Faith, Hope and Love

Faith, Hope and Love

By Rev. Richard A. Moyer

Pastor, Community United Church

There’s a book in my library entitled “Great Church Fights.” It was written in the late 1970’s by a pastor who had witnessed many disagreements and misunderstanding in his own church. The stories he relates are humorous, pathetic and down right ridiculous.

I’ve often thought that I could write a similar book. I would include the church deacon who, early in my ministry, disagreed with me over a matter that was so trivial most people would not even consider it worthy of discussion. But that wasn’t true of my deacon friend. He attacked me at a congregational meeting with words I would be embarrassed to repeat.

Then there were the two women who got into an argument over which one of them was going to play the piano for a special event. The shouting match began in the church sanctuary and continued out on the front lawn. It was a summer evening, and the neighbors were sitting on their porches in ear shot of the angry women.

And then there was the time when a church member was so angry because she wasn’t getting her own way, that she stomped her feet and waved her arms like a child, whose favorite toy had been taken away! It was a humorous sight to behold, but it was a tragic reminder that selfish ambition is as present in the church as it is in other places in society.

All these incidents raced through my mind a few Sundays ago when the lector was reading from I Corinthians 13 during morning worship. She repeated the words of the Apostle Paul, “Faith, hope, love, the greatest of these is love.”

Hearing those words made me impatient with the church which so often preaches love yet doesn’t always seem to get around to practicing it. I did my best to convince myself that I shouldn’t be too hard on the church. We are, after all, fallible humans who make mistake and who, often enough, put our own self-interests ahead of that which is best for the church.

But I became frustrated again, a few days later, when I was listening to a sermon that was given by a television preacher who is one of the better ones. He was preaching about the importance of being inclusive in the church. He reminded his listeners that Jesus welcomed everyone. He named many kinds of people who should be welcome to participate in the full life and ministry of the church. His list was long.

He is to be commended for his attempt to open the church doors wider than would normally be the case in most churches. But he did not include LGBT people on his list! He stopped short of being entirely inclusive. It was as if he were saying that God’s love can go just so far and then it comes to a halt.

I felt the pain more than the anger. The Gospels tell us that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The church usually interprets that to mean that we can love our neighbor as long as our neighbor isn’t gay. I confess my frustration with churches that go so far with their love but fail to go all the way.

The book in my library called “Great Church Fights” tells us that the church has been slow to embrace the teachings of St. Paul; that love is greater than faith and hope. As a friend of mine once said, “The church always moves slowly. Some day the gay/lesbian issue will be adequately resolved and the church will be truly inclusive.”

He may be right. But why should we have to wait? Why should we tolerate a church that moves so slowly? Why should we allow the truth of the Gospel to go unheeded?

Now is the time for the Church of Jesus Christ to not only say it but to act upon it: “Faith, hope, love – the greatest of these is love!”

The Community United Church is an open and affirming congregation and is is a member of United Church of Christ and Church of the Brethren denomination. . It is located at 1011 W 38th St. in Erie. Services are Sunday at 11am. (814) 864-4429. The pastor is Richard A. Moyer and his assistant is Dr. Richard McCarty. Website is www.uccwebsites.net/commuceriepa.html