Audio file: http://www.trinityumc-lenoircity.org/worship.html
Mark 6:14-29
14 Herod
the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had
become well-known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been
raised from the dead, and this is why miraculous powers are at work
through him.” 15 Others
were saying, “He is Elijah.” Still others were saying, “He is a
prophet like one of the ancient prophets.” 16 But
when Herod heard these rumors, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has
been raised to life.” 17He
said this because Herod himself had arranged to have John arrested
and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother
Philip. Herod had married her, 18 but
John told Herod, “It’s against the law for you to marry your
brother’s wife!” 19 So
Herodias had it in for John. She wanted to kill him, but she
couldn’t. 20 This
was because Herod respected John. He regarded him as a righteous and
holy person, so he protected him. John’s words greatly confused
Herod, yet he enjoyed listening to him. 21 Finally,
the time was right. It was on one of Herod’s birthdays, when he had
prepared a feast for his high-ranking officials and military officers
and Galilee’s leading residents. 22 Herod’s
daughter Herodias came in and danced, thrilling Herod and his dinner
guests. The king said to the young woman, “Ask me whatever you
wish, and I will give it to you.” 23Then
he swore to her, “Whatever you ask I will give to you, even as much
as half of my kingdom.” 24 She
left the banquet hall and said to her mother, “What should I ask
for?” “John the Baptist’s head,” Herodias replied. 25Hurrying
back to the ruler, she made her request: “I want you to give me
John the Baptist’s head on a plate, right this minute.” 26 Although
the king was upset, because of his solemn pledge and his guests, he
didn’t want to refuse her. 27 So
he ordered a guard to bring John’s head. The guard went to the
prison, cut off John’s head, 28 brought
his head on a plate, and gave it to the young woman, and she gave it
to her mother. 29 When
John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came and took his
dead body and laid it in a tomb.
When Pastor
Kristie asked me to speak today, the first thing I did was to look up
the lectionary scriptures for this Sunday, July 15. I read and
re-read them, but honestly, I couldn't make meaning out of them for
our situation at Trinity today. But you take your inspiration from
where it comes. A little earlier I had heard a portion of an episode
of “On Being” on NPR. (June 6) It was on as I traveled home from
church. The episode was entitled “How Change Happens in
Generational Time.” and featured John Paul Tederach and America
Ferrera. The ideas that they discussed were very intriguing and
relevant to us as our church has changed over its 150 years of
existence, and how will continue to change over time.
The idea of
Generational Time is that we all live in a present that spans at
least 200 years. Think of it this way. Who is the oldest relative
that knew you, touched you, held you as a child. Project back to
their birth. My grandfather John Taylor was born on this day, July
15, 1887, 131 years ago. My great-grandmother Nellie Jane Farrar
whom I knew well was born in 1871, 147 years ago. So my generational
time extends back almost 150 years. I hope you are mentally doing
your own math. Now think of the youngest member of your family. For
now, in my family that is Evangeline Whitaker, age 2. If she enjoys
the long life-span of my grandparents, she may see the turn of the
next century. She will be only 84, but for rounding I'll give her
93. That makes my generational presence from touch to touch, from
past to future, 240 years. Mindboggling!
That is an
awesome concept, but it have any relevance for us today at Trinity?
Obviously, I think so, or I wouldn't be talking about it. Last year,
we gloriously celebrated the 150th birthday of our church.
Think about the Generational Time of Trinity. Mrs. Florence Evans
will proudly tell you that not only is she the oldest member of
Trinity, at 99, but that she was a cradle roll member. If she was
born in 1919, there were certainly older members of the congregation
present at her Christening who were founding members of the church.
That takes her Generational presence back to the beginning of Trinity
Methodist. The church has changed over those decades. It has grown
and declined. The conference connections have changed several times
over that span. The church global has changed. But through it all,
Trinity has been a faithful witness to the gospel for Lenoir City. If
those founders visited today, they might be shocked to see a woman in
the pulpit and an integrated congregation but they would know the
hymns and liturgy. They would probably be very comfortable
worshipping with us.
Our
youngest members, I believe, are John Brookshire and Sophie Calvin.
If we project their lifespans to the next century, we have a 250 Year
Generational Presence for our church. We know what changes have
occurred over the last 150 years, but we don't know and can't
guarantee what will happen in the next 100. Culture outside the
church walls is changing much more rapidly that the culture inside
the church.
The
critical question is: What CAN we do to build the church for the
future? What is essential to hold on to and what needs to change?
Some say that the church is no longer relavent in this generation. If
that is the case, we may have another decade of life before we fade
away. Is it possible to change that trajectory? Does it matter to
Lenoir City that this church exists?
That brings
us to a question that we've grappled with over the last 3 years:
“What is our church known for in the community.”
I'd like to
go back to our scripture for a few minutes. Verse 14: 14 Herod
the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had
become well-known. What are
“these things” that he heard about. You may remember that last
week we read from Mark 6:1-13 where Jesus sent out his disciples 2 by
2 to teach and heal. Verse 13 says “They cast out many
demons, and they annointed many sick people with olive oil and healed
them.”
14 Herod
the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had
become well-known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been
raised from the dead, and this is why miraculous powers are at work
through him.” 15 Others
were saying, “He is Elijah.” Still others were saying, “He is a
prophet like one of the ancient prophets.” 16 But
when Herod heard these rumors, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has
been raised to life.”
