April 15, 2012 - The Power of Together

John 20.19-31

The disciples were afraid.

Who can blame them?

Their leader was dead.

Crucified, dead and buried.

But as bad it was, they were together!

They clung to one another.

They were not ready to let go.

That much they had learned from the Master.

Strength in the company of the faithful.

And now news from Peter - The tomb is empty!

Mary says, I have seen him!

Even as they talk, wondering what’s up.

The LORD comes to them.

In their bewilderment and doubt.

In their uncertainty and fear.

The LORD comes to them.

Not as a reward for faithfulness.

But as a comfort in the hour of need!

Peace be with you.

Wonderful peace.

Peace that surpasses all understanding.

Peace that only Jesus can give.

The peace of God.

That’s where many a Christian ends the reading.

Folks put a period, where God puts a comma.

Jesus says to the disciples a second time: Peace be with you. 

And then adds: As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.

Jesus breaths upon the disciples and bids them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

Remind you of anything in the Bible?

Two powerful stories come to mind:

1) Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones, Ezekiel 37 … God commands the Prophet to call the breath, the wind, and the breath enters into the dry bones, and and they come to life and stand on their feet, defeated no more, but ready to move on.

2) And Genesis 2, the primal creation story … God takes the dust of the earth, blows the breath of life into it, and a handful of dirt becomes a living creature.

Jesus is the creator … a new creation … a new creature, to care for the world - no longer defeated, no longer just a fistful of dirt, no longer behind closed doors - to take up the mandate of creation - sent out as the Father sent the Son - to be bread for the hungry and living water for the thirsty, to be hope and peace for a weary world, to lift up and heal broken spirits and broken bodies - didn’t Jesus say that we would do his works, and even greater works [John 14.12]?

Jesus then reminds the disciples of what is prayed in the LORD’S Prayer ever day, all around the world: If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you don't forgive them, they aren't forgiven.

We cannot mistake the words of Jesus as if he were saying “forgiveness is an option.”

“Will I forgive, or will I not?” - forgiveness is never an option in the Kingdom of God. To forgive is divine; to fail to forgive is death.

Forgiveness IS the story.

Forgiveness IS the life and work of Jesus.

Forgiveness IS the heart and soul of the gospel.

Forgiveness IS the power of peace.

Peace with God.

Peace with one another.

Peace among the nations.

God did not fail in the work of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not an option for God.

As if God ponders the question:

Shall I forgive them or not?

Shall I release them from their sin, or shall I hold them accountable?

Shall I forget what they’ve done, so that we can all move on from here … or shall I wallow in my hurt and my pain, and constantly throw it in their face?

God doesn’t play games with forgiveness.

And neither must we.

But forgiveness always comes through the cross.

The New Testament is full of the language of the cross … our cross, our crucifixion, our death with Christ.

With Christ, our old instincts of violence and war are crucified, dead and buried.

The spirit of vengeance and grudge-holding that lurks in our heart …

Bitter memories that take up endless time and dominate our emotions … 

We die with Christ on the cross.

So that the old can pass away, and we’re raised up with Christ, with something new at the center of our life, something new to give away, a better way to live and a better way to love.

God didn’t fail in forgiveness.

And neither must we.

If we fail to forgive, all that’s wrong with the world goes on.

If we fail to forgive, our soul is distressed and anxious.

If we fail to forgive, our relationships are poisoned.

We are sent into the world as the Father sent Jesus … to be emissaries of forgiveness, peace and hope.

Jesus says, I send you as my Father sent me.

Dare we understand how powerful these words are?

Dare we touch them?

Like the burning bush - take off our shoes and spend time with Jesus, there’s no going back, no retreat … only forward, with a great commission.

The same commission God gave to the Son.

The same task.

The same determination.

To face a world of sin and violence and offer the gift of peace.

One of the great challenges facing Christianity today is violence.

