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Sermon – August 2, 2015
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Pentecost X Proper 13, Track 2
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. . . . Ephesians 4:11-12
Please be seated
Part of my seminary training included a summer of Clinical Pastoral Education or CPE. I spent three months as a chaplain at Roosevelt Hospital on the upper west side of Manhattan. I had just moved nearby, so walked there each weekday. I walked up a BIG hill and then walked down each afternoon.
There was a group of us from a variety of denominations – Unitarian, Seventh Day Adventist. We had learning sessions on various topics throughout our time together. On many Fridays we gathered with other CPE participants for larger discussions and learning. We also had times when we were on-call for nights and weekends.
In my group, we were assigned to different floors of the hospital. I think nearly everyone wanted the penthouse floor! That was a special floor for those with enough money to have spacious and luxurious rooms with a concierge. I didn’t get that floor, though.
I thought the emergency room would be good for me, because it was a place I wasn’t sure I’d really like all that much. All of the trauma coming through the door would be hard, I thought. As it turned out, though, my hospital was partnered with St. Luke’s Hospital further uptown. St. Luke’s was the trauma 1 hospital, getting the most serious emergency cases. Roosevelt was a trauma 3 hospital, so mostly saw people with minor injuries and ailments.
The other floors I covered were maternity. Roosevelt was a major center for giving birth. I’d go up to the floor and go from room to room. I’d ask how they were doing spiritually that day. Some families didn’t say much and weren’t interested in a visit. But other families welcomed me in and asked me to pray for them and with them. I really enjoyed that.
As my time went on and I witnessed so many births, I realized something I’d known in an abstract way, but now felt deep within me: we are all connected and each new birth, whether I ever saw that child again or not, changed the world. Not only did the birth of a child affect the family as adults became parents and grandparents and children became big brothers and big sisters, but that new life…that little child brought their spirit and soul into the world. I didn’t know what impact that little baby would have, but I knew the world was different because of their presence.
And while I’d worked in hospice and was familiar and comfortable with death, I better knew that every death impacted the world in some way, whether I personally knew about it or not.
Today in the letter to the Ephesians, Paul lets the church community in Ephesus know how important each person is. Each person in that community brings gifts that are absolutely necessary for the community. Gifts that are absolutely required for the members to become mature in their faith.
My experience has been that in the dominant culture, we tend to think of ourselves as individuals, rather than as a group. We might think of others as a group, but most of us who are white, think we are individuals only. For instance, prior to being ordained, I often told people I needed to go to church for myself…because my life was better when I went to church each Sunday and when I belonged to a faith community.
However, that is only part of the story. The other part, which I never really acknowledged and still seems odd to me, is that my being part of a community and showing up on a Sunday and at other times, benefitted the community…was important to the community. That feels like bragging, doesn’t it? To assume we are so integral and important.
But the truth is, your very presence on a Sunday morning, your saying the prayers and singing the hymns…the chorus of our voices together…is important. You bring a gift to the community. It is a gift given by God and is a gift that is vitally important for our life together. You may not feel like it’s much to be sitting in the pew each Sunday, but it is.
So, you don’t just come to church for yourself. Your presence and your gifts are needed by this community to equip us, the saints, for the work of ministry and to build up the body of Christ.
I once heard a story about a church that built a new building, but did not put any lights in it. Each person was to bring their own lantern when they came to church. The amount of light was proportionate to the people who came and demonstrated how important each person’s presence was as part of the community.
So, yes, come to this community when it gathers because it helps you, but also come because you, precious and created in God’s image, bring gifts and light and make a difference for this community of faith.
Amen
