HANG IN THERE!

Sermon preached by Rev. Jeanne Manning Stright at St. Paul’s United Church, Halifax, NS, May 6, 2012

            Here in North America, mainline churches are shrinking and dying, and Christianity seems to be declining. But in many regions of the developing world, churches are growing like weeds and the spread of Christianity is explosive. Just after Easter, we spent a week in Samana in the Dominican Republic. It was a 20 minute walk from the resort to a nearby town. In the town we discovered a small Protestant church. We found out that the church service started at 8:00. So on Sunday morning, we got up early and walked to church. As people started coming in, they all welcomed us warmly. By the time church got started there were about 70 people there, including many children and youth. The church service began with a hymn and a time of prayer, with everyone praying out loud in their own words at the same time. Then they divided into small groups, each one with a lay leader, for Bible study. Everything was in Spanish, of course, so we read from the Bible and a devotional book we had brought with us. By 9:45 they were still going strong, but we left in order to be back for breakfast. We were struck by the vitality of the church. A couple of days later we went into one of the shops in town, where they sold souvenirs, jewellery, coffee, and even some Dominican rum. “We’re not going to sell rum anymore,” the shop keeper told us, “because everyone is turning Christian!” We got the impression that that church was growing, and that Christianity was making a difference in that town.

            In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus describes the church using the image of a vine. Jesus Christ is the living vine. Followers of Jesus are the branches, all connected to the vine and to each other. God is the gardener, who plants, cultivates, and prunes the vine, so that it grows and bears fruit. Today we are going to explore this image, and see what it has to say to us as St. Paul’s United Church.

            Jesus has gathered his disciples around him on the night he is to be betrayed and arrested. He foresees the suffering and death he is about to face. He knows the trials and tribulations they will face in the time ahead. Seeking to prepare them for life without his physical presence, he invites them to enter into a more profound relationship with him: “‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Abide in me as I abide in you.’” The branches depend on the vine for their life and growth. Apart from the vine, they would wither and die. Jesus, the risen Christ, is the life-giving vine. You and I are the branches, of various sizes and stages of growth. Just as the branches depend on the vine, we depend on Christ for our life and growth. Without its relationship to Christ, a church is lifeless, hopeless, fruitless.

            “‘Apart from me, you can do nothing,’” Jesus tells us. Those words have become almost a mantra for me in my ministry. Apart from the living Christ, I can accomplish nothing of lasting value. Laurel and I had a conversation about that a couple of weeks ago. I made the comment that she relies on the help and guidance of God’s Spirit in writing sermons, preparing for worship, and in everything she does in ministry. “We can’t do ministry on our own,” I said. “Whenever we forget our need to depend on Christ, on God’s help, we’re in trouble.” “‘Remain united to me and I will remain united to you,’” Jesus urges us. “Stay connected to me and I will stay connected to you.” Deep in my heart I know that everything depends on abiding in Jesus, the life-giving vine. That’s why I’m going on a five day retreat in June - to cultivate and nurture my relationship with the living Christ. It is vitally essential that we stay connected to the vine; that we abide in the living Christ.

            “The temptation to go it on our own is great,” writes biblical scholar Nancy R. Blakely. “We live in a society that promotes independence and making something of yourself. Though a valid goal, self-worth often becomes equated with our own success and what we can produce. It becomes very easy to think that it is all up to us and our own resources as we try to solve problems and meet challenges.”

            In order to thrive and grow and be fruitful as a church, we need to stay connected to the vine. It’s not just my personal relationship or your personal relationship with Christ that’s important, but our relationship with one another as part of the body of Christ, as branches joined to the vine. We can only grow and be fruitful if we stay connected to Christ and to one another. Based on its connection to the vine, each branch needs to recognize and do its part. Just as each branch has a vital function to fulfill, each member of this church has a ministry to do, whether it’s singing in the Choir, being part of the Worship Band or the Chancel Bells, serving as an usher, a member of the Pastoral Care Team, or on the Board, helping with the church suppers, coordinating or teaching Sunday School. We have ordered the Sunday School curriculum for September on faith. Kristen is willing to continue as Coordinator if we have teachers. At this point we have no teachers for next year. I would like to have two teams of two, with each team teaching every other week or every other month. I am hoping and praying that some of you are feeling a nudge and will see teaching Sunday School as a ministry you can do - a way that you, as a branch, can contribute to the life and growth of the vine.

            Growth is unavoidably associated with pruning. “‘My Father is the vinegrower,’” says Jesus. “‘He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.’” Pruning is necessary so that new life and new growth can emerge, and the vine can develop to its fullest. Perhaps the church of John, the gospel writer, experiencing extreme difficulties, needed to be reminded that they could be undergoing pruning for greater fruitfulness.

