How many of us have played musical chairs? It's interesting, when children play musical chairs it looks amusing. But when you see grown men engaged in such a game it becomes disturbing as men try to get the best seat in the house.
I guess it is human nature to want to sit in the best seat in the house. At sporting events it’s the skybox seat, or the seat on the fifty-yard line or the seat directly behind home plate. These places command the best view and the highest price. They also carry the greatest bragging potential.
This desire for the best seat in the house shows up in many places. Watch people in a parking lot sometime. The best parking places are usually the ones closest to the front door.
At a concert, the best seat in the house is probably the one closest to the musicians. Maybe and even better one might be a backstage seat where you get to meet the performers.
When you have a guest to your house and invite them to sit down, don’t you give them the best seat? If one of your kids is sitting there, you ask him to move.
What do you suppose is the best seat in the church building? The back seat, of course! I know that because it’s the one that fills up first.
Diplomatic negotiating teams spend hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars and many hours getting the seating just right so that visiting dignitaries are afforded proper honor by the placement of their chairs. A slip here can mean that countries go to war.
I seem to remember two disciples of Jesus named James and John getting into this "best seat" thing when Jesus asked them in Mark 10:36-37, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And they said to Him, "Grant that we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right, and one on Your left." They wanted the best seats in the kingdom - the places of honor and prestige. It’s a natural thing for the natural man.
Jesus had some specific things to say about the best seat in the house, and it’s what I want to consider with you in this message.
You probably recognize that what Jesus is teaching here is the opposite of nearly everything we hear in the world today about success. It is not easy advice easy to take.
As I've been reading this passage, at the back of my mind I can’t help but hear the echoes of Muhammed Ali's boxing war-cry 'I am the greatest!'
And both the text and Muhammed Ali make me want to ask:
What is greatness? What is power? How do we use our greatness and our power?
I'm particularly fascinated by Jim and John Zebedee's request: 'we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.' There's an underlying sub-text here of a sense of entitlement, perhaps, in the statement they make. And more 'echoes' in my head - this time not so much Muhammed Ali - but the voices who want power or privilege or some kind of entitlement in the wider community, and in the church community. In a small, dark corner of my mind I hear the words:
'so pastor, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.' This may be found in situations of proposed change... or even proposed non-change... in the form of 'if you change the way we have communion, if you don't let the choir sing an anthem, if you have all-age services, if you don't have all-age services, if you get rid of the pews, if you keep the pews... we will stop being an elder/ leave the church/ withhold our offering/ hold the church community to ransom so that we do get our way.' And effectively continuing to hold the One who gave his life as a ransom for many ... still to ransom.
Wherever groups of people are, there will be jockeying for position and a bit of an attempt at empire building: it's what we do as humans. Created in the image of God, maybe we sometimes set ourselves up as gods because deep down we feel small and powerless and it frightens us?
Conversely, maybe we are fearful of just how powerful a thing it is to be made in the image of God - what are the implications of that, we wonder?
So, perhaps it's a little precious to be looking askance and James and John and their attempt to do what most humans do - manouevring for position. Were James and John really interested in the broader, communal picture, or was this an exercise in self-interest? No. Yes. 'What will we get out of this? How can we get more? How can we manipulate the situation to our further advantage?' Perhaps we beat them up a tad too much... and maybe we even beat ourselves up too much because we forget our humanness, forget that we are not God?
If we think of the power context my sense is that consumerism, with its cult of the individual, and the sense of 'get more toys', if I want it I should have it' - irrespective of the cost to self and others, has insidiously crept into the church. The notion of body, of community, gets chipped away under the church-hopping about from one place to another - leaving a church because, 'after all I went there, but I got nothing out of it.' Every time I hear that phrase, I'm so tempted to say: 'okay, but what did you put into it?' I suspect if I did say it, I'd be looked at as if I came from Mars... but that's another story for another time.
If I step away from a small soapbox at this point and think on the text a little more, perhaps the concluding thoughts run a little like this: we all have some kind of power - some more than others. How do we use it?
Where or on whom do we focus it - God, others, ourself?What is, and what does, power look like in the kindom of God within the godly community?
Real power is understanding that you can let it go...when you don't need it...when you know it is not your master but is rather a tool.Real power is found in the context of kenosis - a self-giving - a giving away... demonstrated in the all-powerful God becoming all-vulnerable: human as we are human.
Are we ready to drink the cup of our humanity... and conversely are we ready to drink the cup of real greatness?
