September 19, 2018

Remember, we are members of his body.

         Ephesians 5:30 (mostly)

I was in Baltimore last Saturday for the priestly ordinations of four people and for a meeting about how a Parish Lay Committee functions with regard to interns. The first event (ordinations) was not mandatory, per se, but since serving in Montana I have tried to live into my former bishop's edict that if there's a clergy event within two hours of you, you will be there. And since Baltimore is only an hour and a half, I tend to go to these things regularly.

The preacher for the ordination service was the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, Associate Dean of Students at VTS. Ordination sermons are sort of like wedding sermons, in that you're trying to say a little about what this new life means, how to best live into it, and give the subjects (in this case, the ordinands) one thing they can recall not only years from now, but tomorrow for that matter. Because, like weddings, the people for whom the service is designed, the sermon is the last thing on their minds.

In his sermon, Bishop Mathes said, “The opposite of remembering is not forgetting; the opposite of remembering is dismembering.”

I got to thinking about what he said. One of the major functions of a priest is to preside over Holy Eucharist, bless the elements, and administer Holy Communion. In that act, we who are many are one. In that act, we have been re-membered into the body of Christ. This was that memorable line that, hopefully, the new ordinands would never forget.

But beyond an ordination sermon for new priests, the Catechism also points us in this direction. “What is the mission of the Church? The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” In other words, the mission of the Church is to re-member all who have been dis-membered.

However that dismembering happens, intentionally or accidentally, may we never forget that we who are many are one body. Some of us eyes, some ears, some hands, some feet. May we never forget that it takes everyone to makeup the whole body of Christ.

As we move forward, let us never forget that our goal isn't to bring new people into our church – but that our goal is to re-member those who have, for whatever reason, been dis-membered from the body of Christ.

Blessings,