God.

It is all about rules and regulations instead of compassion.
It is all about what is right instead of what helps.
They do not know why they are doing what they are do.

Whenever any religious group falls into this trap, we hear the criticism,” They are a bunch of hypocrites.”
Even when we are trying to help and those who are criticizing don’t bother to help, we still hear from their lips, “They are a bunch of phonies.”

And to a point, these complainers are right.
And to another point, they themselves are hypocrites for expecting from us what they don’t expect from themselves.

Let’s be clear, we all engage in practices in our churches.
We are very busy people.
But are we intentional?
Do we know why we are doing what we do?
Do we see the bigger picture of the Christian way of life? Maybe. Maybe not.

When the church doesn’t remember the tradition or know the wisdom, then the critics have a point.
The church/the people may be seen as hypocrites.
They may be experienced as phony.
The church becomes irrelevant to many people.

So Diana Butler Bass, the theme speaker at a conference I attended 2 weeks ago takes the inverse of the claims of hypocrisy, phoniness and irrelevance to observe spiritual vitality within church congregations.

The inverse of hypocrisy is coherence:
Our words and our actions must match. Our words of love must be expressed in actions of love.

The inverse of phoniness is authenticity:
Practices need to emerge from the life and experiences of real people in community. Real people helping real people in real situations.

The inverse of irrelevance is a relevance that leads to transformation.
The Church is called to lead people into greater love of God and neighbour which transforms lives.

The Church of the 21st century is called to help.
It is called to be a servant community of healing, feeding and creating a safe place.

Christianity has to get over the concept of being right.
It is not about passing judgement.
It is not about condemning people.
It must stop being part of the problem and become part of the solution.

As Jesus says quite clearly, it is about being helpful.
It is about leading people into greater love of God and neighbour which transforms lives.

So our application for today?

The United Church Creed which we all read together during Tyler’s baptism says, “We are called to be the Church.”
The church is everyone who is here today and many more.

As followers of Jesus, we are all called to heal, and feed and create a safe place as we connect with God and one another.

In other words: Ministry anytime, anywhere, by anyone. And by the way, this is our stewardship theme.

Last week at our Congregational meeting, Jim Fyles stated that quality of life for him when he retires means that Union Church is a part of it.

This week, we are celebrating the beginning of Tyler’s life through baptism into the Church.

Quality of life for Tyler means that Union Church is a supportive part of his growing up.

Tyler and Jim might be dealing with the opposite ends of life’s spectrum but they will still require healing, feeding and a safe place as they connect with God and others.

So, our application for today?

Let’s silence the critics.
Let’s walk the talk.
Let’s keep on being Union Church year in and year out.

Let’s see how much love we can give away this year and every year.