Violence of unprecedented scale - nations left destitute … whole populations decimated … violence despoils the environment and ruins the soul … 

From the day Cain killed Able, humankind has foolishly believed that violence can bring peace, death can create life, war can resolve problems, stand-your-ground laws can make us safe.

Humankind foolishly believes that violence, wielded by the “right” person or the “right” nation, sooner or later, will bring about the better world. 

But it never does.

It never will.

It’s can’t.

Violence is the script of hell.

Christians, too, have succumbed to violence, by misreading the the Bible … the violent parts of the Old Testament and a few verses ripped from the Book of Revelation … onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war.

1) Last year, a megachurch pastor walked onto the stage with a 50 caliber machine gun and ammo belts draped over his shoulders, like some kind of a Rambo or Terminator, and fired away - blanks, of course … but the point was clear: this was a demonstration of God’s fire-power.

2) Over the last ten years, John Hagee called for the bombing of Iraq and now that Iraq has been laid low, Hagee calls for the bombing of Iran … the man loves the smell of napalm in the morning.

Many a Christian pulpit - filled with violent words of hell-fire and eternal punishment, damnation and death, and that’s just for Christians, and even more violence for evil-doers and sinners.

Death, death, and more death.

Is this the way of Jesus? … … … 

I think not!

He is the Prince of Peace!

Amen and Amen!

June 19, 2011, "The Salt of the Earth"

Matthew 28. 16-20

The Salt of the Earth is a modest metaphor … it’s how Christians can flavor the world.

How much salt does it take to flavor a radish?

Yes, just a pinch.

If the lid falls off the salt shaker, and the radish is buried beneath a pile of salt, it’s ruined … too much salt, and nothing tastes good … just a pinch, and the food is always good.

A pinch is all it takes!

God never intended that all the earth should be Christian.

Oh yes, someday, all the world will bow the knee and confess Jesus as LORD and Savior … but that will be a day far and removed for now, and only God can bring it about.

Right now, just a pinch of salt.

That’s what God intends.

Just a few Christians; that’s all takes.

A few Christians here, a few Christians there … scattered throughout the nations  … just a pinch, not a pile, just a pinch.

Gently doing our work.

Christians … the Salt of the Earth.

Jesus envisions the power of our influence.

To flavor the world.

Like good salt, that brings out the flavors of love and life in every culture, every part of the world, in every human life.

Gently, and quietly, even anonymously, to flavor our world, to bring out the best.

The best everywhere.

Salt of the Earth is the story behind the Great Commission … to move out into the world … to engage the world flavorfully, not forcefully.

That people might taste the love of God, and decide for themselves, just how good God truly is.

O taste and see that the LORD is good …

We are the Salt of the Earth … and it works!

Because authority has been to Jesus, for the sake of the earth.

All authority has been given … not just some, not just for heaven, but for earth, as well …

Authority … to love, to make all things new, to restore, to build up, to bless and to hold.

Authority as Jesus lived it …

Not to gain power, but to empower.

Not to rule over, but to stand beside.

Not to give orders, but to invite us to walk with him.

To make disciples might better be translated – to disciple.

To disciple people!

And we know the meaning of disciple.

To be a student.

To help people become students of Jesus.

I’ve been a student of Jesus this week.

Reading Matthew.

And much of it this morning.

I wanted it to be fresh.

Jesus says, everything I have commanded you.

And where does Jesus establish his commandments for us?

The sermon on the mount.

His ministry begins on the mount.

His ministry reaches its culmination on the mount.

Places high and lifted up.

To remind us of Moses and the Commandments.

To remind us of the Mount of Transfiguration.

And the mount on which the Holy City is built.

High places where God comes close to us.

To disciple someone is a gentle thing.

We don’t grab people and threaten them with hell-fire and brimstone and everlasting punishment.

We walk with them for awhile.

Maybe a long time.

We practice kindness.

And we pray.

Maybe we’ll never see the day when someone accepts Jesus … but what is that to us?

Why must we always see the fruit of our efforts.

There’s something selfish about that.

We put it into God’s hands.

Because God does the work.

