The following sermon was preached by Associate Pastor Dennis Sanders on January 22, 2012.

This April will mark five years since my partner Daniel and I moved into our home in North Minneapolis.  Like a lot of folks I don’t like moving.  And like a lot of folks, there comes a time when you stop putting things neatly in boxes.  You just want to move and get things done so, all this junk gets placed in a box and you put somewhere in your house where you won’t ever look at it again.

And it is in some cases stuff you don’t need to keep.  In my case, I still had papers from seminary and college that followed me from house to house to house.  I had things that followed me from Michigan to Washington, DC and then to Minnesota.  I had junk that I had accumulated over 20 years that was going to take up space in my new home’s basement.  I really didn’t want to have a basement full of stuff I wasn’t going to use anymore, so I decided that the collection of old term papers and knick knacks had to be dealt with.  Slowly, but surely, I got rid of stuff.  I looked at every thing and I thought I was pretty ruthless in putting things aside and to the trash bin.  I felt in someway that these things were weighing me down and I needed to get rid of them so that I could move forward.

The texts today are pretty familiar to some of you.  A number of us have heard the old story of Jonah in the belly of a big fish or whale or what have you.  He is asked by God to go and preach a word of repentance to the folks in Nineveh.  Jonah wasn’t particularly eager to do what God called him to do.  So, instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah decided to get lost.  He took the first ship out of town far, far away from Nineveh.  Jonah was not interested in preaching to Nineveh.  He knew God was going to save them if they repented, something they ultimately did.  Nineveh was the big power that threatened tiny places like Israel.  Jonah wanted them to face God’s wrath.

In the gospels, we see Jesus opening his public ministry.  He comes preaching a familiar message of repentance; “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Jesus passes along and finds two sets of brothers who were fishermen.  He calls both sets to follow him and the text says they immediately drop what they are doing and follow Jesus on an amazing journey.

Whenever I’ve heard people talk about this text, people are always amazed how Peter, Andrew, James and John just give up their ways of living to follow Jesus.  Some folks say we need to emulate them.  We don’t know what they were thinking, but at some point they had to wonder what in the world they had done.  Why would anyone in their right mind give up a job to follow some strange guy claiming to be the Son of God?  Did it ever sink in how much they were giving up?

This Sunday is our Commitment Sunday and it is also the first full Sunday that we as a community are in our new place.  Unlike the disciples, we didn’t come at this “immediately.”  It took years for us to discern we need to sell our old building, to figure what were our next steps, to decide to join the partnership, and then to make all the decisions that take place during construction.  We made all those decisions and now here we are, sitting in this new room.

We are on a new path and we probably feel the same excitement the disciples felt when they decided to follow Jesus.  But we also feel some of the same fear and dread that Jonah felt.  We have been used to doing things a certain way in a certain place for half a century.  It will take time to establish the new rythyms of life around here.

This sermon is supposed to be a sermon about stewardship.  It’s supposed to be about persuading you all to make pledges for the coming to help this gathered community to God’s work in the world.  But this is also about commitment and about discipleship, about how we should follow Christ in good and bad times.

Following Christ means at times that we have to let go of things.  For the disciples it meant leaving their jobs.  For Jonah, he had to learn to give up his hatred of Nineveh and preach a word of repentance.

But letting go, committing ourselves to follow God is never an easy thing.  It’s far easier to remain in our comfort zones, because having to let go means pain and it hurts.  As a faith community, First Christian has made a bold move in deciding to follow Christ wherever we are led.  But it’s not without cost.  We have left our own nets by the seashore, but we don’t feel good leaving our old way of life tossed aside.

But letting go also opens us up to new possibilities.  Jonah preached to the Ninevites to get right with God and they did.  The disciples went on the found the church and spread the good news of Christ around the known world.

First Christian has learned to give up and let go of its past to face an unknown future.  What’s ahead of us?  I don’t know; that story is just being written.  What I do know is that in following Jesus we will be sharing the Good News of salvation to all who encounter us.  What I do know is that just like the disciples, God is right there with us as we do God’s work in the world.  We can commit to God because we know God will never, ever let us down.

