We Share…the Pursuit of Peace

April 15, 2010

Temple Service

HOMILY        Jane Gardner

Doctrine and Covenants 164: 2e

            ..bear witness to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which weaves people’s giftedness into beautiful patterns of community to enrich their discipleship and to strengthen the fabric of the church. 

We want to be communities like this one (referring to the World Conference community quilt); beautiful patterns, woven together; communities of joy, hope, love and peace; communities that sew together the skills and talents of everyone into a whole. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Doesn’t it look fascinating?

Communities can also be difficult. Do you have struggles in your congregation? Sometimes we have a hard time keeping the group together. Enriching the fabric of Community of Christ can be challenging. Sometimes the fabric is torn.

I believe in mending.

My Grandma Carpenter was a good tailor. She taught me the principles of sound construction and creative endeavor. Probably even more importantly, she taught me how to mend – holes in socks and tears in my favorite clothes.

Before our son was born we received a beautiful blue blanket to celebrate his addition to our family. That blanket became Mark’s favorite. He loved it. It went everywhere with him – outside to play, to the dinner table, to church and to his bed every night. No matter how I tried, I could not keep that blanket clean. It looked dingy and developed holes. I tried to fix the blanket, but the fabric was wearing out. Mark’s sister tried to tease the blanket away from him and in the struggle, they tore the fabric into pieces. But Mark wouldn’t give it up.

When Great-Grandma saw the condition of the blanket, she offered to mend it. So we sent the rags with her and then tried to substitute other blankets with Mark. I didn’t know that two-year olds could go into mourning, but that is what happened our son. He cried and moaned and let us know how unacceptable the situation was.

To be honest, I forgot about it. On Mark’s third birthday a package arrived in the mail from Great-Grandma. Still not remembering, we set the present in front of him to be unwrapped. When he opened the box and caught sight of the blanket he let out a loud cry of joy and wrapped himself in the completely mended and refurbished blanket. I have never seen such happiness.

On close inspection of the blanket, you could see where the tears had been. You could see the patches on the worn spots. But it was whole again! Great-Grandma’s mending restored the blanket for many more years of loving service. The mended blanket was even stronger and longer lasting than the original.

I believe in mending.

It is an important concept for disciples in the Body of Christ. Mending something is different from fixing it - fixing it tries to erase evidence of the problem. Mending preserves the history and proclaims hope for the future. How might this apply to our congregations?

When we mend broken relationships we realize that we’re better together than apart. Perhaps we are even stronger… As Susan Cooke Kitredge said in a recent article, “Mending doesn’t say, ‘This never happened.’ It says, instead, as I believe the Christian cross does, ‘Something or someone was surely broken here, but with God’s grace it will rise to new life.’” [Homiletics/Feb 2010]

WE PROCLAIM JESUS CHRIST! It is the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that forms the bedrock of this community, this Community of Christ. That’s what the signs in front of the church buildings proclaimed in Lusaka, Lilongwe, and Chingola, Africa; in Tarona, French Polynesia; in Kensington, Canada; in Fayetteville Arkansas; and in Nuneaton, United Kingdom.

Were these just building labels that I have seen in my travels since last Conference or do these signs truly define people and relationships?

Does our name, Community of Christ, describe the way we have been with one another this week at Conference?

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the second chapter we find:

Ephesians 2: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.  In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;  in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

A dwelling place for God?

Don Compier in exegetical work on this passage has written:

What better language shall we find to describe our call to create community? We belong to each other like brothers and sisters and parents. We must establish and maintain deep relationships that contrast with the superficiality and utility marking the dealings of the present age…We must become one global people of the temple, and the light of Christ brought to us by the Spirit must shine forth in every local congregation.

Ours is a mission to promote communities of Joy, Hope, Love and Peace.

A community of joy like the one I experienced in Fr Polynesia when the “mamas” took me for an island tour; singing with energy, humor and great joy on the bus ride. In the midst of glorious landscapes and the bluest ocean I have ever seen, they were women with a deep love for one another and for their church. A dwelling place for God – a Community of Joy. 

A community of hope shared in Lee’s Summit, Missouri where the congregation has donated adjoining property to provide a shelter and safe place for battered women and children. A Hope House. A dwelling place for God – a Community of Hope.

A community of love like the one I saw demonstrated in a small congregation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The pastor introduced us to her congregation that included a large number of children, many of them AIDS orphans. She lovingly said “This is my congregation.” We stood in a clay building with no roof and a dirt floor, partially shielded from the weather by a tarp. A dwelling place for God – a Community of Love.

A community of peace symbolized by these pieces of cloth representing you and me in this Temple dedicated to the pursuit of peace. Our community quilt isn’t perfect. It has rough places and even some mended spots. It’s a wonderful illustration of what it means to pursue peace at this Community of Christ World Conference – where we have been listening to each other, respecting each other.

A dwelling place for God – a Community of Peace

Tonight we can no longer be individual pieces of fabric. We are members of the household of God with Christ Jesus as our foundation. In him we are joined together like a community quilt (pointing) and mended like a well-loved blue blanket.

(Bring out Mark’s blanket.)

I believe in mending. 

Here in this community, I believe with God all things are possible.