Herod heard
about these things because Jesus and his followers were becoming
well-known. Jesus had developed a reputation that reminded Herod of
John the Baptist, whom Herod has respected. Mark is defined who Jesus
is by reminding us who is not. Maybe the story of John's beheading is
recounted here as a foreshadowing of what will happen to Jesus and
his disciples as they called for cultural changes that would disrupt
the status quo. The point is, that if Jesus and his followers had
remained on their corner, worshipping and feeding and healing those
who came to them, they would not likely have attracked Herod's
attention. But they went out and they became known.
Thom
Rainer, who many of us have read, posted a simple survey of the
question “What is your church know for in its community.” He
found 3 types of responses.
- About half of the churches are known for ministries that require the community to come to the church. Great preaching, friendly people, good music, a variety of age-group programs and activities. “Build it, they will come.” For the first 100 years, this model worked well for Trinity. Church membership and attendance probably peaked in the late 50's. But for the last 50 years, as demographics and social culture have changed, as people have become more mobile with more options for things to do, as suburbs have grown and people commute this model, “Build it, they will come,” has not worked so well. So, do we just need to rebrand ourselves to help us to build the future? Would we grow if we just had a better Facebook campaign or a different type of music or a dynamic youth leader?
- About a fourth of the churches said they were known for great ministries in the community. Partnering with schools, serving food, homeless ministries. We are presently working hard to make ourselves known in the community by the ways in which we serve our community. We believe this to be our gospel call. But will it help us to build a church for the future? Can we sustain these community ministries without growing our base?
- About a fourth of the churches said they were known for negative reasons. We've been there, done that, too. We pray that will never be repeated. At least we aren't like the one who said his church was known for two murders on the church property.
If I had
taken this survey I would have said that Trinity has been known for
ministries that require people coming to us – beautiful building,
traditional liturgical worship, great music, friendly caring people.
Psalm 24, which was read earlier, reminds us that the rituals of our
traditional worship help us connect or reconnect with God as does our
beautiful music and prayer. I hope that we hold on to some of these
ways of worship in the future.
However, I
would say that Trinity is transitioning to being known for great
minitries in the community that you hear about from JoAlison and the
Outreach team and that so many of you support with your time, your
energy, your money and your prayers - summer lunch service, camp in
the community, backpacks, Battle of
the Bridge food drive and so on. These are important and amazing
ministries by our small, feeble band of believers.
I would
like to take us one step further in discipleship, to one step beyond
serving the needy. I hope that our outreach ministries will help us
identify ourselves as disciples of Jesus. Jesus did not establish a
church and build a great program in order for people to come to him.
He went out among the ordinary people. Time and again we see Him
taking the time to really see the other person; to recognize their
longing, their pain, their need. He did not impose his will on them,
but instead opened himself up with them. He formed relationships
with all sorts of unsuitable people – lepers, blind, lame, poor,
women, even “fallen women.” He related to members of the leading
class as well – Nicodemus who came to him by night, Joseph of
Arimethea who provided him a burial tomb. He called the reviled
taxpayer Matthew to be one of his closest disciples. He call the
impetuous hothead Peter. For Jesus, making disciples started with
building relationships.
#SeeAllThePeople,
the initiative of Discipleship Ministries of the UMC that we have
been following, challenges us to be like Jesus by opening our eyes
and hearts to see our neighbors; to really see them in all their
shared humanity; to not stop at serving others, but to build
relationships with them; to reach into all corners of our community;
to reach those who can help us sustain the church and those we can
help. Surprisingly, when we think we're helping another, oftentimes
we are the one who receives the blessing. Making disciples starts
with building relationships.
I believe
that the culture of our church is changing, that it must change if we
want build the church for the future; if we want to make
disciple-making our priority. If we want to be disciples making
disciples to share the LOVE of Jesus Christ with our community and
the world, then Rev. Dotson of Discipleship Ministries says “we
have to adopt an unyeilding focus on becoming disciples who will go
outside our walls and begin the work of reaching people for Christ
and making disciples of them.” He goes on to say: “It happens in
every church: We invest most of our time in the activities, events
and programs that keep us going from week to week. Unfortunately, in
this busyness, many leaders have lost sight of why we do these
activities in the first place. It happens when the busyness of doing
ministry becomes the ministries. When we shift our church culture to
making disciples our priority, we will discover a new impact to our
activities, events and programs.”
A decade
from now, God willing, how will we answer that question “What is
our church known for in the community.” Will we be known as
Disciples who share the LOVE of Jesus Christ with our community? I
hope so, because my heart, my mind and my soul tell me that if that
is how we are known, we will be growing and going strong; that we
will be still serving and sharing the Love of Jesus for many decades;
that we will extend our Generational Time into the next century so
that John Brookshire's grandchildren will be learning about and
sharing the LOVE of Jesus Christ with Lenoir City.
I have
never been more excited about being part of this church body.
Prayer
Note:
As we
contemplate who we are and how we are known, May we NOT lean BACK on
the greatness of our past, but lean FORWARD to the greatness of our
future, a future that will come as we seek your will, as we become
disciples who share your LOVE with our neighbors.
References:
Mark 6: 1-29, Common
English Bible
“How Change happens in
Generational Time,” On Being with Krista Tippet, National Public
Radio, June 6, 2018. https://onbeing.org/
Rainer,
Thom. “Three Ways Churches Think They are Known in Their
Communities,”
thomrainer.com/2018/07/three-ways-churches-think-known-communities/
accessed July 2, 2018
Dotson,
Rev. Junius B. “Change is hard, but Change we Must.”
#SeeAllThePeople email newsletter, June 20, 2018;
http://SeeAllthePeople.org
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