When and where God will.

And it’s just right, when God does it.

Always is.

At the right time.

I think of Dr. John Fowler in Turkey.

Medical missions, twenty years of labor and love.

How many converted?

Thousands?

Hundreds?

Just a few … in that land where it’s hard to be a Christian.

But it’s not about big numbers.

It’s about big love.

And Dr. Fowler has big love.

Dr. Fowler mentioned last night an Anglican Church that’s been there for several hundred years.

Slow and steady.

Steady and sure.

He said, “It’s an example of perseverance.”

You bet.

We don’t give up.

We stay on course.

Slow and steady.

And God does the rest.

Kindness is our greatest power.

Kindness can open someone’s heart to the love of God.

You see, we can’t convert anyone.

Only God can convert someone.

It’s God’s business.

Our business is kindness.

Conversion is God’s business.

No one knows when the disciples were converted.

It was a long process.

Even after three years with Jesus, they’ not at all clear … even as Matthew notes, some doubted, or maybe all of them had a little doubt.

Conversion belongs to God.

It’s a long process.

It takes a life-time.

I’ve heard pastors talk with one another on a Monday morning – “How many people came forward yesterday?” … “How many conversions?”

Look, with all the right pressure and harsh preaching, we can get people to do anything.

Lots of people have “converted” under duress.

They were frightened.

They were cajoled.

They were pressured … and that does more harm than good … it may build statistics, but it doesn’t build the kingdom of God … it doesn’t change hearts.

Only God does the converting.

Even Saul’s story.

When was the conversion?

On the road in the blinding light?

When he fell down.

When he got up.

When he was blinded?

When Ananias prayed for him?

When the scales fell from his eyes?

When he went to Arabia?

When he went to Jerusalem?

Conversion is a slow and beautiful process.

Some things happen all at once, of course.

Maybe.

But the real story is a story of time.

Time to think.

Quiet moments.

As God works in our lives.

It’s important for us to appreciate the power of kindness.

A gentle work!

Being with someone.

Kindness counts for everything.

And it’s effective.

Think of the Christians who’ve made a difference in our lives.

What were they like?

For me, they were all gentle and wise.

All of them were kind.

All of them were patient.

Jesus then takes us to baptism.

Baptism is grace.

Pure grace … something given to us.

Something good.

Something godly.

Just given to us.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

All of God.

Not just some of God.

But the whole realm of God’s mercy and goodness.

Creation, salvation, empowerment.

The Father.

The Son.

The Holy Spirit.

Nothing more needed.

Nothing left out.

We get all of God.

Teaching people to obey, says Jesus.

Obey?

Wow … let’s unpack that word.

For many, it simply means conformity.

Conform to someone’s rules.

Do this, do that; don’t do this, and don’t do that.

When someone is telling us what to do, how does that make us feel?

It never makes me feel very good?

But the word obey is beautiful and wonderful.

It means to listen.

Listen deeply.

So deeply that something changes inside of us!

Think of a parent trying to make a child understand something really important.

We might walk up to the child.

Put our hands on the child’s shoulders.

Say to them, “Look at me.”

“Look into my eyes.”

And then we might say to them: “Listen to me.”

It’s not about commands, or rules.

It’s not about conformity.

It’s about listening.

Listening to the one who loves us.

To the one who says to us:

Blessed are the poor in spirit …

Blessed are those who mourn …

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness …

Forgive, and forgive again …

Love one another as I have loved you …

Abide in my word …

If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father …

Listen to him, says the Father, when Jesus is baptized.

Listen!

That’s the word obey.

To listen to God.

Deeply.

And God will do the rest.

The best evangelism is our kindness.

We can help clear the way.

Give people encouragement and love.

We help them listen.

Listen to God.

We help them listen.

Because we’re listening, too.

That’s our task.

That our work.

And that’s how we join with God to make this a better world.

After all, we’re the Salt of the Earth!

Amen and Amen.

March 8, 2009 - "The Gift and Power of Justice"

Audio Version - Click HERE.

