I have been given ultimatums too many times as pastor of a church. People say, “Unless this thing that is bothering me changes, I’m going to leave this church.” One time it was about where the choir warmed up. One time it was that I was standing outside of the pulpit when I preached. Sometimes it has been about the style of worship, too contemporary. Sometimes it’s complaints over rowdy kids or the change of a hymnal. Over the years I take this kind of statement less personally. I’ve seen people come and go, and know that more often than not, it is out of my hands, so I try to trust that God will grow the church that God has in mind. I appreciate when people come and tell me that they are moving on, so I know what is going on, but I can’t help thinking of this scripture when people are treating church like they are shopping at a store and asking, “What can this thing/place/community do for me?” Here Jesus comes into contact with just that sentiment from his disciples, “Give us what we want.” They are looking at the cost/benefit analysis and they are trying to decide what would make all this worthwhile, this leaving everything to follow Jesus like we were talking about last week. What am I getting out of this?
We are part of
the body of Christ, to serve and to be last of all, according to Jesus. The cup that we drink is the one that Jesus
tried to hand back to God in the garden of Gethsemane but then said, “But not my
will but thine, be done.” The place at
Jesus’ right hand and left in his glory will be the thieves crucified on either
side of him, not his to grant. The
Disciples aren’t ready for that, but will eventually be once they take the
Gospel to the ends of the earth and pay the price by giving their lives, too.
It doesn’t make
for a very good sales pitch to ask prospective new members if they are ready to
becomes servants of all and drink Jesus’ cup of suffering and death. I’m not ready to take up my cross and be
crucified with Jesus.
I got so used to these
kind of demands, that one day when a young woman with two young children asked
to join the church and I said, “Don’t you want to go to a church with more
kids?” She said to me, “We will be here
when families with kids come and make them feel welcome.” That was the beginning of a big change in my
previous church. Someone simply came not
to be served, but to serve. Five years
later we were doing service projects with the kids, had a church camp-out two
years in a row, with about 7-10 young families and many intergenerational
events and projects.
The other change
that happened around that same time was a new ministry that connected that
church with neighbors and volunteers that gave the congregation a sense of
purpose, so the ministry was less about the individual and more about the whole
community. It took the focus off whether
anyone was getting what they needed and put it more on whether people were able
to use their gifts to give generously of their time and money and resources.
The question of
who is a good leader is about distribution of resources. Does the leader use their power to increase
their wealth and status and comfort?
Leaders of this world often do.
Or does the leader give away power for the life of the whole community
and become a servant of all, empowering ministry to happen in all kinds of
ways.
This is why I am
excited to be thinking of what ministries might help Trinity and Santa Cruz
give ourselves away. This is why we have
relational meetings to have conversations about what is on our hearts and
minds, what is hurting, where are we motivated to make change. We are dreaming at the moment. We are waiting for the priest at Santa
Cruz. But God is nudging us in the
meantime to give ourselves away and to follow the way of Jesus.
Will we become a
Red Cross shelter? Will we be here
serving meals and welcoming the weary?
Will we become a warming shelter, getting to know the names of our
friends who walk by cold and wet every day and getting to know our neighbors
who come wanting to give themselves away for the good of community? Will we become a hub where people come to
learn how to can fruits and vegetables, make soap, or bake a pie or
tamales? Will we become a community center
where people come to learn Spanish and English and translate their
documents? Will we become a sanctuary
church if our friends are in danger of being deported? How will Jesus use us to move from the me to
the we? We don’t yet know. The future is unfolding. Let’s get ready for
whatever cup Jesus will hand us, because it won’t just be filled with suffering
and death, but new life will spring forth, resurrection life, connected life,
Kingdom life.
We are here at
consecration Sunday, asking how we can give of ourselves and follow Jesus.
We’re deciding how to use our resources.
We can use it always for the building up of our own families and
households. And yet Jesus is advising us
to become a servant, and to share of ourselves, what we have and who we are,
for the life of the world.
We heard from our
friends each week about what it means to be generous. Alana shared her cancer story and how
important it was to her to offer to God her attitude of hope and joy. It was true that every time I called her, she
was so cheerful and ready for whatever was next. She was giving thanks to God for God’s
generosity. We heard from Stan about how
his family is taking this wheat crop land that they own and putting renewable
energy on it and also leaving room for the wildlife, as a thankful response to
God’s generosity. And we heard from
Steve who talked about the stewardship of crawling under the church in the
spider webs and insulation to make repairs, as well as giving his ten cents to
the church as a little boy. All these
stories are about the bigger picture, remembering that God gave the Son for the
life of the world and that Jesus held nothing back, but went to the cross to
give new life to the world.
In response to
God’s generosity and love, we have the opportunity to be part of something
bigger and more beautiful that building up ourselves. Jesus is making servants of us all to build
the kind of Kingdom that gives life to all.
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