First Message for January 27, 2013 I "It's Time to Face the Facts" Church can be a lovely experience, a nice hour when we sing hymns, listen to Scripture describe a different world, greet friends and watch the children enjoying themselves. Church is like a little bubble of pleasantry each Sunday. But there are times even here - in this hour - when facts and realism intrude. When that happens it seems the church has little to offer to counter the harsh reality of real world facts. Take the proposed 2013 budget for instance. It's a compilation of hard facts and harsh conclusions. The budget is a realistic look at your church; an unvarnished look at where First Congregational is heading. I suppose when we are willing to look we all know the direction in which the church is heading. The church is getting older and smaller and deeper in debt. Just a few decades ago people came early to get a seat, saw a full balcony every Sunday and spoke of more than a 1000 members. Twenty years ago there were 732 members. In 2012 that number was down to 506. The balcony is simply unused space. Pledging units, that wonderful term all churches seem determined to use to talk about you, were at 321 in 1992. In 2012 the figure was 189 - a loss of 132 giving units. That number is down 16 units for 2013. The recent past has seen a succession of deficit budgets. The deficit grows even though spending remains essentially flat. The 2013 budget shows a "regular operating shortfall of $91,706" as compared to only $53,555 in 2012. Here is how our hard working financial realists describe the condition of First Congregational Church: -Concern over the "significant deficit in regular annual operations over recent years and the use of one time funds to reduce the deficit." -The deficit for 2013 is the largest in recent years. -This pattern is "not sustainable". -The budget is presented to you only "with concern and reluctance". After cutting and holding expenses, including mission and support to the UCC, and after assuming you can raise $10,000 by holding an auction and save $11,639 by going without an associate minister for two months, the hoped for net deficit is only $35,965. That figure matches - almost to the dollar - the total in the Operating Reserve fund.
Those are the facts, a realistic description of the financial health of First Congregational Church. I suppose one good question is: Why would anyone want to invest in such an operation? As it is written, the pattern is "not sustainable"..
Second Message for January 27, 2013 II "A Cold Shoulder in Nazareth" Jesus is a young man at the beginning of his ministry when he enters the synagogue in Nazareth. He takes his customary place with the men of the town as they gather to read and discuss Scripture. The scroll of Isaiah is given to Jesus. He opens to Isaiah 61. Jesus reads. The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor.' Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.' Jesus reads the word of God promising new life, new creation and a time of healing and justice. Then, Jesus closes the Scripture, sits down, looks at those around him, and claims that what he has read, what Isaiah prophesied so many years before is fulfilled in their presence through him. Jesus claims his presence is saving the world! For a moment the men in the synagogue are awestruck. But then, things begin to change. Reality sets in. This is just Jesus, right? Joseph's son, right? He grew up in same run down, rustic, God forsaken village just like us. Has anything good ever come out of Nazareth? No. Who does he think he is? He is going to change the world? What the prophet Isaiah could not do Jesus claims he has already done? Impossible! Everyone with any sense knows nothing really changes. Today is the same as yesterday and tomorrow will be the same as today. Those are just the facts. Awe becomes anger. The dreamer in their midst, the one who says God helps Gentiles and Jews alike and who claims to see a world beyond their own is the enemy. The men of Nazareth take Jesus to a cliff and try to kill him. Clearly it is time for a good dose of realism in Nazareth. It is time for the adults in the synagogue to put an end to the foolish and dangerously idealistic talk of changing the world, freeing captives and giving sight to the blind. Better to stumble through reality's darkness than be blinded by the unfounded hope of a wild-eyed dreamer like Jesus of Nazareth. Best to throw him over a cliff and get on with life no matter how dreary life might be.
Third Message for January 27, 2013 III "Go and Save the World" I have a story to share with you. Fifteen years ago I was in Atlanta with a youth group at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. I realized we were right next to the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Dr. King's home church. I walked over to see it. I went through the door into the open sanctuary. I heard Dr. King's recorded voice delivering a sermon from some Sunday long ago. I listened and then went up into the balcony at the rear of the church. I found myself looking out over the sanctuary, listening to Dr. King's voice and wondering what it must have been like. I realized there was an old black man with me. I smiled, nodded and he came over. He said he'd been a member for years. I asked if he'd been in the church when Dr. King was there. He smiled and assured me he had been. He knew Martin well. Then he told me this story. In 1959 Martin was the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. But the demands of church, movement and family were too much. Someone suggested Martin should come back to Ebenezer. Martin could be the co-pastor with his father, he would be closer to the Southern Christian Leadership Council, and his family would be home. There were many who resisted the idea and with good reason: -The church could not afford a co-pastor. It was hard enough supporting one pastor let alone two. -Everyone knew Martin would never be in the church. He was always traveling all over the South and the whole country. The church would get nothing in return. -Martin would bring trouble with him to Ebenezer. Everywhere he went he stirred up trouble. People do not need more trouble. There was enough trouble already in Atlanta. Other voices spoke as well. This was Martin's home church, he'd grown up in Ebenezer. Surely the church could take him and his family in. And maybe Martin would agree - promise - to give one Sunday a month to
Ebenezer. And that's what happened in 1959 when Martin came back home. The man looked at me and he said, "You see, that's what we did. We decided to support Martin and his family and in return to let Martin save the world. That's what we did." The real question today is who are you? Who are you as a church? Are you people who let current finances dictate the reach of the church? Are you people who are so familiar with Jesus that you don't listen to him any more? Or, are you the ones who reject the dismal horizon of the way are and reach for the way things ought to be? Are you among those people who will change the world? things