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SERMONS

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 27, 2002

By David Christian

The first century city of Corinth was located in southern Greece. It sat between ports on the Aegean Sea to its east and the Adriatic Sea to its west. A major north-south road ran through it and connected the mainland of Greece to the Peloponnesus peninsula to the south. Because of its strategic placement it was an important manufacturing and commercial center. It could probably be best described as a boom town, filled with travelers and freed slaves and merchants and entrepreneurs.

The apostle Paul probably visited Corinth on his second missionary journey around the year 50 and remained there for a year and a half or so. Through his preaching, first to the Jews and then to the gentiles, he established the first Christian community-the first church-in Corinth. The church was probably composed mostly of artisans and ex-slaves from the lower and middle classes of Corinthian society, with some few rich Corinthians as well.

Within a few years of Paul's leaving Corinth, news came to him of problems in the church there. One of the main problems had to do with divisions or factions within the community. It is those factions that Paul is addressing in the portion of his first letter to the Corinthians that we read today.

Paul writes to them:

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."

He then goes on pointedly to ask, "Has Christ been divided?"

Later in this letter Paul makes the bold assertion that the Corinthian church, as a community, is the body of Christ. And he claims:

Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body are one body … so it is with Christ…. Indeed the body does not consist of one member but of many…. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?

What Paul claimed for the church in Corinth is just as true today. You are the body of Christ. This community, the Chapel of the Cross is Christ's body in this place at this time. You are all here because God has called you here. And God has called each of you here for a purpose. The Chapel needs all of you. Each of you has something to offer.

As some of you may have noticed, we have a new organ. The purchase of this organ is the culmination of the hopes of many of our members. It has been obtained through private contributions at no cost to the church. It is a very fine instrument with a truly lovely sound. It is also big. The style of its construction is not in keeping with the style of the Chapel, and by its placement it obstructs the view of people sitting behind it.

Over the past several days I have had a number of conversations with parishioners who are deeply disturbed by its presence here. The root of their concern lies in their love for this space and its simple elegance. Their worship is enhanced by the Chapel's physical beauty, a beauty that is increased by the faithful work of members of the altar and flower guilds. For them the beauty and elegance of the Chapel, with its view up the aisle to the chancel and altar and beyond through the lancet windows to the branches of the magnolia tree, is severely disturbed by the presence of the organ at the front of the church. They feel that it destroys the architectural integrity of this space.

I believe I understand their concern. We are the stewards of a treasure. No one who enters this Chapel is unmoved by it. It is ours to care for and to protect. In this regard it is important for me to note that in installing this organ no change has been made to the Chapel other than moving several pews to different locations. Nothing has been done that can't be undone. This placement may not be the final placement; this cabinet may not be the final cabinet. Your vestry and wardens are aware, as I am, of the significance of this place, and I am certain that, as your leaders, they will be faithful stewards.

Yet as important-as valuable-a treasure as this building is, there is something that is of infinitely more value: the community that gathers here. You-each of you-has been called here by God. You-each of you-has special gifts to offer this community. You-each of you-is a member of the Body of Christ in this place, that is called the Chapel of the Cross. For some of you what is most important is the physical beauty of this place. Your offering is enhancing its beauty with flowers and candles and shining silver and brass.

For others of you what is most important is music. Your offering is made through words and song. For others, it is other things: teaching, providing hospitality, visiting the sick, caring for the poor and the outcast. All offerings are important; none is superfluous.

As important as our decision over what we do with the organ is, of infinitely more importance is how we go about making our decisions. We must be willing to speak the truth as we understand it. We must be willing to listen to one another in love and in charity and in humility. We must care for one another. We must pray for one another. We must love one another. No one stands outside the circle of God's love. No one can stand outside the circle of our love. There is no one here who is not needed.

We are blessed in this parish by a diversity of gifts and passions. Our life is enriched by all that you offer. Community is easy when everyone agrees on everything. The trick is to learn how to stay in community when our needs and priorities and passions and understandings of God's will come into tension.

In the grand scheme of things the question of what to do with our new organ, while important, is not that great. There will be greater issues and weightier questions facing us over the next years.

What this question offers us is an opportunity to explore how we will face and resolve issues that arise in our community; an opportunity to decide what values will guide us in our life together; an opportunity to learn to love one another and value one another and see Christ in one another, especially when we disagree.

You are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Let there be no divisions among you. Let all that you do be done to the building up of the body and of the kingdom of God.

I am confident that with love and prayer and God's help, there is nothing that you cannot do.

God's peace be with you all.

David Christian
The Chapel of the Cross
Madison, Mississippi