BUILDING UP THE CHURCH

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON JANUARY 28, 2007

1 Corinthians 14:12 "Since you are eager for the manifestations of the spirit, strive to excel in building up the church."

St. Paul was writing to the church in Corinth. He was addressing the issue of speaking in tongues, known as "glossolalia". The Corinthians thought that because they had this great gift of the spirit to speak in tongues, they were better than other Christians. Nothing has changed! St. Paul points out that speaking in tongues does not make you a better Christian. This follows his previous chapter - the famous chapter 13 - which gives a wonderful discourse about love: love is patient, love is kind, etc.

St. Paul is saying that those who think they are better than others are actually lacking in love, because they have committed the sin of pride. So chapter 13 leads to chapter 14. Having pointed out that the greatest gift is love, St Paul then turns his attention to this particular problem of the Corinthians feeling superior.

In today's text he goes on to point out that any gifts from the Holy Spirit must be for the building up of the church - which he so eloquently described in last week's Epistle reading as the "body of Christ".

Today in v. 19 he even suggests that speaking in tongues is mindless. Some of you will nod be in agreement with St. Paul on that point! All of this might seem more appropriate to your local Pentecostal church rather than here at All Saints' anglocatholic parish.

However, I do believe these words of St. Paul have a relevance to us here at All Saints', especially today. Consider the opening words: he is talking about the manifestation of the spirit in the church. That’s exactly what happened last Sunday, with the confirmation of seven adults and the reception of two others. That was an occasion for a real manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't accompanied by people raising their hands, singing Hallelujah and speaking in tongues - but it was no less an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The difference is that being Episcopalian, it was restrained and dignified in a sacramental moment, reminding us that the first gift of the spirit was the gift of creation - the spirit gently breathing on the waters.

Our experience with Holy Spirit is firstly a gentle spirit. He comes into our lives gently. So what happened last Sunday is more in accord with the way the spirit operates in the world, and in the church and its people.

"Strive to excel in the building up of the church", says St. Paul in verse 12. That is exactly what happened last Sunday morning. The confirmation was a building up of our church through that sacrament. Last Sunday this church was built up by those people.

And today what St. Paul says is just as relevant - because after Mass today we have our Annual Meeting, when we attend to the business of the church. Some people might think it is ordinary boring stuff - not very spiritual. But the annual meeting is when we can consider and reflect on the growth of our parish: how it is growing and building up. We are building up the church here at All Saints'. Today we reflect on that in a different way, at our annual meeting.

The Confirmation last Sunday was a result of what has been happening here over the last few years. After the service last week one parishioner said that it was the largest number of adults confirmed here in many years, if not ever. How wonderful it was when they stood up before us, and affirmed their baptismal commitments, and proclaimed their belief in the Lord Jesus.

This is not just about numerical growth. St. Paul was talking about spiritual growth - and that is what last Sunday was about. In my annual Pastoral Report I reflect on how we have grown, and in ways more than just numbers and finances, as important as they are.

Numbers and finances are healthy. That is because All Saints is spiritually healthy. A wise priest once said to me: there are no financial problems in the church, only spiritual problems. So I take heart from our finances and our growth, because it is a sign of deeper things.

That leads me to reflect on the forthcoming season of Lent. Last Lent in our study groups and forums we learned about the anglocatholic tradition, which is so central to our life as a parish.

This Lent we are moving on in a different way to consider our spirituality as an Anglo- catholic parish. The nuts and bolts of being a Christian: prayer, reflection, meditation. A different sort of learning. During Lent you can actually go to church twice a day from Tuesday to Sunday! As we consider the spiritual depth of our anglocatholic tradition we are reminded that this tradition tells us that our faith is based on the unbroken tradition of the church. What the church has always taught and proclaimed. That what we teach and practice here has both tradition and authority. Tradition and authority - two words often forgotten in our modern church these days. Therefore giving us all the more reason to proclaim and witness to what we stand for.

An annual meeting is an occasion to think about what we stand for. We are to remind the church of what it has forgotten - indeed, some would say, abandoned.

Tradition and authority. This, of course, is what was so attractive about Jesus to the people of Capernaum. He spoke with authority, they said. It was also what so puzzled the people at Nazareth. Friends and relations in the town in which he grew up could not believe that the man they knew had come to preach about the things of God. They were the chosen ones, they lived with Jesus - yet they could not understand that he had come to proclaim God's Kingdom. But to the new people, to the strangers, to the outsiders of Capernaum, they understood he was the Word of God and the water of new life.

I find this very encouraging for us here as a church. Sometimes it seems that Anglocatholic parishes are the ones preaching to the chosen ones represented by the main stream Episcopal Church, who do always understand that Christ is the incarnate Son of God. Caught up in their programs, caught up in their committees, caught up in the structure of the Episcopal Church - the truth is being dimmed. We have a wonderful mission and we reflect on that today.

Our concern with the importance of tradition reminds us of what the church actually is. The church is not simply a body that exists to determine its own priorities. The church doesn't make up its agenda, for then its priorities become concerned with programs, activism and social justice. I'm the first to say that social justice is a sign of God's kingdom - but not necessarily the work of the church.

If the church doesn't do social justice, someone else will. If the church doesn't proclaim Jesus, no one else will.

So on this day of our annual meeting when we reflect and look ahead we do well to remember that the church is primarily the body of Christ - and therefore exists only by God's grace. It is firstly the objective presence of Jesus in the world. Therefore it is not the question of "If Jesus were here today he would say or do…" Jesus is here today - there is no “if” about it. And he is here today because he overcame death, and now lives and reigns forever.

That is why the church is the body of Christ. And that is what we and all parishes exists for, and why.