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News & Happenings2012 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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From The Pastor - Jan/Feb Spire
The Pastor's Page
Below is the sermon I preached on New Year’s Day. As we begin a new year together I invite you to read it and reflect on what resolutions you wish to make regarding your relationship with God and our Church.
A Resolution that Matters
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of children. Because you are children, god sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a child; and since you are a child, God has made you also an heir.” – Galatians 4: 4-7
Whether or not we do it, we all know what the “right thing” to do is. Rarely is it the easy thing, the safe thing or the popular thing. As parents, grandparents or older relatives we spend a good deal of time and energy helping our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews see this. We try to explain to them through word and deed that doing the “right thing” involves more than just behaving properly, or just going through the motions of behaving properly. We hope that as children mature they come to see that doing the “right thing” involves accepting differences, trying to understand someone else’s point of view and not always getting your own way—which means it is about more than just being nice or not getting caught doing something wrong. It is about the greater good, being part of a community and taking responsibility for our actions as part of the larger community. As adults, we know that this is difficult. It is not always our own natural inclination to behave this way, so in teaching our children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews this, we are at the same time reminding ourselves of the exact same lesson.
In today’s passage from Galatians the Apostle Paul is addressing this very issue with a divided Church which is made up of Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. The Jewish Christians want the Gentile Christians to follow the Jewish law because
In their view, in order for Gentiles to be redeemed by God and enjoy equal membership among God’s people, they needed to become proselytes- that is, circumcised and law-observant converts. Like Abraham, they needed to be circumcised in order to become children and heirs of Abraham. (Gen.17)
God’s covenant and true faith in Jesus Christ required the observance of the law. Their faith was incomplete and their membership unequal until they were circumcised. (Luis Rivera, Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 1 pg. 160)
Such thinking was and is inconsistent with the belief that we are saved by grace and not works, so
Paul’s letter was an attempt to reprimand this turn away from the gospel. He tried to convince them not to believe this “different” gospel, not to comply with this assimilation policy, and not to consent to the threats of exclusion and expectations of subordination of those leaders. (Rivera, pg. 160)
Now it is tempting to dismiss the thinking of Jewish Christians as petty or small or narrow minded but I believe we would be better served to heed Paul’s advice and look at the subtle ways we, as individuals and as the greater church manipulate the Gospel to serve our needs and justify our beliefs, attitudes and actions. Paul’s warning calls us to look at the ways we include and exclude; to look at the ways we define who is and is not welcomed, for we all have our litmus tests when it comes to inclusion. We all struggle with accepting those who are different. These struggles often prevent us from being the people God calls us to be and also the kind of people we want to be as we strive to live not just taking responsibility for our actions but also to proclaim God’s good news in all aspects of our lives as we strive to do what we can to overcome the temptation to allow God’s message to be distorted and manipulated by the world.
To do this we need to address the concern Paul addressed, which is
the difference between “doing” the law (that is what God desires) and “fulfilling” the law. To Paul, these are not the same. “Doing” involves all the required acts, whereas “fulfilling” involves the heart. We know this to be true. It is the difference between going through the motions and dedicating yourself heart and soul to a task. To Paul, the law (or as we would call it doing the right thing) served a purpose, but that purpose can get turned upside down. Christ came to show the way we are to live. (New Proclamation, Year B 2012, pg. 45-46)
What we are talking about is maturing in our faith—growing in our willingness to trust in God’s ways regardless of what others may say or do. This is no easy task. It takes a willingness to trust in the covenant we make with God. This is one of the reasons why I value the Wesley Covenant Prayer. It invites us to renew our commitment to God; to make a New Year’s resolution unlike any other as we ask ourselves, “What would happen if we really turned our hearts over to God? If we admitted when and where we were the problem? What would happen if we were a little more honest about our motivations or took more time for reflective prayer? What would happen if we talked honestly about the things that hurt or bothered us? What would happen if we stopped worrying about whether or not others were being as faithful as we are? What would happen if we started making real changes and tried to be more grateful for our blessings; more humble in our actions; more patient, trusting, loving, accepting, caring, forgiving?
I believe we would find the call to trust in God more completely much more freeing than we ever thought or imagined.
Amid all the other resolutions you have or will make and break over the next few weeks, I invite you to renew your covenant with God, not so that we can become some kind of super Christian. I invite you to renew your covenant hoping you might better understand what it means to receive adoption as children of God, or as the NIV says, “receive the full rights as children of God.” I say this because the better we understand how much we are loved by God the easier it will be to follow through on the resolution that truly matters: The one where we dedicate ourselves heart and soul to the task of serving God, not because we have to, but because we choose to out of gratitude and thanksgiving for what God has offered to us and all people unconditional love and acceptance, simply because God loves the world that much.
A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted by thee or brought low by thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Call to action update
In November, I wrote about the Bishop’s Call to Action, which is a process that will help us: (1) look at the long-term viability of our congregation and (2) set some long term goals. A committee was formed and we met on January 8. Here is some information that committee thought should be shared with the congregation, as well as a summary of our activities and next steps.
The Bishop’s Call to Action defines a vital congregation as having inviting and inspiring worship; engaged disciples in mission and outreach; gifted, equipped and empowered lay leadership; effective, equipped and inspired clergy leadership and small groups; strong children’s programs and youth ministry. In addition, a vital congregation has enough financial support to underwrite its day to day ministries without relying on endowment money. While the committee believes we meet these criteria they have some concerns. One is that we would like more members to participate on a regular basis in our programs, including Sunday worship.
A second concern regards our long term financial stability. Our congregation has 91 “giving units”. A “giving unit” is defined as an identifiable individual or family unit that financially supports the Church. We estimate that about 15% of these 89 giving units will contribute about 60% of the total giving in 2012. Are we relying too heavily on a few very generous givers to balance our budget? This is not new information for many, but it is becoming a greater concern.
At our first meeting the Committee also looked at the above-mentioned five criteria for vital congregations and set some numerical goals to help measure growth. We believe the goals we set are realistic. At our next meeting scheduled for Sunday, February 5 we will set some SMART goals to help us achieve our numerical goals. These goals will be shared with the Church Council for their approval and then with the congregation.
This is an open process and everyone is welcome to attend our February 5 meeting. If you have any questions or wish to “know more of the details” please feel free to speak with Carol Bauer, our Lay Leader, Eric Dannemann, our Council Chair or Pastor Eric. We thank all who have participated thus far and welcome others
