Apologies for posting late! This is the report from the annual meeting on 5/18. Next week, I'll be back to Ephesians (and hopefully, back on time with the blog updates).
Isaiah 40:1-9
Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,and proclaim to herthat her hard
service has been completed,that her sin has been paid for,that she has received
from the Lord's handdouble for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
In the desert preparethe way for the Lord;make straight in the
wildernessa highway for our God.Every valley shall be raised up,every mountain
and hill made low;the rough ground shall become level,the rugged places a
plain.And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,and all mankind together will
see it.For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says, "Cry out."And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All men are like grass,and all their glory is like the flowers
of the field.The grass withers and the flowers fall,because the breath of the
Lord blows on them.Surely the people are grass.The grass withers and the flowers
fall,but the word of our God stands forever.
You who bring good tidings to Zion,go up on a high mountain.You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,lift up your voice with a shout,lift it up, do not be afraid;say to the towns of Judah,
Here is your God!
Commentary
There is a break in the story of Isaiah between chapters 39 and 40. In chapter 39, King Hezekiah receives a prophecy that his kingdom Judah, the last surviving tribe of Israel, will be conquered by Babylon. Some of Hezekiah’s descendents would be "eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon" (Isaiah 39:7) although peace and security would last through Hezekiah’s lifetime (39:8). However, by the opening verses of chapter 40, it sounds like the Babylonian captivity is in the past, or at least is fading away—Israel’s hard service has been completed (40:2).
The verses are a call for preparation for the coming of a king. In a land without highways, if a king traveled somewhere with his entourage, typically a road was created for the express purpose of the royal trip. The verses instruct the reader to remove barriers to the Lord’s coming. The verses are a call to repentance. Specifically, the barriers to the Lord’s coming are usually found in the human spirit. The verses are a call to a change of perspective. Specifically, humans fight to maintain the status quo when God says all human endeavors will end; only the word of God will remain. Therefore, the charge is to trust in God—and by doing so glorifying him. In this manner one is prepares for the coming of the king.
These verses are alluded to by John the Baptist as part of his gospel of repentance. Mark 1:3 quotes Isaiah 40:3, referring to John as the voice crying out in the wilderness (or desert), "Prepare the way for the Lord."
Where We Have Been
Have we been through a time of hard service—either as a church community or as families and individuals? I would say, "Yes!" Over the past few years, most families in the church have struggled with financial woes, parent/child issues, marital tensions, health problems, etc. At the same time, the church community has struggled with financial woes, disciplinary issues, tensions between members, ministry "burnout", etc. Many of us have been forced to live with the tension of the way things are versus the way we thought things ought to be.
Perhaps you have seen and felt none of this. God bless you! My question for you then is "How involved are you in the life of the church? Could it be that your preparation for the coming of the king might involve you taking a more active interest in those around you?"
The last few years have been a time of hard service for me as a pastor. I have been licensed by the C&MA for over 11 years. Seminary and preparation for ordination can teach one many things, but it cannot teach how to handle adversity and failure. Among other things, seminary typically teaches how to organize and manage a church, but it cannot teach humility and perseverance during times of trial, it fails to teach how to manage a church when all the church growth programs fail. By temperament and training during my former career as a programmer, I am analytical. I like looking at numbers and tended in the past to use numbers to tell me where I was—report cards, financial statements, attendance, membership rolls, etc. During the last few years, most analytical ways of looking at church were dismal, and numbers became a crushing burden.
Perhaps you have seen and felt none of this. God bless you! Someone told me recently that they thought my sermons had become humbler. All I know is that my own preparation for the coming of the king involves trusting God more and trusting myself less (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Where We Are
Something changed along the way this year, I think. I cannot put my finger on it, because it started changing even when everything still seemed dismal. I felt it when I preached baseball-themed sermons last summer. (Some may have thought those were dismal, but most of those sermons were about grace—grace that is realized once we realize that we’re not always going to get it right, that we’re not going to hit a home run every chance we get.) I felt it when I stopped wearing a tie, and occasionally wore jeans, to church. (Some may have thought that was dismal, but I got to the point where I figured, "If my survival as a pastor depends on what I wear to church, then it’s time to go.") I felt it when I read about a church movement called the emerging church, which had the audacity to say that established churches are spending more time propping up church programs than they are participating in real kingdom-of-God living. I felt it when I began preaching through Ephesians and felt the seeds of the gospel of unity of the body begin to germinate and grow in the body of believers here in Casco.
