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We’ve been quite busy today saying “thanks,” as well we should be! But looking at the broad sweep of change and progress here at Bethel, I’d like to add one more name: that of one who served this congregation for nearly 30 years as its pastor, and who helped lay the broadest of foundations for the incredible lay leadership which has stepped up to lead us into God’s future with this building program. Dick Hettrick has been the humblest of co-workers whose devotion to Christ and his love for God’s children is unsurpassed by anyone I know. When I think, in the words of the sermon title, “Deep in Christ’s Bones,” when I ponder why and how it is that the Church miraculously remains the body of Jesus through all seasons, I think of Dick’s courage, his example of self-giving devotion for the Lord, and his own labors of love in getting us here, to this moment in time. I commend you Reverend Dr. Dick Hettrick and thank God for who you are and what you mean to each of us! Dick, please stand!

There are so many things to say on a day like today. Truly, less is more : the aesthetics of simplicity and beauty of this sanctuary, the sacred rituals of communion and baptism we will soon share, the spirit which puts a glow on our faces: these are all sermon enough, and so I choose, as complement, the text from I Corinthians chapter 12: Paul’s image for the church as an organic, growing, living, breathing body.

It’s a text that reminds us that we are all about unity but not uniformity, that diversity in the church is always a good thing, just as diversity and the gift of many functions in the body is something we could not live without.

Not only is it a fabulous theological idea, but Paul’s words remind us that each of us is a body, with each part being critical to the life of the whole. Try picking up a glass of water with an arm and four fingers, but without using an opposable thumb, or try standing up straight and keeping your balance without a big toe, or try brushing your teeth without a bendable elbow . . . well, you get the picture.

Although we are blissfully ignorant, until we get sick or injured, of just how important certain body parts are to our health and well-being, we generally are quite happy to have two of what we are supposed to have two of, and one of what we are supposed to have one of. If a child is born with either too many or not enough parts, surgery is usually scheduled, and those of us who lose part of our body find ways to live without it, but we rarely stop missing them.

Each of us, as human beings, has a built-in sense of wholeness and a desire to be complete and to grow in harmony with self and others. When the Church is truly acting like the body of our Lord, we, too, have that sense of wholeness and purpose that enable us to step into the unknown and take on huge projects we’d otherwise feel hesitant to try.

A writer for the Alban Institute says that “the church is undergoing a drought – a drought of the imagination. Very few pictures focusing on the future are being constructed in congregations. Too often there is instead exorbitant attention being paid to the past, with a good deal of grumbling about the present.” (In Search of the Church, 97) Well, that’s one person’s opinion. Contrary to this report from the Alban Institute, I would say that Bethel’s imagination is alive and well, not just in our ability to dream big and selflessly, to work to maintain consensus as this building project unfolded over many years, but especially as we are now poised, positioned to do the work of the Church, the ministry and mission that lies deep in the bones of Christ – for that is always the reason for our existence – to hear the call to discipleship, to take up the cross, to practice justice, mercy, and peace, to bear witness to the truth that knows no boundaries.

We could never begin to recount the volunteers at all levels who’ve made this project possible. Especially during the last several weeks, there has been quite a bit of moving and shuffling going on around here. Without a doubt the pastor’s study/office, is the finest I’ve ever seen, and thanks to the work of several unpackers of boxes of boxes, there is now very little shelf space left as books have begun to find their home once more. But left out on top of the desk, perhaps the mover intending it be opened and read, was an old book I hadn’t noticed for years: The Gospel According to Peanuts, yes, that Peanuts, the one featuring “good ole Charlie Brown.”

I was reflecting on this Corinthians text and just how hard it can be to live together in all the body’s diversity as I read this cartoon:

First frame: Lucy jumping rope and saying to an on looking Linus: “You a doctor! HA! That’s a big laugh!

Second frame: Lucy in Linus’ face, screaming “You could never be a doctor! You know why?

Third frame: Returning to skipping rope and saying to Linus “Because you don’t love mankind, that’s why.”

Final frame: Linus alone, shouting out to whoever will listen. “I love mankind . . . It’s people I can’t stand.”

“Now you are the body of Christ,” Paul says, “and individually members of it.”

It is a tall, tall order to be the body of Christ. The brains want everyone to act like brains and hearts want everyone to act like hearts, and there is always a hangnail who brings out the hangnail in everyone else.

But deep in the bones of Christ is a dream - - a dream that we all could just get along even with our diverse opinions, that your age or how I look or your life experiences or my spiritual temperament, or your different aims and goals in life --- that none of that matters so long as we realize that, together, the body is always strongest when it can find ways to celebrate all that diversity, all the different gifts, all the possibilities for sharing the gospel in our broken and fearful world.

Here’s one more from the Charles Schultz collection. It’s a clear night and the stars are all out. Charlie Brown turns to Lucy and asks, “You know what I think?” I think that there must be a tiny star out there that is my star. “And as I am alone here on earth among millions of people that tiny star is out there alone among millions and millions of stars. Does that make any sense, he says to a bewildered Lucy. Do you think it means anything.

“Certainly,” replies the ever confident Lucy. It means you’re cracking up, Charlie Brown!

Maybe the hundreds of hours of dreams dreamt and work done on this place called Bethel is a bit crazy too, but no less crazy than saying and truly believing the words of scripture: “you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.”

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.