            We are going through difficult times at St. Paul’s. Since I began ministry with you 4 ½ years ago, many church members and adherents have died, and many others have become housebound and are no longer able to participate. The average attendance at church has declined, and the Sunday School has shrunk. We’re struggling financially, and it’s getting harder to find people to fill leadership positions. A colleague in another declining United Church said to me recently, “As the minister, it’s hard not to take it personally.” I have to admit that I sometimes get discouraged about the decline. A couple of months ago, while we were helping our daughter and son-in-law, paint their house, I was sharing my discouragement with them. They are members of another United Church that is struggling. My daughter told me that their minister had preached about pruning, and she suggested that maybe what we’re experiencing at St. Paul’s and at so many United Churches is a form of pruning. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Maybe we are being pruned to stimulate new growth, to make us more fruitful. Indeed, today’s gospel reading suggests that if we as a congregation are to grow and be fruitful, God the gardener has to cultivate and prune us.

            Bishop Will Willimon tells “a story about two churches Pleasant Grove and Pleasant Hill. In the previous year, each of these churches had about 40 members - mostly older.

            Pleasant Hill church decided that it really wanted to grow, get back in touch with its neighborhood. And so, the older women in the church started running an after-school program for the children in the community. The ... program attracted many children. The children were not only cared for after school, they were also invited to church. The children came to church, with their parents. Today Pleasant Hill Church has about 75 active members, a rather amazing growth in less than a year.

            “Pleasant Grove Church on the other hand, though it had the same number of members, did not really want to reach out to their neighborhood. Their neighborhood had changed. People of a different color than the predominate one in the congregation, people of a different culture moved into the neighborhood. If by chance one of them visited at Pleasant Grove, they got the distinct impression that they were not welcomed.

            “This year Pleasant Grove Church was closed due to lack of viability. Is this an example of ‘pruning’?” asks the Bishop. “That which is dead and unproductive must be pruned away, cut back, so that new life and new growth can come forth.”

            At a Presbytery Pastoral Relations Committee meeting last week, one of my colleagues engaged in interim ministry reported on the question her congregation is looking at in their long-range planning process: “Do they want to grow? Or do they want to stay the way they are. If they stay the way they are, they will die, and that is an option. If they want to grow, they will have to make some changes.”

            Maybe the question for us at St. Paul’s right now is, Do we want to grow? Do we want to be a living, growing church, or do we just want to keep going the way we are until we die? An Anglican minister, a friend of ours, acknowledging that his church is declining, said, “Oh well, as long as it keeps going until I’m ready to retire.” For me, that’s not enough. I want much more than that. St. Paul’s has so much to live for, so much to give. I want St. Paul’s to thrive and grow and fulfil its mission in this community.

            Kirk Hadaway, director of research for the Episcopal Church in the US, has recently released the results of his study on mainline churches and the factors that contribute to their growth and decline. Churches are most likely to decline, he says, if there is serious conflict in the congregation. I think we’re ok there. We have our differences and disagreements, but we love each other. Churches are most likely to grow if they have “a clear mission and purpose as a congregation.” Check - we just adopted a clear and inspiring mission statement last year. Churches are most likely to grow if they have “changed worship format at one or more services in the past year” - another check for St. Paul’s. Churches are most likely to grow if they conduct “‘joyful’ worship services.” We’re working on it! “Multiracial congregations [have] a better chance of growing than those predominantly consisting of one racial group.” Well, we’re getting there! And here’s a really intriguing one: congregations are more likely to grow if “at least three out of five regular participants [are] men.” Men - we really need you, and we need you to encourage other men to become active participants! Churches are most likely to grow if they have “adopted a specific plan for recruiting new members.” We have been trying various ways of inviting people to join us, especially young families with children. And we have been blessed with new members. This past March we baptized four children and welcomed five new members.

            If we want to grow, we need to focus on children and youth, and provide quality Christian Development programs for them. Sunday School isn’t the only option. But I think it’s the best one we have right now. And the parents who attend St. Paul’s want Sunday School for their children. So if we want to grow, we need to have a vibrant Sunday School, with teachers who are enthusiastic and committed to this ministry.

            “‘Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit,’” Jesus tells his disciples. The promise is that if we abide in the vine, if we remain connected to Christ and to each other in the fellowship of the church, and if we endure the pruning, we will grow and be fruitful. That doesn’t necessarily mean that our church will grow numerically. It does mean that we will grow spiritually, that we will thrive and fulfill our purpose as a church in this community, and that we will bear fruit - the “fruit of the Spirit” - such as “love, joy, peace, ... kindness, generosity,”and justice.

            So then, branches, hang in there on the vine of life. These are trying times for the Church.  Let us cling to Christ, the life-giving vine, and let God the gardener nurture and prune us, so that we may grow and be fruitful.