In a new book by Diana Butler Bass, she recounts a conversation with a fellow scholar ten years ago who said to her, I don’t understand how you can still be a Christian.

Diana replied, I know it isn’t the easiest thing these days. But I just can’t get away from Jesus. I actually love Jesus and his teachings.

To which her friend replied: Jesus? I don’t have any trouble with Jesus. It’s all the stuff that happened after Jesus that makes me mad.

The question has rolled around in Diana’s mind for the last decade, prompting her to think long and hard about the faith, and what it means to be a Christian.

Diana suggests that there are two stories told by the church … one is all about conquest and control; power and possession; the other story, one of love and humility, welcoming and receiving.

The two stories are rooted in things Jesus said:

The first story, the story of love and humility, is rooted in the Great Commandment – Love God and love your neighbor.

The second story, the story of conquest and control, is rooted in the Great Commission: Go into all the world and make disciples.

Both said by Jesus.
Both important.
But both have to be lived in the right sequence.
Love has to come first. It’s the first story.
God is love says the Bible.
Love is what Jesus did and love is what he taught others to do.
The Great Commandment: love God with all of your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The Great Commandment creates the Great Commission - go out into the world, make disciples; teach people about God; make baptism available to anyone who wants a clean start of things.
But do it with love, with kindness, with humility – shun power; resist violence; turn the other cheek; love the enemy, forgive constantly, and bear patiently with one another.

The Great Commandment underwrites the Great Commission.
If we love God and neighbor, we’re going to go out into the world; and if we go out into the world, it has to be the most loving act imaginable, and then some:
Not to conquer nations, but to heal them.
Not to control the way people think, but to help them think clearly.
Not to exclude anyone, but to welcome everyone.
No one has to be wrong in order for us to be right.
We have much to give, and we have much to learn.
We can learn from the Buddhist and the Hindu.
We can learn from the Muslim and from the Siek.
We can learn from our Jewish sisters and brothers.
We can learn from believers and unbelievers.
That’s how love works.
That’s how love feels.

If we love our neighbor, we will share our vision of God.
But we share with humility: we do with it love and reserve, restraint and thoughtfulness.

The Great Commandment; the Great Commission.
What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

But something sad happened along the way!
The church presided over a divorce.

When Constantine converted and crowned Christianity as the state religion, the church quickly fell in love with pomp and power.
The cross of Christ became the sword of Constantine.
The blood of Christ shed once for all became an excuse to shed blood all the more.
The Prince of Peace became the violent king.
The Gospel of faith, hope and love became a powerful church filled with rules and rulers, rituals and rites.
The simple shepherd’s crook became a bejeweled crosier.
Bishops donned the robes of power, and wore a stylized Pentecostal flame on their heads - the kings claimed divine right to rule as they saw fit.
The kings appointed the bishops, and the bishops crowned the kings.
Power became the master, and Jesus slipped away.

When the church forgets the Great Commandment - to love God and to love the neighbor, we end up with Crusades, Inquisitions and heresy trials.

We end up with Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors killing Native Americans, destroying their villages, all in the name of Jesus.

In 1550, the Spanish Court called a halt to violent conversion, and called for a debate between Las Casis who supported a gentler approach to Native Americans and Juan de Sepulveda – yes, you heard me right, Sepulveda, who believed that Native Americas were a sub-human species fit only for slavery – so destroy their culture; convert them at the point of the sword, kill them if necessary, because we have Jesus on our side.

Neither side was able to claim an absolute victory, but the debate slowed down the practice of violent conversion and promoted the cause of the Native American - [http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~epf/2001/hernandez.html].

I only recently came across this 16th Century debate – were any of you familiar with it? How ironic that Covenant is located on a street named Sepulveda.

Sadly, it’s a common story in the history of the church.
The expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492.
The Salem Witch hunts of 1692.
Our own sad history of Presbyterian heresy trials, and we’ve had plenty of them.
The Scopes trial of 1926.
In our own time, Jerry Falwell and D. James Kennedy both of whom only recently passed from the American scene, and James Dobson who just recently has taken steps to retire.