There is a Central American hymn that seems to fit today:  It’s called “Tu has venido a la Orilla” or “Lord You’ve Come Down to the Lakeshore.”  Here are some of the words:

Tú has venido a la orilla,

no has buscado ni a sabios ni a ricos.

Tan sólo quieres que yo te siga.

Señor, me has mirado a los ojos,

sonriendo has dicho mi nombre.

En la arena he dejado mi barca:

junto a Ti buscaré otro mar.

Lord, you have come to the lakeshore

looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones.

You only asked me to follow humbly. 1

Refrain

O Lord, with your eyes you have searched me,

kindly smiling, have spoken my name.

Now my boat’s left on the shoreline behind me;

by your side I will seek other seas.

So, here we are.  We have left our boats of familiarity and security heading down a road we don’t know.  But we have a hope in the good news: in Jesus Christ.  We leave things behind, but look forward to so much more.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

I’ve always been fascinated by the future.

I remember when I was about 8 or 9, I would sit down and think about the year 2000.  I was able to figure out that I would be 31 years old by the year 2000, which I thought was very old.

I wondered what life was going to be like in the 21^st century.  Would we have flying cars and the like?

As I got older, people started worrying about nuclear weapons.  At that point, there were times I feared if I would see the year 2000 at all.

Of course in 2010 we still don’t have flying cars.  But we do have things that I couldn’t even dream about back in 1978: the internet, cell phones, the iPad and the like.  And thankfully, we didn’t end in a nuclear fire.

The future is something that is both exciting and terrifying.  We don’t know exactly what the future holds, so we tend to imagine what things will be like.  That can lead to two things: either we get scared and or we are empowered.

A drawing by a seven year old that was drawn during the sermon. It's titled "In the Future."

The two passages that were read just now have to do about the future of two men: Elisha and Jesus.  Both were being led by God to a difficult, but nonetheless exciting future.  But along the way, both me encountered roadblocks that could have sent them off the path God would have them to go.

In First Kings, the prophet Elijah is sent to anoint several people, including a man named Elisha.  Now Elisha was excited about this new job opportunity…..but he needed to say goodbye to his parents.  In the book of Luke, we hear that Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem and along the way he meets several men that want to follow him.  To one he says, that the Son of Man has no where to lay his head.  To another who says that he has to bury his father first, Jesus tells him that the dead should bury the dead.  A third person says to Jesus to let him say goodbye to his loved ones and Jesus says that no one that looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

When you look at these texts, you have to wonder why Jesus and Elijah were being so mean.  After all, what is so bad about burying your father or saying goodbye to friends?

I have no idea if Jesus actually said these things, but what I do know is that the call to follow Jesus means that we called to put God’s kingdom first, first above our daily priorities.

In Luke, Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem.  That means he was preparing himself for what was going to happen down the road: his arrest and betrayal; his death and ressurection.  Jesus had an inkling that the future was not bright for him and yet he continued preaching and teaching even in the face of death.  All of the people who want to follow him want to follow him, but they all have good reasons to delay their journey.  But Jesus will have none of it.  Now is the time we are called to follow Jesus, not later.

In our lives, we all have a desire to follow Jesus and be a disciple, but at times we let the mundane parts of life get in the way.  We let our jobs and family get in the way.  We will be interested in mission and ministry once the kids graduate from high school or once we retire from our jobs.

But Jesus is asking us to follow him NOW and to set our faces towards Jerusalem.  We are called to be his disciples now and to work towards bringing forth God’s kingdom here and now.

About a month ago, Chris Wogaman, our Office Manager, decided to show a book to myself and Deb Murphy.  It was actually a photo album containing bulletins from anniversary dinners dating at the very least back to the 1940s.  We spent about an hour looking at these snapshots of First Christian’s history.

There was one particular program that fascinated me and that was the program from the 1957 anniversary dinner.  The theme of that dinner was “Futurama.” It turns out that a play was put on during the dinner.  I haven’t seen the actual play, but the program states it was set 80 years in the future at the board meeting of First Christian Church in 2037.  By that time the church had supposedly moved to Saturn and was getting ready to celebrate its 160^th birthday.

