With God’s Help

Luke 13:31-35; Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1

Friends, last week as we began our Lenten journey together we talked about how it’s helpful to have companions in any journey, and while alone time can be good, not to try to face too many of life’s challenges alone.

This week, we hear this theme again, almost repeated in extremes:  Pharisees come to Jesus and warn him that King Herod wants to kill him, and tell him to get out of town.  Jesus laments that Jerusalem tries to ‘go it alone’ or survive on its own power, rather than listening to messengers of the Lord.  Abram laments to God that he has no children, and wonders what will become of him and his name after he dies--and God answers in an admittedly bizarre way.  And Paul asks the church members in Philippi to join him in rejecting the status quo, reminding them they are citizens of heaven as well as citizens of Rome.

All Alone?

I think these all describe situations where you could feel very much alone.  After all, if someone powerful wants you dead for doing what you’re doing, or maybe simply being who you are, then how could you not feel alone?  Or, if you’ve tried to do everything right in life, and feel like you have nothing to show for it--not even a family, you could feel very much alone.  Or, if everyone else around you only seems to care about things that don’t really matter, whether that means keeping up with the Joneses or simply ignoring the people who are suffering in the community, the people you see and are moved with compassion to help--well, you could also then feel very much alone against the world.  Even the Psalm talks about having an entire army camped out against you--and who wouldn’t be alone or feeling afraid in a situation like that?

So it’s probably not surprising that in all of these situations, the person who felt most alone turned to God.  Abram was not afraid to question God about why he had no children after so many years of trying to fulfill his side of his covenant with God.  Paul reminds those Philippians that they are not alone even if they are rejected by society around them, because they will be glorified in Jesus, and not forgotten.  And Jesus himself is bold to tell the religious authorities that would drive him out of Jerusalem, that he is confident of God’s task for him, and sort of tells those authorities what to go do with themselves, to put it mildly.  (After all, when we really read the Gospels, we realize Jesus wasn’t all that meek and mild!)

Taking Courage

So, what does this mean for us?  Are there times when we feel like we are all alone for trying to do what is right?  Are we afraid to take a stand, or to follow in the footsteps of Christ, because of what others might think?  Lately, I’ve heard the story of Rosa Parks come up multiple times, of the woman who sat down in the wrong section of a racially segregated bus, and refused to move--even when everyone else on that bus wanted her to.  That act had to have been terrifying--and yet, she changed the world.  Or, closer to home, I think of Pastor Woody Carey, and how in the early days of AIDS, he opened his arms and his church’s doors to give care and hold funerals for those who were sick and dying.  This was not at all acceptable during those times.  Yet--are there equally times where we might find ourselves compelled to act in ways that the world thinks are foolish, and yet we seek to transform this same world through our actions of love?  How about when we reach out to accept a person that our friends or social circles wouldn’t be caught dead with?  How about when we talk to another religious group that everyone loves to hate?

Let us ask ourselves, as we seek to grow in our own faith, or even as we seek to grow this church--where are those people today who are on the outside, who are likely feeling alone in this world?  Who are the people it seems foolish to associate with?  What may God be calling us to do in our lives, in our families and homes, in our workplace, or even at the gym, to promote actions of love rather than isolation?  I do not think that the answers are always evident or easy, but that in due time, and with God’s help, we may be able to see what we haven’t seen before, and to act in ways we never thought possible before.  May you be equally filled with that vision, that imagination, and that courage, to go forward in love.  Amen.

Healing, Temptation, and the Lenten Journey

Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13

[Image:  Tall glass vases filled with stones, branches stripped of foliage and painted white]

First of all, I would like to express my thanks to Shirlanie and Jacques and Nancy N. and Tana for coordinating the Lenten decorations for our worship space.  I walked in Friday and thought, ‘now that is a really good illustration for Lent, and especially for today’s Gospel:  you can really see the wilderness in these stones and branches.’  And the funny thing is, they are both stark, and beautiful. 

Wandering Alone

Today we hear about wandering in the wilderness of Egypt; as well as wandering in the wilderness of Holy Land--granted, both places have lots of areas which are flowing with milk and honey, or at least water and green plants; yet others are unending miles of rocks and desert.  I learned to appreciate both when I was living in the Middle East.  The desert wilderness, in which it is difficult to sustain life, tends to be empty of people.  After a while, I realized that emptiness is a sojourn; the emptiness gives you a blank slate to start reflecting on the things that are going on in your mind and in your life.  There’s a reason the desert fathers, the mystic monastics, and Jesus, head out to the wilderness for long periods of time; it’s a good place to get clarity.

