A sermon by Senior Minister John B. McCall, February 4, 2007
Luke 5:1-11
When you leave worship today imagine you drive down the hill to Mill Creek and stop in the grocery store. There you encounter a friend – maybe a neighbor or someone you’ve gotten to know through the kids’ school or at work or in a service organization. You mention you’ve just been to church and your friend says: “where do you go?” You answer; and then comes the follow-up – “What kind of church is that?”
And you answer… What do you answer? What would you say? You might feel embarrassed – maybe ‘cause you’ve never really thought about how to describe our congregation to someone who’s curious. You might empathize with Flip Wilson the comedian who once said: “I’m a Jehovah’s bystander. They wanted me to be a Jehovah’s Witness, but I didn’t want to get that involved.”
You might begin with kind of church we’re not – not Roman Catholic, not rigid or fundamentalist, not exclusive. It’s hard to describe what we are. Remember what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said in 1964…. “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it”! Well that might work.
Last week I suggested one of the barriers to growth is that you may find it hard to invite new folks to come with you because you can’t put into words just what kind of Church we are, what kind of Christians we intend to be.
So this morning I want to share some ideas. I’ve listed them in the bulletin – not so you can doze instead of listening – but so you can consider them after you’ve headed out the door and particularly with the hope that you’ll pass along your thoughts and comments to me.
As a congregation we seek, first and foremost, to be Christ centered. We believe that God came into the human experience at a particular time in a particular way in Jesus of Nazareth, whom we call Christ. Some of you would say Jesus is the only one in whom God has been revealed and that he is the only one by whom we can know God. Others of you would say he is one in whom God was fully revealed but there are others.
Personally, I know God was fully revealed in Jesus Christ, and that’s sufficient. He is my way, my truth and my life. God has been revealed in different ways through Moses, Buddha, Mohammed and others. That’s interesting but doesn’t for a moment make me restless; it doesn’t entice me to look anywhere else for the One. In Jesus Christ I feel the Spirit and see the face of God in human form.
Second, we’re Biblically grounded. If we claim to be Christian we must root our faith and actions in scripture. As a Christian I believe that both the Old and New Testament are my story. The Hebrew Scriptures lay a foundation about God’s creating and redeeming love. The New Testament tells how the promised Messiah came in the fullness of time and how a community of faith was gathered and has served.
Remember we take the Bible too seriously to take it literally. It wasn’t written as a science book; it doesn’t address the question of “How?” It doesn’t explain how created the heavens and the earth and then humankind. It tells us why God did that. It’s true that when I read the Bible I hear and see something that my fundamentalist neighbor doesn’t… and vice versa.
There is no such thing as a pure understanding of the Bible that we can gain without interpretation. Every one of us interprets as we read, translate, and then apply the words to our world.
A fundamentalist Christian sees the Bible as a book of rules and regulations about how to lead a holy and righteous life. I see the Bible as God’s invitation to a great feast that is prepared for all people, and a call to abundant life.
And we remember that God is still speaking. There is still more light and truth to break from God’s Holy Word. The back cover of the Bible hasn’t been closed.
Third, we’re congregationally governed. Our members determine our life together. Each member has one vote. No one – including the preacher and the church president – has the right to veto the will of the people. We have no bishops and grant no authority to anyone to tell us how we should live together.
We believe that God is present and active in the work of the people – the wrestling and debating and discerning and disagreeing that leads up to a decision. It has its short-comings. Sometimes we to yell “for heaven’s sake stop asking for input and DO something!” But we know that when we have reached a decision together we can trust that God was at work in it.
Fourth, we’re Open and Affirming. We want to maintain a spirit of hospitality and nurture the confidence that we’re a safe place. You can be yourself. It’s not enough to preach about grace. We intend to embody it. Yes this means we welcome all God’s people regardless of race, color, nationalist, marital status, physical or mental ability or sexual identity. But just as importantly, we’re open to and affirming of different experiences of the holy and different vocabularies to explain those experiences.
So we welcome questions and don’t run from our doubts. We acknowledge that the language we use to communicate the truth about God is metaphor, symbolic language – poetic language. If you experience God as your father listen carefully to someone for whom that metaphor is a problem. If you best see God as nurturing and sustaining mother be patient with those places in worship that still rely on masculine language.
Most of us have gotten used to blended worship that combines varieties of hymns and choruses, different translations of scripture and different ways of sharing the Good News. We’re in the business of “both/and” not “either/or.” When we’re authentic in our desire to praise and honor God we don’t have to resist changes.
Fifth, we’re mission minded. The Gospel calls us in, fills us with the Good News of God’s loving purposes, and then sends us out. Many of us want to come here and stay here – as though our own personal spiritual hungers are God’s primary concern. John 3:16 tells us God loves the world and sends disciples into the world as servants in Christ’s name. We confuse the message when we act as though God primarily loves the church and calls the lost into the church to save them.
Sixth, in following the example of Jesus we’re both liberating and conserving. Notice I don’t say liberal and conservative – though that is certainly true. I’m talking about how we understand Jesus. We believe that Jesus came to liberate people: from sin, from falsehood, from slavery of every kind. He came to set us free. And we’re called to do the same. He also conserved much of the ancient tradition of the temple – he honored the scriptures and stories of God’s people. He saw the perversions and corruptions that had crept into the religious institutions and confronted them. He threw money-changers from the temple and demanded that Pharisees and Sadducees return to the core of their religion. We’re called to the same – to conserve the valid and vital that we’ve inherited and to throw off the burden in those areas where God is doing something new.
Seventh, we’re truly a United Church of Christ, made up of many members from many different traditions who have found our home here together. We bring the richness of our own journeys, learning from each other and teaching at the same time. We recognize – from John 15 – that Jesus wants his follows to be One in him.
Eighth, we’re accessible in our building, our language, our attitude. We eschew obfuscation – oh, I mean we try to make the faith easier to understand. And we try to live what we preach.
And ninth, we’re an expectant people, living the faith actively and waiting on God to lead us. We’re all of this and more… here at the First Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ on Meetinghouse Hill.
The Gospel lesson this morning reminds us that God has given us many gifts and abilities. Like the fishers of old, Jesus approaches us and says “put down your nets, set aside your tools, step away from your daily tasks and I will show you how you can use all your skills for holy purposes.”
All that he asks is that we remain open to the movement of the spirit we can experience a deeper sense of Call in our lives. I have found there is no greater joy than the feeling that I am able to use my talents and gifts for God’s purposes. When you find that sweet spot you know you’re in sync with God.
And as a church we believe that every one of God’s children should have that same opportunity – to be welcomed, affirmed, encouraged, and respected. Jesus has shown us that.
That’s the kind of church we are. I thank God that you and I are loved and valued as an important part of a church, just like this. Amen.