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07.05.09

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

SERMON SERIES: QUESTIONS FOR GOD

SERIES 3: VOCATION/FAITHFULNESS IN LIFE & WITNESS

PART 4: HOW CAN PRESBYTERIANS BE MESSENGERS?

MARK 12:28-34; MATTHEW 28:18-20

• Presbyterianism in America
• Our Rich Heritage
• Presbyterianism has a long, rich history in America
• It was brought here from Scotland by the early American settlers
• Many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Presbyterian, as were the framers of our Constitution
• When the Continental Congress was working to form a new government free of the monarchy of England, they turned to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland to use its form of government as a model
• Ours is a representative form of government with elected officials chosen by the people to represent them in the decision-making process
• Such has always been the case in the Presbyterian Church, and it is an effective model for a free and democratic government
• Our governmental system closely parallels that of the Presbyterian church, with our federal government roughly equivalent to the General Assembly, the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church
• The Synod and state government are roughly parallel, as is the Presbytery to county government and the Session to local government
• As the settlers began to migrate beyond the East Coast, the Presbyterian Church was quick to send ordained clergy into the backwoods country to preach the gospel and establish churches
• A zeal for evangelism was prevalent in the church at that time, and the seminary at Princeton couldn’t ordain clergy fast enough to keep up with the demand
• Dr. John Fea, in his book, The Way of Improvement Leads Home, details the journeys of young Philip Vickers Fithian into the backwoods area of central Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia as he travelled on horseback for months at a time to preach the gospel to those who settled there
• A Church in Decline
• During the five decades of my lifetime, the Presbyterian Church has gone from the boom of the post World War II era to where we are today
• Over the past 30 years, our denomination has been experiencing a steady and dramatic decline
• A look at the records of any congregation will prove this is true
• Gone are the days when churches were full because everyone went to church
• Gone are the days when churches were protected by state laws that prohibited most businesses to operate on Sunday
• We now find ourselves competing with so many other activities, and people find different things to do on Sunday rather than go to church
• Such is the result of the post-modern, post-Christian culture in which we now live
• Some predict that the current climate of our culture will bring about the end of mainline denominations such as ours
• Many churches have lost significant membership over the years without gaining new members to replace them
• Along with the loss of members came a significant loss of financial support as well
• The result of that has been a change in our mindset
• We have shifted our focus from being an outpost for mission; instead our primary focus is simply survival
• When members and dollars disappear, mission outreach also disappears because there is no longer the people or the resources for viable mission and ministry
• Our focus has shifted from looking outward to looking inward as we struggle to maintain our buildings and afford to pay a pastor
• Our question for today is “How can Presbyterians be messengers of God’s word?”
• It’s a poignant question in light of what we’ve been experiencing in recent decades
• The motto of the Presbyterian Church is “Reformed, yet always being reformed,” but, it seems today, that we are so resistant to change
• But in order to continue to survive and thrive, we, as a church, must allow ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we might continue to have a vibrant and effective witness for Jesus Christ
• The Thriving Mainline Church
• Not all mainline churches are dying, however
• There are still many, including Presbyterian, who are thriving, and not all of them are large congregations
• Diana Butler-Bass, an expert in church transformation, recently completed a study of 50 mainline Protestant churches that are thriving to find out what makes them thrive
• She published the results of her study and the stories of many of these congregations in a book entitled, Christianity for the Rest of Us
• She tells about how Christianity has become like a set of MapQuest directions, providing only one way to get to our destination
• She acknowledges that Jesus is the Way, but that Jesus did not say “Follow the map”: he said “Follow me.”
• Listen to what she has to say about this
• “Although no map can fix the way, there are signposts to point Christians in the right direction, toward the wisdom of God, toward love, toward home.  Things like hospitality, contemplation, healing, testimony, and justice.  Christians call these signposts “practices,” the activities drawn from our tradition that we do together in community.  Practices form Christians in faith as they deepen their trust in God’s love and strengthen their love for the world
• “From the earliest days of the Christian faith, Jesus’ followers, known as people of the Way, were recognized by what they did—practicing hospitality and forgiveness.  Too often, contemporary Christianity seems to be a religion about belief, a kind of spiritual club that can be joined by agreeing to a statement of faith
• “But emerging Christianity is not about pure doctrine or agreeing with a set of philosophical presuppositions… Being a Christian is not a one-moment miracle of salvation.  It takes practice.  It is a process of faith and a continuing conversion.  And it can be a long walk.”
• Is there any hope for the Presbyterian Church and for our congregation, or will we soon be going the way of the dinosaur?
• The answer to that is “Yes,” but we have to radically transform the way we do business
• To begin to answer the question “How can Presbyterians be messengers?” we must reclaim the evangelistic zeal of the past that is such a rich part of our history
• We must also adhere to the Great Ends of the Church as they are written in our church constitution, which are “the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world (Book of Order G-1.0200)
• Along with these, we must turn our focus to the five major purposes of the Church as Jesus defined them so that we might once again be a mission outpost rather than a corporation or a social club

