Risky Business
The First Congregational Church
United Church of Christ
Columbus, Ohio
June 22, 1997
Memory Verse: "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one." (John 17:20-21a)
Today's Texts: Numbers 27:1-11, Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32, John 13:31-38
Opening Prayer: Gracious God, be with us now as our wisdom and strength. Open our eyes that we may see, and open our hearts that we may follow. Amen.
This morning I begin a brief sermon series on the United Church of Christ that will help us prepare for the onset of General Synod XXI. Two weeks from today, on the first Sunday in July, while General Synod is in session, we will conclude this series by hearing from the Rev. David Hirano -- Executive Vice President of the United Church Board for World Ministries. David, a former colleague of mine in Chicago, heads up the agency which oversees the work of the United Church of Christ in countries around the world. It will be good to see him again and to receive an update on some of what our support for the United Church of Christ makes possible.
After hearing from David, we will also have the opportunity to worship with thousands of our sisters and brothers in the United Church of Christ through the vehicle of the Sunday afternoon General Synod worship service. This time-honored tradition will take place at 3:00 on Sunday, July 6th in Battelle Hall at the Columbus Convention Center. It will feature a host of special speakers, music, and services and it promises to be a challenging source of encouragement for our Christian faith. I hope you can all attend.
For those of you who don't know, or don't remember, I want to begin this series with a crash course on the United Church of Christ. Included in our order of worship, along with several other supplements, is the basic brochure: United Church of Christ -- Who We Are, What We Believe. This brochure has been in existence since 1980, with revisions in 1991 and 1993.
It reveals the following fundamentals:
All this can be found in or inferred from the basic brochure of the United Church of Christ. With so much congregational autonomy, it's a wonder we have any denomination at all. What is the glue which holds this church together? Without the usual underpinnings of doctrine, theology, politics, or structure, it's nothing less than a miracle that so many Christians still seek to relate to one another as the United Church of Christ. It is a relationship of responsible freedom rather than institutional fear. It is a covenant based upon respect rather than consensus. It is a family knit together by the willingness to take risks on behalf of the gospel.
My own story is a case in point. I grew up as a United Methodist in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. There was a United Church of Christ in my hometown, but I didn't know much about it. The Methodist church was the church of my birth, and it had nurtured my sense of calling as a Christian pastor. When I finally made the decision, during my first year of college, to enter the ordained ministry it never occurred to me to affiliate with any church other than United Methodist.
This presumption continued throughout my first year of seminary, which culminated in my ordination as a deacon in the United Methodist Church. I was clearly on track and in the system. But then some things happened which began to change the direction and affiliation of my ministry. Immediately prior to my arrival at Yale Divinity School in September of 1975, my girlfriend and I had made the decision to get married during the summer of 1976. The only problem was that my girlfriend was a sophomore in college and still had two years to go at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. And Evanston, Illinois is pretty long commute from New Haven, Connecticut!
So I agreed to return to Evanston while Megan finished her undergraduate course of study. She would then return with me to Yale in order for me to finish seminary. Faced with the prospect of two years in Chicago, I went to visit the outgoing chaplain of Yale University, William Sloane Coffin, Jr. "What would you do," I asked him, "if you had to spend two years in Chicago." Bill responded, in characteristic style, by saying that he didn't know what he would do -- but he would start by talking to Don Benedict at the Community Renewal Society and he would also try to learn Spanish along the way.
So began my love-affair with the United Church of Christ. I wrote Don Benedict, who put me in touch with Walt Ziegenhals who introduced me to Pastor Samuel Acosta who hired me to work as his assistant for two years at the First Spanish United Church of Christ in one of Chicago's Hispanic neighborhoods. He was pleased to have someone on board who could help him work the system as the church started up a daycare center and a college extension program. In one fell swoop, I got involved with urban ministry, the United Church of Christ, and the Spanish language.
It was quite an experience to participate in worship, Sunday after Sunday, for two years, without understanding the language. I had never been in the minority before. I learned what it felt like to be dependent on others for interpretation and guidance. I also learned that there is a lot more to worship and communication than the spoken word. It was a time of developing new relationships, with new people, in a new denomination.
During this same period of time, the beginnings of our ministry with the Good News Church in Chicago were getting underway. Before returning to Yale Divinity School, Megan and I made the decision to come back to Chicago after my graduation from seminary in order to help the fledgling ministry start a neighborhood church and an alternative school. We were to be the first paid staff people to get involved with the effort. There was only one catch: the fledgling ministry had no money to pay us. If we wanted to work, we would have to raise our own salaries.
