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Searching
for the Perfect Church
by the Rev. Rich Smith
January 27, 2008
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
The 19th century evangelist Peter Cartwright used to
tell about the time he began his sermon by proclaiming, “There’s no
such thing as a perfect man. Anyone who has ever known a perfect
man, please stand up!” No one did, and he continued, “And there’s
no such thing as a perfect woman! Anyone who has known a perfect
woman, you stand up!”
He was taken aback when indeed one
lady stood
up. “You mean to tell me, sister, that you’ve known an absolutely
perfect woman?” “Well, I didn’t exactly know her,” she
replied. “But I’ve heard a lot about her. She was my
husband’s first wife!”
Ah, perfection! Always at once elusive, and
only experienced in hindsight! We’re always seeking it, and our
advertisers bank on that fact. Buy our product or our program,
and you can have perfect hair, the perfect body, the perfect vacation,
the perfect score. I’ve been seeking perfection all my life -
trying to preach the perfect sermon, take the perfect picture, bake the
perfect apple pie. I may have come close with that last one, but
the only thing I am sure that I have perfectly succeeded at is being a
perfect fool!
Well, after all these years of trying I’ve pretty
much concluded that perfection is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Besides making you crazy trying, if you did succeed, what would you do
next? Where do you go after perfection? It’s all downhill
from there.
Now when it comes to our church, I know quite well
that we are not perfect. In fact, I’m glad about that, because it
means I still have a job to do! I worshiped in a number of
different churches last summer, and while some of them were pretty
good, none were perfect, either. The standards of perfection are
perhaps higher today than they’ve ever been , because we keep getting
compared the best. It’s harder to hold on to members in a
consumer-oriented culture, where we expect complete satisfaction or we
can go elsewhere!
We've all known people who for one reason or another
drift away from the church. There are no doubt many reasons for
it. Interests and priorities change; friends and children move
away; some burn out, having been on the Deacons, Trustees, Sunday
School staff and choir simultaneously for fifteen years straight; some
disagree with the theology or find the program no longer meets their
needs; some simply become disillusioned and find the church has
too many imperfections, too many hypocrites, and just doesn't measure
up to their standard for what a church ought to be. What all of
them seem to have in common is what they forget: that they ARE the
church, especially in a congregational-type church such as ours.
All of us are the church, and if something is not the way it should be,
it's up to us to do something about it! And if the church dies,
it's our fault. As I am constantly made aware, the church is
always just one generation away from extinction!
I suppose no church is perfect, but it doesn't hurt
to ask, if there were such a thing as a perfect church, what would it
look like?
And I suppose it would be
fair to say that none of us would answer that in quite the same
way. I won't speak for you, but given what I’ve heard over 31+
years of ministry would suggest that a lot of people believe the
perfect church would be one where the sermons are short and don't
meddle in touchy subjects like politics or religion; the hymns are
always "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "How Great Thou
Art"; the services never run over 45 minutes, on football playoff
Sundays or in golfing weather they don't hold them at all; they never
ask for money or volunteers; instead of pews, there are lazy-boy arm
chairs; there are lots and lots of children and youth who never
make any noise; the minister is always available in the office, but
also makes at least 60 calls a week on potential new members and spends
another 30 hours in prayer and sermon preparation; there are super
coffee hours every Sunday, but because it's at the church all the
calories are miraculously removed. Chocolate is a
sacrament. Sounds great, huh? Actually there is such
a place. I used to live eleven miles from it in Southern
California. It was called Fantasyland!
My own vision of the "perfect church" might seem
equally fantastic. But I would like to see a church with a full
house every Sunday, where Super Bowls and Golf are placed in proper
perspective; where the Sunday School is always overflowing and noisy
(and the parents all come to church too), and where there are more
teachers volunteering to teach than are needed. Adult education
classes and small groups abound. No one ever complains about the
hymns, in fact they request the challenge of new ones with some
frequency! This perfect church is characterized by diversity, and
the ready acceptance and inclusion of all types of people of various
racial and ethnic backgrounds, economic status, sexual orientation,
political points of view. Strangers quickly become friends.
