First Presbyterian Church
October 16, 2005
The Christian Community: Membership Has Its Pitfalls
Luke 9:46-56
There are over 2.4 million Presbyterians today in the United States of America. Two and a half million people in one denomination; that’s pretty good, wouldn’t you say? Well, it would be good if it were not for the fact that 20 years ago there were over 4.2 million Presbyterians in the USA. Half of the members of our denomination have left the church in the past 20 years. In 2004 alone the church lost over 46,000 members and this is the second largest one-year loss in the past decade. If misery loves company at least we Presbyterians have that. The average protestant church attendance in 1994 was 100 members in worship on any given Sunday. That number has decreased every year since and in 2004 the average number in worship was down to 80 people. That is a 20 % decline in church attendance in the last 10 years. At this rate it is projected that by the year 2035 (just 30 years away) most Americans will be non-Christian.
The Log in Our Eye
So, what are we going to do about this? Jesus commands us to go and make new disciples, but we are not making new ones. In fact, we are losing the ones we have. Friends, we are in trouble. Friends, we are in a crisis. People are perishing and the Presbyterian Church as a whole and overall is doing nothing about it! A few weeks ago, Vice President Dick Cheney was commenting on the treatment of prisoners and said, “Sometimes extreme measures must be taken since we are dealing with such horrible people,” to which Senator John McCain said, “Sir, our treatment of prisoners is not about who they are, but it is about who we are.” It would be far too easy for us Presbyterians to shift the blame of our actions, or lack there of. We can say it is just too hard in Utah. We can say that this young generation just does not care about church. We can say our culture is just too busy for church. Sure, we can find fault with our culture and community for reasons that we’re not making new disciples for Christ. But since we are disciples of Christ, we should heed his command and evaluate the problem---not by pointing out the speck of dust in our neighbor’s eye, but we should deal with this problem by taking a look at the log lodged in our own eye.
Membership Privileges
It is great to belong to a Christian Community, isn’t it? Being a member of a local church has its privileges, doesn’t it? You can marry here and you can be buried here! It can be an exhilarating rush but we have to be careful because with these privileges come a few pitfalls. I have discovered this with my membership in American Express. They are always telling me on their advertisements that I have privileges with my membership but I have not quit figured them out. I am much more familiar with the pitfalls, like the annual fee and the 50% interest rate on my balance if I don’t pay the card off in that month. Yes I am sure there are privileges with American Express but I just happened to be more acquainted with the pitfalls.
Well, in the ninth chapter of the gospel of Luke, the disciple John begins to discover some of the pitfalls of being a member of the Christian club. John is feeling really good about his membership as a disciple of Jesus. He is not only one of twelve but he is in the elite three, for it was he, his brother James and their friend Peter that Jesus just took up to the top of the mountain to show them something that the other nine were not allowed to see. John was a privileged member of the club and was feeling darn good about it. The danger in being a privileged member of any club is that your privileges can lead to pride. Pride is one of the pitfalls of membership in the Christian Community.
Pitfall #1: Pride
Pride in the church comes when we seek status. John’s question to Jesus was not so much asking who would be the greatest in the kingdom as it was, “Will I be the greatest in the kingdom?” John was just on top of the mountain with Jesus, he knew something great was about to happen and he wanted to be in on it. John, along with the other disciples, thought that Jesus was going to overthrow the current Roman and religious regimes in Jerusalem. John was still under the impression that Jesus was going to take His Kingdom by force, and when the Kingdom finally came John wanted a position of power in that Kingdom. We all want to feel important don’t we?
Jesus, as we know, had some great virtues, one being his patience. I can just imagine Jesus shaking his head with his hand on his forehead looking down and thinking, God, I have a week left on this earth, and you want to leave the keys of the kingdom in these guys’ hands? I imagine Jesus taking a deep breath looking around and seeing a child, then saying, “Who ever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me…For he who is least among you all- he is the greatest.” Now I can see the blank stare on John’s face…what? A child? Jesus, come on, a child has not rights, a child is mere property to be traded for economic gain, a child is not powerful, a child is not a leader, and in fact a child has no status at all in the community.