However, the real change was in the first signs of fruit—dare I call it fruit of the Spirit? I felt it in the mood change during communion, when sometime during the past year our interactive communion time became mellower and more personal. I felt it in the Wednesday night service, which somewhere along the way become an established little community of quiet seekers of peace and holiness. I felt it when people I had not seen in church in a long time returned to church. I felt it when—out of the blue—people asked about becoming members of the church. (I had repented of taking pride in the membership numbers and had resigned myself to not pressuring people to become members.) I felt it when—somehow—we ended the fiscal year in the black after being thousands in the hole at the end of the summer.
The temptation after any trial is to go back to our pre-trial habits. Dieters return to eating junk food. Addicts out of rehab go back to their junk. Foxhole Christians go back to their sinful lifestyles. God says, "Your sin has been paid for." Now, why would we wish to go sin again? God is on the move here, and I believe that he is taking us, as a congregation, to a new era in the life of the church. I don’t know what that means, but God knows. Are we willing to trust in God more and trust in ourselves less?Where We Are Going
All men are like grass,and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.The grass withers and the flowers fall,because the breath of the Lord blows on them.Surely the people are grass.The grass withers and the flowers fall,but the word of our God stands forever.
We assume that church and church programs are evidence of the kingdom of God. Frequently this true, but ultimately the kingdom of God is found in the heart, the Spirit, and the enduring word of God. Church and church programs are like the flowers of the field. When we glory in those instead of in God (like when I glory in the numbers at church instead of the Spirit at work in church) it is time for the breath of the Lord to blow on them, time for the Lord to do a new thing.
I have no set agenda, no plans to bring any new radical program changes to church. However, I believe that God has brought us through this time of hard service, God has brought us together to a place of greater unity, for a reason. I doubt that God’s plan is for us to go back to the way things used to be.
I have no set agenda, but I will note several places to watch and pray about in the months to come:
Women’s ministry: At this moment, the leadership for the women’s ministry is TBD. I believe that a change is in the works (I believe it, because the women tell me so) but nobody knows what that change may be. I am certain that maintaining a program, or a certain form of a program, for its own sake is to glory in a flower of the field.
Children’s ministry: Likewise, at this moment, the leadership for the children’s ministry is TBD. Again, I believe that change is in the works. Churches all over the country are experimenting with different forms of children’s ministry, including changing the focus to ministering to parents, recognizing that parents are more influential in their children’s lives than any other adult.
Discipleship: I am hoping to begin teaching a serious Bible study in the fall for those committed to learning how to read the Bible. Also, we have many men and women involved in mentoring others in the church; I believe some of those being mentored need to pray about beginning to mentor others.
Missions: The Williams are leaving shortly for Cambodia; God willing, they will return to us in four years. Thus we be learning how to support the Keses and the Williams with prayer, money, & time. At the same time, we are renting out the parsonage with the hope of sending the profits form that enterprise to Cambodia.
While the direction of these ministries may be uncertain, if God is calling us to greater unity of the body (and I believe more personal responsibility for our own spiritual growth) what might that look like? Can we commit to praying all summer about the direction of these ministries?
Like grass, churches and church programs will come and go. The litmus test for any church, any program, is not fidelity with the past. Rather, the test for us all is, "Is God glorified by this? Has God called us to this? Is the kingdom of God at work in the hearts, in the spirits, in the lives of those who claim the name of Jesus?" I pray that we will be united in making that our criteria for whether we are going in the right direction.
I close, as I usually close my annual report, by saying, I may not yet be the blessing God has called me to be, but by his grace and mercy, I pray that I will become that blessing to you and to this community.
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