We continue with pieces from “Holy People” by Gordon Lathrop.
Since earliest times, the church throughout the world and the assembly in each local place have been called the “holy assembly” or the “assembly of the holy people” or, especially in Pauline writing, “all the holy ones.” …The regularly repeated ecumenical creeds invite us to confess our faith in the “holy catholic church.” In the eastern churches, the assembly hears again and again, in the presider’s invitation to communion, an offer of “holy things to the holy people,” a phrase which is rightly understood as a warning but also as a description of the communicants.
We need only look around the sanctuary of place where we worship this Sunday and we will notice that these are regular folks. Yes, there will be those who look out of place…those who appear to think everyone else but them are out of place…those who are not sure of how things are to go…those who are not sure what they believe but they still come…and those who wonder about God and what God does for ordinary folks and the condition of our world. But we call the whole mess of us – holy. Holy because it is God that brings us together and God that makes us God’s people and we are continuously being invited into the character of the community of saints…beloved and redeemed.
Connection: When you hear words that fuss over the presence of some who gather for the Meal and the Word and the praising of God at worship, think “holy are you” and remember that the "you" is always plural…always.
Forgiving and Uniting Lord, you do not hesitate to make us your own. Even when we cannot see one another as sister or brother, you call us to be one and you go a step farther to say we are already one, even before we agree to sit down at the table together. As your holy people, continue to inspire in us lives that welcome your gracious vision and presence. Amen.
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