Now, this could also seem to be a lonely time--and we usually start out the season of Lent with this gospel passage of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.   We might feel like we are expected to make Lent an extremely personal and lonely, somber journey.  However, I’m going to recommend for this year, that perhaps we don’t think of it quite as such.  After all, we are most easily tempted when we’re alone.

And Jesus was tempted out there, alone--separated from his family and friends, perhaps even feeling separated from God.  He was just at that point of gaining real fame and notoriety in his social circles.  People knew that he possessed some gifts and power, even if they didn’t quite understand it all.  And, indeed, the temptations the devil presented him with are temptations to exploit that power.  

We know every time we see the news that people in power are always succumbing to temptation to exploit power, to exploit others, to get wrapped up in one scandal or another.  It seems almost inevitable.  I think part of the reason is reflected in the saying, that it’s lonely at the top.  When you are put on a pedestal, it’s easy to lose perspective; it’s easy to lose touch with the people who help keep you grounded.  And then, it’s all too easy to fall off that pedestal, be put to shame and public ridicule, and have to figure out how to put your life back together again.

Wrestling With The Devil

Now, today is Health and Healing Sunday in the PCUSA--and I think there are so many things from which we need healing, that cause us to feel isolated and cut off from our circles of support, whether family and friends, or even feeling that we have been separated from God.  

Yesterday at the presbytery gathering, we talked a little about the devil--and, how we don’t talk about the devil that much in Presbyterian circles.  However, we know that sometimes people who struggle with addictions, or mental illness, find that the image of wrestling with the devil is very poignant for their lives.  Other people may find it to be a good way to describe the shame they feel over something that happened in their lives a long time ago, whatever it might be.  Perhaps what Paul has to say about shame in today’s epistle speaks to that experience.  At any rate--these are all painfully isolating things in our lives, that lead us down a lonely journey.  And other situations too come to mind--such as any illness that has us homebound, or even keeps us in bed a couple of weeks, or even the grief we feel over losing our loved ones, even long after it might seem the world expects us to have moved on.

There is one more thing that I’d like to say about the devil this morning, that seems to be a theme in scripture when he shows up--whether it’s in the Garden of Eden, or in the heavenly courts while considering the righteousness of Job, or here in this Gospel story.  The devil is that one which brings all the questions:  Not the good, constructive, wise kind of questions to ask, mind you.  Instead, the devil seems to bring all those nagging, undermining questions inside your mind that never let you rest, never let you truly enjoy whatever is going on in your life, or being present in the moment.  The things that you know you’d be better off not asking, or not even considering, but which can bring you extremely low, make you terribly insecure, and tempt you to do everything in your power to protect yourself against the perceived dangers--whether by exploiting others in your life, or exploiting your privilege, or manipulating people and situations to your advantage, or drowning everything out in the oblivion of destructive behavior.

Hope For Deliverance

So what would it mean, in the face of any one of these situations, to be delivered or healed?

I think, it’s not always in ways we expect.  Sometimes, we want to be completely physically healed of our illnesses or disabilities, and medical science simply can’t do that for us.  Sometimes, we wish painful memories could simply be erased from our psyches, but even the best psychologists or even strong pharmaceuticals, can’t do that for us.  

Sometimes, the healing comes in the realization that we are more than whatever seems to be destroying us or consuming us at that point in our lives.  That our lives have more meaning and value than whatever is afflicting us.

And we might realize that both because of our connections with one another, or that the realization allows us to find community with others and be at least healed of our loneliness and isolation.  Support groups that meet to deal with particular kinds of illnesses, addictions, or other life situations recognize this, and many people find them helpful.  

In some ways, you could even speak of church congregations as places where we join together at the end of one long week in our individual lives, to find re-connection with God and one another, in order to be renewed and equipped to get back out there for another week of our lives.  How often do we find some kind of healing in scripture, or prayer, or in the words of a favorite hymn, or even afterwards in the coffee and a cookie and a chat with a friend? After all, it all matters.

