EASTER 4B 2009

The Journey: Yesterday, Today and Forever #1

Around 18 years ago I began dreaming and wondering about starting a new Episcopal Church. I began seeing a church where we would not be afraid to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, much like we saw in the speech of Peter from Acts. I could see children and youth and older folks, striving to live out the Christian faith within our Episcopal tradition. I imagined the worship and saw contemporary music in a more relaxed atmosphere than that which I grew up. I could see people growing in their Christian faith, attending small groups and really wanting to live the Christian life.

Well, after 17 years on this journey, with the sacrifice and giving of many, many people, this dream is being lived out. Not many of you were around in the first days, but you need to know that this community did not get to where we are today without great faith, commitment, sacrifice and fun. For 11 years we met in a store front, paying rent, with our money going to the landlord. When we left, that rent was over $6000 a month. To build this building and now pay for it, we have had three capital campaigns, plus this last years Year of Opportunity giving. In much of church literature, it is said that one campaign and the building of a building can finish off a pastor… that is why I look so old!!

But that is all yesterday.

We are here today. And like yesterday, we who are in this community are called to follow Jesus with the same commitment and vision that got us this far. The tendency in any church, once there is a building, and things look pretty normal, is to relax and settle into what I call the normal church routine. But that is not what we are called to do!

As we read in the Gospel for today, Jesus tells us that we are his sheep, and that he has laid down his life for us. We are called by name, and we are called to an participate in the grandest and most noble mission that exists in this life – helping to build the kingdom of God. Through word and deed we are called to work, give and pray for the extension of God’s kingdom in this world.

This last January I spent a week in Honduras with my friend Padre Francisco. I was thinking about the incredible contrast between our life style and that of the people I was with. And I began wondering if I should go back to Faith Episcopal Church and ask people to give a whole bunch of money simply to pay off this building. Maybe I should be raising money for the poor, and not raising money to pay off a building for people who are very well off and would just go to another church if this one did not exist. Just think of what a few hundred thousand dollars would do for those who are without medical care and lack food and have little education!

Why am I doing what I am doing? Why am I going to go back home and ask people to give money to pay for this building? Why am I going to put myself through the whole “all the church does is ask for money” attack, and all the negative feelings that arise in people when they are asked to give? I want you to like me, and I know that asking people to give money is opening me and the church up to all sorts of attacks and channeled anger. So, why?

There was a song we sang in Honduras that had the line: Mirar con los ojos de Jesus – to look with the eyes of Jesus. All week long this phrase hung in my mind. And I began thinking about what we are really doing here at Faith Church. I tried to see our efforts and life together with the eyes of Jesus. As I did this, I began seeing again my calling and the vision that the Lord has for us in this local church.

The local church exists to make Christians, nurture Christians, teach Christians, support Christians, and challenge Christians to live out their faith in the world. Yes, I could raise money for the poor and needy, and maybe do a pretty good job, but instead I am called to provide a community where many people are called and equipped to live out the Christian faith in the world. I began thinking about all the children that have, and are growing up in this church, learning about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Many of them, as they go through life, are going to serve and to give wherever they live and work. I began thinking about the young adults and the middle aged and the older saints who are a part of this church, and realized that as they grow in their faith, and follow Jesus wherever they are called, their efforts will make more impact on the kingdom of God than I could on my own.

In essence, I am called to be a pastor and priest, working for and with the local church. God established the church as a means through which His mission will be accomplished. So when we are asking for money to allow this community to exist, we are not ignoring the poor or the needy of the world, but we are actually increasing those who will care and go out into the world and work and pray and give for others. I believe that over the years many of the children that have grown up in this church will live radical lives for Jesus. I believe that many adults who have financial means will give and give beyond just supporting this community to the needs of the world around them. And right now, many of you are living out your faith in your families and your work and your communities.

Yesterday, saints down through the ages worked and prayed and gave and even died so that we could know and experience the love of God in Jesus. Today we are called to live like them in our day. In one of our prayers in the prayer book we pray: “Praise God for those in every generation in whom Christ has been honored… Pray that we may have grace to glorify Christ in our own day.” This is our challenge today. One small challenge we face in this particular local church is to pay our mortgage so that the life of this church will thrive and continue to be faithful to the vision God has given us.

And to help us be faithful today, we are aware of the future, the forever. We Christians believe that this life is not all that there is. Because Jesus lives forever, we too will live forever. Seeing the world with the eyes of Jesus means that we need to see the present in view of eternity. Since this is not all that there is… since reality is not just what we can see and touch.. we live with a different sense of values. In Jesus’ words, we have different treasures than many in the world around us.

We realize that we are on a journey, from birth to death, but death is not the end of the journey. We believe that this life is a part of forever and it is not all that there is. From a worldly point of view, giving money away to a church like ours does not make much sense. Why give money away? Keep it all for ourselves and our families. There are lots of things we can have and lots of things we can do.

But… but… but…. if our faith is true…. If Jesus is alive…. If Jesus is calling us to live in a different way… then our values change. If Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive.. If Jesus says that when we give, we receive back manifold spiritual blessings, than we listen, and strive to obey. If Jesus said that we should care for others, we try to care.. If our Lord calls us into the church, and he loved the church, than we try and love the church.

If there is an eternal future for our souls… If there is a day when we give account of our lives to God…. If we have experienced the love and forgiveness of God… and our hearts have been broken by our sin and unworthiness…. Then giving and serving and even sacrificing for the Lord who loved us and calls us by name is not crazy. It is a joy and a privilege to be able to give something back to God. Even though we know we can never give enough, or love enough, or serve enough, we live for the Lord thankfully and do the best we can.

The presenting, or practical need for our campaign is that we need to pay our monthly mortgage of $12,000 a year. This money has always come from a separate fund from our operating fund. As we are successful in this campaign, we won’t have to decrease our regular day to day operations. It will allow this church to continue to strive to be faithful to our vision.

I know, and you know, that we all hear this message with different ears. My challenge to all of us is to really struggle to see this local church and what we are about with the eyes of Jesus, or with eyes of faith. We are not just another organization. We are the body of Christ. We are the Bride of Christ. We are people of God. We are those who are called out of the world for a mission. We are the saints of God. We are, as our prayer book states, a part of a “wonderful and sacred mystery.” We are a part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. We are heirs of saints down through the ages. We stand on their shoulders. We exist because of what they gave to us.

Now we are called to give for not just ourselves, but for generations to come. If we continue to build upon the foundation that has been laid for this church, many thousands of lives will be affected because of what we do today. This church will be here long after we are all gone. By God’s grace, others will be in our place, working and praying and giving for the extension of God’s kingdom on the earth generation after generation.

I urge you to prayerfully consider what you can contribute to this campaign. On May 31^st we will have one service and will ask everyone to help. We are all in different places financially. We understand that. And we are all in different places in our relationship to this church. If you are struggling financially, don’t feel guilty. If you are doing OK, then pray seriously about what you can give. But let me encourage everyone to give something. Even pledges of $10 a week, if that is all you can give, show that you care about this church. And added up with others, they really help.

I have complete confidence that we will meet the challenge before us, and that we will continue to strive to be faithful to the vision that God has set before us. Faith had got us this far, and faith will continue to keep us…. After all, we are FAITH Episcopal Church! AMEN!