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"Preserving The Fire"
Easter VI May 17, 2009 LCC 50th Anniversary In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Nostalgia can be very, very fun. Who didn’t enjoy all the story-telling last night at the anniversary dinner? Who hasn’t enjoyed some of the e-mails that come our way, asking “Do you remember when…?” Who doesn’t enjoy remembering out loud with old friends some of the great times we used to have back in “the day.” But nostalgia can have a down side when it idealizes the past as frozen in perfection. When nostalgia becomes the prevailing yardstick by which we live in the present, it keeps us not only looking backward like Lot’s wife, but trying to move backward in an attempt to recover times and circumstances that are now gone. Like Lot’s wife who ends up frozen looking back, it is that tendency within the Christian church that has prompted us to sometimes be referred to as “the frozen chosen.” Tradition, on the other hand, is something else altogether. Tradition is not an idealized past now frozen in our memories as perfect, or preferable. Tradition has a mysterious way of both transcending time and generations, and of powerfully speaking to each time and each generation, speaking meaningfully in extremely diverse and changing circumstances. Tradition calls forth a living hope from the rich customs of the past which encourages us in the present, as it calls us forth into the future. Tradition doesn’t speak to only one generation, but is timely to each generation, even as it transcends all generations. In a saying attributed to a variety of different people, “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”
The 50th anniversary of a community of faith – half a century – is an opportune time to reflect on our life together -- on where God has brought us, and where God is leading us.
There are basically two ways for a congregation to live –
People who found and join “mission congregations” – a term we usually use for new congregational starts – generally find great excitement and inspiration as they see the need for a living and vital community of faith, and begin to build that community, that congregation. If the founders of this congregation were only interested in meeting their own needs, they certainly wouldn’t have had to invest in and build a church building or congregational ministries any bigger than would have accommodated just themselves. It may be true about sports stadiums that, “If you build it they will come,” but it doesn’t work for churches. Especially these days. If the founders of this community of faith just sat inside their beautiful new church building, tending to their own wants and needs, waiting for people to come inside and find them, we would not be here today. That’s just not what mission congregations do.So 50 years ago, the pastor and early members of this congregation dreamed dreams of God’s mission in this area, saw visions of being a part of that mission, and invested their time and talents and, no doubt, gave sacrificially of their money, to begin something here that would outlast their own needs, that would outlive themselves in ministry to future generations. Mission congregations certainly recognize their own needs, but they also have an excitement about where God is leading them into the future, beyond the walls of the church building, beyond their own personal needs. They are telling their acquaintances at work, in the neighborhood, in organizations they belong to, all about the new mission. They get very, very good at inviting friends, co-workers, and neighbors. They get very, very good at setting up folding chairs not just on Christmas and Easter, but on many Sunday mornings. Have you ever worshiped at a “mission congregation”? The members are very, very good at making a special point of welcoming newcomers to worship. They get very, very good at seeing the pastor and lay leaders not as people “hired” to do their ministry for them, but “Called” as partners in ministry with them. We are the blessed recipients of the founders of Lutheran Church of the Cross’s vision, their commitment, their sacrifice. Have you ever asked yourself this: why are 50-year old congregations no longer called “mission congregations”? Think about that for a moment. What happens to “mission congregations” once the building is set on cement foundations, and the pews are bolted to the floor? I recently saw a church sign that said, “Experience (name of the congregation).” I am so grateful that the words on our bell tower, and the theme of our anniversary celebration, isn’t “Experience Lutheran Church of the Cross.” Do we want the people who walk through these doors to experience a church, or do we want them to experience Jesus Christ and the unconditional love of God? Do we want people who walk through these doors to learn about “churchianity” or about Christianity? Do we want people to become mere fixed-in-cement, pews-bolted-to-the-floor church members, or devoted, active, energetic disciples of Jesus Christ? After 50 years, our bell tower and our anniversary theme - “Come, worship; go, tell” - remind us, even as it tells others, that Lutheran Church of the Cross is still a mission congregation. What kind of vision moves the faithful beyond the so-called Seven Last Words of the Church -- "We’ve never done it that way before" -- to embrace God’s promise in Isaiah (43:18-21): “Do
not cling to events of
the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing I
am going to do. It is happening already--you can see it now! I will
make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there.
Even the wild animals will honor me; jackals and ostriches will praise
me when I make rivers flow in the desert to give water to my chosen
people. They are the people I made for myself, and they will sing my
praises!”
Many people bemoan the fact that the Christian church in the United States has been shrinking over the past 20 years or so – especially “mainline” churches like Lutherans, Catholics, Presbyterians, etc. The mixed spirituality of our younger generations – a little from eastern religions, a little from Christianity, a little from new age – can make us despair. It can also make us a bit judgmental, tempted to “circle the wagons” to keep such people out of our church. But think about this: this may be one of the best times to be the church in the United States in all of American history. Why? Because we get to rediscover our purpose, our mission. Because people now as much as any time in history still need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, to hear of God’s unconditional love and grace – and the church is the only place, the ONLY place, where the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ – is proclaimed, taught, and lived. We best take care that we do not render this message as something we take for granted, as old news. This isn’t just an old, old story as we are fond of singing; it is continually a new story, a living story, and there are thousands in our Brainerd lakes community, whole generations, who have not heard it; or who haven’t heard it in a meaningful way. We mainliners may have built it, but they’re not coming. A 50-year old congregation can easily mistake nostalgia -- “the good ole’ days” -- for tradition, so we remember today that Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.
It is that burning bush experience of God that startles us when we’re just minding our own business; it is that pillar of fire in the night when God startles us out of our sleep; it is that fire of Pentecost as the Holy Spirit is given to you in your baptism that turns us again and again toward the mission into which we were baptized, in the words of the baptism liturgy: “to learn to trust God, to proclaim Christ through word and deed, to care for others and the world God made, and to work for justice and peace.” No matter how you feel about the economy, about politics, about the institutional church, about yourself – now is a great time to be the church of Jesus Christ – the Lutheran Church of the Cross – a mission congregation which knows and believes and lives this: Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.Come, Holy Spirit. Amen. Rev. Joan Gunderman, Senior Pastor Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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