Comments for Jim Other sermons.                 

The great Albert Schweitzer wrote this at the end of his book The Quest of the Historical Jesus:

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side, he came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks that He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings that they shall pass through in his fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.

On a Sunday when we are receiving new folks into our faith community, it is an opportunity to reflect a bit on the meaning of church membership. The quote I began with is an eloquent expression of the reality that, for the Christian, everything begins and everything ends with following Jesus. But this Jesus who calls us is not at first fully known to us. Jesus calls us, whoever we are, and if we are obedient, he will reveal himself in "the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings" that will come upon us because of our obedience, our obedience to his tasks for our time. And the mystery is that we will meet Christ fully in our own experience. To meet Christ fully in our own experience is primary. Being a good church member, as important as that is, is secondary.

The famous preacher, Howard Thurman, once said that every person faces two questions in life. They are: "Where am I going?" And "Who will go with me?" Both must be answered, but if you get them in the wrong order, you are in big trouble. And, of course, the proper order is first be clear about where you are going, before you decide who goes with you. For the Christian we could say that the primary question is "Who will you follow?" And the secondary question is, "Who will you be with?" Perhaps that sounds odd to you. After all, we put much stress on relationships (partner and friends), commitment, community, and so forth. But for the Christian, following Jesus, seeking to follow him in obedience, always takes priority. Jesus says this both positively and negatively. "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all else will be given unto you." But he also warns that even the closest personal ties in life – those of immediate family – father and son, mother and daughter – are secondary.

How does church membership fit into this? The early Christian church was attractive because the world could see and admire the quality of relationships to be found there. "See how they love one another!" That was the church on a good day. The church has also been compared to Noah’s ark after forty days of floating on the flood – frayed relationships and poor ventilation. I suppose the best way to see the church is as a continuation of what began when Jesus called his first disciples, Peter and Andrew, James and John, as he walked along the Sea of Galilee. As Schweitzer says, each of us, mysteriously, is called in the same way. And our obedience to that call is what calls us into community. We all have needs – for friends, for community, to serve, to be appreciated, and so forth, very legitimate needs. But, as Jesus says, the way to meet those needs, is not to first focus on them, but to focus first on Jesus. Seek him first, and all your needs will be met. When the church loses that truth, then it becomes an aimless in-group devoted to maintaining the comfort of its members, defending its boundaries, and keeping others it deems unacceptable out.

And from the very beginning, the Gospels show us discipleship at its best and at its worst. Yes, these first disciples were brave people who dropped their nets and followed Jesus. They followed him and became a community of followers. But, this said,

one of the amusing scandals of the Gospels is how inept and contentious Jesus’ disciples frequently are. It would seem that Jesus is endlessly explaining things to them, and even so they rarely seem to get it. On one occasion he simply refers to them as "stupid." I sometimes imagine them as a little like the three stooges – times four! During their journey around Galilee found in Chapter 9 of Mark’s Gospel, they argue about who is the greatest among them. In this same chapter a man brings his son to the disciples to cast out the spirit possessing him, but the disciples aren’t able to do it. Jesus is brought in and he succeeds in healing the boy. Why did the disciples fail? It seems they forgot that prayer is central to healing.

Now, the disciple John (Moe?) raises himself to his full height and indignantly reports to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." There you have it. The church at its worst. Now, what is John thinking? Is he annoyed because he recalls how the disciples were themselves so unsuccessful recently in casting out demons, and now here is this unknown person doing it right? Or is this his way of saying, "We are the inner circle; we are the in-group disciples; and we are the ones that really follow our man."? Who knows, but the point is that he missed the point. And Jesus again has to explain. He says, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is with us."

The point is that someone has been healed in the name of Jesus, and it doesn’t matter who did it. It’s not about competition – with outsiders or insiders. It’s about putting the kingdom first. And isn’t it interesting that John says, "…we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us." Us?

To be a disciple is to be a follower of Jesus, not to have followers. "Drop your nets and follow me?" But somehow, ever so subtly, following Jesus starts to morph into status. And to protect your status you badmouth the outsiders who may be doing a better job at your mission than you are, and you keep a close eye on your friends. You have to wonder if these characters really understood what discipleship was really about. They understood the joy of discipleship, which perhaps they experienced as an up close and personal relationship with the master. But what about what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the cost of the discipleship? In this scripture Jesus goes on to talk about cutting off your hand or your foot, or plucking out your eye, if they cause you to stumble. These are "the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings" that those called to follow Jesus will suffer.

Schweitzer said that following Jesus meant being obedient to his tasks in our time. To be members of a faithful church in our time means finding our fellowship, not as an end in itself, but through the tasks Christ has given us.

The organizational development people tell us that successful organizations must always be clear about what their core values are and always be at work putting those core values into practice. We’ve actually worked pretty hard in recent years to identify those values and to live them. This building is an expression of our core values. It is not an end in itself but a means to mission and education – a safe a welcoming place where people are nurtured and educated, especially our children. The success of our fund raising to date has come because we stepped out on trust, putting the kingdom first. If we stop trusting, we don’t succeed. Another core value is that we be a truly inclusive and welcoming community. We are Open and Affirming to those who stand outside society’s norms with regard to sexual orientation and gender role and expression. Our only question should be "Do you follow Jesus? Hey – if you are not against us, you’re for us!" Another core value is our commitment to the community where we find ourselves located. We decided to stay here and not move out and away from Silver Spring. Another core value is our advocacy for social and economic justice and true peace. All these and more are our core values. And when we take them seriously, really seriously, we are guaranteeing ourselves "toils, conflicts, and sufferings." But in that experience we are also promised that we will meet Jesus. AMEN.

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