Now, I’m pretty sure we aren’t moving to Saturn anytime soon.  And yes, this play was probably a little farsical, but I have to marvel at the audacity of those folks back in 1957, in that they were able to see what the church would be like long after they would be dead.  First Christian would still be around doing God’s work- albeit on a planet with an inhospitable atmosphere, but doing God’ work nevertheless.

God is asking us to move forward into the future.  But God is asking us to let go of what can hold us back, our fears and our obligations.  We are to set our own faces towards the Jerusalems of our lives: a place where there will be trials and temptations to be sure, but also a place where God’s spirit is present- guiding and sustaining us as we do God’s work in God’s world.

So, I leave you this morning with a question: where will First Christian be in five years or ten years?  Can we see or imagine where God will take us?  Are we willing to let go of whatever excuses that might be holding us back from following Jesus?

I am excited to see where God is leading us as a congregation.  I love seeing how the children’s Sunday School is growing.  I love seeing how the adult classes are going.  I love seeing the seeds of new ministries taking root.  I am happy to see faces being set towards Jerusalem.

There is an old saying that goes, “I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”  So, my sisters and brothers, let’s set our faces towards Jerusalem and go boldly into our future.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

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It was back in the winter of 1999 that I took a trip to China.  I went along with several other students from Luther Seminary here in town.  It was something I had to do fulfill a cross-cultural requirement, and if I had to visit another culture, why not China?  We spent two weeks in Hong Kong, which was fascinating just two years after the handover of the former colony from Britian to China.  But the most fascinating part was the chance to fly out to Western China, near Burma.  We spent that week in Yunan Province, in and around the city of Kunming.  The purpose here was to visit the church in mainland China which meant visiting small villages in the mountains.  We weren’t expecting any fanfare from visiting these towns.

Boy, were we wrong.

In every town we stopped at, we were greeted warmly.  Actually that’s too tame a description: we were treated like rock stars.  They would treat us to a fancy meal and made us sit at the front of the church like kings and queens.

I am reminded of one particular story.  We had visited two villages already that day and we were driving back down the mountain to head to our hotel in Kunming.  As some point our bus came to stop.  In front of us was a group of people from another town.  They had heard about our visit in another town earlier in the day and wanted to catch us on the way back down.  Now it was already 10 at night.  We were tired.  We wanted to get back to our hotel rooms and catch some sleep.  But, these villagers wanted to meet their fellow Christian sisters and brothers who came across the world to visit with them.  So, in the darkness, we went up to their village at night and took part in an impromptu worship service.

Look back, I tend to think this was a Pentecost moment: a time where we able to see God at work.

On this day of Pentecost, this day that we consider the birthday of the church, we can end up looking at this day as nothing more than nostalgia.  We come and try to recreate the event of the disciples speaking in different languages and maybe even wonder why we can’t bring 3000 members to our church today.

Pentecost has become a kind of dusty celebration, a remembrance of things past.   There is nothing wrong in honoring the past.   It’s important to know where we come from and where we are going.   The problem is that too often, the church has the knack of seeing Pentecost as something that happened in the past.  It’s a past-tense event.  But the thing is, it is not simply something that happened in the past.   Pentecost the coming of God’s Spirit, is something that happens again and again.  Pentecost is also a present-tense event.  The Spirit is what powers the church, what sustains us in the good and bad times.

What we see happen in Acts 2 is God breaking into people’s lives.  Peter is able to explain to those gathered what has just happened and his talk is to simply say: the Spirit is here.  God is here…now.

Acts 2 is not just something that happened in the past; but also about us now, about what the church is supposed to be all about.  As the gathered community called the church, we are called to share what God is doing in the world.

But of course, that means that we are able to see that God is at work in the world.  Do we see God at work?

I think it can be easy to become busy in the everyday to not see where God is working.  I know that I see it every Sunday morning when I pass by the children’s Sunday School class every Sunday morning.  We just saw it when we saw the kids running wild around the church with kites.  We are called by God to testify to that Spirit that is alive and running wild and free in the world.