It’s not a pretty picture; it’s not a pleasant story.
How ironic, that so many who hoist a Bible in hand, and shout the name of Jesus, should exclude so many and condemn fellow-Christians.
That some Christians have become expert in nit-picking – splitting churches and splitting families over small points of view.
That some who shed tears at Christmas time for the Prince of Peace cheer loudly when cruise missiles explode.
They who have received grace at the hand of God would turn around and preach a sick gospel of self-reliance for the poor and the oppressed.

Is it any wonder that millions of thoughtful people have turned away from the church … unwilling to turn a deaf ear to the sermons of hate; refusing to close their eyes to the injustice and discrimination perpetrated in the name of Jesus?
They want truth.
They want hope.
And above all else, they want love.
And if they can’t find love in the church, they will find it somewhere else because God is merciful and kind.
If the church should fail God, God will not fail those who seek God’s face and yearn for love.
God will meet them outside the gate; God will find them where e’re they go.

Just yesterday, I received this note via Facebook -

I'm not gay myself, says the writer, but it's been really hard for me to watch as churches have blatantly ignored science, alienated countless members (such as myself), and have managed to hurt so many people and their families.
I was raised a Catholic and have been continuously disappointed with the way my church has been run. Since we're now on a conservative streak under our current pope, things have gotten worse. From the covering up of abuse to the re-communication of ultra-conservative bishops who have denied the Holocaust and women's freedom (like going to college and wearing pants), the church is on a downward spiral.
So, please, keep up the good work and maybe you'll manage to keep some of the younger generations from leaving. Many of the people I know have fallen away from organized religion because it's going in the wrong direction. Instead of embracing and understanding others, it has been used to hate, instill fear in people, and take away rights. There is something really wrong with Christianity if people are *leaving* the churches so that they may love one another.

Thank God there’s another story to be told.
The rest of the story, as Paul Harvey might have said.
A story that has very much shaped Covenant on the Corner.

In our 61 years of life, God be praised, we are not, and have never been, a fundamentalist/evangelical congregation … that great divorce never occurred here.
We are a healthy mainline Protestant congregation – Presbyterian by name, committed to justice.

Our session has a worthy record on this score: from our stand on open housing in 1966 to our current stand against Prop 8 on behalf of marriage equality.
And our commitment to stand with CLUE in defense of workers in and around LAX.
Covenant on the Corner, you are rightly very proud of this story.
And so am I.
Though I’m here but for a short time, I’m grateful to be part of this good story - a story of kindness and justice and humility.
Your story has inspired me greatly.

We heard this morning from Rabbi Abrams and from Jueleo ; we heard stories of need and hurt … we heard about the work of CLUE and other groups – good stories, important stories.

We are a part of something good, and something godly!
Something right, and something righteous.

What a great story this is.
And as the world turns,
As the sun sets on the last 40 years when evangelicals and fundamentalists held the upper hand and mainline folks hung their heads, a new day is emerging.
The first story of love is being reclaimed and reinvigorated.
A new and vibrant generative Christianity.

The story of inclusion and welcome; a story with open doors and open minds.

A story of kindness, justice and humility.

And with that, let’s do our readings now … the Text will have the last word!

Amos 5:21-24 (p.854) - me
Micah 6:6-8 (p.866) - Ali
Luke 4:16-19 (p.61) –

Amen and Amen!

Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

I heard about three men – a Baptist, a Catholic and a Presbyterian … they died on the same day and went to heaven.
St. Peter met them and said, “I’m sorry men, but you’re rooms are available yet.”
Peter didn’t quite know what to do, so he called Satan and asked if he’d keep the men for a little while.
Satan reluctantly agreed, but in a few hours later, called back.
“Peter, you’ve got to come and get these guys.”
“The Baptist man is saving everybody.”
The Catholic man is baptizing everybody.”
“And the Presbyterian has already raised enough money for air conditioning.”