Amen
Thursday, October 22, 2009
“The Church: God’s Remnant”--John 15:1-11
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we join together this morning, members, friends, family and brothers and sisters, to celebrate the 95th anniversary of this church. On special occasions like anniversaries it is natural to look back over the past, to smile as we remember the good times, and perhaps to sigh as we recall the not-so happy times. So it is today that we look back over the 95 years since the founding of this church – to the ‘birth’ of this church, brought into being through the vision of a small number of people, dedicated to following Jesus.I sometimes think what a wonderful time it must be, when a new church is founded. How exciting it must have been as the founders of this church sought to come together in Christian community, then to build a place of worship. And how exciting it must have been for the people to build themselves up as Christ’s church here, to strive to fulfill Christ’s commission in faith and trust in God, to “preach, baptize, and live out the mission” he had begun. What a wonderful time that must have been, seeing the building rise to the glory of God, and seeing (gradually) the congregation grow and strengthen – a Christian community singing and praying to the glory of God. Yes, what wonderful times they must have been, the first couple of years of this church’s life when, in its infancy, perhaps it was even a joy to overcome the many problems and difficulties that arose!And who could have foreseen, back 1924, what it would mean for this church community to provide loving, Christian service to this area? Certainly there were things to be thankful for: a growing church, several generations of people gathering here at one time to worship and learn: babies, children, young people and adults of all ages – all together in Christian community! What joy and thanksgiving must have been felt at the rites of baptism, marriage and in the seasonal celebrations of the church year!
Then there are memories of a full church – services every Sunday morning, and with Sunday School. Imagine! Sunday with no Sunday football (soccer) games, no Sunday shopping! How times have changed! Then there were church activities (the Luau’s, VBS’s, etc)– all to foster Christian fellowship: memories of life-long friendships forged here among the people of this church – perhaps often where one met one’s marriage partner too! Happy times! And what a source of strength and support the church must have been for people in sadder times too – as we think back upon the past.For, at times of remembering – and giving thanks to God for – the life of a church when celebrating its anniversary, I often think of the less-than-happy times its people have seen too. For instance, who of the founders of this church back in 1913, could have imagined that, within the first seven years of its life, the people of this congregation would witness the terror closing and selling of the Church.But it is testimony to the strength of Christian community, a community of 100 dedicated Methodists to living their lives in faith in Christ Jesus, that they were determined to organize a Methodist Church. And so it is that this church has seen times of great joy and celebration, and times of great hardship, as we look back over the past. A past through which people sought-out the presence and guidance of God; a past where people strove to live-out their faith and share their faith with others.This church anniversary, then, provides the opportunity to reflect upon what God has done through this church community over the last 95 years. It is a time to reflect upon our experience of God being (as it says in Psalm 46) our refuge and strength in times of trouble, thus there is no cause to fear – even though change is all about us – and not necessarily change for the better!Yes, as we give thanks to God for the past, as we remember the past, it is easy to become pessimistic about the future. Nationally attendance is in decline and, for our Church as a denomination anyway, the age-profile is getting older on average. So, what does the future – what does God’s future – hold for us? For us here (as with many similar sized congregations within our and other denominations) we still share that same ‘pioneering’ spirit of faith, courage, hope and obedience to God and God’s will with the founders of this church. But at the same time, it is easy to be overly-concerned for the future.You know, when I hear people voicing concern for the future of their church – concerns due to decline in numbers and increase in age profile – my mind turns to the biblical theme of the ‘remnant’. It is a theme that resides deep within the biblical story of the faithfulness and obedience of God’s people. Now, we are used to thinking of a remnant as being a ‘left-over’ piece of cloth or carpet, being sold-off cheap because it is the ‘end-of-a-roll’, or an odd shape or size, of little value. But the Biblical idea of remnant is very different. One example of the biblical ‘remnant’ is the story of the flood. There was a catastrophe – in this case, the flood, which was believed to be God’s judgment on human wickedness (Genesis 6:5). But God was gracious and chose Noah, who is described as ‘blameless’: Noah, who ’walked with God’, his family and the animals survived on the Ark.
They were God’s ‘remnant’ from whom the earth was once again re-populated. The theme of God’s ‘remnant’ appears again and again throughout the Old Testament. In whatever calamity befalls God’s people, (understood as God’s judgment / punishment or not), always there is a hint of God’s grace in the survival of the ‘remnant’.