I want to close with a story about a dreamer.  His name was George.  George was a man well into his 80s and went a church a lot like this one.  Times were tight at the church, but one morning, George got up and told the congregation that they needed to raise $11,000 for a capital campaign to build a new church building.  “We must look to the future,” George said that morning.  The church decided to heed his words and began raising the money needed for the new building. Years later, the church expanded their new building, again heeding the words George spoke so many years before.

For the astute among you, the George I am talking about is Dr. George Haggard and the church I am talking about is this one.  It was Dr. Haggard, who was 87 when he made that statement about looking towards the future, that was instrumental in raising the funds needed to build the church building we are in now.

I think that Dr. Haggard had a “Pentecost moment” on that Sunday morning in 1944.  He had faith that God was going to do something and planted a vision.  Talk about your old men having visions.

It was two years ago, that we sold this building to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and we are now deciding what to do next.  I know it will be hard to move out of this space that has been home to this congregation for 55 years.  It might even feel that this is the end of a dream.

But I think Dr. Haggard’s words still ring true today.  We have to look towards the future and see where God is at work and join God there.  We have to be open to the Spirit, to have a vision of what God would have us do and then, empowered by the Spirit, get to work.

Pentecost is about a fire that has spread around the world and it’s still spreading all these years later.  Can we see where Pentecost is happening?  Are we willing to share it?

May God grant us the eyes to see Pentecost moments and tell others to join in God’s parade.  Thanks be to God, Amen.

1.  How does one develop faith?

The starting point is recognizing that life is based on faith, not concrete existence.  Faith life begins with accepting that what is, is.  Once you recognize this, it becomes more of a spiritual journey rather than just a material one.  Developing faith means finding a faith orientation (ours is Christian), and finding out what things that are meaningful within that orientation, and finding a community that supports your journey.   Development of faith is a lifelong journey. God’s self is mystery, and our job is to explore mystery that we might grow as souls.  Why?  Because the next journey is even more challenging and exciting – we’re to use this world to get ready for the next.

2.  Some people describe the Bible as the inerrant word of God.  What is your opinion?

I prefer to talk from the Bible, not about the Bible.  God provided God’s input into the writing of the Bible.  I don’t care about inerrancy – that was an idea that was developed in the late 19th century.  The Bible is full of mystery; it’s a book of questions, not all the answers.  We need to work through the questions.  The Bible doesn’t proclaim inerrancy for itself;  we need to take the Bible for what it is and explore it, delve into it, try to work meaning from it.  It’s our guidebook through the mystery;  faith grows through our interaction with the Bible.

3.  If there’s only one God why are there so many religions?

I start by recalling Paul’s words in 1 Cor 13: “Now we see through a glass darkly.”  In the human journey, God is mystery.  In the human journey, through geography, politics, through people pursuing their own ideas, religions developed historically.  Most of the early religions were polytheistic, and then monotheism came in.  Different faith traditions are ways of trying to understand life and the creator of life, God.  We claim the Christian faith, but I don’t want to call it superior because of the history of Christianity’s mistakes.   But I claim the Christian ideals which are also in other traditions.  Seeing God as a God of love is about as high an aspiration for God as we can give to God.  This is right, good.  holy.  There are so many religions because we don’t see perfectly, we don’t see clearly;  the world is big and we have different understandings.  Is there validity in different understandings?  Yes.  We all have to understand the fact that we all don’t get it.  I’m in an interfaith forum of Christians, Muslims, and Jews – we come together because we all wish to be people of faith.  I believe in God through Christ, which is from my point of view the best way to understand God.  But it’s for God to judge which faith path is the best.  The temptation is to say mine’s the best, but if we are to truly follow God as mystery you have to keep and open mind and respect other viewpoints.

4.  Why are some of the names in the Bible hard to pronounce?
Well, Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic, and even English, are not the easiest languages to learn.  A lot of names in the Bible are used as descriptive phrases. Adam means earth,   just as Smith came from blacksmith.  I know if I had a son, I wouldn’t name him Melchizedek!