I presented this opportunity to the two churches with which I had connections. The Methodists listened to the vision but couldn't deal with the process. It had bubbled up from the grassroots level, undermining the denomination's ability to control the situation. The risk was too great, and the bishop turned us down. The United Church of Christ, on the other hand, was overjoyed at the prospect of getting involved. The vision was in keeping with the denomination's long-standing commitment to the social gospel. The process was in keeping with the denomination's congregational polity. I remember one Association minister saying, "This is the only way we ever get anything done in the United Church of Christ. The top down stuff just doesn't work very well for us." For some, it was the East Harlem Protestant Parish all over again.
And so they decided to take on an urban ministry that was outside the mold of the institutional church. This, more than anything else, was the action that led me to leave the church of my birth and to cast my lot with the United Church of Christ. Here was a church willing to look outside the box and to color outside the lines! Here was a church willing to take risks in order to advance the cause of Christ. Here was a church willing to bless, support, and lend its name to an unlikely crew of people who were putting their life on the line in order to experience and express the coming reign of God. How could one help but not fall in love with a church like that.
This morning's Old Testament lesson from the book of Numbers is another case of something bubbling up from the grassroots level which God uses to make a difference in the world. This is actually one of my favorite bible stories, and it lies buried in the heart of the Jewish Torah or law.
You are no doubt aware that equality of the sexes is a relatively recent idea. Other than a few noteworthy exceptions, most of the main characters in salvation history are men. Throughout the ancient Near East, and indeed throughout most of the world, women were given an inferior social and legal position. There was no such principal as equal pay for equal work. On the contrary, men were usually given a privileged position with greater rewards and lighter sentences. The position of women was comparable to the position of minors: they were essentially the property of the men to which they belonged.
So now we come to the five daughters of Zelophehad: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And you thought the story of Noah was just about a man and woman! Here we have a female Noah who, along with her sisters, goes to Moses with the proposition that they be allowed to carry the title to the tribal estate since their father had failed to produce any sons.
I can just imagine Moses fumbling around for a response. This may have been the first assertion of women's legal rights not only in scripture, but in the history of the ancient Near East. Moses didn't know what to do, and at least he had the courage to say so. "I will take your case before the Lord," he said. And into the house of meeting he went. The incense went up and the cloud of unknowing came down. Out of the cloud, Moses heard a voice:
"The daughters of Zelophehad are right. Justice is on their side. A family should not lose their land just because they have no sons. If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter." Now that may not seem like a great deal of progress in this day and age, but I assure you it was revolutionary in its own time. Women owning property? I don't think so. And yet God, the Source of the breath of all flesh, said it was the law for Israel. A grassroots women's rights movement, bubbling up from the bottom, had gotten all the way to the Supreme Court and had carried the day. Their position had been vindicated and their hereditary holding rights had been preserved.
Perhaps Jesus was aware of stories like these when he told his disciples, "You shall love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34). Here we are given a new frame of reference. The Golden Rule has been supplanted by the New Commandment. We are not just to love others as we love ourselves; we are to love others as God has loved us in the person of Jesus Christ. And how does God love us? By standing up for the five daughters of Zelophehad, and other oppressed groups in society. By announcing good news to the poor and recovery of sight to the blind. By eating and drinking with all people everywhere. By asserting a transforming presence into the ways of the world.
Simon Peter thought he could follow Jesus down this hazardous road, but Jesus knew that it would not come without denial and death. The world is not exactly sanguine about the risky business of faith. And yet these are the positions to which the United Church of Christ has been drawn, over and over again. It has disregarded the popular, even if that has meant the loss of members and churches, in order to follow the lead of the Spirit. It has not been afraid of getting involved with grassroots movements, movements over which they have little or no control, as long as those movements bear the marks of God. It has sought to be faithful to the seminal spirit of Washington Gladden and the social gospel in all aspects of its life together.
Were it not for that open and affirming spirit on the part of the United Church of Christ, I might not be here today. Were it not for the risks taken by the Chicago Metropolitan Association and the Community Renewal Society, I might have ended up moving in a different direction. But the United Church of Christ decided to go out on a limb in order to advance the cause of Christ, and they continue to have this spirit today. That is why I'm in the United Church of Christ and why I am thankful that our church decided to cast its lot in with the rest. Amen.
