Rev. Dr. M. Taylor Bach 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 John 12:12-19

What do you think is the most prevalent emotional problem of people in America? Recent research says the answer is loneliness. Maybe it is a surprising answer to you. In the order of people who have the sensation of loneliness, we are given this list. The first (another surprise) is college students. With all their technology  iPods, text messaging, e-mail and twitter, they are the group most out of touch with each other. The technology eliminates personal contact. Secondly are divorced people. Divorced people don't feel like they can share their marriage failures. Thirdly, welfare recipients who are ashamed of their poverty. Fourthly, single mothers. You would think with their children they wouldn't feel alone, but those of you who have raised children know that without a lot of adult contact, you can feel very alone in child-raising. Fifthly, rural students who feel isolated from the mainstream of society. Sixthly, homemakers. If one is totally involved in staying at home and making a home for the family, one can feel very alone in that job. Seventh and eighth are tied. They are the elderly and the disabled who frequently are homebound and without purpose. Today is Palm Sunday where we celebrate the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. This then can become an analogy of the entry of Christ into our lives.

The Triumphal Entry of Christ into a person's life can remove loneliness. If we allow ourselves to experience the presence of Him in our heart, in our mind, in our very being, we will not feel alone. It was Jesus Himself, when He left this earth, who said, “I am with you, even to the end of time.” If we believe that with all of our heart and soul, we will never feel alone because we'll know that we never are alone.

This is the last sermon in the series of sermons on the church. In a sense, I want to summarize what I have been saying for the last six weeks. But I also want to give you some insights on how the church, which embodies the presence of Christ to the world, can be that entity which enables us to not experience loneliness. Henri Nouwen had an interesting insight. He said the church is made up of people that have a common unity. His surprising insight was that the common unity was not only that which we've heard over and over again - the Biblical unity, one faith, one Lord, one baptism - but he said our common unity actually comes from having common weakness, common failures, and common disappointments. Then being in Christ we raise these elements to Him, allow Christ to take care of them, and committing our cares to Him. Then our common weaknesses disappear, our common failures become insignificant, and our common disappointments become growth points in our lives where we can change and become new creations in Christ. Fascinating insight.

There are metaphors of church which are significant and give us some sense of how the church and Christ living in the church is the answer to the problem of loneliness. The first is that the church is the hospital of the sin-sick soul, so to speak. We are all in the church because we are defective. We are all in the church because we need healing. So the lame walk. The blind see. The deaf can hear. The poor have the good news that they will get out of their poverty by following the instructions and definitions of God in the Bible.

Another metaphor for the church might be the neighborhood bar. Remember the old television series called Cheers where everyone knew each other's names and people could come and sit down, have something to eat, have a drink and pour out their woes? Everybody would chime in and support them and love them. Really, that metaphor is a very good description of how the church should be. We don't need alcohol to pull this off. What we need is the warmth, the care, the love, the kindness, the support, the encouragement that Paul writes about in his epistles. That would make the church better than any bar and more worthy of love and praise of God.

Sometimes I like to think of the church as similar to a high school orchestra. This idea isn't original. I read it someplace. I don't remember now where I read it, but if you think of a high school orchestra trying to play Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with all of its complexity, you know it is probably not going to turn out very well. It is not going to be like the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra playing or even the Pops. It is going to be ragged but it will be many people's only exposure to that excellent music of Beethoven. They'll get a smattering of it, imperfect as it is, bad notes being played here and there, but it is Beethoven's Ninth. It is a cacophony of music that actually lightens everyone's heart. Everyone applauds and maybe even stands in an ovation. That too is a metaphor how the church might be. We don't always do things well. We don't always go through our musical performances with expertise as Cheri Sprague mentioned this morning. She turns off the microphone because she doesn't think she has the greatest voice. I'm sure she is not the only one in the congregation who feels that way. She probably sings a lot better than she gives herself credit and so do you, I'm sure. I always said, if you can't be good, be loud! That might drive your neighbor nuts. I had an uncle who joined the choir and after two sessions of rehearsal, the choir director made him the page turner of music for the organ. Isn't that an important job? Everybody has their place& which leads us to the Biblical analogy of the body of Christ.

We are the body of Christ and each and every one of us has a place, has a job, has a function. As the scripture says, “The eye can't say to the ear, 'I have no use of you.' The foot can't say to the hand, 'I have no use of you.'” Each part has a part to play, an important part to play, a significant part to play. Every part is important. If one part is hurting, then the whole body hurts. I am reminded of the counseling analogy of a splinter in the toe. The person comes in to the doctor's office and says, “I've got a splitting headache and I don't know what to do about it.” As the doctor explores, he discovers that the splinter in the toe makes the person walk irregularly and throws their hips off. If their hips are off, their spine is out of alignment, and as their spine is off, their neck is out of whack. If their neck is out of whack, it gives them a headache. So if you remove the splinter, you get rid of the headache. But that is how it is in the church. We sometimes have people who are in dysfunction and that is OK. If we can offer God's healing love to them, they get better. But then sure enough, somebody else will show up with a problem going on. So we become that group that supports and loves each other. We all get better. That's what brings about the unity of Christ. That's why Christ said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” That is why Paul said, “They will know we are Christians through our love.” So we love one another and that is the glue that holds us all together. That is what makes us the church. The church is a radically different organization. It is full of love. It is full of problems. But it is also the place that is full of hope. That is what makes it worth the bother.