Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This is our second week on our series called Half-Truth. We were saying last week that half-truths have some element of truth in them, but not completely. If we buy into these half-truths of the culture then we find ourselves in a place where we don’t want to be. Last week we spoke about the only way to be lifted up is through Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The most important question a person must answer is who is Jesus Christ for me? When we have an experience of him all things fall into place. A fundamental question of life said St. John Paul II is: who is Jesus Christ for me? Is he my savior or only one of the prophets?
Today is the feast of Pentecost, which is the birth of the Church. It is an ancient Jewish feast of offering the first harvest back to God. And we want to confront the half-truth that says: I don’t need the Church to have a relationship with God or be a good person. This thinking is more and more common in our culture because people are giving up on the Church. People think they can experience God better on their own. They say things like: I can have a relationship with God on my own. I am a good person and don’t need the help of the Church. I can commune with God in prayer and in nature or with the Bible. Others give up on the Church because of the recent failures of Church leaders.
So there is truth in all of these statements. Certainly, our faith is personal and one should have a personal relationship with Christ. There are high ranking people in the Church who have sinned and not protected young people. Also there are good people who are not involved in Church. But these statements do not take into account the whole truth so this weekend I want to tell you why belonging and committing to a local church is absolutely necessary to have a vibrant relationship with God and to grow in faith.
The Church is the Body of Christ, the visible Body. There are many reasons why you need the Church: to break open the Word for us, to receive the sacraments, to learn about Christ, and many more. My intention is to focus on a few of them which we see in the readings for Pentecost.
First, you need the Church to serve and understand your spiritual gifts. St. Paul says there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12: 3-7, 12-13). And different kinds of service but the same Lord and we can discover this only by serving others. God wants to use us in some way that will make an eternal impact on the Church. Serving brings us to our knees since we see it is impossible to do so without God. Only by serving as a true minister do you see this is impossible for me. Through serving you will see that it is truly the Holy Spirit who works through you.
The second reason is that you need to benefit from other members of the Church. To be healthy, you need the faith and help and gifts of other believers. Paul says different parts of the body serve different needs: to see, to taste, etc. But they need each other or the Body doesn’t work. Your eyes need your ears to hear, and your ears need your eyes to see where they are going. And your eyes need your legs and your brains.
To be healthy you need the faith and gifts of the others. You need the faith of the others. You are not sufficient by yourself and are not meant to be alone. Not to handle temptations by yourself, or to raise children by yourself, or figure out your faith by yourself. God uses other people as a means to reach you, as a delivery system, better than Amazon’s. It is encouraging to see people greeting you at the door, to see others help with teaching kids, to see young people sing in the choir. To follow God is very difficult today; we need help and the Church is God’s plan to help you grow. Geese can fly seventy percent further when they fly in formation than on their own.
Let’s take a look at the story of Pentecost in the reading from Acts (2: 1-11). Notice they gathered as a community and suddenly a strong wind came and filled the entire house and they heard each one speaking in his own language. The feast of Pentecost in these times was huge and people from everywhere gathered. Sin separates us from one another as we saw in Babel. But the Spirit unifies. He brings together men and women from different places. The third reason we need the Church is because it is a sign that Jesus gathered his disciples to make of them one people, even though they are totally different in occupations, nationalities, interests, etc. In our ministries we should reflect this diversity: young, old, rich, poor, brown or white.
God wants every person and every background in the Church to show us that he is drawing all people to himself. You need the Church to do this mission; to be your partner in bringing other people into a relationship with God. In the small groups that we have people meet one another who would have never met but they learn to grow and love one another. You need the church to grow to a new spiritual maturity.
You need to commit to a specific church. There is not much value in drifting from church to church; it is not a sacramental gas station or place to fulfill your obligation. It is not wrong to go from church to church but it is a sign of immaturity. Commit to a specific church. “Rome was not loved because it was great. It was great because it was loved.” The community becomes great because people love it and sacrifice for it. The health of this church depends on the people who love it and they love it despite its warts and problems. Come and learn to love this Church as Christ did.