Tuesday, May 3, 2022
The Rev. Rob Stevens
It’s “just” church
It’s “just” church is a phrase that I use frequently. I say it to our staff, vestry, many others and myself. It is a phrase that could be misunderstood to mean that church isn’t that important, but nothing could be further from the truth. The phrase for me is a reminder to keep the main thing the main thing. That is very difficult to do in daily life and sometimes hard to do at church. A few weeks ago we celebrated Holy Week and it was wonderful. There are many moving parts and many details, and without fail we make mistakes each and every year. The beauty of St. John’s, for me, is that when we make mistakes, especially liturgical ones that carry little lasting damage, we treat each other with grace and humor. That is when the phrase, It’s “just” church is most apt.
All of the work that we do together, whether it is worship, or gardening is to bring us together and glorify God. Relationships are the primary objective…I’m not sure God cares whether or not we get Holy Week “right,” but I am pretty sure that God cares how we treat one another as we seek to get it right. That is my learning again and again as we conduct this beautiful experiment of creating a community of faith.
The other reason that its “just” church is so important is that anxiety is always around the corner, and frankly anxiety is the most dangerous and destructive force when seeking to create healthy communities. We all experience anxiety from time to time…we are human. Yet, anxiety left unchecked and unchallenged will bring down the healthiest of human or community. Its “just” church reminds me that as long as we keep caring for each other and kindness at the front of our consciousness we are following the commandment to love one another.
One of my favorite stories is when I was setting the altar for communion with the aid of a young acolyte. There are usually two pitchers, one with wine and one with water. She handed me the first thinking that it was the wine. It was water. We shrugged and she handed me the second knowing that wine would be in it. Nope. Water also. We were kinda stuck. The entire congregation was waiting. I looked at her and said, “The altar guild thinks that I’m my boss…I haven’t learned the water into wine thing yet.” She broke out in a huge smile and started to giggle…we both did. We eventually got some wine and church went on with at least two people grinning the rest of the service. We had a choice during that moment when we realized things were not going perfectly…we could have fretted and blamed those responsible or we could go with the flow and remember…Its “just” church.
I thank this community for its grace and kindness in doing God’s work. I invite you use this phrase to help you remember that in the midst of all the work that needs to get done in the course of the day that the true measure is how we treat one another. Thank you for reminding me of this on a daily basis.