Throughout the history of God’s people, the same pattern appears – the disaster, followed by a diminished number of people, and then the survival of a seeming ‘handful’ of people – faithful and obedient people, who are not so much the end, but a new beginning. They are called to continue witnessing to God’s love, made known to us in Christ Jesus, to the world around us.Yes, the church is God’s remnant. No matter how large or small a church community is, in relation to the world-wide increase in secularism (or whatever other ’ism’ we may like to mention) the church is God’s ‘remnant’.
Not in the sense that the church is a ‘left-over’, going cheap, the ‘end-of-a-roll’, or of little value. But rather, a ‘handful’ of people – faithful and obedient people – who are not so much the end, but a new beginning.
In this we can all take hope and courage because we can believe, in faith, that no matter how fierce the present catastrophe; however painful the change; however steep the decline, God’s promise is that the remnant will live-on. The ‘remnant’ is that within which God invests all hope and faith for the future – the church.Maybe our Gospel reading speaks of this same thing in another way. God is the vine-keeper, pruning the vines – even the growing-tips so that the vines may be increasingly fruitful.
But let’s think of those vines for a moment. If you have ever travelled in wine-growing country, you may well have seen vineyards full of vines when they’re in their ‘dormant’ state. They look for all the world as if they are dead stumps of wood sticking out of the earth. It may be difficult to believe that, come the growing season, they will spring back to life, grow sometimes ten’s of meters (yards!) and give a profusion of fruit.Here, the ‘remnant’ is the stump in the ground, containing within itself all it takes for a future full of promise – a fruitful future.As remnant then, and drawing upon the imagery of our Gospel verses, what is the most important thing we, as church, must do? The single-most important thing (as I see it) is to ‘abide’ in Jesus.
We need to live in Jesus. For apart from Jesus we can do – be – nothing. We retain the commission of Jesus to ‘bear much fruit’, and become (more and more) as Jesus’ disciples. Moreover, Jesus calls us to be empowered, to be encouraged, to be hopeful, drawing on his love. If we live in the love of Jesus, by obeying the commandments – especially his command to love – then we will be living in him, and his love. And, in this, is the source of deep joy.Let us reflect, then, that as ‘remnant’ we are called not to be pessimistic about the future, but to be the source of all hope and future promise. If the church is small in numbers, and the trend continues to be small, then the biblical message is that this ‘smallness’ need not be a cause of despair, but rather a call to give thanks to God that he still entrusts us with the Good News, called to celebrate the fact that God still has purpose for us.
Let us remember, no matter how small the church is – or yet to come – we are still the body of Christ, living in the love of Jesus.Let us celebrate, then. Let us give thanks to God for all his blessings to us here through the past 95 years. Let us give thanks to God for all his blessings to us through to the present day. And let us give thanks to God that, in partnership with our brothers and sisters in Christ, as ‘remnant’ God entrusts to us the responsibility to live-out the Good News of Christ Jesus; we are called to continue witnessing to God’s love. As ‘remnant’, we are that within which God invests all hope and promise for the future, rooted and living in the love of Christ Jesus. Amen.
Then there are memories of a full church – services every Sunday morning, and with Sunday School. Imagine! Sunday with no Sunday football (soccer) games, no Sunday shopping! How times have changed! Then there were church activities (the Luau’s, VBS’s, etc)– all to foster Christian fellowship: memories of life-long friendships forged here among the people of this church – perhaps often where one met one’s marriage partner too! Happy times! And what a source of strength and support the church must have been for people in sadder times too – as we think back upon the past.For, at times of remembering – and giving thanks to God for – the life of a church when celebrating its anniversary, I often think of the less-than-happy times its people have seen too. For instance, who of the founders of this church back in 1913, could have imagined that, within the first seven years of its life, the people of this congregation would witness the terror closing and selling of the Church.But it is testimony to the strength of Christian community, a community of 100 dedicated Methodists to living their lives in faith in Christ Jesus, that they were determined to organize a Methodist Church. And so it is that this church has seen times of great joy and celebration, and times of great hardship, as we look back over the past. A past through which people sought-out the presence and guidance of God; a past where people strove to live-out their faith and share their faith with others.This church anniversary, then, provides the opportunity to reflect upon what God has done through this church community over the last 95 years. It is a time to reflect upon our experience of God being (as it says in Psalm 46) our refuge and strength in times of trouble, thus there is no cause to fear – even though change is all about us – and not necessarily change for the better!Yes, as we give thanks to God for the past, as we remember the past, it is easy to become pessimistic about the future. Nationally attendance is in decline and, for our Church as a denomination anyway, the age-profile is getting older on average. So, what does the future – what does God’s future – hold for us? For us here (as with many similar sized congregations within our and other denominations) we still share that same ‘pioneering’ spirit of faith, courage, hope and obedience to God and God’s will with the founders of this church. But at the same time, it is easy to be overly-concerned for the future.You know, when I hear people voicing concern for the future of their church – concerns due to decline in numbers and increase in age profile – my mind turns to the biblical theme of the ‘remnant’. It is a theme that resides deep within the biblical story of the faithfulness and obedience of God’s people. Now, we are used to thinking of a remnant as being a ‘left-over’ piece of cloth or carpet, being sold-off cheap because it is the ‘end-of-a-roll’, or an odd shape or size, of little value. But the Biblical idea of remnant is very different. One example of the biblical ‘remnant’ is the story of the flood. There was a catastrophe – in this case, the flood, which was believed to be God’s judgment on human wickedness (Genesis 6:5). But God was gracious and chose Noah, who is described as ‘blameless’: Noah, who ’walked with God’, his family and the animals survived on the Ark.
