"IT TAKES ALL KINDS"

You know...it's been said that, "It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round." And, earlier this week, I was certainly reminded how true that is. On Tuesday evening, Lorraine and I attended a benefit showing of the "Sing-along Sound of Music." And I am here to assure you today that... "it takes all kinds!" At that particular event, the full experience was enhanced by people who were willing to dress up as "favorite" things like brown paper packages tied up with string...3 people dressed as tea with jam and bread...and a trio of young men who chose to appear in public as the Alps. It also took people who were willing to watch a movie that lasts for 175 minutes (which some of them have probably seen 175 times before!) and - through the whole thing - sing the songs, boo the Nazis and consistently cheer and whistle and hoot at every appearance of Julie Andrews as if she were Frank N. Furter, descending on the elevator in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." ( I have to tell you - it was a little surreal!)

Interestingly, there were quite a few people from this church in the audience that night. But that's not surprising. You can just look around this room and see, clearly, that "it takes all kinds!" And thank God for that! Because without all the "kinds" we have here, we couldn't begin to be the body of Christ in this place that we are called to be. Because to be the body of Christ in the world most certainly takes all kinds. All kinds of people...all kinds of gifts and abilities...all kinds of service that make up the whole of who we are and what we do in the world.

Today we are continuing our month long focus on Stewardship in our church, remembering that we are called to "manage" and care for God's creation through our prayer, our service and our giving. The symbols we are using for these three areas of our stewardship are the three gifts which the Magi brought to the baby Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Last Sunday, we talked about frankincense as a symbol of prayer. The symbol for today's focus - service - is myrrh.

You may remember that, a couple of weeks ago, I told you that myrrh, in ancient times, was an expensive, aromatic plant resin used, among other things, to prepare bodies for burial. This preparation was an intimate, sacrificial act of service given to a loved one. It was not a job sought after for its prestige or honor, but it was necessary in a world where service businesses for such things, as we have today, did not exist. People did that which needed to be done. And today, in the church - the body of Christ - that hasn't changed. People still do what needs to be done. And it takes all of us to do what needs to be done.

One of the readings listed for this week in our Prayer Journals is from the 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians. In that passage, the apostle Paul explains: "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." And, we read, "...God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as God wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is,there are many parts, but one body."

We are called to be one body - the body of Christ, alive and at work here in this time and place, serving God's purposes which Jesus came to the world to inaugurate. Think for a moment about what God's purposes are as lived out through Jesus. We heard them in our reading this morning from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus said that God's Spirit had anointed him, "...to preach good news to the poor," and that God has sent him to, "...proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Isn't that what Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis is here for? To "preach good news" to the poor in spirit who have been made to believe that they are unlovable and unworthy to God? Aren't we here to help people who are trapped in prisons of self-doubt and condemnation discover the freedom of self-acceptance and of love, not only for God and others but for self as well? Are not the "oppressed" welcomed to this place to worship freely and live freely? Aren't we here to help those who need to be served grow into people who are freed and empowered to turn and serve others?

When we do those things, we are, together, being the body of Christ. The trick is to realize that no one of us can do all those things by ourselves. No preacher, no minister on staff, no team leader, no member has all that is needed to bring to completion the work which Jesus began in his ministry on earth. But together we have everything we need to do all of that and more.

M.C.C churches around the world...and lots of Christian churches everywhere...say that we believe in what is called "the priesthood of all believers." That concept is based on a passage from 1st Peter, chapter 2 that says, "As you come to Christ, the living Stone - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.... ...you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God...."

Unfortunately, the systems and behaviors of Christian churches through the years, including M.C.C., have shown that to be more talk than living reality. I personally believe that one of the greatest tragedies in Christian history occurred when a differentiation was made between "clergy" and "laity." Somehow, along the way, those who were called and gifted to preach and teach and whose particular faith communities assigned them "roles" as leaders and who, through tradition, came to celebrate and oversee the Rites and Sacraments of the church - somehow these people came to be elevated in status and are seen as "professional Christians" who are closer to God and "called" in a way that other believers are not.

Well, as Colonial Sherman Potter on the T.V. show "M.A.S.H." might have said, "Horse hockey!" We need to get over this idea that a particular title, a particular role and a piece of plastic worn around the neck makes one person more of a "minister" than the next! In M.C.C., we are all called to serve God...one need not be ordained to celebrate the sacraments and its time for us to recognize that clergy are not the only servants of God we have! Frankly, the But it's going to take all of us. Which means that some of us, who have been standing in the shadows, holding back our gifts and talents and time and energy, will need to step out and step up to join those who already serve in a wide variety of ways.

Once I was cleaning out a desk drawer when I found a flashlight I hadn't used in over a year. I flipped the switch and wasn't surprised when it didn't give off any light. I unscrewed it and shook it to get the batteries out, but they wouldn't budge. Finally, after some effort, they came loose. What a mess! Battery acid had corroded the entire inside of the flashlight. The batteries were new when I'd put them in, and I'd stored them in a safe, warm place. But there was one problem. Those batteries weren't made to be warm and comfortable. They were designed to be turned on - to be used.

It's the same with us. We weren't created to be warm, safe and comfortable. You and I were made to be "turned on" - to put our love to work, to apply our patience and faith in difficult, trying situations...to serve, each doing our part, however small and insignificant it might seem by the standards of a misguided world, to insure that the body of Christ is whole and healthy, strong and successful in this place.

It takes all kinds of people...all kinds of gifts and abilities...all kinds of service to make up the whole of who we are to be and what we are to do in the world. Never, ever discount YOUR part in the whole of the body of Christ! Amen.

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