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24th Sunday OT / St. Margaret’s Church 4:00 & 6:00 9/13/15
THE CHURCH
“DOWNSTAIRS” +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
A pastor I know calls it the “church downstairs”
Ø
They have a good problem; they need more chairs
Ø
4 years, met in church hall every day of week, often
2x/day
Ø
The supportive pastor started thinking of those
meetings as the “church downstairs”
after a new parishioner told him how she joined parish after 1st going
“downstairs” 4 several months
Ø
The priest occasionally sits in on the meeting &
it’s helped him understand what it means 2B “church”
1ST OF 3 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
3 things about AA have struck him
Ø
1st, there’s a “genuine low-key sense” of welcoming
Ø
Not simply matter of a greeter shaking every new
hand
Ø
In fact, “AA
is at its most hospitable after the meeting is over”
Ø
“No one’s
bolting 4 door when last word’s pronounced
Ø
Instead,
people stay around for another cup of coffee, especially if someone new has
joined them”
2ND OF 3 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
The 2nd thing pastor’s noticed: how
“church downstairs” rallies around the weak, powerless, & hurting”
Ø
“Even
those some might relegate 2 social fringe R met w/ acceptance, not least
because a common denominator – We are all powerless over alcohol – remains
central”
3RD OF 3 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø
And 3rd thing AA groups demonstrate, pastor
admires is, “The belief that everyone has
a story to tell and a right to be heard”
Ø
This belief is essential not only 2 the 12
steps, but 2 sense of commonality & communion that’s generated in the group
Ø
“Everyone
can learn something from another person’s story”
Ø
Welcoming strangers. Lifting up the weak & struggling.
Listening to what everyone has 2 say
Ø
Maybe why they need more chairs at the “church downstairs”
APPLICATION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø When I hear J ask DD
& us, “Who do people say that I am?”
Ø The people in the “Church
Downstairs” come 2 mind & their being like J in welcoming all, tending
weak, ears to hear stories
Ø But Jesus persists,
you will recall, “What people say” isn’t
good enough so he presses them, “But you,
knowing what people say, but you, who do you say I am?”
Ø How much are these
arms welcoming people our own Church has labeled outcasts? How much does this
heart go out to the Syrian refugees and the immigrants at our borders? How open
are these ears to hear the story of someone in pain?
CONCLUSION
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø Today it’s not the “Church
Downstairs” that is being asked the question or even here, the “Church Upstairs:
Ø It’s you and me,
individually / How do I answer!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