And, how many people have found healing from life’s burdens by turning outward and helping others with their own difficulties, especially through volunteer service?  How many of us have been transformed through mission trips or group projects or the opportunity even to build relationships, short or long-term, with people in very different life circumstances from our own?  After all, we know that we may not be the greatest painter or house-builder on the planet, but we find ourselves transformed by the journey, and the traveling companions, and these very relationships, even as our presence gives encouragement to people facing such difficult challenges of their own.

Jesus took that time away in the desert.  You could say he took the time to contend with his demons out there.  Perhaps we all need a little time like that.  But he didn’t let the isolation and temptation overpower him.  He came back, and he used whatever gifts and power he had to help others, to bring healing to painful and broken lives.  His disciples were healed of the things in their lives, and became helpers and healers to others.  And the story goes on and on, even until today in our own congregations.

Our scriptures today speak of God being our refuge and strength, but what exactly does this do for us?  What is our refuge and strength?  I might say that this is whatever we find that does allow us to move out past our own isolation and fear, to re-connect with others, to get beyond our own difficulties so that we may even be a blessing to others through our own lives and the gifts which we have.  Maybe when we envision it, it is like a rock to us.  Maybe it is like a flowing river that gives us that life and growth back where we thought all was lost.  Maybe it is simply that place into which we duck when we don’t know how else to cope with whatever it is life throws at us.  But in all these things, we come back to God being our source of hope and comfort.  We are not alone, because we are always in God’s presence.  Who we are, and what we do, matters to God.  After all, this is a God who answers the loneliness of death, with the community of Resurrection.

My hope for you today, and always, is that you would not languish in isolation--whether due to illness or injury, or even anger, or shame, but that in all things you would know that trust in God as our rock and refuge, and from that place of safety, step forward in loving hope, as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Feb 10, 2013 Family Bulletin and Take-Home Activities

Youth and Family Worship Bulletin
Transfiguration Sunday--February 10, 2013

Music:
Soon and Very Soon; Shine Jesus Shine

Prayer:  Creator God, who made the mountains and valleys, and who transforms the world around us by sending the gleaming-white snow; be with us as we hear your Word this morning, and help us to praise your name forever.  Amen.

Scripture of the Day--Exodus 34:29-35  Moses’ Glowing Face (NRSV)
Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.

But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Questions:
Why did Moses go up to the mountain?  Why was Moses’ face glowing when he returned?  
Why were the people afraid?  How did Moses help them?
Why did Moses take the veil off when he went in to speak with God?
What are the two tablets of the covenant?
[Bring blue and white prayer shawl from cupboard]

At-Home Readings:  Psalm 99; Luke 9:28-43a; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Psalm:  Where is Mt. Zion?  Why is it called God’s holy mountain?  In which Bible story is the pillar of cloud?
Luke:  Why did the disciples want to stay up on the mountain?  Why did they stay silent?
What kind of demon did the boy have?  Why do you think Jesus was angry before he healed the boy?
2 Corinthians:  What kind of veils do we wear today?  How does the Spirit of the Lord give us freedom?

Project:  Luminaries
Create a bag pattern with construction paper; cut interesting designs in the paper; assemble into bag and tape/glue closed.  Add candle and a little sand, rock salt, or kitty litter (at home, whatever you use for melting ice); set up outdoors at night to see how the light transforms the paper.  Use caution when working around fire.  (Decorated paper bags can be used for this purpose also).

Joys and Concerns

Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.  Amen.

Upcoming Dates:
Wednesday, Feb. 13, 6-7pm  Ash Wednesday Soup Supper and Worship
Sunday, Feb. 17th 11AM Health and Healing Awareness (PCUSA)
Sunday, Feb. 24th 9:30AM  Special musical guest, Field Stark, concert-style worship.  11AM YFS will meet for special activity (not a worship-based program)
Sunday, March 3rd  Communion Sunday

February 10, 2013--Transfiguration Sunday

February 10, 2013--Transfiguration Sunday
Luke 9:28-43a; Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

So, have you been to the mountaintop?  

Have you been to the mountaintop?  

It’s a question reminiscent of Martin Luther King, Jr., and relevant to our Scriptures today, stories of both Jesus and Moses having mountaintop encounters with the holy.  But, as you look back at your own lives, whether physically or spiritually, have you been to the mountaintop?