They were God’s ‘remnant’ from whom the earth was once again re-populated. The theme of God’s ‘remnant’ appears again and again throughout the Old Testament. In whatever calamity befalls God’s people, (understood as God’s judgment / punishment or not), always there is a hint of God’s grace in the survival of the ‘remnant’.
Throughout the history of God’s people, the same pattern appears – the disaster, followed by a diminished number of people, and then the survival of a seeming ‘handful’ of people – faithful and obedient people, who are not so much the end, but a new beginning. They are called to continue witnessing to God’s love, made known to us in Christ Jesus, to the world around us.Yes, the church is God’s remnant. No matter how large or small a church community is, in relation to the world-wide increase in secularism (or whatever other ’ism’ we may like to mention) the church is God’s ‘remnant’.
Not in the sense that the church is a ‘left-over’, going cheap, the ‘end-of-a-roll’, or of little value. But rather, a ‘handful’ of people – faithful and obedient people – who are not so much the end, but a new beginning.
In this we can all take hope and courage because we can believe, in faith, that no matter how fierce the present catastrophe; however painful the change; however steep the decline, God’s promise is that the remnant will live-on. The ‘remnant’ is that within which God invests all hope and faith for the future – the church.Maybe our Gospel reading speaks of this same thing in another way. God is the vine-keeper, pruning the vines – even the growing-tips so that the vines may be increasingly fruitful.
But let’s think of those vines for a moment. If you have ever travelled in wine-growing country, you may well have seen vineyards full of vines when they’re in their ‘dormant’ state. They look for all the world as if they are dead stumps of wood sticking out of the earth. It may be difficult to believe that, come the growing season, they will spring back to life, grow sometimes ten’s of meters (yards!) and give a profusion of fruit.Here, the ‘remnant’ is the stump in the ground, containing within itself all it takes for a future full of promise – a fruitful future.As remnant then, and drawing upon the imagery of our Gospel verses, what is the most important thing we, as church, must do? The single-most important thing (as I see it) is to ‘abide’ in Jesus.
We need to live in Jesus. For apart from Jesus we can do – be – nothing. We retain the commission of Jesus to ‘bear much fruit’, and become (more and more) as Jesus’ disciples. Moreover, Jesus calls us to be empowered, to be encouraged, to be hopeful, drawing on his love. If we live in the love of Jesus, by obeying the commandments – especially his command to love – then we will be living in him, and his love. And, in this, is the source of deep joy.Let us reflect, then, that as ‘remnant’ we are called not to be pessimistic about the future, but to be the source of all hope and future promise. If the church is small in numbers, and the trend continues to be small, then the biblical message is that this ‘smallness’ need not be a cause of despair, but rather a call to give thanks to God that he still entrusts us with the Good News, called to celebrate the fact that God still has purpose for us.
Let us remember, no matter how small the church is – or yet to come – we are still the body of Christ, living in the love of Jesus.Let us celebrate, then. Let us give thanks to God for all his blessings to us here through the past 95 years. Let us give thanks to God for all his blessings to us through to the present day. And let us give thanks to God that, in partnership with our brothers and sisters in Christ, as ‘remnant’ God entrusts to us the responsibility to live-out the Good News of Christ Jesus; we are called to continue witnessing to God’s love. As ‘remnant’, we are that within which God invests all hope and promise for the future, rooted and living in the love of Christ Jesus. Amen.
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