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Foundry United Rev. |
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“A House Built on
Rock: The State of Sunday, November 11,
2007 |
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Matthew 7: 24-29
Rev. |
“Everyone who
hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built
his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock.
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be
like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – great was
its fall.” – Matthew 7: 24-27 It is
tempting when I am doing a State of the Church report to look at the numbers.
How is our attendance? How is our financial giving? How many people are
joining the church? By
those standards we are, I guess, doing okay. Average worship attendance as of
last Sunday is up 19 people a Sunday compared to the year before. Financial giving to support the
ministry and mission of But
Jesus offers another standard of measurement in Matthew 7, at the conclusion
of his Sermon on the Mount. He suggests that we are doing okay if we listen
to his words and act on them, but we are in trouble if we don’t act on them. So the
real question is – are we listening to the words of Jesus and acting on them?
This is a much harder question to answer. I will
mention just a few ways that I believe we are listening to the words of Jesus
and acting on them, and then name a couple of ways I think we can act even more
faithfully on the words of Jesus. 1. I am
amazed at the spirit and vitality of our missions of compassion and social
justice. We have faithful long-term members who have been working year in and
year out for decades on issues of hunger, peace, homelessness and justice.
Their commitment and persistence is a constant inspiration. And
others with amazing talent, passion and commitment are stepping up to make
new ministries of compassion and justice happen…ministries that five years
ago I would have never anticipated but that are making a real and concrete
impact in the lives of people and our city and our world. As the
result of the work of some of our mission leaders in the area of
homelessness, a group of us who are pastors and church leaders have met with
our mayor four times in recent months to discuss supportive housing for the
homeless and affordable housing for working people in the District. The mayor is going to report on the progress
we are making on November 13 at This promising
development has grown, as much as anything, out of Foundry’s Walk-In Mission
and all those in our congregation who have cared, throughout the years, about
homeless and hungry men and women. You, 2. I am
touched by our commitment to ministry to children and youth. One of the most
powerful and poignant stories in the New Testament is found in Matthew 19. “Then little children were being
brought to [Jesus] in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The
disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children
come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom
of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them…” For me,
the most basic criteria for evaluating a church are whether we are a place
where children want to be and whether we are prioritizing the ministry of
bringing children into the presence of Jesus so that he might touch them. One of
the things I say every time we baptize a child in this church is that every
child we baptize belongs to all of us. He or she becomes all of our
responsibility. Whether we are ourselves parents or grandparents of children
biologically or by adoption or another relationship, we are all responsible
for the nurture of the children God sends to us. Every single one of us has a
spiritual need to invest ourselves in those who will carry on the faith and
witness after we are gone. At the
house meetings Dee and I attended in September and October, one of the things
I heard parents say was that they went through the hassle of getting their
children here to 16th and P Streets on Sunday mornings because
they want to raise their children in a church that is inclusive and diverse where
they will learn a Christianity that is as broad and beautiful as God’s love. Among
the bottom line questions I ask myself every time I need to make a pastoral
decision is the question:. How will this affect the children? What will the
children learn from this? Will the children know themselves to be loved by
God if we do this? Being a
reconciling congregation is part of our ministry to children and youth. I
still hear the assumption sometimes that these are competing interests. They
are one and the same thing. Unless we are a reconciling congregation, our
children will not know the love of God. We need
more Sunday school teachers; we need more nursery volunteers; we need more
education committee members; we need people to take graham crackers and milk
to the classroom. There will always be such needs, but I have no doubt in my
mind that this congregation is committed to our children and youth. We are
listening to Jesus’ words about welcoming the children. We are doing what
Jesus said. 3. The
other word of Jesus that I want to lift up is Jesus’ call to take up our
crosses and follow him. (Matthew 16:24) I want to say a word of admiration
and appreciation for Foundry’s leaders. Foundry’s
leaders and I don’t always agree on everything, and this is the way it should
be. Foundry’s leaders don’t always agree with each other, and this is
absolutely the way it should be. But the leaders God has given One of
the greatest failings of mainline Protestantism in our time is a lack of
courageous leadership. I asked a retired bishop not long ago how many United
Methodist bishops, if they were acting on their own beliefs, would want to
change the United Methodist Book of Discipline to be fully inclusive of gay
and lesbian persons. He said that, in his opinion, it would be a clear majority
of the bishops. What is
keeping them from speaking out more boldly? I asked. “They are afraid of the
upset and anger it would cause in the churches in their areas,” the bishop
said. Local
congregations are declining because those elected to positions of leadership
at every level of our denominations from bishops to local church officers are
hesitant to lead. Our
leaders at Foundry usually make outstanding decisions and sometimes they may make
mistakes, but they have always been willing to lead. It is better to risk
making mistakes than to be paralyzed. You can always correct mistakes but fear
and inaction leads to slow death. I want
to say a special thank you to a key leader for these past three years who is
completing his third term of office as chair of our Council – Charlie Berardesco.