• The Building Blocks of the Church
• The Great Commandment
• In our Gospel Lessons today, Jesus gives us the building blocks of the church, and these building blocks define the mission the church is to be about
• Note that these are not suggestions, they are commands
• They are not an optional part of church life, they are the basis of the church’s mission and ministry
• They are what sets the church apart from every other group in the world
• Our passage from Mark defines the first two of these five building blocks Jesus gives
• The command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” calls the church to Worship
• We are to be a worshipping community
• Worship must be central to all we do, and in our worship, everyone must be enabled to have a personal encounter with God
• It must be faithful to our heritage, yet flexible enough to speak to every new generation
• If people aren’t able to have an experience with God through our worship, it’s time to rethink how we do worship
• With the words, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus calls the church to Ministry
• Ministry is the second building block in creating a vibrant and vital church
• That doesn’t mean that we minister only to those who are like us, or only to those who are already a part of the fellowship of the church
• In Luke 10, Jesus follows this command with the Parable of the Good Samaritan to define who is a neighbor
• A neighbor is anyone who is in need, whether they live next door or on the other side of the world
• We cannot limit the scope of our ministry or opt out of ministry altogether
• If we do so, we cease to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ
• The Great Commission
• The other three building blocks for a vital church come from the Great Commission
• In the word “Go,” Jesus commissions us to Evangelism
• We are to be the messengers of God that bring the Good News to others
• Jesus is not the Savior of one people or nation, he is the Savior of the world
• Therefore, it is our responsibility to tell his story to everyone
• Salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, but how can others know and find salvation unless someone is willing to share the gospel with them?
• We can’t be afraid to evangelize, for if we are, Jesus can’t be the Savior of the world and we are not fulfilling a vital part of Jesus’ mission
• The fourth building block is Discipleship
• We are called to the business of disciple-making
• Jesus says, “make disciples of all nations…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
• While evangelism is important, we cannot be content with simply saving souls
• New converts need spiritual food so they might come to maturity in the faith
• They need to be educated on how to apply the teachings of Jesus to their daily lives and what it means to live life as a disciple of Jesus
• Just as newborn babies need proper nourishment to grow, so new believers need to be fed spiritually so they might grow in their faith
• Failing to do so is the same as refusing to give a baby its bottle
• It’s just as Diana Butler-Bass said, “Being a Christian is not a one-moment miracle of salvation.  It takes practice.  It is a process of faith and a continuing conversion.  And it can be a long walk.”
• The fifth building block is Fellowship, and we demonstrate that fellowship through the Sacrament of Baptism
• Baptism is a sign of our fellowship with God and with each other
• It is a sign of acceptance and forgiveness
• Fellowship strengthens the body of Christ as long as it’s not just socializing over potluck suppers and fundraising activities
• True fellowship develops as we worship together, as we are involved in ministry together, as we study the Scriptures together, as we pray together, as we suffer and rejoice together
• Providing a place of acceptance and forgiveness is important in gaining and keeping new disciples
• These five practices have long been a part of the rich history that is the Presbyterian Church
• By following these five practices, we are faithful to the Great Ends of the Church and to the calling of Jesus Christ
• If we are to survive as a congregation and a denomination, we must get back to the basics of what the church is all about
• The Presbyterian witness has had a profound impact upon this nation
• It will continue to do so only if we are willing to be faithful to Christ’s commands and follow wherever the Holy Spirit leads us