We are the body of Christ 

July 9, 2023 

Today I want to talk about donuts! During the past week I went to the General Synod, which is the national meeting of the UCC. It was in Indianapolis. I had been to General Synod before, in 2001 and 2003. Our conference minister, at that time Rev. Russ Mitman, and some staff would go and help you find your way and even provide you with some snacks. My husband, Kevin, went to General Synod in 2015 and 2017. He had the same experience where some conference staff helped you.  

Our Penn Southeast Conference now has a tight budget for General Synod. Our conference minister, Bill Worley, came. But there was no admin assistan along to help and not as many snacks provided. On the fourth day, a young man in our delegation brought a box of donuts for our group. That was great! Then later he told us that he resented that he had to buy them. Couldn’t someone else in our delegation or the conference minister buy them? Why did he have to, when he didn’t have much money? Sometimes we Christians get upset with something about church. 

There are other people with complaints about the church, who stay away because of their dissatisfaction. The majority of adults under 65 in our county say Christians are judgmental, hypocritical, old fashioned, and too political. That’s a challenge for us. But surprisingly, having a favorable view of Christians is not a fundamental of Christianity. Why? Because none of us is a perfect representation of Christianity. If you want to know what God’s like, you don’t look at Christians. You look at Jesus. He showed such deep love. He asked us to leave our sin and follow him. Jesus died for you, for me, for everyone, to pay for our sins and make us right with God. 

Sometimes people get a feeling that something is off with Christianity. You might see the attitude or behavior of a Christian and say, they’re supposed to be a Christian, but they don’t seem very Christ like. It is good to evaluate ourselves as a church, and as a Christian. Is there something off? That’s good to consider. 

But as Christians, we don’t stop with the critique, “Well there’s something wrong with the church.” That’s the beginning. The critique is no good unless we do something about it: get busy putting it back together and making it right. In our faith, there are some things we need to leave behind and get rid of. But there are other things that are essential: like Jesus is our model, he’s our Lord and savior. The stories about Jesus, what he taught and said, felt and did: they tell us what’s important to God. We need to keep Jesus! He’s essential. 

Surprisingly faith in Christians is not an essential for following Jesus! If you ever felt something like, “How come I brought donuts, and no one else did?” I think everyone of us has looked at a church, or at Christians, and thought, there is something wrong with them. Because there is something wrong! Christians are not God. Only God is God. Be assured, God is good, even if we Christians are not always good.  

However, people who don’t follow Jesus, almost all of them have a lack of faith in Christians.  

So, we’re going to look at Matthew 16. Jesus asks a question of his followers. “Who do you believe the son of Man is?” Jesus is asking, who is the son of Man, the special person God has sent? And the disciples say, “He’s John the Baptist,” or “He’s Elijah.” or, “he’s Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” But what about you?” Jesus asks. “Who do you say I am? Jesus is asking, do you think I’m the Son of Man? And Peter says, “You’re the Messiah, the son of the living God!” 

Jesus says to him, blessed are you! I tell you; you are Peter! That’s a name that has the meaning of rock. Jesus says, on this rock I will build my church. I will build the church on belief in me.  

Jesus didn’t replace himself with a person, Peter. Jesus was passing the torch, but not to a person. Instead, he was passing it to a gathering of people of faith, people who believe in Jesus as the ultimate authority. Do you believe Jesus is God’s son? If you do, as Peter did, Jesus is building the church on your belief, and on the belief of other Christians. 

The apostle Paul wrote that the human body has many parts. You need all the parts. That’s the way it is with the body of Christ, the church. All of you together, are a collection of people to represent Jesus. So, after Jesus went back up to heaven, the church is how people would experience Him. We, the church, are the body of Christ! 

The idea is that when we are new to the faith, the church we are placed in is a community of people who are enough like Jesus, that we get to know Jesus from the church. So as a church, we are Christ’s body. We show up for each other, and we are with each other. The church is God’s plan to transform people and transform the world.  

The church is never going to be perfect. Why? Because you’re not perfect and I’m not perfect. The goal is not to be perfect. The goal is to challenge one another and build one another up.  

At General Synod, there was the donut issue. I didn’t think about getting snacks for everybody in our PSEC delegation. But I will in the future! We had a challenge getting to know each other as a delegation. Because when we did meet together, 30 of us and conference minister Bill Worley, we couldn’t all hear each other. There was the echo of a big hall. Or a lot of noise in the hotel lobby. In the past at General Synods there were places where we could meet and hear each other. 

On our last day at General synod, we finished everything except for worship, which would be later that evening. One of the delegates, Elaine, said, “I think I need to debrief!” She needed to talk about her experience of Synod. So, I said, “Let’s debrief!” And she and I and another delegate, Alec, talked about how we felt and what we thought. I said that for me, hearing some of the youth delegates get up to talk at a microphone, to the whole synod, 700 delegates plus visitors, it was inspiring and emotional! Our debriefing was helpful and It felt good to talk. Later I was talking to one of the Schuylkill Association delegates. I asked him if he would come back to the next Synod, because usually you’re expected to go to two in a row. He said, “I don’t know. Sometimes people didn’t agree on what we voted on.” And he brought up other issues. I listened to him and thought, we probably all need to debrief. So, I asked our conference minister, Bill Worley, if our group could get together and talk about our experience. He said sure, and he invited everyone to a gathering. He took good care of us. 

There we talked about what was disappointing (donuts), what was great (donuts). We talked about how we as a group should meet together once in a while after we get home. We could go to a Fightin Phils game or a Phillies game. Someone suggested a party at Bill’s house! (He didn’t say no!) 

That debriefing, that gathering, made a difference. After it that Schuylkill association delegate said it helped him feel better. He will go to the next General Synod in two years. (The next Synod is in two years. After that, they will take place every three years.) 

This General Synod experience showed it matters that we get together as the body of Christ. It matters for General Synod and for us here at church that we have conversations: that we call or text each other to ask, how are you doing? It matters that we bring the donuts, or whatever we’ll share with each other.  

I have one more story. The treasurer of the UCC got up and gave a report at General Synod, and after that, it was dinner time. Me and a few of the PSEC delegates went to a restaurant to eat. Kim, my roommate, looked at a woman at the next table and said, “That’s the treasurer who just spoke!” And I said, no she’s not, she’s wearing different clothes. Kim said, “That’s her!” I asked, “Are you sure?” Kim knew it was the treasurer. Kim had worked in finance for college financial aid for years. She really appreciated how hard the finance people work! And so, Kim wrote on a piece of paper, “You were awesome!” And she held the piece of paper up to the woman at the next table, and it made the treasurer so happy! She asked, “Did I do ok?” We said, YES! She said, “Can I have that paper? I will keep it from synod to synod, to encourage myself!” When you encourage someone, it makes a big difference. We are the body of Christ! 

Right now, I want you to tell someone near you, “You are awesome!” 

That’s my homework, for you to encourage someone this week! 

The church is God’s agent to transform people and transform the world! Gathering is essential! I don’t want to make you feel guilty. I wasn’t here last Sunday. I just want you to experience all the care, the love, the encouragement, that comes from Christ’s body on earth, the church. When you show up, or bring the donuts, or get on your phone, it matters. So, let’s make it a habit to show up for each other! That’s God’s plan to transform the world! Amen. 

Today’s message: Talk it over 

1. If you grew up in church, do you have a positive or negative memory of that experience? 

2. If you didn’t grow up going to church, what was your opinion of “church people” when you were a kid? 

3. How has being part of a church changed you? 

4. What do you need from others in the church? What do they need from you?