Some of us have.  This past summer, and many summers before, our youth group went up to the mountaintop at Montreat, and they still have photos on facebook of the beautiful and awe-inspiring views.  Others of us I know have been mountain-climbing either in this country or other places around the world.  I’ve been lucky enough to be on mountaintops from El Salvador to Greece to Germany to Lebanon to the Holy Land.  It’s difficult work, getting up a mountain, but it does do something good for your soul, I think.  You come back down having had an experience that not everybody can.

There’s a funny thing in the name Montreat, if we can go back there for a second, and maybe several folks in this room already know that it’s shortened for ‘Mountain Retreat,’ where some retired Presbyterian pastors thought it might make a nice resort community.  Or maybe they read their Bibles and thought of these Bible stories today and this came to mind.  Both points are true, and mountains are a pretty good place to get a retreat.
Whether on a mountain or not, times of retreat are helpful for us to re-connect with God--not because we believe that God lives on the mountain, but because it’s a place that is set apart, away from the rest of the world, where we can gain perspective, and maybe hear or see God a bit more clearly than we do in everyday life.

+We need times of retreat to help us come face to face in our relationship with God.  Time away from the routine gives us fresh perspective on which to view our other relationships and our work.

Recently I read that being in the presence of God is where everybody wants to be, and where everybody doesn’t want to be.  It’s both amazing to feel as though you’ve been in the presence of God, and a little uncomfortable.  One of the most intense retreat experiences I’ve had is being up at the monastery in Middleton, with my seminary classmates, for a 24 hour silent retreat.  Even though we were with each other physically, we were each left alone with our own thoughts.  It was clarifying for many of us, taking that break from term papers and internships and also social media; but it took us each a while to calm down and hand ourselves over to the experience and what it had to teach us.

(Most of us cannot go up a mountain too quickly; you’ll bash in the side of your van going up switchbacks, or run into problems with oxygen, or find out how out of shape you are, etc. Likewise, it takes time to adjust your pace to God's way of doing things).

Now, Moses had an incredibly intense experience up on that mountaintop; he was bringing down the tablets with the Ten Commandments.  Now, this was not Moses’ first time in the presence of the holy; you might remember that he also took off his shoes in front of the burning bush because God told him he was standing on holy ground.  That one came as a bit more of a shock to Moses.  But while he was reverent, he wasn’t scared away.  Then Moses was on the mountain to get the tablets more than once, since he’d been away maybe too long the first time, the people had a heck of a party while he was gone, and he smashed the first copy of the commandments out of anger and frustration.

But now Moses has some experience of how to handle himself in the presence of the Lord, as well as in the presence of the people.  He is gaining in understanding of both relationships.  And for some reason, this time when he comes down off the mountain, he is “positively glowing.”

And perhaps we can understand why the people are afraid.  The people have been in trouble before with Moses; they have also had some experience of the holy, through the angel of death which passed through Egypt during that first Passover, then the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day; the crossing through the Red Sea, and now this.  This really had added up to much more than the desert pilgrimage they’d bargained for.  Maybe they just didn’t know what else was going to happen next.  And maybe that encounter with the holy was simply too frightening and overwhelming for the average person.  But Moses had learned how to handle them by this point, and to calm their fears, and really had calmed his own, and he put the veil over his face, so that they could have some experience of the holy, without being totally overwhelmed.  And, as the story goes, this became an ongoing reality, by which the people had regular instruction from God through Moses’ encounters with the holy.  The people who were once slaves in Egypt, were now being formed into a renewed people, and eventually to return to the promised land.

The Gospel story that ties into this story of Moses’ transfiguration is Jesus with his disciples on the mountaintop.  And I often wonder, why did the disciples keep silent about what they had seen?  They had seen Jesus perhaps as God sees Jesus; they had been with this teacher for a little while, and now were learning something about him that was completely new and wonderful.  Did they think that nobody would believe them?  Did they think that they would never see something better in their entire lives?  Did they maybe just want to keep this experience to themselves?  We don’t really know.  But we do know that the moment of transfiguration ends; that Elijah and Moses depart, that the voice from the cloud tells the disciples to listen to Jesus, and Jesus takes them back down, off the mountain.

I do want to take a moment to talk about the demons in this story.  We have all sorts of ideas about what the demons Jesus heals might be in our world today.  Whether they truly are evil spirits, as was believed in the day, or if they are conditions such as schizophrenia, or epilepsy, or things we understand a little bit better today.  Although, often, the people with these conditions are treated little better by the rest of society than they were back then.

