"Building One Another Up" A Continuing Series on the Purposes of the Church
Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 5: 11-23
This morning's sermon is the fourth and perhaps final regarding some church purposes. After returning from my sabbatical, I felt inspired to look at how the church must function in today's world. I began by focusing on our need to follow the teachings of Christ- loving God, neighbor, and ourselves while doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly. The second sermon involved getting out of the boat and sharing Christ's love through acts of justice and mercy. The third purpose was about Jesus' call to the first disciples- You give them something to eat.
Those are all things we are called to do, but how will we be equipped to do any of them? Which leads us to this morning's purpose. The church is called to build one another up, as Paul writes to the church in verse 11 of his letter to the church in Thessalonica. To do ministry, we need a place for faith to be built up. In this morning's two passages, we find ways to do just that.
Beginning with verse 11 in chapter five of 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells the church to encourage one another. The Greek definition of that word, encourage (parakeleite), means to comfort, support, and pray for one another. I have many examples of experiencing that encouragement, especially in times of the death of family members. This congregation was encouraging and supportive of me after my mother's death in May of 2018.
He goes on to tell the Thessalonians to build one another up. This Greek word, (oikodomeite) means “to build a house.” I think of the many times folks from our congregation have taken part in building a home for Habitat for Humanity. Many hands led by love helped build a house with families who needed shelter. In the case of the church, we build each other up in faith, led by love, so we can go out and work on behalf of Christ.
So, we have two lists to get through to explain how to encourage and build one another up. Hearing these two long lists this morning, we may find ourselves tuning out quickly. Paul wants us to "blah blah blah." In looking at the passage from 1 Thessalonians, theologian Carla Works, professor of New Testament at Wesley Theological Seminary, writes, "Upon first read, the short imperative phrases in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 sound like the instructions that I might rehearse for my kids before dropping them off at a friend's house: "Always be respectful. Listen closely. Pick up after yourself. Say 'please' and 'thank you.' Call me if you need anything. In fact, just call me period." The list goes on. Those words are often not even heard because my children know them by heart. They have heard them repeatedly. (Doing them is another matter!). I suspect many of us read Paul's list of final exhortations similarly—barely listening."
So, I promise not to be your dad in the family van this morning as I drop you off for school, reminding you of what to do and not do, etc. The last thing I want you to hear while I preach is that sound from the old Charlie Brown TV specials when I preach, "Bwa waw a wha waa wa." By the way, I met the jazz trombonist who made those sounds during a music theory class while at college. He used a mute on his instrument to make those sounds happen and demonstrated them to us. It was a lot of fun to hear! To keep that sound from happening in your head, we'll touch on a few of Paul's imperatives and then move on to some concrete things we might do to encourage each other and help build one another up.
Let's look briefly at Paul's list of imperatives to the church at Colossae. Here is a list of Christian attributes of God expressed in Christ for us to follow. Paul begins this section with five noble virtues for Christians to “put on”: Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. As we follow Christ, our characters become more and more like his, bringing us out of the ordinary realm of human existence, approaching everyday life in active Christian living.
It is interesting to note that right after this noble list, Paul gets down to brass tacks. In verse 13, he tells the Colossians to "Forbear one another." That sounds somewhat noble, but the Greek definition of forbear is "to put up with." Back in the first century, people in churches often rubbed one another the wrong way, so Paul said, "Put up with one another." He goes on to tell them to forgive each other as well. It's good that conflicts, disagreements, arguments, or hurt feelings no longer happen in today's congregations. How can we follow Paul's daunting list?
Above all the lists of what to do, Paul says put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. What does that mean exactly? I found an anonymous quote about defining love: "The only place that you can really know a clear definition of love is on a tennis court." What kind of love does Paul mean? Can it be defined? It is agape love ( Agape), a perfect, never-ending source of love that comes from God, directed towards us, which we, in turn, reflect towards others.
I want to touch on two other imperatives from Paul briefly. In verse 16, he encourages the congregation to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." Many scholars believe that the letter to the church at Colossae was written around 65 A.D., not long after Paul's death, by another theologian who wrote in the tradition of Paul. Many scholars also believe the Gospel of Mark was written around the same time. It is possible, therefore, that this congregation in Colossae had some form of Jesus' teachings written down. It is also possible they did not yet have a written source for Christ's words, save for Paul's interpretation. It is easier for modern-day congregations to dwell in us richly for Christ's word. We have four gospels from which we can study and learn Christ's words.
