(This sermon was prepared and delivered by the Rev. Scott Ramsey as interim pastor of North Church.)
When Jesus is approached, in Matthew 11, by the disciples of John the Baptist, wondering whether Jesus is in fact the Messiah for whom they were waiting, he does not simply answer “yes” or “no.” He tells them, “Go and tell John what you are hearing with your own ears and what you are seeing with you own eyes: the blind are receiving their sight, the lame are walking, the lepers are being cleansed, the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised, and poor people are receiving news for their lives that is good.” Jesus’ implication seems to be that, when John hears that these things are happening, he’ll know what they mean. He’ll know who I am. These are the things that God’s agents on earth do.
We need to notice the social location of these activities. They are happening among certain people. The blind, the lame, lepers, the deaf, the dead, the poor. These are not the lives of the rich and famous. They are more like the lives of the down and out. At the very least, they are the lives of those whom the rich and famous consider the down and out. Jesus’ work, and work that is done in the name of Jesus, begins among people who are not usually part of the in-crowd. Jesus reaches out for, Jesus adores, Jesus enjoys spending his time with, people that most of society would rather avoid.
This is not saying that Jesus does not enjoy people who happen to be in the in-crowd. The love of Jesus is deep enough and broad enough to encompass everyone, poor and rich, outsider and insider. But when Jesus calls the insider to follow him, he’s calling the insider to follow him outside, where people are suffering. So, as you live into your future as a congregation, know that the lovely voice of Jesus will be calling you, over and over and over, to follow him into the lives of those who are hurting today. That is where the church of Jesus Christ belongs.
Today, I want to remind you of several things that we have accomplished together during our time together, or begun to accomplish, and to give you my sense of some work that you still have to do as a congregation. Something like a progress report, the two cents of your interim pastor.
You have claimed, and continue to claim, the truth that small congregations can be strong congregations. There is much talk these days about how big churches are the strong churches, and small churches are dying churches. This is simply not true. There is nothing magic about big churches, just as there is nothing magic about small churches. Your numerical size is not the primary indicator of your faithfulness. God does not call every congregation to be big. God does not need big congregations. God needs big Christians. And there are a lot of big Christians in small congregations. There is nothing wrong and much that can be right about growing numerically, but numerical growth does not, by itself, mean that you are following Jesus Christ. Numerical growth could just mean that you are selling something really well. But you can sell bubble gum really well, get a lot of people to come to your shop, and not be following Jesus. Big can be strong. And so can small. You are strong.
During the last 15 months, we spent a fair amount of time, talking about and developing a new vision statement for this congregation. This statement is intended to serve as a signpost for you, marking out where you would like North Church to be in 3-5 years, what you would like North Church to be working towards. It can give you language for when someone asks you the question, “Tell me about North Congregational Church. What’s North Church like? What are you all trying to do as a church?”
North Congregational Church’s Vision Statement is:
GROWING PEOPLE OF JOY
ENJOYING GOD’S TEACHINGS
LOVING AND SERVING THE COMMUNITY
The statement encompasses both the inward journey of prayer and study and the outward journey of loving service, bringing them together under the framework of living lives of joy. Two things can happen with this statement. It can sit, nice and pretty, in a folder on your pastor’s shelf, where it will gather a bit of dust. Or you can use it as a guide for your decision-making, for deciding what ministries to invest in, what programs to design, how to develop the programs and ministries you already have. My hope is that you will use it in the latter way.
In the coming months, there is a plan to develop one or more banners to display the Vision Statement here in the sanctuary and elsewhere. This will, at least, keep the statement before you.
One way that I hope you will use the statement is in taking a look at your organizational structure. Last week at the Annual Meeting, you voted to reduce the total number of elected church officers from 27 to 21, from 9 on a board to 7. This was, I believe, a needed improvement. But 21 is still a lot of people, especially when you are routinely having around 40-45 people coming to worship. 50% of your worshiping congregation holding office is a lot.
Jesus does not call us to sit on committees or boards. Jesus calls us to be his disciples, and to follow him with our lives. Now, sitting on boards may be one necessary part of our lives of discipleship, but sitting on boards does not, in and of itself, comprise the life of discipleship. When we get to heaven, I think it is unlikely that Jesus is going to be asking us how many boards or committees we served on here on earth. I doubt he’ll be that impressed by how many nights we spent in committee meetings. In fact, he might be rather unhappy if we spent all of our time in church meetings, rather than being out, serving the poor and sharing the gospel.
I really hope that a group from the congregation can spend some time over the next year or so with the Vision Statement, imagining what kind of organizational structure is necessary in order to pursue and fulfill your vision. What committees or teams would be needed so that the congregation, as a whole, can enjoy God’s teachings? What committees or teams would be needed so that the congregation can love and serve the community? What sort of organizational structure might help us to grow in joy? These are the kinds of questions I think you should be asking.
You are a good church, North Congregational. Sometimes, I think you all are too tough on yourselves, and that you have an easier time noticing your weaknesses than you do in claiming and celebrating your many strengths. I want you to hear, from the perspective of a sort-of outside observer, that you are a really good church. Trust me when I say that I would not have had as much fun with you over the last 15 months if you were not a really good church, and a really good bunch of people.
I want to reiterate what I said at the annual meeting last week. You are still in a period of change. The first 12-24 months of a new pastorate are going to be a time of adjustment, as you and your new pastor get to know each other. During this time of adjustment, you will make some mistakes. And that is all right.
It is important to remember that during times of change, it is easy for us to get anxious and to fall back into old patterns of self-protection. During these kinds of times, we can try to protect ourselves by becoming very critical of others, by pointing the finger of blame when things don’t go the way we want, and to demand a lot from the people around us in the hope that this will get things on the right track.
Lots of people do this. I do this. You may find yourselves doing this. My plea to you is to go easy on yourselves and on each other. Go easy on each other. Be kind to each other. If you find someone else treating you poorly, do your best not to return the favor. As Paul writes in Romans 12, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Go easy on yourselves, and on each other.
And remember: You are a very good church.
To God be all the glory.
AMEN.