Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17
17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Sermon: “More Glimpses of the Rising Church"
(#10 in a series on the book Weird Church)
I was out watering my garden yesterday--something I have not had to do very much this summer, given the excess of rain we’ve had--and I noticed something interesting. Right in the middle of one clump of Montauk Daisies there was one stem with leaves that were all wilted and dried up. I brought it along with me this morning for show and tell--here it is. [HOLD UP DRIED STEM.] The clump of daisies in which I found this stem is located right near our front door, and I have a vague memory of dropping something into it by mistake this past week when I holding a bunch of stuff in my hands and trying to unlock the door at the same time. (It might have been my phone or an empty travel mug--I can’t remember exactly, because I drop stuff all the time… I just can’t multitask.) At any rate, whatever I had dropped into the plant apparently broke this stem and disconnected it from the rest of the stem and the roots of the plant. And stopped its growth.
Which reminded me of today’s Scripture. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.” In case the connection between this dead daisy and today’s Scripture is not readily apparent, let me explain. Normally when I read this verse, I focus on the second part--the new creation. But this week, when I read the verse again, the first part of the verse kept jumping out at me--the part about being “in Christ.” And I got to thinking again about what being “in Christ” actually means.
Like everything in the Bible, this phrase of Scripture is subject to interpretation and may mean different things to different people. And, in our denominations--American Baptist and United Church of Christ, we celebrate how each of us is free to interpret the Scriptures according to our own study and discernment--praise be to God. So, let me just share a little bit about what being “in Christ” means to me--and perhaps also to you.
Based on my years of study and life-experience, being in Christ means to me that we--everyone, regardless of our background, race, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, age, political persuasion, theological beliefs or any other category by which human beings tend to judge each other--we are all welcomed, accepted, affirmed just as we are as Children of God. In a nutshell, each and every human being is loved by God more than we can imagine, and nothing we do can ever separate us from that love. (Romans 8:38-39). Furthermore, we are forgiven by God for anything we have done or are doing or might do in the future to hurt ourselves, our neighbors, our world. That is not to say that God condones any of our harmful behavior--on the contrary. The more we open our hearts to the God we see revealed in Jesus, the more God actively works within us; through the Spirit we accepted when we chose to follow Christ, God transforms our hearts, minds, and behavior for the better. And, as we are being transformed, we reach out in service to share that transforming love with others in our world.
But back to my Montauk Daisy. When we stay “in Christ”--that is, when we intentionally choose to stay connected to Christ’s love in our individual lives and through our faith community, we grow and flourish. (For more on a similar metaphor, see Jesus’ words in John chapter 15…) But, when something happens that knocks us off kilter--we may feel like this [HOLD UP PLANT AGAIN]-- cut off from our source of growth and spiritually dried up. It happens to all of us, doesn’t it? We all have dry periods. We all have times in our lives when for various reasons we feel cut off from Christ, from the source of our spiritual life and growth and health.
And this analogy doesn’t just apply to individuals. It also applies to churches. Sometimes local churches--and even whole denominations-- dry up. Sometimes the culture changes around us and the ways we’ve been tapping into Christ’s Spirit do not work well anymore. Or are not sustainable. Sometimes in church we do not find ourselves growing or flourishing or experiencing much joy. Which brings us to the point of this book. The culture is changing around us, and churches need to make shifts in ministry if we want to continuing growing in Christ. And, let me reiterate-the book is not saying that Christ’s Spirit has dried up. No, thank God--the Spirit of Christ’s Love and Acceptance and Forgiveness and Service is alive and well and still transforming lives--and will continue to do so. But local churches need to change or adapt our ways of tapping into it. In the words of today’s Scripture, we need to find ways of letting go of the “old” that has and is passing away and allowing the “new creation” that God is forming to grow and thrive.
Let me share a few glimpses of new ways--out lined in this book--that real life churches are tapping in to Christ’s Spirit and thriving.
