On this Labour Day, let us reflect on the work of those of us who call ourselves Christians. There are several passages from scripture that are quite clear. One from the letter of James, (which we will read on Sunday): “Religion that is pure and uncontaminated before God the Maker is this: to care for the vulnerable in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
Another is from the gospel of Matthew ( 25:34-36): “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Maker, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’”
Or from the gospel of John (15:12-14): “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
There have been only a few people in history who have managed to fulfill these expectations fully and yet thousands of us have been baptised. It is said that it takes a village to raise a child, and I say it takes a committed church — bound together — to do the work that most of us cannot accomplish on our own.
“Many have been called but few have been chosen.” (Mt.22:14) Only a few of us will be able to accomplish the sweeping influence of a Dorothy Day or an Oscar Romero, but each of us has an opportunity to put aside our own sentiments and need to “win” in order to build up the house of Jesus. And that house is a house without doors or gates, an open table where all may come, rich or poor, broken or healed, cynical or pious.
In our era of faith, every congregation is being challenged to choose between the message of transformation or shuttering our buildings to keep the sweeping fire and wind of the Holy Spirit from entering. If our buildings fell down tomorrow, would we still gather to pray and plan for ministry or is our building all that is holding together a straw house of faith? It is my experience as a pastor and preacher, that people who do not attend church are still hungry for the words of hope and liberation that Jesus taught us. They are hungry for friendship that is grounded in love, tolerance, and a willingness to put everything aside in order to serve the world in Jesus’ name. As Dorothee Sölle said, “[Jesus] can’t do it alone; he needs us but not our straw houses, not our fake piety, not our power games.”