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Pastor’s Page - 2008 |
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“What dreams do we have for our faith community?” |
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I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28-29, NRSV).
In the book of Acts, Peter used this quotation from Joel above to explain to the gathered crowds listening to the disciples that the disciples were not drunk but simply filled with the Spirit of God. The disciples had been hiding in their safe upper room for some time now. Jesus had died, risen, appeared to them several times and then ascended to heaven. In spite of all this, the disciples still kept returning to the safe security of that familiar upper room.
It wasn’t until they were filled with the Holy Spirit that they left the security of that Upper Room. It wasn’t until they allowed God to use their very lives that the disciples risked opening those locked doors on that safe room and on their closed hearts to venture out into that dangerous world and dare to tell others about Christ. Then wouldn’t you know it, right during their very first risky public sharing of why faith in Jesus is important to them, some in the listening audience began to sneer at them and make fun of them. It was surely embarrassing enough that some of these early fragile scared disciples wanted to run right back to the safety of the upper room.
But Peter allowed God to seize that uncomfortable embarrassing moment and speak through him. Rather than following all his human inclinations to avoid embarrassment and to seek safety, Peter allowed God’s Spirit to use his tongue to proclaim the good news to others:
So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:41-42, NRSV) A couple of Sunday’s ago, in the midst of a sermon and in response to reflecting on the passage of Matthew 14:28-31, I announced that since members were now willing to “get out of the boat”, I was willing to remain with you as Pastor. It was an announcement that fully half of the congregational members in attendance did not hear when I spoke it and so I repeated it the next week. Most members greeted this news with joy. The question remains though what will the Congregations do with this opportunity?
Whether we use the analogy of the disciples wanting to stay in that boat during the storm at sea in Matthew 14 or we use the analogy of the disciples wanting to stay safe in that upper room rather than face the crowds of critics in Acts 2, the truth is that our first inclination as human beings when faced with risk is to remain safe & comfortable in the old and familiar surroundings whether it is a boat or an upper room.
But God was no longer in that boat or in that Upper Room and so the disciples left to be about God’s work and so should we. So will the Congregations just be happy that Sinclair & I will be with you and so everyone can go back to being comfortable and content behind the doors of our churches or will this be an opportunity of letting the Spirit use us to do new and bold things?
What dreams and visions do we have? If we accept the gift of God’s Spirit being poured out on us right here and right now just what could our Faith Communities become if we dared to venture forth? Is it possible that we could allow God to use us to touch others just like those early disciples did? Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him. (Acts 2:37-39, NRSV)
Can we be bold enough to dream of reaching thousands for Jesus?
Can we prophesy to our modern society what it means to have Jesus in our lives?
How would we go about doing such a bold step as opening our doors and leaving the safety of our church to bring the good news to our friends and neighbors and even to complete strangers all of whom have great trouble seeing why church and faith has any relevance to how one lives?
One idea for the congregations to consider is do you use the financial opportunity that I don’t take a salary to bring on a co-pastor? Do you seize this opportunity to increase the ministerial presence of these congregations by bringing on an additional Pastor that has gifts and talents and time and energy that exceed what I have?
Or do we simply remain safe and same and secure in our habitual ways avoiding the risk and discomfort of change?
What do you hear God’s Spirit calling you to do as a community of faith? I pray that our gracious and loving God may continue to guide and bless our faith journey.
Peace & Grace - Pastor Terry |