May 11, 2025 First Congregational UCC, Brimfield MA
Psalm 113 — 5 Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, 6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? 7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. 9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord
Colossians 1:15-20 — 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
So, the big news this week is that there’s a new Pope in Rome, right? And the big news about the new Pope is that he’s from Chicago? He roots for the White Sox, poor man, loves deep dish pizza, plays Wordle with his brother.
The new Pope is an Augustinian friar, unlike Pope Francis, who was a Jesuit. Now, I’m not going to go through all the differences between Augustinians and Jesuits – all I want us to notice is that there’s clearly more than one right way to be a Roman Catholic priest.
And now an Augustinian bishop from Chicago by way of Peru is the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
There’s a lot more that could be reported about the new Leo XIV, but I want to stop there. Because, you seek, technically, what I just said is wrong. He’s not the head of the Roman Catholic Church. His title is Vicar of Christ; he’s the assistant to Jesus, who is the real head of the Church.
That’s one of the places where we are actually in the same place as the Catholic Church. Like them, we believe Jesus is the Head of the Church. Now, we don’t believe that anyone is God’s assistant pastor and in charge of everyone else – that’s where we differ.
What I want to share with you today is why saying Jesus is the head of the church is important, and what it means for who we are and how we do ministry. Unlike the Catholic church, where one man stands in for Jesus, we insist that we best hear what Jesus is saying to the church when we all participate, when we listen to one another, and then follow the group’s sense of direction.
Let’s start with this truth: it is Jesus who is the head of the church. It’s not me, it’s not the Moderator, the biggest giver, the longest tenured member, or anyone else who has power, strength, or passion. It’s so very clear in the letter to the people who lived in the city of Colossae, where the author writes: “ [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church”… and goes on to say that, in that role, Jesus brings us all together, reconciling us to God, and making peace.
Jesus is the head of the church, so that we will be brought together as one community. God doesn’t make any ordinary person the head, because that would set that person up as more important, and God believes that every person matters.
And because every person matters in God’s eyes, we organize ourselves so that every person has a part, a vote, in our discussions and meetings. And beyond that, we believe that every person in our community matters. Every person.
If you’ve ever wondered why it is that Congregationalists are always so involved in the lives of their communities, their world, in the politics of our time, it is that basic belief that every person matters.’’
One of the reasons the Puritans came to Massachusetts and Connecticut, back in the 1600s, was to build a church and community where they could bake in the idea of equality in the eyes of God. They didn’t succeed, of course, but they laid the foundation for how our faith community has continued on.
They didn’t succeed, because they were so used to someone being in charge. It took generations for their thought and practice to conform to their beliefs. True equality is challenging. For instance, their clergy leaders naturally thought that because they had a university education, they knew more and better than others the right way to do things. Gradually they learned that if they shared their learning, and when they encouraged all voices – even women – to speak out, that they had a clearer path to God’s will.
But even at the beginning, they believed that every person mattered. Other Europeans thought the Natives were a joke, fit only to be servants or slaves. Our Puritan ancestors likewise thought Natives were limited, but they also believed they could be redeemed, baptized, made equal. Looking backwards now, it sounds terribly patronizing, by their own standards, it was a radically inclusive step in a new direction.
Over the decades, our way of being church, of needing every voice at the table in order to hear God’s will clearly, has drawn us – over and over – into the issues of the day.
We weren’t always there, but we kept going back to the Bible, to readings like Psalm 113 that we heard this morning, and we would debate with each other what that meant in our world. How does God raise the poor from the dust, lift the needy from the ash heap? How does God bring us all together? And, more and more clearly, we came to see that…
If God wants everyone to have a place at the table, then everyone has to have a seat at the table. The men in charge didn’t necessarily like it, but they learned that women have to be included. Black people have to be included. Poor people have to be included. Gay people have to be included. Trans people have to be included.
Why do we work towards physical accessibility? Because everyone has a place at the table. Why do we broadcast our worship services? So that everyone can participate, even if they can’t leave their homes.
One of the ways to see what’s happening in our world today is that we’re in the midst of a struggle between those who believe – for whatever reason – that some people are better than others, and those who believe that all people matter. We who organize our churches so that everyone has a voice come at the question of equality from that point of view.
Now, ours is not the only way to be church, tho – so far as I know – all Christians believe that Jesus is the head of the church. But after that agreement, there are many paths. Each of them nurtures their own understanding of humanity. For us, the way we organize reflects and teaches us that every person matters because it makes us listen for every voice.
The next time someone asks, why do you make such a big thing of – listening to every voice, welcoming every person, speaking out for the oppressed, standing up for trans people – remember this: we believe that every person matters and it is our call to make that welcome real in our world.
Amen.
©2025, Virginia H. Child
To Believe is to Care. . . To Care is to Do 