Humility
John wanted some status. He wanted to be an elder in the church who had the power to make big financial decisions. He simply wanted to be the head usher who dictated how the offering would be taken up each Sunday. John wanted to be known in the church as a man with some power and influence, but now Jesus was saying that he should welcome in powerless children with no status into their fellowship, and actually strive to become like them. You see, what Jesus was saying is that if you are going to be his disciple, instead of seeking status we should seek to identify with those who have no status and welcome them into our fellowship and learn from them. Jesus says welcome those who have no status into your community because when you welcome them, you are welcoming me!
There is a lot of talk now in this Presbytery about initiating healthy churches. If we are going to initiate healthy churches then we must obey Jesus by serving those in our communities that have no status, and welcome them in to our Christian community. When we do that we are welcoming in Jesus, and there is no way we can have healthy church unless Jesus is invited in! Jesus says welcome those with no status because they will teach us how to be humble. To be a healthy church we must be a humble church.
Not One of Us
So did John get it, did he grasp what Jesus was saying? Well, from what we read next in the text it does not appear that John came around to Jesus’ way of thinking quite yet. I can imagine John going OK OK I will stop seeking status and welcome in those with no status but, Jesus, you are not going to believe this one. I can see John like a little lap dog jumping up and down waiting on the praise from his master saying, Jesus guess what we did, we saw some guy driving out demons in your name and we said hey stop that! You are not a member of our Christian community. Stop that, who do you think you are? You are not a disciple. I can see John waiting for a pat on the back from Jesus, waiting for him to say, “good job,” but Jesus, perhaps losing some of his patience says, “Do not stop him for whoever is not against you is for you.”
I can imagine John’s face dropping and again that blank look, like, what? I imagine John thinking, Jesus we gave up our homes and our jobs to follow you, why does this guy get the same privileges we do? We were the ones that were stuck on that boat in that storm, not this guy, we don’t even know who he is, and maybe he does not have the correct theology as we do? You see, John is not concerned about this man having the right theology but about not having gained the rights to be a member of the club. The way John sees things is that before this guy can do good for the kingdom of God, he first has to become a member of the exclusive club.
Pitfall #2: Prohibiting
We find here yet another pitfall of the Christian community. Could it be that the Christian community at times becomes too exclusive? Could it be that not only is pride a pitfall but also the way we prohibit others from following Christ? Well, what do we know about this man who was casting out demons? Now much, but we do know this: We know that Jesus’ own disciples 10 verses earlier could not cast out a demon. Why? The text tells us because of their lack of faith. We also know that in the book of Acts (19:13-16) when some non-believers tried to invoke Jesus name to drive out demons they suffered some sever consequences.
So this tells us that this man who drove out a demon had at least some faith, apparently more than the other nine club members of Jesus. This man was not yet in the community but was surely on his way, for the proof was not in a theological statement but the proof was in his simple faith and good works he was performing. John was worried that the man did not have the right credentials but Jesus couldn’t care less about credentials.
Jesus cares about faith that leads to works and this man displayed more of both than his own disciples were doing at that time. Jesus is saying to John, welcome people like this man into the community; don’t exclude them.
So what does that mean for the Presbyterian Church in Utah today? I don’t have to tell you that our culture is a culture of people striving to do good. I don’t have to tell you that our culture, perhaps more than any other culture in the world, is a culture that says we in the name of Jesus feed the poor, visit the prisoners, and so on. Now, as Presbyterians, we who have membership in the Christian community, what will our response be to those who are outside the Christian community but show proof of faith and good works? Will we criticize them? Will we ostracize them? Will we reject them for not having our credentials? Should we instead not join them in their efforts to better the human condition? A thousand displaced people showed up on our doorstep from New Orleans about a month ago. We had strangers in the land who were in need of a cup of cold water. We know what Jesus says about how we are to treat the stranger and those in need, right? Now, who organized this wonderful gesture of goodwill and charity? Mostly men and woman who are not in our club, who do not have our credentials, but they were leading the way, in the name of Jesus, in making the stranger feel welcomed and giving a cup of cold water to the poor. In fact, most of the good social services in this city are run by those outside our camp. What would Jesus tell us to do? He would say, “Don’t stop them.” He would say, look, they are doing good works, there is fruit in their work; they have some kind of faith, so don’t exclude them from your community but include them.
