Lonely in the Pulpit

The church I serve is a little island of open-minded, progressive, extravagant welcome in a rather large pond of more conservative, less accepting, no-go all congregations in our area. In fact, you would likely have to travel 30 miles or more to reach the next community of faith that shares many of our perspectives.  Which makes collegial pastoral relations interesting.

I was invited to a pastor's prayer and conversation meeting soon after I arrived over 2 years ago, I've never been invited back.  For about 2 years now I've been trying to attend a weekly coffee conversation with several other ministers, but I've had to curtail that in recent months.  I was becoming the token Democrat, the token progressive, and far too many times the butt of jokes.  I was leaving those gatherings more upset and tired, than fed and renewed.

I love my congregation, I love the people I am blessed and honored to serve, but there are many days when I am lonely.  Days when I wish there were other church leaders in the area who shared some of my “liberal” perspectives and beliefs.  Life is hard enough as a progressive in a conservative area, without adding being a pastor.

Please don't hear this as whining or complaining (even though it is), this is more about trying to raise awareness of the need for collegial relations between ministers that carefully avoid descend into theological critiques, us/them conversations, discussions about the latest “soul-saving” action by the local mega-church wannabe.  Is it not possible to simply gather together, to support one another in our ministry, to see our differences but not allow them to be issues of division?  Is that too much to ask?

Facing Hard Truths

As a Christian, especially as a pastor, one of the thoughts that is often on my mind is the state of the church. Not just the church I serve, but the church as a worldwide expression of God's mercy and grace shown through Jesus the Christ.

In church circles, one of the constant conversations has to do with shrinking numbers of members and attendees, the shrinking of monetary gifts and support, the closing of churches with regularity, the loss of clergy, the rising number of people who classify themselves as 'nones'. As a supposed 'leader' I'm tasked not only with serving the church I have, but growing it (not letting it shrink); yet it seems that all but a very select few individuals and churches fail at both not allowing the church to shrink, and growing its numbers.

There are all sorts of explanations and excuses put forward for why this is happening. The culture is at fault, the collapse of the family, the busy-ness of our modern lives, modern interpretations of biblical passages, humanistic approaches to theology. The reasons are never ending. One of the areas that I think gets far too much of a pass is the church itself, or at least the way a lot of people and leaders of the church present themselves to the public.

There was a time when the church was seen as a beacon of hope, a sanctuary where people came for relief from the world around them, a time when leaders of the church were seen as people to be admired, respected, listened to. There was a time when we didn't just sing hymns about being known by our love, we actually were. That time is now well in the past. How is the church viewed by many today?

For far too many (perhaps a majority of folk!?) the church and its people are seen as places and people of bigotry, intolerance, discrimination, judgment and hypocrisy. If that is the way we are viewed is it any surprise that people want to stay away? Who in their right mind would want to be associated with, join with, an organization with that sort of reputation? Rather than bringing people to faith in Jesus, rather than growing the church, the church has in many places become the enemy of Christ's message. Rather than creating disciples and believers, it is creating non-believers.

Popular Christianity, especially what I call 'neo-evangelicalism', is consumed with a sky-is-falling, get-saved-or-else, difference-shunning, science-denying theology that despite its sugary sweet wrappings of worship bands, light shows, podiums instead of pulpits, stages instead of chancels, auditoriums instead of sanctuaries is seen as filled with discrimination, hypocrisy, and bigots. And people are seeing it for what it is, and wanting nothing to do with it.

It's not that they don't like what Jesus taught, most would likely agree with Gandhi's statement of “liking Christ, but not liking Christians'. These folks open up the Bible, they read the stories of Jesus reaching out to the poor, including the outcast without judgment, demanding we love our enemies, turning the other cheek, leaving judgment in God's hands, being less concerned with rules and more concerned with relationships. The thing is they aren't seeing that in the church.

Instead they see a glorification of war and nationalism, they see active discrimination and condemnation against the LGBTQ community, they see the continued diminishment of the role and equality of women, they see the fear-mongering against people of different faith traditions or practices, the cries of, “All lives matter', when they are challenged to face our cultural racism. With each and every day the church itself, the way it presents itself, the things that it holds of value becomes the very thing that drives people away and destroys its core calling to be the voice of Jesus in the world.