Strategy … you’ve got to have strategy … a plan … an idea of where it’s going, what needs to happen, how to do it.
Jesus has strategy.
Jesus knows what to do to build His church.

For the last several weeks, we’ve been looking at JesusStrategy …

Choosing the leaders.
Training the leaders.
Inspiring the leaders.

Today: the Great Commission – Matthew 28
Sending the leaders.
To continue doing what Jesus does – build His church!

Let’s take a look at the Matthew reading …

The missionary heart of the church.
Mission is who we are, and mission is what we do [remember this phrase].

Covenant on the corner … looking up and down Sepulveda … along 80th to the west, and 79th to the east … our friends and neighbors, many of whom have little or no religious anchoring in their lives … living and wandering and wondering … trying their best to do good … and God loves them through and through, that’s for sure … and it’s up to us to share that love …

Love is action.
Love rolls up its sleeves and gets to work.
Love is focused and specific.

Love works for the wellbeing of our community.
Love reaches out to our unchurched neighbors.
Love invites them to go to church with us … and have lunch with them afterward …
Loves pays attention.
Love listens.

The church faces outward … mission is who we are, and mission is what we do.

What does Matthew 28 mean for Covenant on the Corner?
By the way, I like that description … Covenant on the Corner … where cross the crowded ways of life … intersection … things going and things coming … energy, traffic, noise, lots of people.
Covenant on the Corner.

What does Matthew 28 mean for Covenant on the Corner?

Let’s step back for a moment to the larger picture for American Presbyterians.

The big news for 40 years has been our decline in membership … what’s happened to Covenant has happened to thousands of Presbyterian congregations around the nation.

We enjoyed enormous success after WW 2: new members … new churches … new programs … we had it all, and it was grand.

But in the last four decades, things changed … the Presbyterian Church today is half the size we were 40 years ago … we have closed hundreds of congregations … we’ve cut back and reduced … we’ve downsized and made do with less.

That’s the pattern we’ve lived for the last 40 years.

It’s made us a little edgy … fearful.
We’ve turned inward.
We’re likely to grumble and argue with one another.
Presbyteries and General Assemblies … too often like the folks in the wilderness … grumbling against Moses, wanting to return to Egypt … hesitant and fearful.
When they came to the Promised Land, they sent in spies to check it … and what a land it was … flowing with milk and honey just like God said … opportunity unbound … there it was for the taking … but some of the spies said, “We can’t do it. The folks are giants. In their eyes we look like grasshoppers.”
They lost heart; they missed the opportunity; time passed them by.

In my 40 years of ministry, I’ve seen our churches turn inward, protective and cautious.

We try to hang on to the members we have.
Let’s not rock the boat.
Let’s not roil the waters.
Let’s not take any chances.
We stop reaching outward and start looking inward.
We settle for what we have and hope it doesn’t change.
We take care of what we have, and we hope that no one leaves.

But nothing stays the same.

Let’s say First Presbyterian in Crane Hill, ND has 50 active members.
They work hard to hang on to them … keep them happy … be sure no one leaves …

But what happens?

Fred gets ill and goes into a nursing home. Now they only have 49 active members
Three weeks later Ted and Sally move to Philadelphia to be near their children. Now they have 47 active members.
A month later, Joan is transferred to a bank in Chicago. Her husband and their three children move with her – so now they only have 45 active members, and three less children in their Sunday School.
Three months later, Jim dies and six months later his widow moves to Phoenix. Now they have only 43 active members.
And, of course, Randy and Jane leave in a snit: … they don’t like the music, and it seems that someone forgot to put their name in the bulletin. Now they have only 41 active members.
Charlene leaves because she wants more social action, and her two children go with her.
Now they have only 40 active members, and two less children in their Sunday School.

To hang on and hope that no one leaves doesn’t work … it doesn’t work for Wal-Mart or Macy’s or Trader Joe’s, and it doesn’t work for the church.