            Let us pray. God, you are the vinegrower. We are the branches. Help us to abide in Christ, the living vine, that we may grow and blossom and bear much fruit. Amen.

WE HAVE COME TO WORSHIP HIM
 
            By now you’ve probably put away your Christmas presents, setting some aside for the UCW bring and buy sale, and packing some in your gift box to give away. What was the best present you received this Christmas? A week before Christmas, our daughter was wrapping Christmas presents at our place. I should tell you that she has stayed with us longer than usual this holiday season. Teasing me, she said, “Mom, I don’t have to give you a Christmas present this year. Do you know why? My presence is the present.” And it’s true - the best gift we can give to someone we love is the gift of our presence. I heard a grandmother telling a friend, “I don’t give my grandchild a lot of toys and presents for Christmas.” Her friend replied, “Yes, but you spend a lot of time with him.” And that’s the most important gift we have to offer - the gift of our presence.
            That first Christmas, we received the greatest gift - the gift of Emmanuel - God with us. The best of all our Christmas presents is the presence of God with us in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God has given the greatest gift imaginable - the gift of God’s very self, wrapped in human flesh and blood, come to be with us, to share our human existence.
            In today’s gospel reading, Matthew tells the story of the wise men: the first Gentiles, or non-Jews, to see that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah; the first to worship him and offer him gifts. In response to the wondrous gift of God’s presence in Jesus, they bow down in worship and present their gifts.
            Contrary to tradition, the wise men were not kings. They were magi - priestly sages from Persia or Arabia, wise in the ways of astrology and the interpretation of dreams. The magi see a brilliant new star arise in the heavens. A star was associated in Middle Eastern culture with the birth of a new ruler, and in Jewish tradition with the Messiah, referred to in scripture as “the star out of Jacob” who would bring in God’s new age. Convinced that this star signifies the birth of a Jewish king, they set off in search of the royal infant. Following the star, they travel far across the windswept desert. In spite of danger and difficulty, they persevere, determined to find the one they are looking for. Finally, after almost two years of traveling, they reach Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews.
            On arriving, the magi announce the reason for their long journey: “‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.’” They have come to worship the Christ child. And that’s why we have come here today, when we could be sleeping in or shopping for bargains, or taking down the Christmas tree. Like the magi, we have come to worship, in response to the gracious gift of God’s presence in Jesus Christ. Worship is the only fitting response to the God who has revealed God’s presence in Jesus the Christ. To worship is to come into the presence of God. Of course, we believe that God is present always and everywhere. But we are not always aware of God’s presence. To worship is to become intentionally aware of God’s presence, to seek an encounter, an engagement with the sacred, with the presence of God in Christ. The word “worship” has as its root the word “worth.” To worship means to acknowledge the worth of God; to acknowledge God as Creator, Christ, and Spirit, the source and goal of our lives and the ground of our being. In today’s sermon, we will let the magi show us what it means to worship God who has come in Jesus Christ.
            The magi come prepared to worship. Worship is their sole intention, the purpose of their journey. They come not just to see, not just to discuss, but to worship. They come intending to worship, and expecting to encounter a holy child. And they come prepared, having studied the stars and searched their own sacred texts and teachings. On arriving in Jerusalem, they receive further guidance through a passage from the Jewish scriptures - the inspired words of the prophet Micah. Once they arrive in Bethlehem, they seem to know what to do, having come prepared with gifts to offer in worship.
            Often we are not fully engaged in worship, and easily become bored, distracted, or even fall asleep. Perhaps that’s because we come to worship unprepared. In a book that we’re going to be using for our Lenten Study this year called Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Robert Schnase has a whole chapter on “The Practice of Passionate Worship.” He talks about how important it is for people in the congregation to prepare their hearts, minds, and spirits for worship, and to come to worship with a sense of expectancy, expecting to encounter God and to experience God’s presence in Jesus Christ. “In spiritually passionate communities, there’s a palpable air of expectancy as people gather for worship,” he writes. “Musicians, ushers, greeters, and other hosts arrive early, and with care and eagerness they prepare together, encouraging one another. ... Clearly, the pastor, music leaders, and worshipers expect something important to take place, and they’re eager to be part of it. They expect God to speak to them while they experience God’s presence.... ... People are not at worship to observe and evaluate but to receive what God offers and offer their best in response.”
            When the magi see that the star has come to a stop right over the house where the child is, they are overjoyed. In the original Greek, four different words are used to express their joy which cannot be adequately expressed. As the Revised Standard Version translates verse 10, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy....”