5.  Why do good things happen to bad people?

Notice how this question gives a twist on the way we often hear the question.  God’s rain falls on the just and unjust.  Good things happen to bad people because frequently “those that have, get,” they pursue crass materialism and follow the commandment “thou shall not get caught.”  We always asked why is there evil in the world?   Some people use this question to reject God.  But why is there good in the world?  Sometimes it’s the luck of the draw, it’s “them that’s has, gets.” It’s a mess.  But life has more purpose when you pursue it on a spiritual plain than material

6.  How do YOU balance doubt with faith?

Well if I didn’t have doubt, my faith wouldn’t grow.  If I didn’t raise the questions and have the struggles, then I wouldn’t be motivated to look for the insights.  Doubt is necessary to grow.  If you have no doubts, your faith is static. In times of great doubt (and I go through such times a lot) it’s usually a matter of looking back and seeing I’ve been here before, and seeing how God has led me through before.   I know to be patient, and know that God will reveal God’s truth and purpose.  Even though doubt is difficult, God provides light at the end.

As a look around this sanctuary today I can’t help but wonder what I am  doing up here talking to you.  I am not a lifelong member of this  congregation.  Heck,  I am not even a lifelong member of this  Denomination. However for the past 31 +years the Disciple  denomination has been a big part of the life of my family.  Nancy and I
have moved numerous times. Before each move one of the first things we would do is look for a Disciple church in the city where we were moving to.  You see no matter where we lived we could always find  peace and friendship at church.  From a congregation of 10` to one of  150 it was always the same. Smiling faces coming to you with open arms.  And it is no different here.  My family was accepted here and we have been able to continue our service of the Lord and meet many  great people.  And my hope is that the same opportunity will be offered to others NOW AND IN THE FUTURE here at First Christian Church Minneapolis.

This is the task at hand for not only the transition team but this congregation.  Many questions need to be answered:  How do we maintain a vibrant loving caring congregation?  What is the future going to bring? Where are we going to worship? Are we going to be financially stable enough to continue?  These are tough questions but must be answered in the future.  The loving, caring and serving part is the easiest.  As a congregation I see this as a positive. No matter where we are in the future this congregation I am sure will continue to serve the Lord and the community as we have in the past. We may feel we are not doing enough in the community but remember the size of the congregation today. Daily we continue to find new ways and ideas to serve God and the community.

The financial part is a tough one.  Last year only 57% of income was from pledges the rest from proceeds of the sale.  Next year the numbers are about the same. To ease this financial burden there are a number of options.  But one thing is for sure we cannot continue to survive in this building.  We can continue to stay the current path but in a few years the interest income money from the sale of the building will be gone,  then what? We could live off the rest of the money but what happens when that runs out. Some options to consider too ease the money situation could be to down size to a smaller church or a shared space with another congregation.

What does the future bring?  That is a different story?  You have already agreed for money to be used to start a second service to try and attract the younger 20-40 generation. Over the coming weeks, the Transition team will be meeting with other congregations in similar situation as ours to gather more ideas on how we should proceed. The Transition team is currently reading and studying the book Were are Here Now; a book about church transformation.   One of the main points of the book is there are no quick fixes or easy answers.  It takes hard work and dedication to transform.

During one of our transition team meetings we were asked to think about what our ultimate dream would be for First Christian Church Minneapolis. My first thought was of a beautiful large church. You know (The spotlight of the neighborhood).  It would be filled Sunday morning to capacity, with music and singing so loud that people could hear as they pass by.    Then I started to think what difference would a large congregation make.  Sure financial condition could improve with more members but in today’s economic environment even the larger congregations are struggling to survive with finances and loss of membership.  With more members more ideas and decisions to be made I thought about the congregation. How close would it be?   Would everyone know everyone? You see,  bigger is not always better.

Approaching is the anniversary of this congregation that was started by those 22 people not in a huge church or sanctuary but in a home. They continued to meet and grow I am sure not always agreeing with how they should proceed. There were trials and tribulations. But through prayer, hard work and compromise a congregation was born.

As we transition into the future we will experience those same trials and tribulations as our brothers and sisters in did in the past. There will be disagreement and much discussion. As a transition team we cannot make snap decisions. Decisions shall thoroughly be thought out and evaluated.   One thing for sure we cannot continue to do things the same. As the old saying goes if you continue to do things the same way you can expect the same results.  All of us need to move into the future with open minds and be willing to accept things that we may not totally agree with.  I am sure each of us has our own thoughts on how we should proceed.  But one thing is for certain we must change and be open to change.