There will come a day, and for some it has come, when the church will be forced to look at its empty shells of buildings, the handful of folk gathered to worship, its diminished role in society, and do some deep self-reflection. Will the church admit it has become its own worst enemy? Will it admit that those who have left the church haven't stopped believing in Jesus and his teachings, it's just that they can't find it in the church?

Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther questioned the practices and teaching of the Catholic Church and gave birth to the Protestant Reformation. The time has come for a new reformation within the church, a reformation focused on the teachings of Jesus, a reformation that celebrates love, mercy and grace without limit. A reformation that reflects the person we see in the pages of the Bible, rather than one created by fear and manipulation.

Come Lord Jesus, inspire and ignite your church. Break us, and mold us according to your image.

On Faith: Sharing our Stories

On Faith: Sharing Our Stories

June 11, 2017

Luke 8:1-3; Matthew 28:1-20

Today we celebrated the baptism of Amanda, and the joining of the church by Farrah, Melanie, Amanda, Mary, and Cristin. If you haven't yet had the chance to get to know these women, please do so. They each have a wonderful story to tell about who they are, their families, their faith, and the journey that brought them here to Zion United Church of Christ.

I like stories. I'm sure you also like stories. Pretty much the whole world likes stories. The stories we tend to like draw us in, help us to identify with a character or a situation, provide some insight as well as enjoyment, and then end in a way that wraps it all up in a nice package; so we can sit back, sigh, and say, “That was a great story!”

Today we begin a new journey together, a new set of stories. Those stories are ones we will be hearing and reflecting on for the next several months. The stories will be about faith; our faith, your faith, and the faith we testify to in the United Church of Christ. For the next few months, each and every week we will be diving into our faith looking at one part of it, or maybe a part of the church, or maybe something else. Either way we will be taking time to look at our stories.

Today, we heard the story of Mary Magdalene. We first encountered her in our reading from Luke, where we discovered she had been possessed by seven demons, which had been called out of her by Jesus. That's a story to tell. Then, we met her again in Luke's account of the resurrection where she was the first of the witnesses, the one who returned to the disciples with a story to tell that would trump all other stories.

Stories. Stories about Mary Magdalene. Stories from the lives of our new members here at Zion, stories about the lives that has been found within these walls for the last hundred plus years. My stories, and your stories. Stories of Faith.

By hearing the stories of others, their faith, and their doubts, their encounters with God, and what it means to them to live life as followers of Jesus, we become a part of their story as well. Their stories influence our story. We want to know a loving God who understands us and accept us as we are. We want to be in covenant with God and with others through Jesus Christ. We want to become part of the vision of the reign of God. As we become more familiar with the story, the more we become a part of it.

The story of Christianity, the story of our faith is found and told in three essential locations: the words of scripture, in the words and lives of other people, and in the regular coming together of God's people in worship, praise and thanksgiving.

Within the pages of the Bible, we find the story of the relationship between God and humanity. Within its pages we find the human story, our story of falling away again and again, the story of a God who never abandons us, the story of salvation. Our realization of our many failures, our repentance, God's mercy and forgiveness. Our relationship with God is dependent on who God is and who we are as God's people. The Bible tells us that story.

In worship we hear and tell our story in a different way. Through prayer and praise, God's word and the sacraments; worship is meant to be a joyful response, a thanksgiving of God's people to God's redeeming love in Jesus the Christ. As we gather regularly together, over the course of each year we hear and explore the stories of Jesus' birth, his teaching and ministry, his death, and his glorious resurrection. In worship, we deepen our understanding of and faith in God's saving grace.

Faith, though is most powerful when it is shared. When we hear the stories of faith from each other. We need to hear those stories: the stories of young and old, the stories of people who grew up in the church and those that are just recently part of it, those who are like us and those who are different. The Holy Spirit moves and breathes through these stories, and we must be open to hearing it. By hearing other people's stories, our own stories are enriched and deepened; our identity as a child of God, as a follower of Jesus strengthens.

The story Mary Magdalene told the disciples on Easter morning changed the world. In the hearing and telling of our stories we are changed, in the telling and re-telling of the story of faith the Church grows and the world is changed again and again. What is the story you have to tell? What stories have meant the most to you? When was the last time you told your story? May we discover the stories of who we have been, who we are becoming, who we are yet to be; and may those stories heal us, bless us, and empower us in all we say and do. Amen.