“A Lot of Kissin' Goin' On” 

2 Corinthians 13:11-13 

Let's see here, let me do a little bit of calculating. I just want to get a better handle on it as a whole, so let me just do some adding up here, Introduction - 5 min. - Reflection on the text - 10 minutes. Heritage Sunday - 20 minutes. Trinity Sunday - 20 minutes. Building Campaign - 45 min. Summary & thought provoking conclusion - 5 minutes. Well, I guess we are going to be here for awhile (105 min!)! 

Well, ok. We are not going to have a 105 minute sermon. Though there is a lot that we could reflect on together this morning, we have things to take care of today and I'm excited! I'm excited because God has a vision for ministry in this place. What is this vision? Perhaps the Apostle can help us. 

The apostle Paul, with this morning's text from the end of his correspondence with the Corinthian believers, I believe helps us get a handle on the vision that God has for us. 

Picture, if you will, a large bustling seaport with busy wharves full of ships coming and going, and laden with cargo bound for or coming from far away places. On the land, streets and alleys are crowded with countless numbers of people going

this way and that: merchants, seamen, military personnel, and craftsmen. Picture a marketplace with salespeople selling their wares, and buyers searching for a bargain.

Some walk in beautifully tailored clothes and others in rags with a hand or a cup held out. This is the Corinth of Paul's day: a thriving, wealthy center of trade. It attracted

all kinds of immigrants and travelers who brought different cultures and religions to its streets. It was a “big apple” of New Testament times one might say. As with any city in any time, there was need there, material, emotional, spiritual need. 

In the middle of this urban bustle, in the shadow of temples to Isis and

Aphrodite, Athena and Apollo, Serapis and Poseidon, there grew a small band of people who believed in the God of the Jews and in the saving action of Jesus Christ.

This small band is the Corinthian Church founded by Paul. The church was made up mostly of those on the lower end of the social ladder, those who possessed neither education nor money. But there were others who were at the other end as well. There were both Jews and Gentiles. There were couples, families, and those whose spouses did not belong. Indeed, it was a rather remarkable mix of people that made up the congregation in Corinth. 

Paul founded the church in Corinth, but his relationship with them was not always a good one. In fact, the letters that we have from Paul to the Corinthians show that the relationship was at times quite strained. In these letters, we get a Paul who is sometimes joyful, sometimes sad and in pain, sometimes very angry and defensive, and sometimes loving. It was a relationship of extremes. 

But here, in our text this morning, Paul encourages them one last time: “Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. ”Paul here, gives us a snapshot of the church as it ought to be. In midst of the bustle of the city, after struggling with the realities of church life - very different people trying to live and work and believe together - Paul encourages them. 

When all is said and done, what should the church be? Picture the apostle as he finishes his letter, “And finally brothers and sisters…” His fingers pause over the keys of his MacBook Pro, and he tells the Corinthians - and us - that the church should be a place...where there's a lot of kissin' goin' on! 

Oh yes. This is the church. This is the community of faith - the community that gathers because of, and around, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle, with all the authority of his ministry, tells them that when they get together, rich and poor, high status and low, single and married, young and old, when you get together this is what you do: you kiss. 

The church, Paul says twice to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:20), and also to the Romans (Rom. 16:16) and to the Thessalonians (1 Th. 5:26), is a place where there's a lot of kissin' goin' on. 

Now before I get into too much trouble, and before the reputation of First Presbyterian Church, now almost 130 years in the making, takes a turn for the worse, we are not talking about the kind of kissing you see on “The Bachelor.” We are talking about the holy kiss. 

The kiss on the cheek was and is a common form of greeting in Paul's and our day. But I would venture that for Paul, as he typed on his laptop, meant something more than just the customary greeting. 

The kiss is an act of intimacy. For Paul it embodied the reconciliation, the unity,

the love, and the peace that he wanted the Corinthians to experience and discover in

Christ. All that they did - the meals and worship, the discussion and outreach - were

just different forms of the holy kiss. 

Picture with me a beautiful valley with snow capped mountains rising to the East and to the West. In the valley is both town and country, farm and field, bank and Burger King. On the streets walk the rich and the poor. There are those who live in comfortable, manicured houses, and also those who are looking for a room to lay their head. There are the hungry and the well fed, the professor and the store clerk, the summer citizen and the infant trying to climb up the slide in the park. There is the conservative and even a sprinkling of liberals. There is gay and straight, Hispanic &

Black & white & Asian, and even a few from Ghana. As with any city in any time, they all have need: some material, some emotional, some spiritual. 

In the shadow of the tabernacle there is a church, a gathering of saints of the Presbyterian variety. In a red brick building, spurred on by the Apostle Paul, we gather to kiss. We gather to give and receive the holy kiss. 

Sometimes it's not easy to kiss. Many times we'd just prefer to nod, if anything, and move on to “more important things”. The need is sometimes overwhelming. The diversity is sometimes vexing. The scarcity of resources is sometimes challenging. At times, it is all we can to do just to make through the day, let alone open oneself to the intimacy and risk of the holy kiss. To welcome all, equally, compassionately, to listen and learn as well as to share the good news, we need to stretch ourselves, materially, financially, spiritually. This is what the building project is all about, making this facility more welcoming, more inclusive, more able to minister to those in need. This is our vision: to nurture a community where praising and loving God and service to our neighbor occur every day. In Paul's words, the Holy Spirit, through us, offers holy kisses for all. 

We need holy kisses. We need to give and receive them. This is the way community is lived. This is faith. This is us. This is who we want to be. So pucker up, my brothers and sisters, because the apostle's word to the Corinthians is a word to us: in Christ, there's a lot of holy kissin' goin' on. With song and scripture, bible study and Sunday school, sermon and anthem, fellowship and prayer, outreach, and acceptance, sharing and the celebration of diversity (and this morning ice cream!), we give and receive holy kisses. This is our vision. We discover and experience the intimacy, the community, the love, the peace, all the wonderful things that bind human beings together. The holy kiss, in all of its forms, is a wonderful thing. Amen. 
 

      May 18, 2008

Rev. Paul Heins

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah