Sermon: Membership Sunday November 1, Title: Why it s so easy to join a church. (But so hard to be a Church member)

Transcription

1 Sermon: Membership Sunday November 1, 2015 Title: Why it s so easy to join a church. (But so hard to be a Church member) Today is a great day! All Hallows Sunday. And last night was All Hallows Evening or: Hallow E enen. Of all the days in the church year, All Saints is a day when we remember that we are not alone. We, each of us baptized into Christ, are members of that vast company of people, on the earth and departed from the earth, through all the centuries to this moment, that vast company called holy ones in the Bible. Every member of the church is called a holy one or saint --because we have been hallowed by the fact that the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in our being. Thus All Saints includes us with every church member, now and who has ever lived This is the vast body of Christ through the ages. We are members of it, and we are never not members of it. NEVER ALONE! This fact is why we remind ourselves on Membership Sunday-- that it is so easy to join a local Episcopal congregation. Just tell us you are baptized, and we mark you in the book as a Registered baptized member of the church. Why so easy? Because you are already a member of that universal Body of Christ, the communion of saints across the ages. Therefore, we are simply saying: welcome to this local manifestation of that Communion. Glad you are making this congregation your center of worship, fellowship, and mission. So Why it s so easy to join a church. (But so hard to be a Church member) Or, as the great writer George MacDonald once pointed out: God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy. In other words, every father is pleased at the baby s first attempt to walk; but no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in a grown-up son. It s so easy to join a church-- you are already one of the saints by the pure unconditional grace of God, because salvation is a gift. (But so hard to be a Church member-- because becoming more saintly, day by day, is a journey of a lifetime.) It s like MARRIAGE first the wedding (EASY!) then living out the Marriage (hard). The hard part is BEING a church member, day by day. 1 John 2:6 NIV-- Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. Can you think of a greater challenge? I think of some of our heroic Sports adventurers they cliff dive, race cars up Pike s Peak, jump out of airplanes You want challenge? How about this:

2 I m going to try to live life, just as Jesus lived it! You say: Gary, give me some idea of what that might involve How did He live? Pretend that I have an old fashioned picture album depicting the daily life of our Lord. Let s look at three Snapshots of the life He lived and the life He invites us to live. Each shows a scene in this life and offers us an opportunity to emulate its virtue. SNAPSHOT #1: LOVE Scene: a small gathering outside the little town of Bethany. Dry, dusty, hot. Jesus stands with a few friends, holding one another in their arms, in front of a tomb His head is bowed. Caption under the photo: Jesus Wept. It s not a very striking scene or all that unusual, but typical. Once again Jesus was loving and caring about people with a deep emotional bond to human pain. He loved them. And Lazarus, at this point was not particularly lovable. Smelled bad; couldn t do anything for Jesus. But Jesus entered the pain of the moment weeping. Point: Jesus lived a life of love-- especially picking out the so-called un-lovely for His attention. And this is our challenge as church members. The apostle Paul said, in First Corinthian 13,that there is nothing more important than love. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. So, I say today New Members: Keep on loving! Long-time Members (and Rector): Keep on loving! MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT OF ONE ANOTHER AND OUR VARIOUS GIFTS AND MINISTRIES WINS THE DAY AT GOOD SHEPHERD! Robert Neff wrote the book, Witnesses of a Third Way: A Fresh Look at Evangelism. In one chapter he tells about visiting a church were the soloist was struggling. It was one of those mornings when the tenor didn t get out of bed on the right side. As I listened to his faltering voice, I looked around. People were pulling out hymnals to locate the hymn being sung by the soloist. By the SECOND verse, the congregation had joined the soloist in the hymn. By the THIRD verse, the tenor was beginning to find the range. 2

3 By the FOURTH verse, it was beautiful. NEFF SAYS: THAT IS LIFE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, ENABLING ONE ANOTHER TO SING THE TUNE CHRIST HAS GIVEN US. R.O.: Snapshot 1: LOVE. Jesus lived a life of LOVE. SNAPSHOT #2: SERVICE Scene: a large room a table men reclining around it. Jesus has a towel, a bowl of water He s listening Caption: You re not going to wash my feet! It s the apostle Peter speaking, and Jesus responds: I m trying to teach you by example. You need to serve one another. Jesus lived a life of SERVICE. Think about it: Preaching/teaching/helping/healing Healing? Great, but He s exhausted by serving Wedding? relaxing but He had to provide the wine! Washing feet? But He s the MASTER Someone once said: There is only one kind of greatness: The greatness of service. The great challenge of church membership: To live the the Life of Servanthood. New Members: Cultivate a willingness to SERVE. Long-time Members: Be encouraged when you serve; you re modeling the life of Christ. THREE QUICK PRINCIPLES ABOUT SERVING: 1 Serve a vision, not an organization We are Kingdom workers, servants of the King. This is much bigger than 1115 Center Road: It s a cosmic endeavor to bring the Kingdom values into all we do. Quote: Never let the work of the Lord overshadow the Lord of the Work. 2 Never serve out of a sense of guilt or duty. Serve out of Thankfulness and Joy, or ask God to help you find a ministry that fits your gifts and that inspires your passion and gratitude. Point: The Holy Spirit is in charge of staffing a church s ministries (eg. VESTRY) 3 Actively look for needs. Then let God give you a burden to meet that need. QUIP: God is not as much concerned with your ability as your availability. 3

4 One prayer that is always answered: Here I am, Lord Use me in Your service! R.O.: Challenge: It s easy to Join a church, hard to be a church member-- Live like Christ. #1 A Life of LOVE. #2 A Life of SERVICE. SNAPSHOT #3: DEVOTION (TO GOD S WILL) Scene: It s Night; full moon; mountain top; olive trees; a man alone, praying It s Jesus and He s drenched in sweat. Caption: FATHER, NOT MY WILL, BUT YOUR WILL BE DONE. Jesus lived a life of DEVOTION to the will of God. His was a life full of all kinds of activity, but centered in only ONE mission: To do His Father s bidding, IE.: to create and send forth and defend and nurture HIS CHURCH! It wasn t easy! A struggle! It would have been much easier for Jesus: Teacher/King/Philosopher but to give His life as a Ransom? What does that mean for us? Our reading in the EPISTLE OF JAMES today tells us A life of DEVOTION means at least 2 things: [A.] MAKE HIS AGENDA YOUR PRIORITY (This requires constant adjustments!) 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, IF THE LORD WISHES, WE WILL LIVE AND DO THIS OR THAT. FR. TIM: MY TIME IS YOUR TIME. (Imagine saying that to the Lord, every morning.) [B.] KEEP THE INEFFABLE YOUR DESTINY Dear Friends, Is the ineffable your prime motivation these days? Is it mine? Def. INEFABLE: incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible: not to be spoken because of its sacredness; 4

5 Our true Destiny is so overwhelmingly beautiful that it can t be expressed in words! Our inconsolable secret is: We stand mute before the deep, sweet longing in our hearts for something glorious, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and gorgeous that lifts our spirits beyond the earth and any human creation. That Desire keeps looking beyond the horizon. For What? What is it??? We know it exists, and our deep thirst for it sometimes embarrasses us so that we almost never speak of it with one another. But it is the hope beyond hope that there really is a Heaven. That the promise is real. And a part of us knows it must be real. Because we get tangible hints of it all around us. A beautiful worship space and transcendent art help us here with a fleeting little spark of recognition. To DEVOTE to God s will is to hold to the dream of perfection that He has placed within us. And to determine that we will pursue it with joy all of our days--and try to bring a little bit of it into our so dysfunctional society: so people might sometimes be able to say-- over there-- see it? that seems like a little bit of the the Kingdom come. Oh, and they attend Good Shepherd? This is why the Prayer Book waxes so eloquent on our behalf, and uses the word, INEFFABLE. Let us close by saying today s COLLECT together. CLOSING: Let us say the Collect together, and let it sink into our hearts Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. AMEN. IN NOMINE+ 5