Trust and forgiveness are part of all relationships. Covenants are
kept. It is a church with "mission" as its middle name, one that
insists on not only healing the wounds of the community and its
peoples, but on also being prophetic, taking public stands on justice,
even when they are unpopular. It would be a place where the most
coveted position is Youth Group leader; where there is a long list of
willing and able potential moderators, where everybody tithes, and is
involved in Bible study. The deacons are out every afternoon and
evening making calls. No one has to be reminded to attend
meetings. In fact, there really a very few committee meetings at
all. Ministry happens among the people, who care for each
other and who love one another, even when they disagree. There is
no gossip and no trouble about anything, because these are all saints
and the kingdom has arrived! The only draw back I can see is that
such a perfect church would have no need at all for a minister!
Well, perhaps Fantasyland is big enough for both
visions of the perfect church. More often churches are like the
Lutheran Church in Lake Wobegon. Pastor Inqvist has his hands
full trying to keep everybody happy and everything on an even
keel. I remember the story about the time one well meaning church
lady called him up to congratulate him on being the longest-staying
minister in the history of that little church. That was fine, but
then she began to reminisce: "I wish you could have known our
former pastor, Rev. Tommerdahl. Now there was a man of God.
When that man spoke, I could close my eyes and the room moved. I
don't believe that's happened to me since!" "Well,
thanks for your call..." cut in the pastor, but the woman continued,
"You know, that man was a prophet in our time," she said, "but I just
don't believe, times being what they are in these latter days, that
it's possible for a true man of God to last very long in the
ministry! Well, anyway, I just called to congratulate you on your
being here thirteen years; so have a nice day!"
I don't know if I'll ever find a perfect
church. But read the Bible. Was there ever a perfect
church? I used to suppose so---members loving one another,
sharing all, meeting each others needs. Paul wrote to these
churches. What did he say? Congratulations? Keep up
the good work? Can we copy what you're doing in Corinth here in
Galatia?
No, he said, as in our scripture lesson today,
"It has been reported to me that there are quarrels among you..."
It just goes to show, the church isn't what it used to be, and never
was!
Seems that Paul had heard from some folks about the
conditions in this Corinthian church he'd founded a few years
earlier. "Chloe's people". That was a kind of early Women's
Guild. They told Paul about the problems in the church, which
involved a lot of jealousy and petty bickering. While they
weren't in any immediate danger of a split or schism, they were
breaking into various factions, each with a different loyalty.
Some said, "I belong to Paul", who had founded the church. Others
said, I belong to Peter, who had brought many into it. Still
others gave their loyalty to Apollos, the current pastor and the
greatest orator they'd ever had the pleasure to hear. And a few
more said, "No, we belong to Christ," but not in a good or healthy
way. What they meant was "We're Christian and you aren't!"
It would be as if this church was divided into
groups, some saying "I belong to Bob" or "I belong to Jessica" or "I
belong to Gordon", or "I belong to Rich." Paul is saying, while
it may be understandable to have a warm place in your heart for the
person who brought you into the church and nurtured your faith,
ultimate loyalty belongs not to any individual human being, but to
Jesus Christ in whom we are already united.
And need I remind you that unity need not mean
uniformity. A church where everyone acted alike, thought alike,
believed alike, looked alike, would be a rather boring place. The
true test of Christian unity is the ability to disagree in our
formulation of the truth, even our convictions about the truth, without
compromising our ultimate loyalty to Christ – and to each
other. That's what Paul was telling the Corinthian
Christians. Later on in the same letter, he used the image of the
church as a body, describing how each part of the body is important and
needed, even though each part is different, has different
functions. All work together under Christ who is the head.
There is essential unity, without uniformity. I think any church
that can at least adopt that vision for itself, think of itself in that
way will have taken the first step towards being what it is called to
be. It may never be perfect, this side of heaven, but it will at
least be faithful.