Charlie has been a wise, thoughtful, courageous leader, and I am thankful for
his service and sacrifice these past three years. I also
want to express my appreciation for the work of our Calling and Vision Planning
Team – 10 people representing different ages and experiences and perspectives
who have spent countless hours together
– reading, studying, praying, reconciling differences, writing – to
help us as a congregation ask the questions – Who are we? Who is our
neighbor? And what is God calling us to do? They are doing amazing work and
will be sharing their thinking with us in the year ahead. I want
to say a word of thanks to all our leaders who are ending terms of offices
and those who have agreed to serve in 2008. I am thankful for all of our
leaders who have taken the risk of courageous leadership. Thank you. This is
a rock on which our house is built. 4. I want
to say just a word about an area of our life together where our foundation
may be a little sandy…an area where we can grow. Jesus
took a disparate group of people, invited them to be his disciples, and built
them into a community of love, respect and shared commitment. Among
the disciples there was Matthew, a tax collector for the But
Jesus’ goal was to build them into a community of love and respect so that
they could be a witness to the world of the love of God. In other words, it
wasn’t good enough that they were all gathered around Jesus. They had to
become a community because Jesus wasn’t going to be there forever. One of
the messages I heard in some of the house meetings Dee and I participated in
during September and October was a longing for deeper community. For some of
our congregation, relationships and friendships with our staff have been
their deepest experience of community here at Foundry. But
your primary sense of connection and community should not be us. We are here
to help you care for one another, and to help you grow as followers of Jesus.
The worst thing that we could do as ministers and staff is to steal from you
your opportunity to love and care for one another. I think
we need to ask the question of how we can build deeper, more authentic, more
caring, more supportive, more honest relationships with one another
throughout this congregation. Over the next year, it is my hope that anyone
who has attended this church more than six times would have gotten to know and
care about at least three other people who, in turn, know and care about you.
And it is my hope that everyone would have at least one person who is a
prayer partner…someone with whom you can share your deepest needs and be
confident that you are praying for one another. 5. Last
year in my state of the church report, I raised the topic of commitments by
persons in same-sex relationships. I asked the Church Council to lead us in a
process of addressing the question of what to do to support same-sex
commitments. I said that while I did not want to move without a sense of your
support as a congregation, my conscience would not allow me to participate in
denying this congregation’s blessing, and my blessing, of committed
relationships between gay men and between lesbian women. I am
grateful to everyone who has participated in formal discussions and deliberations
and in informal conversations. I have now prepared a pastoral letter addressing
this question and stating what I intend as a pastor to do. This is finally a
pastoral decision but your support is critical. I hope you will discuss it
with me on December 16th and at other gatherings in December and
January. In
Christ there is no longer either Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female,
gay or straight. (Galatians 3: 28) To the degree we fail to fully include
people, we are not hearing the words of Jesus nor are we doing them. The
letter I have prepared is inadequate, I know. It is not yet fully of Christ
but it is a next step. I will be eager to hear your thoughts and feelings. We are
far from a perfect church, but I do believe our foundation is built on the
words of Jesus. When the rains and winds come, as they will, if our
foundation is the words of Jesus, we will stand. If our foundation is
anything or anyone else, we will not stand. Our
mission to those who suffer injustice and oppression – the life of service taught
and exemplified by Jesus – is a rock. Our ministry with children and youth
taught and exemplified by Jesus is a rock. Taking up our crosses and
following Jesus in the way of courageous leadership is a rock. Loving one
another the way Jesus loves us is a rock. Including everyone and honoring and
blessing the love and commitment between all people, children of God, in the
spirit of Jesus is a rock. May our
house be built on rock. www.foundryumc.org |
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