Thomas J Parlette
“The Many Ways to Spell “Church”
Acts 2: 1-21
5/19/24
Let’s start off this morning with a little test. Or perhaps an interesting experiment, or maybe sort of a brain teaser would be a better way to describe it. I wonder if you would join me in reading the short passage that is under the sermon title for today.
“According to researchers at Cambridge University, it doesn’t matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter are in the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problems. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole.” (1)
So how was that? Did it get easier as we went along? You may have run across this statement before, it was a pretty popular meme on the internet. A writer followed up by contacting some researchers at Cambridge University, and none of them had heard of any such research taking place – so it’s probably a hoax. But it sounds like it could be true, doesn’t it? It has that ring of “truthiness”, as Stephen Colbert might say.
But in reality it is totally false. The order of the letters in a word does matter. Let’s take a look at the second sentence in your bulletin this morning. Have you already been trying to read it? Let’s see how this one goes:
“Baseball players performing similarly absolutely deserve comparable compensation.”
Raise your hand if you already figured that one out ahead of time.
Don’t worry if all this sounds confusing. That’s kind of the point on this Pentecost Sunday. It’s hard to commemorate the birthday of the church with a nod to the confusion and chaos that was a big part of that day. 2000 years ago, the universal church came into being – so this is good day to consider how we understand church – how do we spell “church.” Today is also a good time to consider how we can do church with a proper beginning and good ending – even when the middle can, at times, be a confusing mess.
In New Testament Greek, the word for church is “ekklesia.” It’s usually translated “church”, but it can also mean “assembly, congregation or meeting.” The Greek literally means “called out ones” from ek – meaning “out” and kaleo – meaning “to call.” Some scholars have stressed that this “called out” sense of the word provides a hint as to how we should understand the church: “an assembly of those who have been called out, or separated, for a special purpose or called out from the world to live godly lives” (2) – something we are celebrating today as we recognize our confirmation class.
So, how might we spell “church” in English? We could do it as an acrostic, as you see in your bulletin:
C – Charis
H – Healing, Hopeful or Healthy
U – United
R – Radical
C – Compassionate
H – Hospitable, Honest or Helpful. (3)
Let’s start with Charis – another Greek word. It appears more than 100 times in the New Testament and is usually translated as “grace.” It emphasizes goodwill, kindness and favor. Certainly a good place to start when describing what it means to do church. Not only is this a gift extended to us by God, but it is a quality that the church offers to the world. It is the mark of a Christian. Charis refers to that which offers joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness and the grace of speech that is seasoned and moderate, resulting in harmonious fellowship.(4)
Then there’s the letter “H” – Healing, Hopeful or Healthy, any of those words would work well in thinking about church. After Peter preached his sermon recorded in the passage for today, he performed his first act of healing. Jesus was not there anymore, so when a beggar approached asking for money, Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” The church has always been known as a movement concerned not only with spiritual healing, but with the healing of the body as well. So it makes perfect sense that so many hospitals around the world, including the world famous Mayo Clinic, were established by the institutional church to alleviate suffering and pain.
But the church has also been characterized by our sense of hope. The hope of the church is grounded in the faithfulness of God. Therefore, as Paul notes, we have hope: “Character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
The church also strives to be healthy. It always distressed Paul when he had to scold a congregation because of it’s in-fighting, quarrelling and disagreements. On the other hand, his joy knew no bounds when believers were strong and vigorous, fulfilling the church’s mission. Notice his affection for the church in Philippi: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Which leads us to the word “United.” This is a prickly one to be sure, especially in our current social climate. It’s difficult to see how we can be united about anything. How can we possibly create unity amidst all the various values, theologies, rituals, ideals, causes, institutional agendas and ideological “isms” that we champion, or protest, or rail against on social media. That difficulty in finding unity extends to the church as well. Put 100 Christians in a room and ask them to agree on something, and, as they say in Texas, you might as well try to put socks on a rooster.
And yet, the bible tells us that unity is possible. We can disagree, but we are called to do so in love. We may not agree on whether we use debts or trespasses in the Lord’s prayer, but we can still treat each other with respect, kindness, gentleness, patience and love. That’s the kind of unity that is possible through the Holy Spirit.
In the September 22nd, 2020 issue of Stewardship Kaleidoscope e-newsletter, Princeton Theological Seminary Professor Eric Barreto observes that, at Pentecost, God does not give us a new, perfect universal language. Instead, God enables us to understand each other’s languages. Rather than reversing what happened at the Tower of Babel, when people were scattered and given different languages so they couldn’t understand one another, on Pentecost God enables us to understand one another’s languages. The change is in us. The curse of Babel is our desire for uniformity. What God gives us at Pentecost is the gift of unity (5) – the gathered believers given the Holy Spirit.
We have some other words and letters that help us spell church. The “R” world might rub some people the wrong way. The word “Radical” is another tricky one because it has been co-opted to insult and demean people for their political beliefs. But when you consider the call Jesus extends – to live according to the will of God, not the ways of the world, to be guided by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the demands and expectations of our society – you can’t deny that it is a radical way to live life.
To treat everyone we meet with “Compassion” is also a hallmark of what we are called to be as a church. It’s difficult to spell church without compassion.
And finally, we have another “H”. This could be Hospitable, Honest or Helpful. We are definitely called to hospitable, or welcoming to people. There is no “if” or “when” attached to being part of the church. You are welcomed and loved as you are – not if you measure up or when you believe a certain way or live in such a way.
To spell church, we begin with a “C”, for Charis – a sense of grace, goodwill and kindness – because we believe that God loves us and has found favor with us. And we end with an “H”, for either Hope or Hospitality, both are important parts of what it means to be and do church.
There are many ways to spell church these days. After the gift of the Holy Spirit swept through the early church, they continued to do and be the church around 5 simple practices, which we still do today. They didn’t come to a stone building with beautiful stained glass windows like we do – more than likely they gathered in people’s homes, or sometimes they gathered in the catacombs in the interest of safety. But the practices are ones we would recognize:
1. They would hear some teaching.
2. They would experience fellowship, probably not coffee and donuts, but I imagine they had their own version of delectable treats.
3. There was breaking of bread, which may have been similar to communion, or maybe the first century equivalent of hot dish and bars – the archealogical evidence is sketchy.
4. There most certainly was praying at their gatherings.
5. And Paul mentions singing and encourages the early Christian community to “Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts.”
There are many ways to spell church these days – but if we start with grace and wrap in kindness, gentleness, compassion and hospitality, and gather for fellowship, teaching, breaking of the bread, praying and singing, we aren’t going to go too far wrong. Gifted with the Holy Spirit, that power from above, we can continue to be the church that Jesus intended.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Homileticsonline, retrieved 5/1/24.
2. Ibid…
3. Ibid…
4. Ibid…
5. Ibid…