If we are going to be initiating healthy churches, then we must spend more time figuring out ways to include people of our culture instead of inventing ways to exclude them and prohibit them from being with us. Work side by side with your neighbors for good and perhaps---just perhaps---you will have the opportunity to share the grace of Jesus with that neighbor, and perhaps---just perhaps---that neighbor will become a member of the Christian community.
Pitfall # 3- Punishment
Back to our friend John, he is having a tough day. First Jesus corrects him for not being humble: he gets informed on how to be inclusive, but next he gets rebuked for his desire to punish. Our third and final pitfall of membership is our desire to punish our opposition. In the text we find Jesus and his little Christian community heading out for the Passover celebration in Jerusalem. Jesus wants to take a short cut from the Galilee to Jerusalem through Samaria. Jesus is now ready to die for the sins of the world, including the Samaritans. He knows this, but his little community still does not get it. A few in the group go scout out the situation and report back that the Samaritans, the Jews’ adversaries, will not let them pass. I can just imagine how ticked off John was. I can imagine him thinking, “Who do they think they are! We are with the Messiah, we are his chosen disciples, who are they to stop us from going to worship God.”
I am sure John was searching his mind and maybe even the ancient scrolls to find justification of what he was thinking. He wanted to simply wipe em out, bomb em, nuke em, get rid of them. As he looks over his surroundings, he notices Mount of Carmel in the distance and says, “Jesus, I have a great idea. Well, it is not my idea exactly because it was done in the past but let’s do it again. Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy these hostile unbelieving Samaritans…just like Elijah did?” he says with a grin.
Mercy and Compassion
I think Jesus, being fully human at this point, loses his patience a bit and this time has no story to tell, no soft correction but a very harsh rebuke! Jesus the one who is on his way to take upon himself all the violence of the world, to die for the ungodly whether they are Samaritans, Romans, Jews or Gentiles, rebukes John. Jesus is saying that is not my way and neither is it the way of my disciples. I am the fullness of God. I have come not to condemn the world but save it. I have come not bring violence but to take upon myself all the violence of this world. My way is the way of the cross and the cross is the way to peace, peace with God and peace with one another. Punishment has no place in the Christian community but compassion must be its hallmark. You see, sometimes we in the Christian community would like to eliminate our enemies, or at least ignore them, but Jesus says pray for our enemies, and reach out to the least of those among you. If you do that you will be my disciples. Jesus desires compassion, not punishment. Jesus desires mercy, not sacrifice. Jesus is the new covenant and in the new covenant we do not punish in violent acts, we do compassion in loving acts.
So what does this mean for us today? Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem because he loved all the people in Jerusalem even though he knew the opposition he was to face. When was the last time we wept over our city? Have we been too busy trying to figure out ways to demonize our neighbors and how to exclude them from our fellowship? Jesus wept because his heart was broken over the fact that he invited all of its inhabitants to be a part of his new community, but some rejected him and because of that rejection he wept over the last, he did not invoke his wrath!
Pride, Prohibiting, and Punishing: these are the pitfalls of the Christian community and give us some clues as to the log that is in our own eye. We would do well to examine ourselves to see if we are full of pride, to see if we are prohibiting others to come to faith, to see if in our heart we have a desire to punish our opposition, and if so then perhaps---just perhaps---this is the reason we are not able to make new disciples and the reason why we are losing disciples.
Friends, the Healthy Church Initiative is here and it is here to stay. HCI is the way of the future for this denomination if we are to initiate healthy churches. The ideas are great, the structure is fantastic but it won’t work unless we have HCI. That is, unless we are Humble, Inclusive and Compassionate. You might have thought HCI stood for the Healthy Church Initiative, and it does, but to execute it we must be humble, compassionate, inclusive disciples of Christ. When we practice HCI then we will achieve HCI.
