LENT 3
March 07, 2010
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Exodus 3:1-15; Ps. 63:1-8; I Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9)
HOW, WHY & WHAT
St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, High Point, NC
MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN
These lessons bother me — a lot. I struggle with them and do not have a good answer to the questions they raise. I believe God is very patient. I HOPE and PRAY for my sake God is very patient!! I hope and pray God is endlessly patient with me – with us.
But when someone throws these passages at me — I can only respond with my hope and faith ... plus a few other passages which MAY suggest such divine patience ... but I cannot really argue with people who say there is a deadline. That after a certain point in time — it is too late.
Usually people who make that argument — say there is a final deadline — link it to the rapture and the final battle and all that .... much of which is not scriptural by the way. If they use these passages ... and there are others which can be used ... I point out that here Paul and Luke are talking about individual judgments and not some corporate – all the world judgment.
That does not help a lot with my uneasiness. After all it does not matter whether the deadline comes up for you at the same time it comes up for me. All I care about is my deadline!! ... My question after reading these passages is not whether or not there is a deadline — but what does God expect of me before that deadline.
I also wonder about groups. ..... Is there a deadline of some kind for God’s patience with groups? Is there a point when God says “enough is enough” and gives up on a church for example?
Personally I doubt it and even if it is possible for God to give up on a church it certainly would not be St. Christopher’s!! God would only give up on a church that was not doing God’s work and I believe we are. At the same time I know that any organization works more effectively with a clear goal and plan. A way to know and accomplish what God expects.
So my struggle with these lessons connected well with our Vestry (elected board) retreat last weekend.
Many times the first step in trying to determine how to meet God’s expectations is to develop a mission statement.
I seldom find church mission statements useful. For years I led retreats for groups to prepare mission statements — churches, neighborhood associations, even a couple businesses. Churches almost always came up with one of two possible statements. The short ones tended to say: we are really good people who like apple pie – basically a ‘who can argue with that statement’
The second option is the LONG version: Our mission is ____ and then everyone lists every possible activity no matter how small. These typically include things people can argue with – but no one cares because there is so much included!
The theoretical purpose of a mission statement, for an individual or group, is to guide their actions. If a specific action is not within the mission statement it should not be done. The long versions cover everything so nothing is inappropriate. The short ones tend to be so general they provide little guidance
That’s why I was so pleasantly shocked by what your Vestry wrote. It is both short, and direct. If you read these scripture lessons and wonder: what does God expect? ---- this mission statement is a good guide.
(Look in your bulletin) Notice the emphasis on the ‘how’ and the ‘why’. Too often these are added as a ‘throw-in’ —“guess we should say something about God” Not this time. I was listening and did not say much. The phrase ‘with god’s help’ was mentioned very early in the discussion.
The word ‘grace’ adds the context of that help being undeserved – unearned — a free gift from God.
That’s the how — ‘with God’s help’. The ‘why’ is “in the name of Jesus” ... because Jesus told us to. But even more it is done NOT for our benefit. NOT to somehow pay back or gain favor with God. Not even for our credit but for God’s credit. ....... Reflect on that for a while.
So that is the how and why — we are left to ask ‘what’. What are we to do in Jesus name with God’s help? Usually this is where the entire cookbook gets thrown in! Every class must be mentioned, every service, every ministry. Besides making the statement too long to be useful, such a list LIMITS what can be done. The mission statement did not mention serving people with AIDS? Then we cannot do that.
Your Vestry struggled with this. There were a few aborted attempts at lists and lots of discussion. I think the issue of diversity is what brought it together. Everyone agreed we are a very diverse community by just about any measure. We have GED’s and PhD’s. Lifelong Episcopalians and (almost) lifelong non-churched. We have infants and great grandparents. Plus we demonstrate many other types of diversity. And everyone is welcome, appreciated, and honored for who they are.
What impressed me was how the conversation emerged that is was not diversity for the sake of diversity. In fact, and this is my reflection so Vestry members might disagree, diversity is not important. ACCEPTING people for who they are is important. Welcoming people for what is inside rather than considering the outside is important. Diversity in the statistical sense is important only as a way to measure our willingness to accept.
But once the person is accepted – what then? This statement says we are to: “Love and serve them”. This is one of the places where love is an active verb and not a feeling. It is about how we treat each other and not how much we like each other.
‘Serving” is an interesting verb in this context. To serve others is one of Jesus most frequent commandments. I like the image of a safari being ‘served’ by a guide. One way we serve each other is to guide each other. Or maybe a better image would be a group walking through dangerous territory taking turns being on point ... taking turns leading. Taking turns serving as the point person, and also taking turns washing the pots.
To serve each other is to do whatever the other person needs to grow in their spiritual life. Whatever — so that one word “serve” covers the longest, most detailed list of activities you could write.
But maybe the most interesting conversation was around the word ‘you’. We started with variations on ‘all people’ and I fully expected to end there. Fortunately that language was challenged – not because it is wrong. ‘All people’ is both extremely accurate and extremely wishy-washy. If I say “all people are welcome” do you FEEL welcomed? If you are in a 50,000 seat stadium and the speaker says “I am glad you are all here” – do you feel personally welcomed and thanked? In your head you know you are included. But you feel 1/50,000th of the welcome! Just one of the crowd.
But if the speaker mentions you by name – how would you feel?
That was the intention – to make sure people FELT they were included. To help every reader know it was about THEM – personally and not some nebulous crowd.
And notice – it is about YOU .... This says the mission is to accept, love, and serve YOU! I cannot speak for anyone else, but that feels really good to me. To hear me as the recipient of this mission. Wow
Now look at the beginning. Usually these begin with “this church’s mission is to” But like the phrase “all people” simply naming the church can be mis-leading. True, but mis-leading. Yes the church is the people — it is us. But the church also is, and frequently is understood as an institution. OK, it is the institution’s mission to accept, love and serve but not my personal mission. I might contribute some money or do something but I have no responsibility for that person two pews over.
Wrong? Consider this ... the mission of Guilford County is to expand the job base. There is more but we focus on that statement — the mission of Guilford County is to expand the job base. OK – but WE are Guilford County so what have you done this week to expand the job base? When we set an institutional goal we tend to ignore the personal responsibilities.
That’s why the word OUR is included. Like the word “you’ the intention is to avoid the potential for people to think: “good words but means nothing for me” This acknowledges it is all of our responsibilities to accept, love and serve EVERYONE else.
One other word deserves some thought because it can be heard as an excuse not to be personally involved. The word ‘ministries’ can be understood as ‘programs’ or ‘activities’ and if I am not a leader, or even an active participant in any programs or activities than the word ‘ministries’ applies to what OTHER people do.
So we need to hear ‘ministries’ as ‘personal activities’ which MAY combine into a church program – but that’s not what matters. What matters is what we, as individuals, do. Church programs don’t work and are a complete waste of resources if they do not come from personal efforts.
I may be wrong, again ask a Vestry member, but I sensed that as we continued to talk they began to become aware of the impossible enormity of what they has written. If so, I hope they looked back at the part “with’s God’s grace and help”. NOT to be done by God – done by us - with God’s grace and help.
What does God expect by our personal deadline? This statement says it well: Doing for and because of Jesus, with God’s grace and help, those activities which are loving and caring to other people.
AMEN
We have previous sermons on our website. To read an earlier recent sermon just enter: www.st-christopher.org/sermon.html.
CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)