But why is Jesus angry before healing the boy?  The boy’s father says the disciples had already tried but couldn’t heal him.  Or perhaps because the crowd had gathered, gawking at the boy; perhaps because they were afraid of what “evil” the boy might represent; perhaps because the veils over their own eyes and understanding caused them to treat the boy as a freak, rather than regard him with compassion.  Jesus has some harsh words for the people gathered, but he turns and heals the boy.  The boy is restored to a place of dignity in the community.  Jesus moves on.

We shouldn’t give in to the temptation either to stay up on the mountaintop forever, retreating from the realities of the world, or to stay down in the valley, too heavily steeped in difficult realities, that we become hardened and lose touch with the holy.  (It happens all too often in the healing, helping professions--where people become burnt out, where they can no longer see the good in people, or in the system, because those blinders, those veils, have come down too thickly.)

And finally we have that letter from Paul to the Corinthians, where he is writing about the veils over Moses’ face, and how we too have veils over ours--ones that have been there from the time of Moses up until the present.  Paul is explaining why it’s difficult for faithful people to believe this experience of Jesus that the Corinthian community has had and how they have become a church congregation following Christ.  You may even hear in this second letter to the Corinthians a passage similar to the first, where we see in a mirror dimly and will then see face to face; now Paul is telling them they are seeing, and in the seeing, are being transformed in their own lives as well.  And even with everything going on in their lives, in their congregation, and their world--they have hope, hope which enables them to keep going.

We all have veils over our eyes with which we view other people, and with which we read the Scriptures.  We each bring the sum of our own prejudices and human brokenness to these encounters.  What veils do we carry today?

And yet, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there also is freedom.  God sees with eyes of grace-- whether God is looking at us and those uncomfortable places in our lives we’d rather have no one see; or whether God is looking at the people who make us uncomfortable and whom we would rather not see.  God’s eyes of grace are what give us the hope that we may be transformed in our own lives, to see others with eyes of love, and to practice that love as Christ’s disciples in the world.  It is not always easy work.  We will need times of rest and retreat, to re-connect with the holy in our lives.  We might be afraid to get back out there, but Jesus calls us down the mountain as much as he coaxes us up.  And we go--we get up tomorrow morning and go to that job, or that job interview, or that volunteer commitment or that tough family situation, or whatever it is, because we have hope, and hope gives us that boldness that we may not lose heart.

Thanks be to God!

February 3, 2013 Love and Rage

Love and Rage

February 3, 2012

Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 4:21-30; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

God loves us and forgives us, but we still have responsibility and accountability to one another.  When we have caused harm to another person, we need to try to make amends--not because our salvation depends on it, but because this fosters a healing, caring community and is how we serve our Lord with joy as Christ’s disciples.

Today, we have the stories of calling of the prophet Jeremiah, the lesser-known prelude to a verse we most often hear at weddings; and the rest of the story of Jesus’ first (and last) occasion of preaching in his home congregation.  I’d like to talk today about what made Jesus’ congregation so upset; what we can learn from them by studying the Corinthians verses, and what we might learn from the outsiders and young people around us.

So let’s pick up where we left off last week: the folks in Jesus’ home congregation weren’t so upset about his statement that “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  In fact, all spoke well of him and were amazed at these gracious words coming from his mouth.  They praised him and his father as well.  And maybe Jesus would have done well to leave it at that.  It certainly would have made for an easier day.  

But then Jesus went on to point out, the congregation wanted him to affirm them in their belief that they were special, favored among God, that they were living so well that they were fulfilling this Scripture; that they were tithing appropriately and good faithful people, in their own little world.  They wanted Jesus to do miracles for them that he had done elsewhere; to take care of their own first, and not worry about those other folks out there.  Oh dear.  How wrong they were.

Ah, well, it’s not about ‘getting ours,’ but about giving and sharing with others.  The people in Jesus’ hometown were enraged because they felt God owed them something special that other people weren’t entitled to.  In fact, they were so confident God owed them this because of who they were, that they weren’t very kind at all to ‘outsiders.’  And yet--Jesus points out in several cases which were memorable events in recent history, that God reached out to the outsiders because they were willing to be receptive to God’s message and work--and the fact that this was happening in Lebanon and Syria, rather than Israel, was terribly offensive.

