The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

We’re going to begin today with the BCP. If you would please grab that dusty red book from the pew rack in front of you and open it to page 854.

Here we are in the Catechism of the Episcopal Church, looking at the section titled “The Church.” Briefly, the Catechism is, quoting from the official Episcopal Glossary, an “outline for instruction in the Christian faith presented in a question-and-answer format. Although the Catechism serves as a commentary on the creeds, it is not intended to be a complete statement of belief and practice. It provides a brief summary of the church’s teaching.” 1

In other words, the Catechism is a starting point for discussing our church’s doctrine. I’ll spare you the official definition of doctrine, and we’ll boil it down to the idea that doctrine is our church’s teachings on what we believe as Christians.

I am beginning today with these definitions because, ultimately, we’ll look at the language in Ephesians, which beautifully weaves together doctrine and faithful living. But often, we miss the connection between the Scriptures and our contemporary lives. So, we’re going to look at how the church, The Episcopal Church, in particular, interprets and translates these holy words into actionable ideas.

Back to the books in your lap. We’re on page 854.

The Church 2
Q. What is the Church?
A. The Church is the community of the New Covenant.
Note that the church is not a building but a community of like-minded
believers.
Q. How is the Church described in the Bible?
A. The Church is described as the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head and of which all baptized persons are members. It is called the People of God, the New Israel, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and the pillar and ground of truth.

1 https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/catechism/
2 The Book of Common Prayer, pp. 854-5

Pay attention to the first description of the Body of Christ; we’ll come back to it.

Q. How is the Church described in the creeds?
A. The Church is described as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
As usual, we’ll say the Nicene Creed after the sermon. As noted before, the creeds are part of our statement of belief and doctrine. What are we saying about the church when we recite these words? The Catechism helps us to parse it out.
Q. Why is the Church described as one?
A. The Church is one, because it is one Body, under one Head, our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice that the metaphor of “body” is referenced again.
Q. Why is the Church described as holy?
A. The Church is holy, because the Holy Spirit dwells in it,
consecrates its members, and guides them to do God’s work.
“...consecrates its members, and guides them to do God’s work.”

This is talking about us. The Church is holy because, with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, we do the holy work of God. Take that in for a moment. We each have a role to play in the holy work of God.

Now, the next two we’re mostly going to read because these might be the most frequently asked questions that I hear:

Q. Why is the Church described as catholic?
A. The Church is catholic, because it proclaims the whole Faith to all
people, to the end of time.
Q. Why is the Church described as apostolic?
A. The Church is apostolic, because it continues in the teaching and
fellowship of the apostles and is sent to carry out Christ’s mission to all
people.

Notice that it doesn’t just reference the ordained clergy here, “The Church,” that is a community of people, all of us, “continues in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles,” and then again, “The Church,” all of us “is sent to carry out Christ’s mission to all people.”

Q. What is the mission of the Church?
A. The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with
God and each other in Christ.
Q. How does the Church pursue its mission?
A. The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships,
proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love.
Q. Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?
A. The church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its
members.

I’m sensing a recurring theme here.
The Ministry
Q. Who are the ministers of the Church?
A. The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and
deacons.
Q. What is the ministry of the laity?
A. The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of
the Church.

Let’s focus on a few takeaways before we look at Ephesians:

• The Church is a group of people that share the Christian belief.

• The Body, of which Christ is the head, is another term for the Church (a
  group of believers).

• The Church is made Holy in part because the members do God’s work.

• All the members are responsible for participating in the mission and
  ministry of the Church.

• And God gives each person gifts to carry out that ministry.
  Now, when we look at the text of Ephesians, we can make some connections. You might want to keep your BCP open, because this should sound familiar”

• “I ... beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have
  been called...”

  
  This letter is addressed to a group of believers in the town of Ephesus.
  Thus, we understand this as a call to the members of the Church. Not just
  this one church 2000 years ago but to all of us.

  
  How do we know it’s addressed to the future Church as well?

  
  Because “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the
  one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
  Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

  
  The Church is not just this group of people in Russellville, Arkansas. We are
  connected to all the members of All Saints’ over the years. We are
  connected to our Diocese and all the churches in it. We are connected to
  the wider Episcopal Church now and over the centuries. And we are
  connected to all believers from the time of Christ until today. We are all
  members of the Body of Christ.

  
  And yet, God does not lose track of any one of us.
  “....each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift...
  He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors
  and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the
  body of Christ”
  
  This is repeated throughout the Epistles. Each of us is given gifts to do
  God’s work. Yes, we are called to ministry, and we already have the tools
  and talents to do the work God calls us to do.
  To what end?

  
  “..until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
  Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”
  Go back the page 854 of the BCP and look again:

  
  “The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and
  each other in Christ.”
  It’s like someone planned it this way.
  Each of our teachings ties back directly to Scripture.
  We’ve connected the dots from the BCP to the Bible. Now what?
  I’m glad you asked.

  
  Our church will soon begin a strategic planning process. But, like most people, when you hear the term “strategic planning process,” you probably want to roll your eyes and run in the other direction as fast as you can. So, let’s ditch the term “strategic planning” and call it something like “Holy Contemplation.” (I’ll get with the vestry to make that official.) Let me explain. Strategic planning is intended to guide an organization in fulfilling its mission. The output of strategic planning is a set of goals with actionable and measurable steps. These goals are set according to the strengths of the organization.

  
  So, we could instead say that a Holy Contemplation process guides a church in fulfilling its mission in the world. The output of Holy Contemplation is also a set of goals specific to the church, according to the gifts granted by God. And Holy Contemplation invites us to prayerfully attend to this process listening to the Holy Spirit. Okay, let’s put this all together.
  
  The BCP offers a contemporary interpretation and definition of the Church that is solidly connected to the Scriptures. But the definition of mission is offered in broad terms. Our Holy Contemplation process will invite this church to discern our gifts,
  guiding us to do God’s work. And each of us will be invited to individually discern our gifts in contributing to the ministry of the church.

  
  In this way, we determine how our church lives into our mission in 2025 and beyond while remaining grounded in the Scriptures. It is in this way that we all work together to build up the Body of Christ. In closing, I’ll borrow this prayer from the previous chapter in Ephesians. Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we
  can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the
  Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.

The Rev. Mercedes Clements