Seeing the Church as the people of God
Matthew 18:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against
you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your
brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that
‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If
he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.
If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would
a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything
for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
If I asked
you, “What is the Church?” how would you answer me? Many I.C. parishioners would identify the
church with our gorgeous, century-old, stained-glass studded building. Just look around: that’s our church! A new Indian family in our parish has an
8-year old daughter, who, every time she sees the church, says with a beaming
smile: “Utha ende puli ah!” Don’t you
feeling like saying that, too? That’s an
Indian language called Malayalam, and she’s saying, “That’s my church!” Which one of us doesn’t stand a little taller
every time we see a John Bell painting featuring I.C. church? We are rightly proud of our church.
And yet,
is “the church” really about a building, even a highly historic and holy one,
like ours? Pope Francis seems to be
directing our attention to another understanding of the church: not as
“buildings” but as “believers,” that is, not as structures made of stone and
glass, but as people filled with humility and hope. The pope did this with one dramatic and even
drastic decision. He moved out of the
spacious, and to be honest rather luxurious, papal apartments and moved into
the more sparse Casa Santa Marta. When
he first walked into the papal apartments, he gasped, “Over 300 people could
live in here!” The pope is telling us
something by his example. The church is
not about buildings but about believers.
Do you remember the children’s rhyme about the church? It involves hand gestures. It goes like this: “Here’s the church. Here’s the steeple. Open the doors. There’s the people!” The pope is teaching us that the church is
the people, not the steeple.
Today’s
gospel reading brings us to the heart of Matthew’s gospel; his whole gospel,
from beginning to end, is really about the church Jesus wants to
establish. What does Jesus say the
church is? Surprisingly, Jesus uses the
word for church – in Greek “ekklesia” – only twice in Matthew: once in chapter
16, and today in chapter 18. Jesus never
says “ekklesia” in the other gospels of Mark or Luke or John. Some Scripture scholars argue that since
Jesus only used “ekklesia” twice, the concept of church was unimportant to
Jesus; he didn’t really care about establishing a formal church. But I think exactly the opposite is the case;
some things we say very rarely not because they’re unimportant but because
they’re supremely important. For example,
couples say their wedding vows, “I do,” only on their wedding day; the paucity
of the use proves how precious it is.
So, Jesus says in Matthew 18, “If he refuses to listen to them, tell the
church (the ekklesia), and if he refuses to listen even to the church (the
ekklesia), treat him as you would a gentile or tax-collector.” You see, Jesus brings up the church in the
context of fraternal correction because the church is about believers trying to
love each other. And we don’t do a very
good job so we have to correct each other.
In other words, for Jesus the church is not so much a building but a
body of believers. For Jesus, the church
is the people not the steeple!
One day a
man was walking across a bridge and saw another man standing on the edge about
to jump off. He ran over and said,
“Stop! Don’t do it!” “Why shouldn’t I?” asked the desperate
man. The passerby said, “Well, there’s
so much to live for!” The jumper asked,
“Like what?” The passerby said, “Well,
are you religious or an atheist?” He
answered, “Religious.” The passerby
said, “Me, too! Are you Christian or
Buddhist?” He said, “Christian.” The passerby said, “Me, too! Are you a Catholic or Protestant?” The jumper said, “Protestant.” The passerby said, “Me, too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?” The man said, “Baptist.” The passerby said, “Me, too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist
Church of the Lord?” The man said,
“Baptist Church of God.” The passerby
said, “Wow, me, too! Are you Original
Baptist Church of God or Reformed Baptist Church of God?” The jumper said, “Reformed Baptist Church of
God.” The passerby said, “Well, me,
too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of
God, Reformation of 1879 or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?” The man said, “Reformed Baptist Church of
God, Reformation of 1915.” The passerby
said, “Die, heretic scum!” and pushed him off the bridge. Now, I want you all to know that no human
beings were hurt in the telling of this joke.
But is it any wonder Jesus used the word “church” in the context of
fraternal correction? We have a long way
to go to love the people in the church.
Steeples are far easier to love, aren’t they? Buildings are a lot easier to love than
brothers and sisters in Christ.
How we
answer the question, “what is the Church?” has far reaching implications. If we think a church is primarily and
principally a building, then we’ll pour all our time, talent and treasure into
it. If, on the other hand, we believe
the church is the people, then that becomes our priority and then that tends to
tugs at our purse-strings. Now, don’t
misunderstand me: church buildings are important. I still need you to give lots of money to the
Capital Campaign! But Jesus didn’t
suffer and die to save structures of stone, but to save souls of sinners. This is why we should pay close attention
every Sunday when we say the words of the Creed: “I believe in one, holy,
catholic and apostolic church.” What we
mean when we say that is, the Church is a body of believers, not a bunch of
buildings. First it is the people, and
second it is the steeple.
Would you
like a litmus test about your belief in the church? Just ask yourself: what do I love most about
Immaculate Conception: the steeple or the people? And maybe the next time you feel like
shouting in Malayalam, “Utha ende puli ah!” (That’s my church!), you’ll be
looking at a bunch of I.C. parishioners.
Praised be Jesus
Christ!
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