So what happens?
Why do churches turn inward?

Fear … fear is always the underlying issue …
Why did Israel fail to take the Promised Land?
Why did Peter begin to sink beneath the waves?
Why did the Temple officials plot against Jesus?
Why did Rome execute Him?
Fear!

We all get fearful when the world changes.

We remember the good old days …
We wonder why we can’t have them again.
We don’t like what’s happening … it’s confusing and confounding.
Nothing looks familiar … everything seems strange to us.

The world goes on, and we’re standing still.
The keys we once used to open doors don’t fit anymore.
Our children and grandchildren sing the strangest things … whatever happened to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby?

We all get fearful when the world changes!

But listen to God’s Word:
Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).

I will build my church, says Jesus!
Come and follow me.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.

On every hand, Jesus speaks encouragement … trust … faith … confidence … straight ahead … you can do it.

On every hand, Jesus says, “Go!”
You can do it.
You can climb the mountain.
You can cross the river.
You can manage the challenge.
You can come through the crisis.
I believe in you.
I have confidence in you.
I put my future into your hands.

Mission is who we are, and mission is what we do.

Do you have friends who are unchurched [turn to each other a moment – give a rough estimate, a number – 2, 4 10 unchurched folks you know].

Chances are they believe.

In the latest Pew poll, folks are very spiritual … folks believe … but 2/3 are disconnected from fellowship; they’re bowling alone, dancing by themselves …
They’re missing a key ingredient: connection!

Something vital is missing.
Like corn on the cob without butter and salt.
Like a burger without cheddar cheese.
Like hot apple pie without ice cream.

Donna’s father was a cattle dealer in Minnesota … next to the house, a cornfield … I learned something about corn … it has a shallow root system, and grows tall.
Grow a stalk of corn all by itself, and in the storm, it’ll blow right over … the roots don’t hold.
But plant acres of corn … thousands of corn stalks growing next to one another … and let the storms come.
The stalks support one another.

Folks trying to make it alone in the world are stalks of corn planted all by themselves … the root systems are shallow … when the storms come, it doesn’t take much to blow ‘em over.
The missing ingredient for millions of Americans – the people connection, and observers of the American scene all agree: it’s getting worse. The lonely-factor is growing larger in our lives; the lack of people-connection is telling in our growing edginess, our impatience with one another, our grumbling and our anger.

That’s why we have a work to do.
Our job … our mission … our purpose … to transplant people … from growing alone, to growing alongside of one another … with Christ in the center!

Mission is who we are, and mission is what we do.

But mission will change things …

Bring new folks into the life of the church, and the life of the church changes.

Back in Detroit, a new family in the church told me about their third visit … they found a pew and settled in.
A few moments later, in came Peg Kordenbrach – she looked at them, shook her head, and said, “You’re in my pew!”
The new family moved to the next pew … and thank God, when they told me, they laughed about it.

I think about Peg.
I wonder what went on in her mind that day?
Was she even thinking about it?
“This is my pew,” she said.

Whose pew?
Whose church?
Ten, twenty, thirty years from now, we’ll all be gone … and then whose pew, whose church?

Right now, today, we lay the foundations for tomorrow.
The corner stone for a 21st century church.
Covenant on the Corner.

With Jesus our Lord at the center”

We will face the future and find a way.
We will meet the challenge … we’ll be experimental, innovative, creative … we’ve nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
The promised land … not back there somewhere … but out there, ahead of us.

With Jesus our LORD at the center:
We’ll play our part, and play it well.
We’ll direct our energy outward.
We’ll tame our fears and build our faith.
We’ll stir the pot and roil the water …. Jesus did it all the time.
We’ll be progressive, and we’ll be open …
A 21st century church.
A place where everyone is welcome.

When it comes to members:
We’ll not worry about keeping the members we have; we’ll train the members we have to keep the faith.

Go … make disciples, said Jesus … baptize them … teach them … and I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Mission is who we are, and mission is what we do.

Amen!