            Joy ought to be the dominant note of our worship. To worship is to celebrate God’s presence with us in Jesus Christ. But often our worship seems more like a solemn funeral service than a joyful celebration.
            Erma Bombeck writes about being in church and watching a small child who was dancing around and smiling at everyone: “He wasn’t gurgling, spitting, humming, kicking, tearing the hymnals, or rummaging through his mother’s handbag. He was just smiling. Finally, his mother jerked him about and in a stage whisper that could be heard in a little theater off Broadway said, ‘Stop grinning! You’re in church!’ With that she gave him a belt on his hind side... and           returned to her prayers. I wanted to grab this child with the tear-stained face close to me and tell him about my God. The happy God. The smiling God, the God who had to have a sense of humor to have created the likes of us.”
            Now sometimes we are sad when we come to church, and we don’t have to pretend we’re happy when we’re not. I’ve often said to people who are grieving, “It’s ok to cry in church.” God understands our feelings, and shares our sorrows as well as our joys. But whatever sorrows or struggles we are dealing with, we prepare ourselves for worship by finding reasons to rejoice in the Lord, by rejoicing in God’s presence with us always, no matter what the circumstances, regardless of the emotions we are feeling at the time. There’s a saying from the 70's for when things are not going well, when you’re feeling down: “Hallelujah, anyway!” Maybe that’s the attitude we need to bring to worship.
            Overwhelmed with wonder and awe, the magi enter the house. When they see the holy child, cradled in his mother’s arms, they bow with their faces to the ground in a reverent act of worship.
            The magi show us that worship is not just something we watch or listen to, but something we do. In worship we are not meant to be passive spectators, but active participants.
            And the magi show us that worship is an act of adoration, of deep reverence before the Holy One. “Worship,” wrote Archbishop William Temple, “is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by [God’s] holiness; the nourishment of mind with [God’s] truth; the purifying of imagination by [God’s] beauty; the opening of the heart to [God’s] love; the surrender of will to [God’s] purpose - and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy of ... self-centeredness.....”
            In glad and grateful response to the gift of God’s presence in Christ, the magi open their treasure chests and offer the gifts they have carried with them on their journey: gold, used to make worship vessels and crowns - worthy of a king; frankincense, burned as a symbol of prayer in worship - worthy of a divinity; and myrrh, used to embalm the dead - worthy of one who would give his life. These precious and costly gifts are the best they have to give.
            That makes me think of a very special Christmas gift a teacher in Africa received from an African student. When the teacher unwrapped the gift, she found a beautiful sea shell. She asked the child where she had found it, and the child told her that such shells come only from a special beach, far away. The teacher was very touched, knowing that the child had walked many miles, and said to her, “You shouldn’t have gone so far for a gift for me.” The child looked at her, smiled and said, “The long walk is part of the gift.”
            The gifts of the magi, brought from a far away land, represent their livelihood, their lives, their very selves. In giving these gifts, they give themselves.
            The magi show us that to worship is to offer our gifts and ourselves to God in glad and grateful response to God’s great gift of God’s very self in Jesus Christ. Today we have come to worship the God who has come to us in flesh and blood. Let us offer him gifts more precious than gold, more costly than frankincense, more rare than myrrh. What can we give the Christ child? Give him loving hearts and seeking minds. Give him songs of joyful praise, prayers of deep yearning. Give him your time, talents, and treasure, dedicated to his service. Give him your offering of money, a symbol of the offering of your self - all that you have, and all that you are.
            Worship is the response of the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, to the presence of God in Christ. Let me close with this heartfelt prayer written by George Appleton, a prayer which expresses the offering of one’s self to God in worship. Let us pray.
            “Lord, I offer what I am to what You are. I stretch up to You in desire, my attention on You alone. I cannot grasp You, explain You, describe You - only cast myself into the depths of your mystery. .... Let me forget all but You. You are what I long for. You are my chiefest good ..., my eager hope. You are my allness. In the glimpses of your Eternity, your Unconditional Freedom, your Unfailing Wisdom, your Perfect Love, I am humble and worshipping, warming to love and hope, waiting and available for your Will, dear Lord.” Amen.
 
Sermon by Rev. Jeanne Manning Stright, St. Paul’s United Church, Jan. 2, 2011

Sun. Dec. 12, 11 am White Gift Sunday, Sunday School Christmas Play, Pot Luck Share Table, 7 p.m. Carol Sing followed by fellowship & refreshments.

Sun. Dec. 19, 11 am. Last Sunday of Advent & Communion.  7pm - 8p.m. Longest Night Service.  Especially for those who find it hard to be merry this Christmas.  (Storm date Dec. 21st. 

Fri. Dec. 24, 7pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.

Sun. Dec. 26, 11 am Intergenerational Service:  Carols, scripture, and stories.

Sun. Jan. 2, 2011, 10:45 am. Hymn Sing, 11 am. Worship & Sunday School