This sermon was preached for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Clifford, VA) and Grace Episcopal Church (Massies Mill, VA)n Lynchburg, VA on the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A 2023.
Photo by Ben Cowgill at Grace Episcopal Church, Massies Mill.
Exodus 3:1–15; Romans 12:9–21; Matthew 16:21–28

What is task of the church?

I think there is a lot of confusion— well, maybe I have a lot of confusion— about what the task of the church really is. Perhaps, if you were to walk into a different church than St. Mark’s/Grace, you might hear a message or see certain behaviors that answer the question “what is the task of the church.” Perhaps if you were to have a conversation with a Liberty University Student, verses a student at UVA, you might get several different answers about what the task of the church is. But if you were to ask an Episcopalian “What is the task of the church?” Now THAT is a real head-scratcher.

Part of the joy, and the challenge, of being Episcopalians, is that we cast a theologically wide net. Our central message of inclusion, love, and welcome creates a diversity of thought and religious background in many of our parishes. We have many refugees, or immigrants, perhaps, from other traditions, who were formed with certain ideas of what church is. Perhaps they bring those ideas to us, or perhaps they come to us hurt by those ideas, or going away from those ideas. We have lifelong Episcopalians, and generational Episcopalians too, who pass down both the good and bad concepts of what the task of the church is. We may have visitors or guests, those we don’t know well yet, — and I would ask them the same question— what do you think the task of the church is?
Is our central task to say that God is Love?
Is our central task worship, or outreach, learning, or proclaiming?
Is our central task that we should follow Jesus? If so, what does that mean?
Is our central task that we should love one another? How might we do that?

Certainly there is a time and season to do all these things, to explore all these ideas and enact them in the world. and across different Christians and denominations, we may see an emphasis on different aspects of the Christian message. Yet when it comes down to it, the gospels, the letters of Paul, even God speaking to Moses at the burning bush, seem to have a particular idea about what it is that we should be doing, what our task as a church is.

The letter of Paul to the Romans centers this idea. Our reading today builds on last week’s reading of Romans 12:1-8; let me re-share a couple of lines: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Rom 12:1-4).

Paul goes on to rehearse his famous metaphor of the body— that in all our diversity of gifts and personhood, we are bound up together in one body— Christ’s body. Our different gifts and experience allow each of us to make a vital, irreplaceable contribution to Christ’s body, the church. Yet as members of the church, we are called to live in common— sharing some virtues, some values, some practices: as Paul says, “Live in harmony with one another.” This passage, especially verse 10, is one of Mtr. Allison and I’s favorite verses. It was shared with us many times by our dean at Sewanee, and the student body, a diverse group of those devoted to God from around the church, dwelled on this passage during some of our school’s most difficult times over the past five years. Love here is not the simple “I love you,” although that is always a great place to start— love is something to strive for. Love is something that honors the other person, that is shared between two people, that takes perseverance & devotion. It involves patience, suffering, sacrifice. It involves discomfort.

Discomfort is certainly what Peter must have felt— first, as he heard Jesus teach about his own death; such an injustice must not happen! He had to correct their teacher, their leader. Second, as one who is rebuked himself— Peter, so recently named the leader of the church, missing the mark again. Peter, on which Jesus will build the church, is rebuked as if he is under the influence of the evil one. How easy it is for our intentions to love one another to become self-centered, misguided; how easy it is for the church to miss the mark, and fail to its central task.

Our church’s central task is to witness to the Messiah. That may be in our actions, our outreach, our evangelism, our sharing of the gospel story, our worship, our prayer, our day-to-day actions. We witness to Jesus Christ when we tell the story— the full story— of his death, his resurrection, and how he has redeemed humanity. We witness to Jesus Christ when we give all of ourselves— “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God— this is your spiritual worship.” Give all of yourself— saint or sinner, your best features and your deepest flaws— God wants it all. God sanctifies us, and God invites us all to discern— to seek God’s will, and be transformed by it. To not think in the ways of this world, but to think in God’s ways, to walk God’s paths. Peter tries to shield Jesus from his path to the cross— but that is not God’s ways. Discipleship is costly— we must offer our whole lives. And when we lose our lives, in Jesus we will find new life. When we follow Jesus, we will overcome evil with good. So “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer” (Rom 12:9-12). By doing these things, we uphold the body of Christ. By doing these things, we witness to Jesus. By doing this, we become what we are— one body, the church.
Amen.