Why are we here? Ecclesia and Sacramentum

I speak to you in the name of the One, True and Living God. Amen.


Why are we here?

What is the reason that this group of people gathers together each Sunday in this building? What brings us here? What brings us to church?


The word church comes for a Greek word – “Ecclesia”. Ecclesia is a secular term meaning “a group of concerned citizens taking counsel for the betterment of the common good.” Whew, that’s certainly a mouthful, but is it the reason we are here? The early church chose that name, so obviously it was at least part of why they gathered. On the other hand, they might have chose that term to hide what they were doing. In the early years Christianity was at the very least persecuted and at worst illegal after all.

I think that we are, or should be, a group of concerned citizens taking counsel for the betterment of the common good, but I don’t believe that’s why we are here. It is a result or by-product of why we are here. If that was all there was to coming to church, there are plenty of other organizations which serve that purpose.


Ecclesia has failed us today. So I’ll take a look at another foreign word. This one is Latin – “sacramentum”. The word sacramentum was first used in Roman law referring to an oath of allegiance taken in a sacred place. Our use of the term today is rooted in this but has much more to it. Saint Augustine was the first to define a sacrament in the Christian church. He wrote that a sacrament is “an outward and temporal [or visible] sign of an inward and enduring grace.” No wonder we keep using these terms. They pack a lot of meaning into a small package.

I think this word is far more important than ecclesia. Sacramentum defines what we are all about. In our passage from the Gospel of John today we hear “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” This is what the sacraments are all about. We are here because we hear that voice. Jesus also said “I have told you, and you do not believe.” We are here because we do believe. The works that we do in our Father’s house, in this ecclesia, we do not because it is the reason we gather. We do them because they testify to the truth of Jesus Christ. The sacraments are “an outward and visible sign of an inward and enduring grace.”


I could say “thanks be to God” right now and be done, but there’s more. We are here because we are sacraments. We are outward and visible signs of the grace of God and I don’t think any passage in the Bible expresses that better than Psalm 23. Please open your Book of Common Prayer to page 356 and we’ll read it together.


The Lord is my shepherd; / therefore can I lack nothing.
He shall feed me in a green pasture, / and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
He shall restore my soul, / and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness, for his Name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; / for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
Thou shalt prepare a table for me in the presence of them that trouble me; / thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
Surely thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; / and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.


Silence


Thanks be to God.