Richard Hurst, church deacon and our preacher on August 17, preached the text of a sermon given by then-UNMC minister, the Rev. Seth R. Brooks. The sermon, "If I Gathered a Church," is available at the "continue reading" link, below.
In The Acts of the Apostles, 16th chapter, 13th verse, one reads: "And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." This statement by an unknown writer who was with Paul on this particular Missionary Journey refers to an event which took place outside of the city of Philippi which was a chief city in Macedonia. This brief account, which tells so much about early church history, could be passed over in casual reading as an unimportant jotting. However, it is of large importance. In one broad sweep of the artist's brush he paints an eternal picture. Let us examine this picture found in The Acts and expressed in a sentence.
"On the sabbath." Every Jew knew the importance of the sabbath. They were so taught - "Six days shalt thou labor and on the sabbath thou shalt rest." This came from the Mosaic Law. On the sabbath the Jews would not cook or do anything which could be avoided. Those who went out with Paul had Jewish backgrounds. Paul had been a strict Jew. The sabbath was a day sacred unto the Jews and holy unto the Lord.
"We went out of the city." We don't know how many - five, ten, fifteen. They went probably by foot along a dusty road. They talked, looked at the flowers, trees, and landscape.
"By a river side." This was no doubt a clearing in the fields or woods on a river bank. Many of us as children knew a place by a river where we fished, swam, played games, and had family picnics.
"Where prayer was wont to be made." This was the appointed, acceptable, habitual place of regular worship.
"We sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither." When this group arrived women were already there. By practice they came to this place by a river side each sabbath to make prayer.
What does the writer of The Acts tell us? Outside the city of Philippi a group worshipped in the open by a river. No mention is made of a Temple, the ruins of many ancient Temples the visitor today may see in Greece and Rome. There is no reference to a building, which had been erected, a shrine men had made holy, and, of course, the church building had not yet come into being. No record is left of numbers. There may have been twenty, thirty, forty, fifty assembled.
Here persons came with a religious purpose to express their faith, to pray, to give thanks, and to ask help from God.
We are grateful for our place of worship - our church. It is a beautiful building. We behold Chancel windows, Clerestory and Lower windows, and the Rose window the congregation sees leaving the church at the close of a service. There is the Mosaic and the appointments of the chancel. We have superb equipment; in fact, almost everything we need in our church worship and activities is in our Parish House. This place is spacious, light, and airy. It is filled with blessed memories - christenings, confirmations, marriages, funerals, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Palm Sunday, and Easter.
We will we had more people. We would like to share our religious Faith with others. But here we are as we are and there we begin to do what we can. The text from The Acts of the Apostles tells much about the essence of group endeavor in worship. Men have devised as places for worship Temples, Synagogues, Shrines, Churches, Meeting Houses, and clearings "by a river side." Religion expresses itself in material ways, because it cannot help it. However, true religion is never solely dependent on externals. The text we have used is proof of this. Beautiful and moving as this text is and revealing so much, yet much it does not tell us. We realize it makes no mention of material things.
If I gathered a church. In early New England records of churches there appears "gathered." This church was "gathered " in 1770 - 1790 - 1802 - 1815. The church I served in New England was "gathered " more than 300 years ago - 1649.
A church is a gathering of people. It is a gathering of those who come and join together in mutual effort for corporate acts. It is a gathering of men and women for the purpose the church was organized to be - a place to worship, teach, and become dedicated to the perpetuation of the faith. It is a gathering of followers of Christ. Our particular church is a gathering of persons who also find value, comfort, wisdom, and inspiration in Universalist beliefs.
If I gathered a church, it would not depend upon a building. It could exist without any. In August when St. Thomas' Church was destroyed by fire there appeared a few days later up against the charred remains of the building a sign of great pathos. It read - "St. Thomas' Church still lives." If we are called upon to live without a building, we must be able to do it.
If I gathered a church, it would not be dependent on numbers. It could be that twenty persons have at times formed a truer church than two thousand. It would be a church of those who on the sabbath went. They didn't stay put. They went. It would be those who wanted it and loved to come to it.
If I gathered a church, it would be of believers. Nothing is more ridiculous to me than people who call themselves a church and believe nothing. The church is a where people believe something good and positive and it can't be if everybody is just delighted in the fact they don't believe and don't suspect that anybody with common sense could believe. It would be made up, this church, of committed and dedicated persons. This week I stood at the bedside of one who had given years and years of service to this church. With our good-bye she said, "I can't tell you how much I miss my church and all our people." I responded, "You don't know how much we all miss you."
If I gathered a church, it would be for those who believed in religious motivation and that such motivation is not secondary to material and popular demands. It would not bring together on its rolls the names of those who are always advancing the excuse, "Sunday is the only day I have."
If I gathered a church, it would be of people who are not stampeded by every new herd movement and short-lived fad. There would be an appreciation of the long road behind man and the caution to take one step at a time forward. There would be the quest for beauty, whether it was a large building, one room, or "by a river side," wherever these people came together. There would be appreciation of accumulated treasures -- memorabilia, memorials, gifts -- but these would not be worshiped.
Services would be brief, but sincere. For an hour it would be "the church experience." I am frank to say I believe that in these strenuous days one has no right or reason to deny himself and his family the church experience which requires of us only an hour on Sunday.
If I gathered a church, those who came would come gladly. They would know - "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." Men would come to pray. It would be a fellowship of those who wanted to be together. Persons would meditate together. They would raise their voices together - in prayer - the Lord's Prayer and other prayers, in hymnal and at times in protest and constructive criticism.
This church would have no selfish purpose. It would exist "not to be ministered unto but to minister." It would have as a purpose the individual's self-growth, upreach and outreach, right attitude, and spiritual enlargement. It would not just ask questions - it would give some answers.
If I gathered a church, it would be by the side of the Eternal River of Life. It would know the real and steady currents of history, life, and man. It would recognize causes, crusades, calls, crises, and calamities, but seek the course of the river of life which bears man to an eternal destiny and a desired haven. "And we sat down and talked to the women who resorted thither." The women were already there. So in our church there is already there all that has gone before. The women by the river side were waiting. One can imagine their joy as they saw coming along the road into the clearing this little band from Philippi who would join them in prayer and worship.
Whenever we decide not to go to church we should remember those who are there waiting for us. Their worship cannot be complete without us. So it is, if I gathered a church, it would be to call those who would want to sit down and talk with the saints and faithful followers of all time who would be awaiting our companionship, our strength, and our love.
Amen.