One other area of focus is verse 19, where Paul says, "Do not quench the Spirit, but test everything." My interpretation is that when someone comes up with a new possibility for our church, don't say, "But we've always done it that way." Don’t quench someone else’s fire with a bucket of cold water without considering their idea. This fall, we are approaching a critical, Spirit-led time of discerning our church's future. If someone works through the Spirit and suggests something new, let's look into that possibility rather than dismiss it.
What follows now are three ways we can encourage and build each other up as a church. Some of these ideas came to me during my sabbatical experiences.
1)That we in the congregation develop Soul Friends. This ancient practice in the church was born in the early Irish church. As the Christian faith spread in Ireland in the 3rd and 4th centuries, the early understanding of sin was that one sin committed was serious business. No grace was given without severe repentance. In fact, getting to grace was at least a three-step process, beginning by standing outside the church before worship. After a few Sundays, you could work your way into the narthex, then finally into the sanctuary to tell everyone what your sin was. Finally, one could be forgiven and receive reinstatement back into the congregation.
In due time, people noticed that sin was still happening despite the humiliating process in place. This led to the idea of a private confession to a priest. Author Thomas Cahill, in one of the books I completed during my sabbatical, How the Irish Saved Civilization, wrote, "The Irish innovation was to make all confession a completely private affair between penitent and priest - and to make it as repeatable as necessary. In fact, repetition was encouraged on the theory that everyone pretty much sinned just about all the time."
The problem with this new system was that supply could not meet demand. People's sins were too numerous to be dealt with through the priests. There just weren't enough of them at the time. This led to the idea of Anam Caram-soul friends.
The concept of “soul friends” or “Anam Cara” has deep roots in early Christan history, particularly with the Celtic tradition. Anam Care refers to a spiritual guide, mentor, or companion with whom one shares a deep bond of faith. This relationship was characterized by mutual support, understanding, and spiritual growth. In early the Celtic Church, a soul friend was someone you could confide in completely, sharing your innermost thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment.
The idea of soul friendship emphasizes the importance of having someone who profoundly understands and supports you, fostering a sense of belonging and spiritual connection. This tradition highlights the value of deep, meaningful relationships in one’s spiritual life.
I hope that this idea of Anam Cara – soul friends is something we could try here at our church to encourage each other and build one another up in faith. Look for opportunities to explore this idea next month.
2) I'd like to see if there is interest in a Mid-Week prayer service. When on Iona, we worshipped twice a day. There were so many distractions even in that thin space! I trekked across the island, connecting with my ancestors and the beauty of the place. I sat in the ruins of Columba's office, wondering what it was like to lead a group of Christians in the 6th century. Occasionally, my wife and I headed to a couple of friendly pubs. There were plenty of distractions on Iona. I found that praying twice daily, once in the morning and once at night, kept me in a spiritual rhythm. So, beginning in September, I hope to offer a midweek prayer service, lasting around ½ an hour, including scripture, reflection, prayer, and the opportunity to light a candle for a prayer request, possibly on Wednesday mornings at 8 am. If that time does not work for you, I also want to remind you of the prayers for peace service offered in our chapel on Mondays at 4. These services provide a chance to connect spiritually during the week and can help build us up spiritually.
3) We must be able to tell the stories about Jesus in our own way. Columba sent his monks out to tell about Jesus to various unknown tribes and cultures. The priests had to figure out how to share those words of Christ by sharing stories that connected to folks like the Picts, the Celts, and eventually even the Vikings.
We modern-day disciples need to find ways to share Christ's words with others by letting Christ's Word dwell in us richly. We may not be talking with Vikings, but we may reach out to cultures and people who don't understand our words and keep the church at a distance.
I told a few folks I was a Presbyterian Pastor at a block party last weekend in our neighborhood. I figured sharing the name of my branch of Christendom was enough to give them an idea of what I did and what I believed about Jesus. I was wrong. One neighbor said, "Presbyterians. Is that some gathering of people who believe things about God? Are they different groups of Christians or other faiths or…? I explained a bit about our church. Then she said, "Well, I guess the church has done some good and not-so-good things." I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but I assumed she was referring to churches embracing Christian nationalism and the scandals of abuse in Catholic and Protestant congregations, etc. Friends, that is the mission field we are in with our neighbors. We might as well be speaking Gaelic to someone who speaks in the ancient Nordic tongue. How do we demonstrate our beliefs amid that mistrust and unfamiliarity? I hope to bring some resources your way over the next couple of months, helping you learn to tell others some things about Jesus.
This morning, we may have found the most crucial purpose of the church - finding ways to encourage one another in faith and build each other up. This purpose allows us to do those other purposes well. So, may God be with us as we explore new ways to be the church here at the First Presbyterian Church of Ashland. Alleluia. Amen.
