This is the fifth sermon in the ‘Liturgy for Life’ series.
Scripture reading: Romans 16:1-16
Every week, at some point, we have a time we call “life in community” greetings, “announcements,” and whoever is up front asks you to stand up and greet each other. This may feel like an interruption in the service rather than part of a liturgy. However, Paul reminds us of the importance and power of community in Scripture as a model for church and daily liturgies.
The Need for Life in Community
Paul’s extended greetings in his letters show us how connected he was to other people. We might be tempted to think of Paul as an amazing individual Christian, but Paul never writes a letter without mentioning the members of his community. Paul is modeling something for the church - his life was a life in community, so ours should be too. Paul’s call to “greet” others is much more than a polite “hello,” the greeting he has in mind is an opening up of your life to receive someone else into your life to enrich it and strengthen your relationship with God. In a world suffering from an epidemic of loneliness, we need practices to pull us back together.
How to Build Life in Community
In this passage, there is a very practical step Paul gives to build the kind of life in community we all need: the holy kiss. It’s found in verse 16 and commanded four other times in the NT. A holy kiss was a warm, affectionate greeting in the culture of this time. It was more common among Jews than Gentiles but practiced in both. Many historians say it was a kiss on the lips(!) and mostly among close relationships/family. It became a part of the common liturgy of the early church to express and strengthen the unity believers had as a new family in Christ.
Applying the holy kiss today means considering the importance of a time for life in community in church liturgy and challenging our narrow individualistic approach to church. As one pastor says, “the story that we believe in is the story that we live out.” A regular week-in, week-out liturgy of “life in community” and greeting reminds us that our story is not an individual story but a story of life in community. We build life in community by making intentional time and space in our gathering to greet and welcome one another personally and affectionately.
The Power of Life in Community – The regular liturgy of greeting one another with a holy kiss might seem simple but it had great power in the early church to produce a community such as the world had never seen:
Power for Equality - There is a diverse group of people mentioned in Paul's greeting, including women, slaves, former slaves, Jews, Gentiles, and those from poverty and wealth. A greeting with a holy kiss brought everyone together as equals in a warm, affectionate family. This kind of equality was unheard of at the time across race, gender and social class.
Power of Embodied Community - You cannot greet someone with a holy kiss unless you are in person with them. Christian worship is not just a matter of the soul but also of the body. The holy kiss reinforced the Christian belief that we are whole beings – our souls and our bodies matter to God. This was a constant reminder to care for both the spiritual and physical needs of others.
Power to Re-personalize - Paul mentioning people by name means that he values them, their stories, and how their faith encourages his own. There are so many forces that depersonalize us at work in our world, a liturgy of greeting by name communicates to each person – you matter.
Power for Peacemaking - Romans is well-known for its theological content, but one of the main reasons Paul wrote the book of Romans was to strengthen the unity of the churches in the city of Rome suffering from many divisions. To genuinely offer a holy kiss to another Christian first meant you were reconciled to them. In fact, the early church placed the liturgy of the holy kiss prior to the Lord’s Supper for just this reason.
Power for Everyday Community - We might not consider church announcements very theological, but Paul includes one about Phoebe right in this text (which was read aloud to the church)! He asked the church to host and help her. Announcements, done righty, encourage the gathered community to connect beyond Sunday into in their everyday lives.
The Challenge of Life in Community
What we are called to is not easy or comfortable, but it is necessary for your emotional and spiritual health in the context of a church family. To open up your heart to others in a genuine greeting is to open up your life to share in the stories of others, receive their gifts, and move from being unknown to known. Jesus himself knew all the risks you might be imagining now and though he was betrayed by a holy kiss, he still loved Judas, welcomed him, ate with him, and opened his life to him. Jesus died so we could have eternal life in community with the Trinity and with everyone who he has welcomed in. If he has welcomed us in this way, how can we not welcome one another with warmth and openness?
REFLECT OR DISCUSS
How does the NT concept of a liturgy of “greeting” challenge or encourage you? How do you experience the weekly practice of greeting one another? Like it? Hate it? Why?
Does the concept of a “holy kiss” make you feel uncomfortable? Why do you think it was so significant that Paul and Peter include it in their instructions to the churches?
Look at section 3 – which of these 5 descriptions of “the power of life in community” do you feel are most important for you/our church right now?
Special Focus - Digital services are a great convenience, but they can and should never fully replace our embodied participation in the body of Christ, the church. You greet someone with a holy kiss on a livestream. How should this impact our thinking on the place of online worship?
How is living your life in community with the people in your church uncomfortable or risky?
Read the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32. Notice how it says the Father kissed his son.
What did this kiss symbolize?
What discomfort or risk was involved for the Father to kiss his son?
What does this tell us about the heart of God for us?
How does this move us to enter the discomfort/risk of greeting each other with a “holy kiss”?
YOUR DAILY LITURGY
In this series, we will be encouraged to “take ownership” of our daily liturgies (patterns, habits). Saying, “I’m so busy,” “I go with the flow,” or “I just go about my day” are examples of not taking ownership of the shape and structure of our lives. How can the shape and pattern of my daily life be built around the gospel of Jesus Christ?
What’s the difference between attending events (church, community group, bible study) and doing these same things as living a life in community?
Who is someone you know that might need a “greeting” or a “holy kiss” in these turbulent times?
What are some practical ways for you to build life in community on Sundays and throughout the week?