Doing Church Together
Ephesians 4:1-16
August 6, 2006
One of the things that I have learned through the years as I have taken scores of psychological tests for ordination and continuing education is that I am terribly introverted. I am so introverted that I am almost off the scale.
Extraverted people are those who gather their energy from interaction with other people. Put an extravert in a crowd and he or she will never be at a loss for words, will never wonder what to say next, and will always find someone to talk to.
An introvert on the other hand, is physically and emotionally drained by contact with other people. Being in a crowd of people is exhausting. An introvert finds it to be incredibly hard work to find things to say in order to make conversation. It saps your energy and depletes your strength. An extravert needs other people to be energized. An introvert by contrast, needs periods of quiet and rest after being in a group of people for a while. My wife still doesn’t quite understand my need for a major nap on Sunday afternoons, but it is necessary because of all the hard work that Sunday morning demands.
Introverts are often misunderstood because it seems like they don’t like people. But introversion and extraversion have nothing at all to do with liking or not liking people. It simply is part of our personality make-up that was given us by God. It is what makes us who we are. You would be surprised at the number of pastors who are introverts because it doesn’t seem like a profession that would attract introverts.
I tell you that because my introversion has a profound effect on my life. My parents are as far on the extraverted side of the scale as I am on the introverted side. They never have trouble talking with anybody. They talk to waitresses, shoe salesmen, people standing in line at the bank, the person behind the cash register at the grocery store…it doesn’t matter who or where they meet them, my parents will talk to them.
Toni and I were eating at Applebee’s not too long ago. We sat across the aisle from a couple a little older than we are. With them were their son and grandson. The little boy was being really cute, doing little kid things. We smiled at him and each other remembering those days, and being glad that they were over. They struck up a conversation with us and it wasn’t long before we knew that their son had just graduated from law school. We could tell that he was really embarrassed by all of that.
On the way out of the restaurant, Toni and I laughed together because we understood where that young man’s red face came from. You see, when you meet my parents, it only takes about four minutes to be told that their son is Dr. Carmer and a pastor at Calvary United Methodist Church, and their daughter-in-law is pastor at Leo UMC. I’m embarrassed by that stuff because I don’t do that. I don’t talk to strangers very easily and somehow, my occupation and education seldom enter into a conversation anyway.
One of the things that my parents can’t understand is why I hate family reunions. Let’s face it, the only thing I have in common with my extended relatives are some shreds of DNA. Reunions are agonizing for me. I never know what to say or to whom to say it. And I can never wait to go home.
It’s interesting that there are so many introverts who are pastors because its not easy being one and pasturing a church at the same time.
Regardless of our own personality make-up, I have a feeling that if I would ask all of my introverted brothers and sisters, we would all agree that one of the greatest things about the church is our community. We exist with and for each other. When you come right down to it, I’m not convinced that anyone ever gets to heaven alone. We all need the community of faith for inspiration, for education, and for sanctification. We need the church to teach us when we are ignorant, to correct us when we go astray, to encourage us when we are on the right path, to strengthen us when we are weak, and to help us up when we are beaten down. In the church we find role models of what it means to be a faithful disciple. In the church, we are introduced to Christ. The church is not only important for our spiritual growth; it is essential.
Dr. Jack Ulmer was the Dean of Student Services at Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne and my Senior High Sunday School teacher over at Forest Park. Dr. Ken Keller was professor and chair of the Department of Education at IPFW, and also a member of the church. On the Sunday after I received notification that I had been accepted to Purdue University, I remember telling Doc Ulmer the good news. Dr. Keller happened to be standing close and said; “Now it will take both of us to get him through.”
Thirty-three years later, I needed a field advisor for my doctoral work. I asked Ken Keller if he would work with me. I had all sorts of statistics and data that I really couldn’t make too much sense out of, and hadn’t a clue of how to put it down in a dissertation. We would meet over in the parlor at Forest Park, and by the time we were finished, the floor was littered with my research. In the end, I realize that I couldn’t have finished that project if it weren’t for him. It occurred to me that Forest Park was still getting me thorough. The church which had nurtured me; the church at which I had been baptized; the church which had stood with me through the rebelliousness of my teen years; the church which had promised to walk with me through life…that church was still getting me through.
You see, community can sometimes be difficult. Community can sometimes be exhausting. Community can often be frustrating. But in the end, community helps us survive.
Apparently, a new vacation concept is to take your extended family or a large group along with you. You load up the family vans, or buy your plane tickets, and take off with grandpa and grandma, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, and assorted cousins. Take them with you to the cabin in the mountains, to the cottage by the seashore, or on a cruise to an exotic location in the Caribbean. They’re calling it “Togethering.” I don’t know if that sounds like fun to you or not, but “Togethering” is a fitting description for what I understand the church to be all about.
Modern church architecture is getting away from this style, but in older, more traditional churches, the term “nave” actually meant something. “Nave” is a word that means “ship.” In older church architecture, you could look up at the ceiling and see that it was built in the style of the overturned bottom of a boat. While sitting in worship, church members are being invited by the building itself to launch out into mission and ministry together. Perhaps you would like to think of it this way. Every time we meet for worship, it is like a big family reunion, an ultimate cruising experience.
The Apostle Paul believed that there are four unifying aspects of Christian community. First of all, he understood that the life of the church is essentially communal. He began the Scripture lesson for this morning by saying that he was a prisoner of the Lord. We don’t really know what that meant. It is possible that he was literally in prison. Another possibility was that he was telling the folks in Ephesus that he was “bound in the Lord” meaning that he had given his entire life to Christ and was a slave of the Master. He encourages the Ephesians to be so bound.
He then begins to speak about Christian community. He says, “You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…”
We are a community, he says, of humility and discipline. We are people who pour ourselves out for each other in acts of love.
The church is not a place to build separate spheres of influence, or cliques, or strategies for the manipulation of power to benefit only a few. Community means just that. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one cries, we all weep together. When one is lost, we all join in the search. When one struggles, we all search for solutions. When one rejoices, it fills the whole body with laughter. We travel the road and make the journey together.
I can pretty much guarantee that if a church is not on the same wavelength or not working together for common goals, through common perceptions and with common strategies; not much is going to be accomplished. All the church will do is waste time and resources, and squander the power of Christ to be alive in the world. We were made for community. Paul says, “We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.” We honestly don’t accomplish much on our own. Our greatest victories come when we act together.
The Christian community is communal. It is also creedal. That means that we are a people who share common beliefs. The elements of belief we share are of one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. We are people who gather around a set of core values. We know why and for whom we exist. We gather around things that unite and not divide. These shared beliefs are what gives us the power to go out in to the world to be together with Christ to the neediest people on earth: those who are in poverty of mind, body, and spirit. We are people who know why we go out. We know where we go and to whom we go. We know the reasons behind our faith. We are joined together by shared beliefs.
The Christian community is communal, creedal, and charismatic. That means that we have all been given gifts to use for the building up of the body of Christ. The gifts differ, but every one of us has one. In this particular passage, the gifts mentioned are apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher. Elsewhere, Paul will list other gifts given by the Holy Spirit to individual members of the Body of Christ. In I Corinthians 12, he lists wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.
God has graced the community, with all the necessary gifts to not only survive, but replicate and grow. Everyone has a gift. This church community is not a spectator sport. There is more demanded than to just sit and watch from the sidelines. We all have a common destination, but separate jobs to help us on the way. The church is diminished when each and every member is not using the gift he or she has been bestowed. We are not living up to our potential, and the whole world suffers.
And finally, Christian community is caring. We are a caring community. In the verses that follow the text for this morning, Paul gets specific. A caring community is a community where you speak the truth in love. In the truly Christian community, you will not find lies, or theft, or foul speech. The Christian community is one which is characterized by gentleness, sensitivity, and forgiveness.
The Christian church is communal, creedal, charismatic, and caring. This sort of community for Christians is not optional.
Sir Thomas Beecham was the founding director of the London Philharmonic orchestra. One time he was a guest conductor in another city. The first thing he noticed at rehearsal was that this particular orchestra was not very well trained. He finally had to stop the musicians at the same place in the music for their third time because they just weren’t getting it. One of the members asked him how he wanted them to play. He replied, “together.”
I don’t like family reunions. I probably never will. I’m often uncomfortable in a large group of people I don’t know. I don’t particularly like large crowds. But I love the church. I love our community. I love the way we live together as brothers and sisters of Christ. I love our community, our creeds, our charisma, and the way we care for each other and for those outside of the family. That is what we are to be all about.
There are really few other places where you can experience the sort of community that you can experience in the church. The Christian community is the ultimate group project. Being the church is not easy, it never really has been. But it is exciting when it is done right. And we will do it right when we do it together.