Uncommon Sense
The First Congregational Church
United Church of Christ
Columbus, Ohio
June 29, 1997
Memory Verse: "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one." (John 17:20-21a)
Today's Texts: John 17:1-2, 6, 15-23
Opening Prayer: United and Uniting God, you are the Spirit we worship and serve. Open our eyes and unplug our ears that we may see your presence and hear your word. Direct us into the course of love. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.
Some of you know that I attend a week-long consultation for United Church of Christ ministers which is held annually in Florida during the month of January. The speakers and presenters are always top notch, which, combined with the location, just about guarantees a large attendance. The event averages between 400 and 500 participants.
A few years ago I was engaged in a conversation with several ministers regarding the size of our respective churches and how best to measure that size. Do we focus on the number of members reported to the denomination at the end of each year, do we focus on the number of active members, or do we focus on the average attendance at worship? Our own church, for example, carried a membership of approximately 1,350 for more than sixty years. It went up a little, it went down a little, but it never changed very much.
By the early 1990s, this number had no relationship to reality. We didn't even have names for all these people, let alone addresses. So we began the process of cleaning the rolls. The number was cut in half, and then cut further as we attempted to come up with an accurate count of the membership of this church. At this point in time, we have a membership of 622 people. We have addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates for most of those people.
Nevertheless, that number is still not an accurate portrayal of the membership of this church. Approximately one hundred of those people never attend worship and do not support the church financially, let alone participate in other activities of the church. These could be called the very inactive members. We also have another two hundred members who rarely participate in or give to the church. This brings us down to an active membership of 309 people, or 50% of our total membership. Our average attendance at worship is less than 200 people, which means that the active members of our church make it to Sunday worship about two-thirds of the time.
The group of ministers in Florida decided that although the average attendance at worship is the most objective number, the active membership is the most relevant indicator of a church's size and strength.
I remember one of the ministers claiming, a bit tongue-in-cheek, that 100% of his members were active members. This struck the rest of us as rather implausible until he explained what was happening at their church. Apparently the church was embroiled in a conflict over the minister's leadership. This had proven to be a great motivator. "Everyone has gotten involved," he explained. "The problem is that half the members are actively working for me, while the other half are actively working against me!"
This story would be amusing if it wasn't so true, not only of his church but of churches around the country. As a new generation of ministers is taking the reigns of the church, seeking to adapt the church to a changed and changing environment, increasing numbers of churches are becoming divided over the direction and style of the church's ministry. When things come to a boil, you can count on seeing people who have not been around for a very long time. In October of last year, when our own conversation climaxed in a special congregational meeting, 250 members signed in at the door.
That's probably the best attendance we've had at a congregational meeting in a very long time. It will undoubtedly exceed the participation in today's forum by several fold. There's nothing like a conflict, with a YES or NO vote, to get everyone up in arms. But then there's the morning after. And the morning after that. And the countless mornings when people have to get up, put on their clothes, and decide whether or not they will come to church at the corner of Ninth and Broad.
It's not an easy decision to make after a row such as we had last year, but it may be exactly what Jesus had in mind when he prayed for his disciples on the eve of his own betrayal, denial, and crucifixion. This prayer, sometimes called the great high priestly prayer of Jesus, is recorded in the 17th chapter of the gospel according to John.
After being anointed in the home of Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead by Jesus, and after washing the disciples' feet at the Last Supper, Jesus entered into a long discourse about his relationship with God and his hopes for the disciples after his death. The message was simple: Jesus and God had a perfect sense of community with each other that would be extended, through the disciples, to all the world and passed down, from one generation to the next. This was the Spirit Jesus promised to send after his death. It was the Spirit of love. The Spirit of forgiveness. The Spirit of peace. Apart from these, there is no church at all.
In order to illustrate his point, Jesus offered one analogy after another. When a grain of wheat is planted in the ground, it dies as a grain of wheat, but it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In God's house there are many rooms, which Jesus prepares for those who love and trust him. I am the Vine and God is the Vine Keeper. Stay connected to the Vine, and, although you may be pruned, you will bear much fruit and you will never die. Separate from the Vine, and you will lose your connection to life itself. When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time. But once the baby is born, everyone is filled with joy since the advent of new life wipes out the memory of pain.
Eventually, the disciples tire of these figures of speech and they ask for straight talk. What does Jesus want from them? And how can Jesus help them if he's going to die? Jesus urges them to love one another, even as he has loved them. He calls this a new commandment. Then he looks up to heaven and prays the prayer from which the United Church of Christ has taken its motto: that they may all be one.