I encourage you to think about what you would like First Christian Church to be in the future.  Much like Pastor Bob asked the Transition Team to do.   Share those thoughts with others as well as members of the Transition Team. Read about how other churches have survived during difficult times.  A couple of weeks ago there was an article about all the things a church in Michigan was doing even with high unemployment.  They continue to move forward in difficult times by working and praying together. They adapted to the changing of the times by serving in different ways.

But most importantly, go to God in prayer about the future.  Pray for his guidance for this congregation and the Transition Team.  Pray for a place that not only us but others can come to and experience God’s love and guidance. You see in the end it doesn’t matter what each of us wants.  It is what God wants us to do that matters.

Let us pray.

Dear Lord, we bow before you today a congregation many emotions.  Some of us are angry, some hurt, some scared and some excited.  Change and what the future might bring is scary.  Help us to get out of our comfort zone and be willing to try new things and be open to new ideas.  Be with the transition as they go about the task of helping to decide the direction of this congregation.  We ask that you comfort those who are hurting or scared and encourage those that are excited.  And we pray that the end decision will be the best way for us to better serve you and your needs of us. IN your holy name we pray,  Amen.

“Called. Gathered. Sent.”
John 2:1-11, I Corinthians 12:1-11
January 17, 2010
First Christian Church
Minneapolis, MN

I’ve come to realize that as you reach a certain age, you start to look back at an earlier point in your life more and more.  A friend of mine who turned 40 last year commented that he has basically stopped watching what is on television currently and with the wonders of Hulu.com, he has taken to watching television shows of the 70s and 80s.  For my friend, he loves watching these shows because it is a wonderful memory of an earlier time.

I can understand what my friend is talking about.  I love watching the old commercials of my childhood at YouTube.  Marketers have noticed that people are interested in nostalgia and have come up with special editions of products that are packaged like they were in the 1960s or 70s.  A few weeks ago, I was shopping at Target and happened to notice that Pepsi was packaging its usual pop in the look and logo of the early 1970s.  For me, I was immediately catapulted to that time when I was a little kid and was at a picnic where everyone was gathered and drinking Pepsi in the this same style.

I’ve seen other products do this like cereals and other soft drinks.  Of course, it’s a way to get people to buy the product, but they also know that it hits on our desire to want things like they used to be.

Nostalgia is an interesting thing.  It’s not a necessarily bad, but it is incredibly powerful.  We love to do look back at the past with a sense of wonder.  It gives us comfort for a time when things seemed less complicated.

Churches tend to deal with nostalgia as well.  We love to look back at the time when the sanctuaries were full and the Sunday School program was the greatest in all the world.  Among mainline churches, we love to look back at the past because we want to go back to that time, when things seemed a whole lot easier.

Our text in John is always and interesting one because it’s the first indication of Jesus doing a miracle in the Fourth Gospel…and it takes place at a party…and he makes wine.  This really isn’t the place you expect Jesus to perform a miracle.  I mean, what would it look like for Jesus, the Son of God, to be at a wedding party and be making wine?  I think even Jesus was a bit surprised when his mother tells him that there is no more wine at the party.  He came to earth to save creation, not to run a liquor store.

But Christ’s work at the wedding party in Cana has important lessons for the church today.  The story makes us wonder where God is in the world.  In the story, Jesus takes six stone jar filled with water that were to be used for ritual purification ceremonies…and he made them into wine.  Now that doesn’t make sense, does it?  To use water that was used to make people clean to come before God for wine?  And yet this is what Jesus did.  This is where God was found…at a wedding party.

So, today I have a question for you all…what does it mean to be church?  What does it mean to be First Christian Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota?  Because that is what God is saying in the passage and the passage in Corinthians.  Are we looking for where God is in the world and getting involved, or are we looking for God in the past?

As I like to say, being that I was trained to be a pastor at a Lutheran seminary, their ways tend to rub off on you.  I am reminded of the mission statement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which states, “Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world.”

