This sermon can be listened to here: Church is a Group Project
When I add up the years, my life has essentially run on an academic calendar since I was 5-years-old; between my primary schooling, secondary education, the years I taught Pre-K, seminary, and now my work as a Campus Minister, I love the pace of the first few weeks of school. And honestly, I love most things about the academic world, but my least favorite seems to be almost unanimously hated: group projects. I’m not exactly sure when this disdain arose for me, but it feels like it’s always been there. Everything about a group project is complicated: learning to collaborate with different working styles, figuring out where your own talents and weaknesses are, and struggling to adjust your expectations for everyone in the group. At this stage of my life, I can look back and see how *some* of the lessons learned in group projects could be valuable, but largely it was inconvenient, burdensome, and I would not recommend it for others.
When I read through our Epistle lesson from Romans today, though, I have to confess, that it didn’t take long for this list from Saint Paul to begin to sound like a description of a group project. We share this mutual faith and work; we are to collectively be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we can discern God’s call upon our lives. And unfortunately for us group project haters, we do so as a group. Our faith can have very little impact on the world when we go at it alone, so rather instead, we are meant to function as one body. Each with our own gifts and challenges. And I’m a little ashamed to say that after so many years of hating on group projects, I’m here to tell you that being church is a group project.
It’s a group project that requires us to lean into the gifts we have been given, some of which Paul names in our text: prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and compassion. And like every group project each one of us have ever done, we come to the task of this project with our own histories and expectations. Perhaps when you hear prophecy as a role in this group project you can only think of fortune telling, but returning to the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, we see how the prophets were the people through which God spoke uncomfortable truths, as God tried to bring God’s people back to their belonging. Or maybe the concept of being a person of compassion doesn’t feel like a gift necessary to make this group project work, but rather a common trait that everyone should have.
The reality of all the different roles, responsibilities, and gifts that it takes to be church is that there is no aspect of who you are that doesn’t belong here, and there is no aspect of who you are that cannot be at work in the church. Before Paul goes into his list about the different members of the one body, he pleads with the people to lean toward humility. And I think this message needs to be understood in two ways at once. First, we need to be humble enough to admit that we cannot do church alone, and secondly, we need to be bold enough to admit that we have something to offer, which requires a different kind of humility, one that is willing to be seen and known. Being church is a group project because it requires vulnerability and grace and courage to be willing to all work toward a common goal in our distinct and different ways.
The uncomfortable reality of church as a group project is that what is true for a group project is often true for churches: that 20% of people do 80% of the work. And hear me when I say this isn’t a call out sermon, but rather an opportunity to truly observe how we are doing at this group project called Christ Church, Bowling Green. And before anyone begins to analyze where they fall on the 80/20 line, I’d like to ask how many of you have honestly taken stock of what gifts and talents you have.
I think that the truth about the 80/20 line in churches around our country is that there are two economies at work when it comes to how we see ourselves: the economy of the World and the economy of God. The economy of the World is one of scarcity that demands individuality, that implies or outright labels us as never good enough, always looking to sell us something that will help us improve. The economy of the World is relentless in its message that others are better or worse or more or less important than we are. The economy of God, however, is one of abundance that requires us to work together and to depend on each other, it’s a space where we are known, seen, and loved as we are. In the economy of God, no one is closer or further from God—especially not those of us with clerical collars or those who do not look like or act like we do.
Being church and being part of this group project requires something of us, and before we can get to work, we must come to know ourselves. To know if we naturally delight in a cheerful compassion in a way that your neighbor might not, or to know if you have the gifts to speak truth into our realities in ways that draw us back to God’s love, or maybe you have a diligence needed to lead others. I genuinely believe that it’s not a lack of desire to join in the work of being a community of faith, but rather that when we operate in the economy of the World, it is so hard to know where we fit, how we are gifted, and how our own gifts can enlighten the hearts of others. And even if we feel as though we know our gifts, what was a passion and skill 15 or 20 years ago may no longer be where we ought to spend our time, but that does not change our place in the group project. Because when it comes to our church, we’re in this group project together.
The Vestry and Father Steve have set a pretty ambitious goal this year, to have every member of Christ Church engaged in a ministry area. While this probably won’t look like the Vestry directly asking you to start reading publicly, it does mean that a portion of our collective energy this year will be spent on making connections, helping people figure out their gifts, and, yes, asking them to commit to using them in service to our common group project. Today, I’ll ask that you take this card and find something new that you’d know about or feel that it might be a space for you to connect. While it’s an ambitious goal, because of the uniqueness of Christ Church, it is a goal that is attainable. There are so many ways to connect to our common mission, whether you’ve been here a few times and still think of yourself as a visitor, or if you’ve been a member for 70 years, you belong here at Christ Church. Because in this congregation, in this group project called Christ Church, we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, but we who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Thanks be to God.
Becca Kello 
Becca,
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div>I, too, hate group projects! You have given me much to consider and reflect
With God all things are possible…even group projects!
This was powerful and evocative! Wonderful sermon. I loved this line especially: ” In the economy of God, no one is closer or further from God—especially not those of us with clerical collars or those who do not look like or act like we do.”