Several years ago Ann Morales was digging through
the files and gave me something she’d found in the church
archives. It was a "moment of concern" offered here back in
October of 1979 by Donald Larrabee, who had chaired the Search
Committee that called Loring Chase. I think I used it in a
sermon, but enough time has passed that many of you weren’t here then,
and I think it bears repeating. I recall that several of you who
did hear it, called up Donald Larrabee and told him about it, and he
wrote me a nice note. I finally met him and thanked him, and I
think what he wrote then is still relevant. So here it is, but
you don’t have to call him again!
He said, "My memories of Westmoreland Church go deep
but none remains as vivid as the experience of searching for a perfect
minister. In our delusion of spiritual grandeur, we thought we
had the perfect church and that we had a God-given right to the perfect
minister. Of course we wanted nothing less than the son of God to
come down and to be in our midst. What we realized, of course, in
our prayerful moments, was that we chose Loring Chase in order to make
us perfect: what an impossible task to assign anyone....
"Our first task (on the search committee) was to
analyze ourselves and the kind of church we were, then to explore the
kind of church we wanted to be. What, we asked, made us so
appealing that the perfect minister would want to give up the
perfection of their present parish?
"...we really did think we were pretty good.
We had the physical plant, the beacon on the hill. We had more
than our share of PhD's and intelligent people, and excellent choir, a
bustling church school, something for everybody.
"We had a beautiful Statement of Purpose that needed
only to be recited regularly. We needed, we felt, inspiration
from the pulpit and we had it made.
"But when we came to the crunch, when we found one
or two people who filled our bill, we learned that we didn't fill
theirs. It's a bit shattering to be rejected when you think
you're well nigh perfect.
"...we are a different church from the one Loring
Chase came to. That does not say we are a perfect church.
We are doing things we did not dare or aspire to do when we came to
this circle as a congregation in 1949. We had to overcome some
obstacles to provide a nursery school. We finally began using our plant
and equipment for the betterment of neighborhoods beyond our circle....
We went abroad in the city of Washington, reaching out to less
fortunate persons in the inner city with a housing project...." (and
have since added the Volunteer Corps, arts programs, Community Care,
the Middle East Committee, the Green Group, Sandwich making, the
Washington Conservatory, the Briggs Center, etc.)
"While we are no longer stuck on ourselves, we are
still stuck with ourselves....Making a good church perfect is an
ongoing thing. You don't stop with excellent leadership.
You don't stop with a picture book New England setting... On the
contrary, you start by admitting that things are not all that they
should be, considering everything we have going for us. You start
by wondering what you have done for the church community lately, not
what the church has done for you" (and move on from there).
Perhaps that's what an Annual Meeting is really for
-- not just to elect officers and hear reports and pass a budget, but
rather to take stock as to where we are on the road to that
ever-elusive perfection, to celebrate the past and declare our faith in
the future that God gives.
Of course we’re not a perfect church, but we’re a
pretty darn good one! We’ve faced our challenges and come through
them stronger over the last few years. I think we can be proud to
open ourselves up to newcomers, to affirm that we have both a lot to
offer and yet a lot more to do. We’re poised for greatness, if
not perfection. As I said, maybe perfection is not all it’s
cracked up to be. As Leonard Cohen once sung,
Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything -
That’s how the light gets in.
As one of my mentors asked me at a
very impatient
and idealistic stage in my life, "If the church were perfect, could you
belong?"
No, the church is very human, imperfect,
made up of the same kind of people Jesus told stories
about. The church is made up of just the sort of folks Jesus
called when he walked along the sea of Galilee, rounded up some rogue
fishermen and said, "Follow me."
We follow in their stead, in all our frailty and
vulnerability, and human imperfections---yet with incredible
potential! We are the ones chosen to be the body of Christ on
earth, literally the only hands and feet Christ has to be about the
work of healing, forgiving, redeeming love. I'm glad we're here,
such as we are, belonging to God and to one another. So let’s let
the light in, and join together to work and pray and plan, to make this
church the best we can!
Last updated Wednesday, Februrary 29, 2008
1
Westmoreland Circle
Bethesda, MD 20816
301-229-7766
Email the church office: churchinfo@westmorelanducc.org
www.westmorelanducc.org
An
Open and Affirming Congregation
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