~ by the Pastor and guest writers ~
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Our Church At Work-Even in Summertime (June 26, 2002) These are what we traditionally refer to as lean months in the life of a church—the summer months when the congregation is going through something like a revolving door which means that some are in town while others are out of town. High School seniors are anticipation their inaugural trek to some college campus or the other, pre-school parents are getting ready for their child’s first encounter with kindergarten, the rest of us are enjoying a little extra leisure as the whole world agrees to “kick back” for a little while. Some of us are finding time, here and there, to dip our feet in the waters off Padre Island, or to sit reverently at the family table to behold a plate of summer vegetables, or to pull out some compelling “beach book,” or to get to that favorite resting place. When you get this I will have been in the mountains of Alabama on study leave. When we travel, let us not forget the ongoing work of First Presbyterian Church which, surprisingly to me, does not slow down all that much. People in need still seek us out, the worship and program life still goes on, plans (like election of new church officers) are being hatched purposefully; and there remains during the summer—just like during the rest of the year—great need for a First Presbyterian Church perched prominently at its important location and actively engaged in ministry. When I lived on the east coast of New England there were churches that shut down during June, July, August. The minister went on an extended vacation and period of continuing education, the worship and program life ceased, the building got shuttered (except for whatever routine maintenance was required) and, presumably, all of the members just scattered to the four winds for a little R and R. Consider with me what’s wrong with a move like that. Does it not suggest that discipleship is a part-time business—a whimsical thing which we are happy to engage in when the stars line up just right and the calendar agrees with us and the time for it is convenient? Does it not create the impression that God cares about God’s world almost all the time? Jokes aside, who among us would be happy with a part-time church? First Presbyterian Church is a full-time church—a famous one in this community. Which means, for starters, that your pledge dollars are as necessary in July as they are in October or March. Which means that, even in the summer, some of you can be expecting a phone call—”will you serve on the Session?” “will you teach Church school?” “will you serve in worship leadership?”—and are encouraged to be thinking now about how you are likely to respond. Not long ago I read about the experience of a fellow Presbyterian minister who took a Sunday off and went to one of those mega-churches in far northern suburb which apparently has been designed for the newest generation of young adults. The service took place simultaneously in two large auditoriums, to which had flocked thousands of people. There was hardly anything “churchly” about the place—no bulletins, no cross, no ushers wearing flowers in their lapels, no offering plates (large buckets instead, like the one in which you buy a family-size quantity of fried chicken). There was no “prelude” but instead a lot of warm-up music by a peppy band. There were no hymns but lots of musical entertainment. There was little the gathered crowd there had to do except sit and listen. There wasn’t even much scripture or prayer, but a very fine motivational talk by the preacher for the day (who wore no robe but was casually attired in khakis and an open-collar shirt). In one auditorium, the preacher was “live,” and in the other he was projected onto the stage via three-dimensional technology. No Sunday School, no committees, no real program life beyond Sunday morning; in fact, as I read about this description, I imagined how appropriate it would have been for that church (which didn’t even call itself a church, by the way) to put a sign our front saying, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” Apparently this place was geared to the consumer patterns and desires of a particular generation. How many in the church of the 21st century come to worship “to consume’ something? I am convinced there are a lot of people who bring an odd question with them when they come to worship: “What do you have here for people like me?” My response: “The same thing we have for everybody here—places in which you can serve.” What lies behind my reply is my ongoing conviction that the demands of the gospel are not worth our attention simply when they are appealing and nicely-packaged. Will you think on this in these more relaxed months? As blessed as First Presbyterian Church is by generous resources and many people, its ongoing life depends on each and every one of us. Besides, the work of the Church of Jesus Christ is far too important a thing to hang upon how we happen to feel about it on any given day.
 Our Life Together (June 1, 2002) Once again I am led by the Spirit of God to find powerful words and direction from Scripture. This morning I picked up Paul’s letter to the Romans and began reading in chapter 12. Chapter 12 is a turning point in Paul’s letter. In the first eleven chapters Paul boldly proclaims the extraordinary good news of grace in Jesus Christ. In chapter 12 he changes gears and turns to address the calling of Christians in response to that grace. The opening verses are striking. Paul wastes no time getting to his point: “I appeal to you, therefore, by the mercies of God.” Therefore! Everything in the letter has been leading to this point, this therefore. And as Walter Brueggeman has said, “whenever you see a ‘therefore’ in the Bible, you’d better duck.” Paul’s words are no exception. “Therefore,” Paul proclaims, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds.” The mercy of God should make us different, odd, unusual in the world! God’s grace should transform us – “metamorphosized” us. When I hear these words, I sit on the edge of my seat. I’m ready to be told to do something dramatic and bold. So I have to confess that the rest of what Paul says strikes me a little disappointing. I discover that Paul does not primarily address me as an individual. Rather, he writes to the church. Our life together is to be odd, not conformed to the world. “Present your bodies” (plural) “as a living sacrifice” (singular), he writes. In our life together – as a people – we present an offering to God. “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds.” That is not a word for individual heroes, but a word for the community of faith. And although initially I was disappointed, recently I have come to sense the far-reaching character of Paul’s familiar words. The world Paul lived in was a world of divisions – a world of insiders and outsiders – Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. It was a world shaped by hierarchies, with some people on top and others on bottom, some winners and some losers, some honored and others shamed. Relationships in Paul’s world – community in Paul’s world – depended on these divisions and hierarchies. Without them there would have been chaos; things might have fallen apart. But in contrast tot his world, Paul envisions the church as one body with many gifts. Paul announces to God’s people, “We’re not going to live in that old world any more. We’re going to view people in terms of the gifts God has given them, rather than through society’s categories of honor and shame, insider and outsider, winner and loser. In the grace of Jesus Christ, we are going to live as one body with many equal parts.” And heard in this way, that old familiar text about gifts seems a bit more startling, a bit more earthshaking. And our world is not much different, is it? All those divisions remain: age, race, gender, class. Divisions, divisions, divisions. It seems like groups have to have outsiders in order to feel good about themselves as insiders. And the church is no exception. And with the divisions inevitably come to the heirarchies: superior and inferior, dominant and subordinate, honored and shamed. Indeed as someone has noted, the primary metaphor that shapes much of our society is the metaphor of winner and loser. “We’re number one!” is not just a chant at sporting events; it is the cry that reflects the underlying competition that drives much of our culture. This is the world we live in. And it is not so different from Paul’s world. In such a world Paul’s vision of one body with many gifts – all given by the grace of God – Paul’s vision would not only transform us, the church, but also the world. It might just change the cries from “We’re number one! We’re number one!” to “We are one.” Just imagine. What if we viewed people first and foremost in terms of the gifts God has given them? What if we saw people not in terms of gender or race, but in terms of the gifts they possess for building up God’s people? What if we saw others not as “too old” or “too young,” as “abled” or “disabled,” but in terms of the gifts they have to offer to the body of Christ? And what if all these gifts, no matter how small, came from the grace of Jesus Christ? That’s what Paul says gifts – plural; grace – singular. All the gifts with one source – Jesus Christ. If that were the case, then no gift would be valued more highly than others. All would be equal – no winners and losers; no honored and shamed. The old divisions and hierarchies that divide us might just come crumbling down as we begin to celebrate the offerings that each person brings to the community. And our churches would be richer. And they would certainly be odd – not conformed to this world, but transformed by the mercies of God in Jesus Christ. I’ll See You Sunday! Jesse
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