Sermon "The Field and the Building"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Sunday, November 14, 1999
I Corinthians 3:5-18
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. (I Corinthians 3:9)
In Paul's letter to the we are presented with two metaphors for the church which I would like to consider on this Commitment Sunday. First that of a field, and then a building. Paul was addressing the problem of factions within the Corinthian church who had gathered around different leaders, including himself and Apollos. In an effort to correct their skewed perspective he stressed the importance of God's work and not their own. He writes, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants or the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."
Perhaps you have had experience in gardening where you could observe the mysteries of life gently unfolding before your very eyes. Through careful tilling of the soil, patient watering, fertilizing, and tending of the plants, you nurtured the seed as it grew. You exerted yourself for the sake of the garden-perhaps even to a very great extent; but no matter how hard you worked, only God could give the growth.
Likewise, consider for a moment the growth which has occurred here in this church over the years. What must have been anticipated over 150 years ago we now know for certain. For all the planting and watering of the field required by members of this congregation of the past and today, God gave and still gives the growth. God draws Christians together for worship each week in this place, granting us the elation which comes from praise and the strength from prayer and the sharing of the sacraments. God instills within us a desire for relationships found in Christian community where we can be reconciled to one another God gives unique gifts to each of us, which enable us to reach out in service to one another and to the world and to provide leadership within the church. God calls forth adults, youth, and children to study the bible and transforms us into faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Our building and steeple are a landmark in Wauwatosa. But the church is more. This place is more than a wonderful building! This is a church filled with the beauty of God at work in human lives! It has its own chapter in a wondrous story that began long, long ago when God first formed us in God's own image and breathed into us the breath of life.
Young or old, rich or poor, white or black, God has called us together as one to be the body of Christ. How much more exciting this church becomes when we acknowledge that God's creative activity didn't cease the moment the Bible was recorded. Rather God's salvation story continues to unfold in many and various ways in this very time, in this very congregation, in this field.
Which brings me to Paul's second metaphor for the church-God's building. "For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building," he writes (v. 9).
"No one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid," proclaims Paul. "that foundation is Jesus Christ." But he goes on to add that if anyone builds on the foundation, the work of each builder will become visible and its worth will be known. God has entrusted us with a great treasure. As disciples called to work for the kingdom of God, we are building on the foundation laid by Christ himself with all the unique opportunities and challenges it affords us.
A few years ago our congregation poured quite a lot of energy into writing a purpose and covenant for our congregation. We read it at each Council meeting and at the reception of members. It is in the back of your hymnal. It certainly looks good on paper. But how prepared do we feel to live out this statement as we usher in a new millennium? In what ways can we provide a stronger Christian witness and presence at the center of a community dealing with constant change in knowledge, culture, technology, economics? In what ways can we embody Christ's concern for the poor even as we gather for worship each week on an island of privilege? In what ways can we demonstrate our desire to welcome others from all walks of life into our midst? In what ways can we foster more faithful discipleship within our own community- fuller knowledge of scripture, stronger disciplines of prayer, greater commitment of time, talents, and resources, deeper love of God and one another? These are questions worthy of prayerful consideration and lively discussion lest-heaven forbid- we look back and see only a string of missed opportunities.
How revealing it would have been to stand alongside the workers who built this magnificent edifice years ago and learned from their labors. We could have observed the way a strong foundation is properly laid and then built upon with the finest materials. We could have marveled at the finished product and then imagined with them, "What will this great church mean for all those who enter its doors?" But this is 1999 not1842. In 48 days God's creation will enter a new millennium, and we are helping, with God's guidance, to answer the very questions they may have asked. As they built a building meant to withstand the test of time, so we are building a church meant to withstand the test of faith. For God's temple is holy and - according to God's word - we are that temple. Amen.
