In Christ, the Church

2 Sam. 6:1-5, 12 b -19; Eph. 1:3-14; Mk. 6:14-29

I remember back at the university, when I was a sociology major in the area of criminology, the on-going debate between sociologists and psychologists as opposed to the biologists with regard to what is most influential in shaping a person's behavior -- nurture or nature? That is, is it genetics or the environment of family and society which influences a person's behavior the most?

Looking at this debate 22 years later, I believe it lies with both of them. In other words, what we receive through nature, genetics, and what we experience in our lives from others determines our outcome. What we experience in life can be nurture and/or rejection.

Therefore, I believe in the area of church and with regard to being Christians that we are not born Christian, but made. Yes, we can be born into a Christian family, but the ultimate, as far as being a Christian, comes from the person's own individual decision based upon the revelation of God in Christ to that person. And it is also with the nurture of the family of Christians known as the Church that others come to become Christian. There are no prefabricated Christians!

Our task then, as brothers and sisters of Christ and as Christians is to nurture one another throughout our lives. We cannot expect the Christian community to have full-fledged disciples arriving at our door. Rather, we can expect raw, uncut, unpolished people in need of Christ and the nurture of the church. Faith and disciplined Christian living comes about as a product of living in the midst of the Christian community. Faith or holy living is not just a solitary person in Christ but also a community event.

I am reminded of a parable an old Hasidic teacher once told: A man had been wandering about in a forest for several days, unable to find the way out. Finally he saw a man approaching him in the distance. His heart was filled with joy. "Now I shall surely find out which is the right way out of this forest," he thought to himself. When they neared each other, he asked the man, "Brother, will you please tell me the way out of the forest? I have been wandering about in here for several days and I am unable to find my way out." Said the other to him, "Brother, I do not know the way out either, for I, too, have been wandering about in here for many days. But this much I can tell you: Do not go the way that I have gone, for I know that it is not the way. Now come, let us search for the way out together." The teacher added: "So it is with us. The one thing that each one of us knows is that the way we have been going until now is not the way. Now come, let us join hands and look for the way together." So it is with us.

In the Epistle lesson for today, I read these words. He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless, before him in love (vs.4). God chose who is to be in Christ, yes individuals but also individuals in community. We are called to be a holy church -- a holy apostolic church -- functioning as Christ's bodily presence here on earth. One of the church's most limiting and debilitating myths is that faith and holy living pertains exclusively to individuals, and is not a product of being in the family of God. In other words, persons who have a conversion experience, let's say, after being members of the Community of faith for many years often forget the nurture of the Community which brought them to that conversion experience and, give too much credit to themselves.

Jesus wandered around the countryside as in our Gospel lesson, in search of disciples. The first 12 he promised to make fishers of men and women, to spread out into the world to make more disciples. The church came into being as a result of such a community of believers. We, as the church, are interested, then, in making disciples. In worship, our Sunday School, our U.M.Y.F., our family get-togethers, and so on, are an effort to draw others, (as well as ourselves), closer to God and to the Christian community, the church.

Making disciples is serious business! It is a mandate from God; and is hard work! But making disciples is not enough. We shouldn't end our nurturing process, thinking our job is done, once a person becomes a member. Once we have brought new disciples into our midst, our witness has only begun. Confirmation and church membership is not the end. Conversion is not the be-all and end- all of discipleship. Once a disciple is made the church needs to mark its members. By this I mean that the living Body of Christ is known by the presence of distinctive marks. We can show this by teaching one another about Christ and what it means to be a disciple. Second, we can be a fellowshipping community, as when we have a family night together, or coffee after church, or UMW, or UMYF. Third we are a bread-breaking and broken-body community. We celebrate the Eucharist every other month, and we come together each week to share our hurts with each other and our joys and to pray for each other. Fourth, we are a praying community. We offer prayers for one another and others outside our church and community. We have our prayer chain. We use our Upper Rooms each day to offer prayer to God.

But, there is something else about being a Christian Community and being disciples of Christ. Jesus called his followers as he went around the countryside. He then journeyed with them awhile, teaching them, fellowshipping with them, breaking bread with them, and praying with them. All these activities point towards maturing disciples, maturing disciples so that they, and we, can stand firm in the faith. Being a Christian disciple does not mean life will be roses, without troubles. As one of us said the other day: without God I could not have gotten through life. It's been hard, lots of troubles. But God has been good to me.

Being a disciple in the community of faith means maturing. It means becoming involved, not sitting back. It am reminded of the fact that the Christian gospel is an invitation with an R.S.V.P. at the bottom. Jesus always asks for a response. You've got to say "yes." No one can say "yes" for you. Everyones invitation to God's party comes with an R.S.V.P.

The Body of Christ always looks to the future, to meet the challenges of presenting the Gospel to the ever-changing world; and the world is always on the move. Consider this:

22% of people don't remember the American Bicentennial Celebration.

23% of the people feel people have always been on the moon.

50% are too young to remember the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

66% are not old enough to remember the Korean War.

70% don't remember "before TV."

85% are not old enough to remember the 1929 stock market crash.

Change can be scary, yes, but the mature disciple within the Body of Christ knows that the shape and the face of the church can move ahead in whatever circumstances as long as the heart of this holy community is steadfast on Jesus Christ.

We are the Body of Christ, here; the Dundee Community of United Methodists, called to make disciples. As I stated at the beginning: I believe that Christians are made, nurtured, not born. It is our task and our challenge to go out and make disciples for Christ.

May God make us equal to the task.

Amen.