Claimed or called.  Gathered. Sent.  Our calling by God comes in the form of our baptisms.  We gather every Sunday around the Lord’s table and are reminded of God’s love for us in the life, death and ressurection of Jesus Christ.  We are sent from this time together to go into the world and love friends and strangers in word and in deed.

First Christian was not started nearly 133 years ago just because.  It was called by God, gathered by God and sent by God to bring the Good News of Jesus to the world in word and deed.  This congregation doesn’t exist for itself, but for the sake of others, for the sake of the world.

Since I need to give props to my own tradition, here is the Identity Statement for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): “We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness  in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.”

Again, there is a calling from God, to bring healing in a broken world and to welcome all to the Lord’s Table.  Again, the church exists not for itself but for others.

In Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he is saying that all that makes up the body of Christ tend to have different gifts sent by the Spirit.  How we are using the gifts that God has given us?  How we building up the body of Christ and healing creation?

As we discern what is the future of First Christian Church, there is a temptation to want to find that magic thing that will make things like they were.  But while nostalgia is a nice thing, we can only go forward in time.  The good old days of First Christian are a thing of the past.  We are never going be the church, the community we were in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.  We probably won’t be a big as we once were.

But God is not just found in the past, but is also a God of the present and the future.  Because we are called, gathered and sent by God, because we are a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world, we are powered by God to be in mission in the world, using the gifts we have to bring hope and healing.  It’s because God is a God of the future that the Haneys- being called, gathered and sent by God are here in Minnesota to plant a church.  It has to be that, because they didn’t move here from Oklahoma for the tropical climate.

We are sent to help the refugees who come Minnesota from places where there has been strife.  We are sent to feed the hungry here in the Twin Cities and around the world.  We are sent to welcome people to the Lord’s Table regardless of the race or ethinicity or sexual orientation.  We are called to pray for each other and the world.  We are sent to listen to a friend over coffee as they share a personal tragedy.  We are sent to where God is, where God is trying to make water in wine, to bring hope where there was no hope.

Being that this is Martin Luther King Weekend, I wanted to end with a story of racial reconcilation.  About 15 years ago, I was stringer for Baptist News Service.  I covered a story of several Southern Baptist congregations in the Washington, DC area that voted to become open to African Americans.  I remember interviewing a pastor who was white and the pastor of what was now a primiarily African American congregation.  It wasn’t that way back in the 1960s when it discerned to open itself up to everyone regardless of race.  I remember the pastor saying that there were churches that continued to bar people because of their race.  He noted that these churches are now remembered only in the history books.  The churches that realized that they were called gathered and sent by God were willing to take a risk and still existed 30 years later.  However, those that forgot whose they were, weren’t able to deal wit the changes and ended up closing.

First Christian, remember that you are called, gathered and sent by God.  We have a mission to get on with.  It doesn’t matter if we are 10 years old or 90 years old, we have a job to do: to feed the hungry, free the oppressed and give hope to the hopeless.

Looking back at the past can be a comforting thing. I wish at times to be six years old again, watching Saturday morning cartoons.  But God calls us to move forward, to find out what God is doing in the world and join in.  Thanks be to God. Amen.

“Jesus is Coming. Look Busy.”

Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 3:1-6

December 6, 2009

Second Sunday of Advent

First Christian Church

Minneapolis, MN

I don’t watch as much television as I used to, but when I do I tend to like a lot of the reality television shows.  I have been an avid fan of “Top Chef” for years.  But the one that I have really enjoyed over time is the series, “What Not to Wear.”  For those of you who don’t know, the show consists of two hosts who go around the country finding people who are terrible dressers.  They ambush them at their place of work and then they have to watch video of their clothing choices.  Then they are flown to New York with their wardrobe.  It’s there that the hosts, basically pick apart their clothing style and throw out the old wardrobe.

Then the contestant is sent shopping with “rules” on what to buy.  This is the interesting part because this is where we can see some resistance.  Some people take a while to get used to new ways of dressing and for some this is an emotional journey.

After a new hairstyle and some makeup tips, the contestant is presented to her friends and family with her new clothing style.  At the end of the show, we learn that went on was not simply a change of clothing, but an internal change.  People who were ashamed of their bodies, learned to love and accept themselves. It can be a rough road for these contestants, but in the end, it seemed to be worth it.

