Be Strong in the Spirit

Laity Sunday

Good morning, Grace Church! Those two words, grace and church, carry a lot of meaning and varied connotations. Grace is what caused God, over and over, to bless and show compassion for his people when they had gone astray, when they had wandered away from his will for them. Grace is what caused God to see our need for salvation from our weakness and willingness to sin. And Grace is what caused Jesus to bring God’s love to us in person, to show us how to spread that love to others, and finally, to give us the ultimate gift of grace in his death for our sins. There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”

Which brings us to that second word – church, or, as Paul said, “all the Lord’s holy people.” Do we think of ourselves as holy? I don’t know about you, but I generally don’t see myself that way. Holy, though, means that we belong to God, that he calls us and loves us, that he holds us close to his heart. It doesn’t mean perfect. It means redeemed. It means we have the shared promise from the Resurrection to know that God will never leave us forsaken or alone.

It means that God has sent us, each of us and all of us, the power of his Spirit to make us strong for the work of his people. We gather strength from each other, from our time together in worship, from our prayers for those here and for those we know to be in need.  Our presence in each other’s lives, even if it’s just once a week in this sanctuary, creates a loving railing to hold on to when we might otherwise falter. We know that there are brothers and sisters here. Jesus promised to send a Comforter after he ascended to heaven, and that Comforter lives right here in and with us all. Sometimes we see it as a hand to hold, or a friendly hug. Occasionally, we hear it as a timely sermon. Often enough, it’s a call to help someone else. However it comes, it’s always God’s gift of power and light and love.

We come together in the unfathomable love of God, to learn and grow strong. But then what? Here’s where we come to another meaning of “church.” It’s all of us together here, but it’s also each one, living our lives and doing our best to follow what Jesus taught us, to spread the love of God. As Paul reminded the Romans, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another.” God’s infinite creation means we all have different talents or abilities. We all have individual gifts, given or brought out by the spirit.

I’m looking out at this small but mighty congregation, and I see some who have been part of us for more than fifty years, and some who haven’t been with us for even fifty weeks yet, all together, all vital parts of the whole. We each have a part to play, a job to do, in this building and away from it. Jesus has promised to go with us, and he has given us helpers and guides along the way. Reach out a hand and the Spirit will meet the need.

So here we are, Grace Church, the hands and feet and eyes and heart of God, the walking talking message of the Lord’s grace and love. Let’s hold on to the power of the Spirit, and grow strong with each other.