"Father, it's time. May you be glorified in my death. In my life I spelled out your character in detail. My disciples saw what it meant to be filled with your Spirit. You and I are of one heart and mind. Now fill my disciples with the same Spirit. Make them one with you, and one with each other, even as you and I are one. Guard them from the Evil One. Consecrate them to your mission in the world. May everyone they meet marvel at how they love one another. This is the evidence the world needs to believe that you've sent me: that they may all be one." (John 17, summarized and paraphrased).
Easier said than done, especially in the United Church of Christ where we have an increasingly diverse and pluralistic gathering of Christians. Love one another, even when we don't all have the same doctrine or theology? Love one another, even when we don't all like the same music or style of worship? Love one another, even when we don't all agree on such controversial issues as abortion, homosexuality, and the gender of God? Love one another, even when one group has trampled on the rights and responsibilities of another? Love one another, even when things have been said or done which offend the other?
No wonder so many churches, and so many individuals, leave the United Church of Christ! We have gathered together a disparate group of people, with profound differences, but we have not learned and practiced the skills that make for true community. Listen to Jesus' prayer. The world is supposed to "marvel at our love." That is to be the evidence to make them believe that God was in Jesus Christ.
Now what would make the world "marvel at our love?" It's not going to marvel when friends or partners manage to love each other. Anyone can do that! But when people who are different from each other learn how to love -- or, even more remarkably, when people who have hurt each other learn how to love -- that is something to marvel about. That is something to wonder about. That is something to enquire about. That is something to pray about.
Recently, I've been told, Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine said something like this: "In this day and age, true community is not about consensus and integration; it is about respect and reconciliation." It is about listening to each other, and caring for each other, and loving each other -- even as God has loved us. It is about accepting one another, based upon an appreciation of our God-given uniqueness, rather than controlling one another, based upon our own ideas of how things ought to be. It is about working with our differences rather than melting down to the lowest common denominator.
Gatherings such as the General Synod meeting of the United Church of Christ, which takes place at the Columbus Convention Center beginning on Thursday of this week, sometimes rise to this challenge of tolerance and sometimes degenerate in the face of various agendas. When you get 2,000 people together from all walks of life in the United Church of Christ, you become immediately aware that we do not all think, look, and act alike -- even though we all wear the Christian mantle. Most of the time we can gloss over these differences, because they're not in the foreground. But put everybody together in the same room at the same time, and the results can be overwhelming. Particularly if we're being asked to vote on an issue, reducing our complex and often ambivalent feelings to YES or NO.
Local churches have no less problems than the denomination when it comes to respect and reconciliation, but we do have a different opportunity. Unlike the General Synod which meets once every two years and is oriented primarily around legislation, local churches have the opportunity to meet regularly and to orient ourselves around the integrity and quality of our relationships -- both with God and with one another. This is what we are trying to do today with our congregational forum, about which you'll hear much more from our Moderator, Bob Kutschbach, in a few moments.
What I want you to hear from me is the connection between what we're trying to do here, the motto of the United Church of Christ, and the Spirit which has been given to the church of Jesus Christ. As in the timing of my sermon on ordination, which coincided with the recognition and authorization of Vacation Bible School and the Appalachia Work Camp, so too does the timing of this sermon on unity have all the marks of a holy conspiracy. Who could have known when I decided to lift up the united and uniting motto of the United Church of Christ on this Sunday before General Synod, that we would schedule a congregational forum to work on our own unity as a church for the exact same day.
Immediately after Jesus' prayer for unity -- that his disciples might all be one -- he went into the garden of Gethsemane, where he was promptly betrayed by Judas and denied by Peter. This turn of events was no accident. Christian unity is not the sappy stuff of a romanticized Disney movie. It is rather the gift of God, for the people of God, borne out of the pains of conflict itself. When I tell people what we went through last year, and when I tell them what we're doing today, there is a certain sense of marveling at our love which bespeaks of the gospel itself.
In recent months, I have experienced repeated examples of new-found respect and reconciliation between the 309 active members of this church. In some instances, people are going out of their way to communicate with me and with one another what they appreciate about our life together. This experience fills me with hope as people begin to drop their bitterness and antagonism in order to listen to one another and to recognize the still, small voice of God.
It is not easy to hold together as a community, with all of our differences and difficulties, but the prayer of Jesus -- enshrined in the motto of the United Church of Christ -- will not be frustrated forever. It is bearing fruit, right here, in our midst, at the corner of Ninth and Broad. Of this we can be sure. For this we can give thanks. Amen.