One more note.  The two hosts tend to be somewhat biting in the comments.  But that’s nothing.  “What Not To Wear” is an American version of a British television show of the same name and I can tell you that the two British hosts are far more brutal.

When we think of this time of year, we are usually thinking of angels and shepherds, babies in mangers and stars at night. It’s supposed to be a time of peace and good cheer.  At least that is what we are taught to believe.   But Advent is not simply a time of waiting and it isn’t always a time of good feelings.  It is also a time of preparation.  “Prepare the Way of the Lord,” is what we hear during this time of the year.  It should fill us with happiness that hope is on the way.  But if we should also feel a bit of apprehension, because when God comes, playtime is over.

The prophet Malachi talks about a messenger of the Lord that will come to prepare the people for God’s coming.  The way Malachi talks makes one wonder if the people hearing this message would be eager to roll out the welcome wagon.  This messenger would be a like a “refiner’s fire or fuller’s soap.”  None of this sounds nice.

Then we read Luke which talks about John the Baptist.  Here is a man that  comes from the wilderness and then preaches that God is going to fill the valleys, straighten the crooked roads, level the mountains and then after all that save all of creation.  And just to make sure we get the message, John castigates those who come to the baptism of repentance.  He isn’t interested in people doing this for show; he wanted people to change their ways and their hearts.  Playtime was over.

What does this all mean? None of this seems like it fits with the whole Advent-Christmas thing.  Isn’t God supposed to be about love and all?

Well, God is about love, but not in the way we like to think.  God wants to heal all of creation.  But that means that we are going to have to change.  God comes and examines us and cuts out all the bad habits to make a people of God.  It’s like what a friend has said to me: “God accepts you just as you are, but loves you enough to not leave you that way.”

In some ways the coming of God is like Bactine.  You remember that wonderful form of torture, don’t you?  The aeresol can would spray its antibacterial medicine on whatever cut or scrape we had.  It did its work, but wow, did it hurt.

And that is what God is like.  God judges us, look at our hearts and then does some renovation to make us a more godly people.

What we are talking about here is discipleship.  It is about learning how to be a people of God.  It is about taking our faith seriously and not for granted.

What do you think these texts have to do with First Christian in its current situation?  I do think this time in our life as a faith community is a time of pruning and preparation.  It’s time of learning about what it means to be church and letting go of bad practices and things that have become idols.  It might mean taking risks and leaving the familiar.  It could mean realizing ways we have not welcomed the stranger.  I don’t know what it might mean.  But I do know that this time of refinement could make us a stronger and more faithful community.  That’s the thing about God coming with a refiner’s fire, we can end up better than we

were.

Back in the 90s, I remember seeing a bumper sticker that said “Jesus is Coming.  Look busy.”  Being someone that enjoys sarcasm,  I can say that I totally loved that sticker.  But there is something about that sticker that conveys a truth.  In someways, we want to “look busy” for God. But God is not interested in us playing games.  God wants us to be busy preaching and doing justice and loving those we meet.

Advent is a time of preparation and expectation for Jesus.  But it is also a time of “winter cleaning.” It’s time to examine ourselves and let God refine us, and make us more and more like Christ.

There is a hymn that I found in a Lutheran hymnal with the title, “Christ Be Our Light.”  It’s a wonderful hymn that I think sums up what God is calling us to be.  Since today is Peace Sunday, I want to share the second verse and the chorus with you.  It goes like this:

Longing for peace, our world is troubled.

Longing for hope, many despair.

Your word alone has power to save us

Make us your living voice.

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.

Shine through the darkness.

Christ, be our light! Shine in your Church

Gathered today.

Look around you this morning.  As Bob noted last week, the advent wreath this year is a little different.  The candles are situated all around the congregation.  It’s a reminder that not only is Christ our light, but we are called to be light to the world.  We are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless and speak up for the voiceless.  But to do that we have to live Christ-like lives.  We have to not only “look busy” by going to church, but be busy being church in the world and taking part in God’s mission in the world.

When Jesus comes, it’s not an easy thing.  It can be quite hard to deal with.  But the end result makes it all worth it.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.