Text: Psalm 98: 7-9, Luke 15:3-6, 8-9, 11-13, 20, 24, 28, 31
Every year, our congregation has a charge conference. It is our annual meeting to elect leadership, set goals for the future, care for those called into ministry, and more.
And it’s happening in just one week!
Next Sunday, November 1, we will have our charge conference online at 2:00pm. There will be a link on our website to join in, so be sure to check out the details and join us!
As we have been preparing for this meeting, I met with our Administrative Council Leadership and I asked them a question:
Do we have a future?
Now, that might seem to be kind of a stark and sobering question, but to be honest, there are churches out there that simply aren’t going to make it.
David Kinnaman with the Barna Group says that their research shows one in five churches are not likely to make it through this pandemic.
There are disruptions related to giving, the numbers who are able to gather, but also a lack of adaptation to the realities that are around us. I know of at least one congregation that simply has done nothing together as the church since mid-March. They have no online presence. They aren’t meeting outside. They are simply doing nothing.
So, do we believe we have a future?
Is Immanuel United Methodist Church going to make it?
When I asked that question in our Zoom Council meeting, someone immediately responded:
100% YES!
In fact, the energy level of our meeting rose as people got excited thinking about that future.
We talked about how we are providing connection and spiritual growth and it is something that people need now more than ever.
We talked about how new people have joined us online and during our evening vespers services and at our Zoo Day and how we are actually expanding our reach.
We were energized by the idea that what we are learning how to do together now is actually strengthening us for the ministry that God has planned for us.
You know, for months we have been focused on the moment….
This next week….
What we can do right now….
Analyzing the data so we can make the healthiest choices to do no harm….
We have changed on the fly….
We have created what is necessary to keep going…
And all along the way we have been trying to pay attention to who we are leaving out and missing and how we can do better.
When we were able to step back and step out of the fray of what is happening right now and look to the future, we were surprised by the sense of clarity and focus we had.
Because more than anything, this whole pandemic has helped us to home in on what is really essential and what is really important.
You see, there is a lot that we could do as a church, but there are really only a few things that we need to do:
• Keep our eyes on God who made us.
• Help people to know that they are not alone and that they are loved.
• Learn and share the good news of Jesus.
• Live out our faith by doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.
We realized as we talked that not only are we doing those things, but we are actually doing them pretty well.
And we began to shift our mindset to realize that this is a season that we could see growth!
Not just growth in our numbers of people, but also growth in our love and knowledge of God.
Growth in our ability to respond to issues of injustice.
Growth in the ways we reach out to people that have been left out or disconnected.
And for the first time in a long time, it seemed like we really and truly had something to celebrate and be excited about!
We’ve been reading through Psalm 98 these past couple of weeks and today the end of the Psalm reminds us why we are rejoicing with all of creation.
It is because God is establishing justice on the earth.
So much feels troubled and broken, but the God who created it all is setting things right.
God sees the problems of this world and shows us a better way.
God calls us and equips us to be generous and loving and merciful and kind and honest so that all people… all the world… might be set right again.
I think part of the reason we have cause to celebrate is that what we see all around is that we actually have been following Jesus during this time.
We’re reaching out to the lonely and sharing our abundance with others and speaking the truth about the problems of this world and trying our best to respond with love and kindness.
We see evidence of how God is working through us to establish God’s will, God’s justice, right here and right now.
And the whole world rejoices along with God!
I was thinking about this idea of God’s justice and celebration and rejoicing when I read the parables of the lost in Luke chapter 15.
So often, we talk about them as if the lost coin, or the lost sheep, or the lost son were at fault in the situation. They rolled off or wandered away and when they repent or return home or are found, the rejoicing commences.
But New Testament scholar, A-J Levine invites us to flip the parable.
What if these instead stories were titled “The Shepherd Who Lost His Sheep” or “The Woman Who Lost Her Coin”? “The Father who Lost A Son”?
What if they are actually about the one doing the losing?
We might start to ask questions about whether or not we are paying attention to the people around us in our care.
Do we count who is present?
Do we notice who or what we have lost?
Will we make an effort to reach out and find them?
You know, this really came home to me when I thought in particular about that last parable of the father with two sons.
We always think about the first child who runs away and the great rejoicing and party when he is found.
But the second son is lost as well, right?
He is missing from the party.
The father in this story notices.
He runs out of the house and into the fields and meets him there.
The father begs for him to come in.
And the father reassures him: I love you. You belong to me and I belong to you.
That is what God does.
God knows who you are.
God sees who is missing and what isn’t working.
God’s heart breaks at the injustice and the disconnection and the harm we do.
And there is no length that God will not go…
No mountain God won’t climb…
No wall God won’t kick down…
Nothing that will keep God from establishing justice, wholeness, shalom, from making sure that God’s intentions are fully lived out on this earth.
Nothing can separate us, right?
And when even just one of us turns our hearts back to God…
or lets ourselves be found…
or experiences healing…
or is lifted out of our troubles…
or finds food and shelter or warmth…
oh… how the world rejoices…
How the rivers clap their hands…
How the sea roars…
How the mountains and hills sing together for joy…
What a day of rejoicing…
This church has a future.
And we have a future because we continue to keep our eyes on the God who made us through worship and devotion and prayer.
We have a future because we are paying attention to one another and we count and notice who is part of our community and are doing our best to reach out to help people know they are not alone and that they are loved.
We have a future because we keep the good news of Jesus at the center and we are learning and growing and putting that faith into action every day.
We have a future because we notice who and what is missing and we try to respond with food in our pantry and warm clothes for Joppa and by showing up at rallies in support of our neighbors… so that God’s justice, God’s intentions, God’s will might be done on earth.
Friends, there is a reason that our Ad Council got excited on that Zoom call.
It’s because when you see signs of the Kingdom of God, you have to rejoice.
When the lost are found, and the hungry are fed, and the sinners repent, and the lonely are surrounded with love… the whole world breaks out in song.
I’m so grateful for all of you.
I’m so proud of who you have been as the church in the midst of this difficult time.
And oh, how I can’t wait for that day when we can all get together… for real… with hugs and food and smiles and songs to celebrate in a fully embodied way all of the joy that is just welling up in my heart.
What a day of rejoicing that will be.