Where are the outsiders in our lives?  Who have we failed to show love towards, while hiding behind our Christian identity?  Who in our lives do we not take seriously enough because we think they are too young or don’t have experience for a credible perspective?

While we’re thinking about that, let’s consider what Paul has been saying to the Corinthians:

We can have all sorts of talents and gifts and resources and power with which to work, but if we don’t use them out of love, we’re not really doing what God wants us to do.  

This Corinthians verse comes right after Many Gifts, Same Spirit, and One Body, Many Parts; what these are boiling down to is love, love within our congregations, and in our interactions with one another, and not just love to those we feel deserve it.  It’s a good discipling reality check for us all:  When do we think we’re seeing a situation clearly, when we are truly only looking at ourselves through a poor mirror?  What would it mean to interact with others without being irritable or resentful?  What if we gave of ourselves and our time truly expecting nothing in return, rather than keeping a silent list of ‘you owe me’s--whether to our spouse, or our children, or our friends, or neighbors?

What would it really mean for each of us to rejoice in truth rather than in wrongdoing, or hoping that somebody else gets what we think is coming to them?  What would it mean for us to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things--even when someone we know seems truly annoying or clueless and we feel our patience has been stretched to the brink?  I know that when I get frustrated with people, I have to remember this myself.

We always know only part of everyone else’s story, and really, only part of our own.  God knows each of us deeply, and still sees us with eyes of love.  And we trust that someday, our own blinders towards ourselves and others will come off, and that rather than reacting with rage, we too will be finally able to respond fully and completely with love.

Finally, let’s talk about the value of the young people in our lives.

As a parent, I realize I have two young children who have their own perspectives and opinions about things which happen in their daily lives.  They have definite opinions about where we go, what to wear, how to play, and what we eat.  Sometimes we probably do know better as parents; but at other times, I find out I have a lot to learn from them.

In our Scriptures today, we have two young men, Jeremiah and Jesus, who maybe are dismissed for being ‘only boys’ --and yet God has given them a prophetic task.  Maybe they have reason to be afraid.  Maybe they fear rejection.  Maybe they are afraid that others will be unjust and cruel to them.

How often do we listen to our young adults or children in a congregation as to what they most want and need?  How often have young people left churches and denominations because they felt what was happening on Sunday morning was at a disconnect from their daily lives?

These next 2-3 years in our congregation, we plan to focus on outreach and church growth--training and equipping all members of the congregation to reach out to the community around us, and seek to fulfill the dreams of this congregation.  Young adults are a big part of those dreams.  And yet, we often misunderstand young adults, as we do with other outsiders, and why they don’t come to church.  The question is not, ‘why don’t they care more about their faith?’ but, ‘how could we more clearly recognize their needs, and serve them better in our congregation?  For example, we’re a pretty open-minded, tolerant congregation--but how many people in the community around us know that about ourselves?  This is information that matters to the people around us.  We simply have to each one of us, be ready to share it.

As you know, I get together with the other PCUSA pastors in our area each week to study the Bible and support one another in our ministries.  This past week, we talked about how the

PCUSA changed membership categories--and took the ‘Inactive Member’ category out of the Book of Order.  They really don’t want us to have an inactive roll--I mean, we can have one if we really, really want one, but the point is to not have a list of people we’ve forgotten and passed by--but rather to recognize their gifts and needs and keep finding new, creative ways, to include them in the life of the congregation.  

For example, do we say a person who isn’t here on Sunday is ‘inactive,’ or do we look at how our church can minister to people whose work or life circumstances prevent them from being here on Sunday?  I might even be so bold as to say, so what if they’re only in worship twice a year? Are there other places where they would like to put their faith into action if we gave them the opportunity?  Are those opportunities the paths and programs we’ve always had, or are there opportunities that we may need to go out and create? Our goal should be to find a place in our congregational life to celebrate each person, even if the ways they contribute aren’t as visible as others.

Today, after this worship, we’ll have our annual meeting.  We’ll talk about how we’ve faced a number of challenges this past year.  We’ll talk about our hopes and make plans for the year ahead.  As we do, let us keep our eyes and ears open for places where we can welcome the outsiders in; where we can listen to the people whom we might be inclined to overlook; and where all of us can find places to share our gifts out of love for one another.  We pray that in all our discernment and work and worship together, that we may be led by the Holy Spirit.  That is my hope for us, today, and always.  Amen.