One glimpse--from Chapter 17--is called “The Community Center.” Let me read from a description of how this works. It is a “first person” testimony of a church member:
“How can we partner with Christ in the unfolding of the kingdom in this community?” that was our overarching question when we began dreaming about ministry in this neighborhood. We spent lots of time meeting the neighbors, non-profit groups, and small business owners in the area. [Everybody shared] our stories and listened. Through that deep listening we began to discover synchronicities of gifts, needs, and passions… Together we transformed a storefront into a place where people can meet to collaborate … We have nonprofit partners who help pay the rent, and we are becoming known as the place where good stuff happens for the neighborhood. On Sundays we use the space for worship, and the other days of the week the space is used for arts groups, parenting groups, yoga, community meetings, and 12-step groups. The pastor is also the executive director of the space and chaplain for all the groups. (Weird Church, p. 122)
This particular example is of a church who got rid of their old building and now operates out of a rented storefront. However, other examples in the chapter speak of churches who have done similar things by keeping and renovating their old buildings. It’s important to note that what they do with their building is dictated by the Church’s Vision for ministry and understanding of what fits best with needs of the neighborhood in which--and with whom-- they are called to minister.
Another glimpse of a church that is growing and thriving in Christ is from chapter 18; it is called “Mission Base Camp.” Let me read a first-person account quoted in this book by someone whose church is an example of this model:
For years, our church had been advocating for LGBTQ rights--within the district of Columbia, within the U.S. military, within our denomination. I remember the day we voted to conduct gay weddings, in holy transcendence of the denomination’s rules. The day of the vote came after several months of conversation and discernment within the congregation. We knew as we voted that a Yes vote risked our pastor (Dean Snyder) being removed and possibly defrocked. Dean was fearless about the matter. …The voting was by secret ballot…[We sang while] We watched ballot after ballot going into the box. By the end of the fourth hymn, they certified the vote: 397 to 8, and the house erupted in cheers. I realized that day that we were a mission base camp--a community energized by a great gospel cause, where everything we did from worship to Bible study finally called for the question “What are we going to do about it?” (Weird Church, p. 127-8)
This chapter goes on to give other examples of churches focusing on a single mission, such as advocating for prison reform, helping to end homelessness in their area, or working to prevent suicide. And when the mission the church has been working on gets resolved, then the church moves on to discern and address the next mission or issue they feel Christ calling them to take on. In the words of this book, “Everything a Mission Base Camp church does, including children’s ministry, will have to be framed in terms of world impact for good.” (Weird Church, p. 131)
The final glimpse I want to share today of new ways local churches are organizing themselves to tap into Christ’s Spirit and thrive is from Chapter 24 and it’s called, “The Seminary.” This chapter is not talking about seminaries as we know them, formal institutes of higher learning where people go to get graduate degrees in theology and become pastors. This chapter is talking about small churches that are organized primarily around studying the Bible. Let me share the paragraph of testimony quoted in this book:
Before I started at my current church, I had been in and out of churches for thirty years and I still could not tell you much about the Bible. And I never knew how much happened in history between Bible times and now. Nor could I tell you the ways that Christianity differed from Buddhism, or how it has similarities. That has all changed. Not only has my faith grown in the last few years. But I…understand how things fit together. Being a part of a true learning community has opened my eyes to so many things about the core of what Christianity is, as well as to the insight it offers to the world for almost every challenge we face. It also has inspired me to make some major life commitments in terms of how I want to channel my energy, my prayers, and my resources to make a difference. (Weird Church, p. 152)
This chapter points out that this model of church is similar to the ways Jewish synagogues operated for centuries. The main mission of these churches is to “awaken fresh, intelligent, and heartfelt faith in their students, connected with centuries of tradition that have come before us. They trust that from that awakening God will do amazing things in students’ lives…” (Weird Church, p. 153) These churches are described as “small and intense,” and they empower their members to intentionally live out their faith in their daily lives.
So, these are some glimpses of “the rising church” of the future, new ways that churches are organizing themselves for ministry in the 21st century so that they can tap in to Christ’s Spirit and grow and thrive and shine the light of God’s Love out into the world. May God be with us as we prayerfully consider how God might be leading us to become a new creation for Christ’s sake.
Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt,
Franklin Federated Church, Franklin, MA