First Presbyterian Church
Rev. Sam Pendergrast
January 27, 2008
Matthew 4:12-23
“…By Turning and Turning We Come ‘Round Right ”
When I was participating in Interim Pastor Training one of the faculty shared the observation that 80% of what Interim Pastors do is the same thing any pastor does. The other 20% is the particular work of leading a congregation through a transition time and focusing attention on changes and growing edges in the life of the church. One participant raised a hand and said, “So if we do everything any other pastor does, plus twenty percent more, does that mean we get paid 120% of what other pastors make?” The obvious answer to that question is that one has to love interim ministry in order to engage in this kind of work. Part of the reason I think God led me into interim ministry is to help me further clarify my vocation as a pastor. If in my work as a pastor I only meet the many and varied needs that people bring to me, I become no more than a functionary of those needs. Without a clear, internal sense of my identity and purpose as a pastor, I am blown about by every demand. As one discouraged pastor put it: “Being a pastor is like being a stray dog at a whistlers’ convention.” That road is a short-cut to burnout.
Flip the coin over and the same could be said about the life of a congregation. Without a clear sense of God’s call guiding your mission, ministry and programs, you are blown about by every new trend, by the slick advertisements urging you to buy the latest youth ministry DVD set, or by the way you compare yourself to the obviously more successful church down the road. Without knowledge of your own gifts, limitations, unique context and opportunity you don’t know who you are. If you don’t know who you are, you wear yourself out trying to be someone else. That, too, is a short-cut to frustration and burn-out.
If you’re thinking that now I’m going to tell you who you are and what you should be doing as a church, I’m going to disappoint you. Even if I could tell you that, I wouldn’t. First of all, I can’t tell you who you are. Only God knows who you are. God made you. God is leading you on a journey of self-discovery. I can play the role of midwife in that process. I can ask questions and make observations. I can interpret the life of this church in the light of God’s story of redemption as best I understand it. I can preach and teach and listen. I cannot live your life. If I did have the answer, I would be doing you a great disservice to tell you what it was. It would only be my answer and not yours.
Many pastors give in to that temptation. I have done it, too. I have the answers; I tell you what they are; I expect you to do what I would do were I in your place. You don’t do it. I work harder to make sure that what I want is what happens. I am trying to do your work, and not mine. It’s a recipe for resentment and conflict in the church.
If you have not noticed yet, my connection with the text on which I am supposedly preaching is pretty thin. This is close to being one of those sermons where the preacher takes a pre-existing idea and shoehorns it into the scripture. What I hear in Matthew’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the call of his first disciples is the theme of repentance. “Repent, for the
If it were only that easy for us. If we could have Jesus walk up to us and say, “Come, follow me. I will show you who you are and what you are supposed to do.” Even for the first disciples it was not that easy. They spent three years following him and wound up confused and grief-stricken, locking themselves in the upper room after Jesus was killed, then going back to their fishing boats in despair. It was only after the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost that they finally began to get it and to realize what it meant to follow Jesus. It took a continual turning and turning in repentance over weeks and months and years. I think the Shakers have it right in their song: “’Tis the gift to be simple; ‘tis the gift to be free; ‘tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in the place just right, we will be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed. To turn, turn will be our delight, ‘till by turning and turning we come ‘round right.”
Repentance is not a once-in-a-lifetime act. Repentance is part of our daily walk with God. We repent weekly as a community gathered in worship when we pray a prayer of confession together. Though we know we are forgiven people, we confess the ways we fail to live fully in God’s new reality. In this world, our sight is clouded and we see only in part the way to go. We rise each day seeking guidance, enough light for the path ahead.
As your Interim Pastor I invite you think of this in-between time in terms of that kind of repentance. It is a time to take stock and to see the path ahead in a little clearer light. The call to repent is not a condemnation, but an invitation to new insight and new obedience.
After three months among you as your Interim Pastor, I offer my observations on the state of this congregation. My purpose is to tell you what I see, to nurture your growth as disciples and to strengthen the church. Please note that when I say “church” I mean you, the people who are part of Christ’s Body.
You express enjoyment of one another as a church family. That is evident at fellowship events. At the same time, you have fears and anxieties about the survival of the church. How will you reach out to the community and to neighbors and strangers in ways that invite others into the fellowship you enjoy? What can you do to increase the hospitality you offer to outsiders?
Your church building is clearly your top priority. It is beautiful and well-kept. The new carpet will show your care and pride for the facility. My question is, “Who will be walking on that carpet in ten years?” A church building is a tool for ministry. I’m glad you are keeping that particular tool clean and in working order. Who will use the tool and for what purpose? The danger I see is for you to treat the building as a shrine, a museum or an idol.
When we gathered in the fellowship hall two Sunday evenings ago, I heard you speak of the accomplishments of the church primarily in terms of what the previous pastors did and the programs they started. I did not hear you talk much about what you did or what you perceive as your identity as a congregation. An exception to that was that a number of you are leaders in the community, serving on boards and committees in local government, the arts and other non-profit agencies. I heard you talk so much about various remodeling and building projects that I wondered: who are you and what is your identity when you’re not remodeling, decorating, raising money or building something? What is the external focus of the church? What is missing? How do you as a church serve the community of Maysville? If you are so active in the community as individuals, where is the connection that would draw new people into the congregation? What are the factors that contribute to the decline of the church? – at least the one’s you have some control over.
You are a comfortable, mostly wealthy group of people with a large amount of money invested that allows you to continue to employ a full-time pastor. How has your relative comfort led to lack of an outward focus? How does your wealth and comfort insulate you from the world? I urge you to figure out not what your pastor wants you to do, but what you want to do. What is your mission and purpose? What do you care about enough to leave your boats and follow?
My preliminary diagnosis is that this church is hungry for a spiritual revival. That shows in the large number of people who come to the adult Sunday School class and to Wednesday Bible Study. Fifteen adults out of an average worship attendance of fifty-five are in Sunday School. That 27% of your adult worshipers are in a class or study group demonstrates your desire for growth. Keep that momentum. Plan how you can invite and involve more people in ways that call them to grow as followers of Jesus.
Deal with the “fear factor.” Changing the equilibrium of a human system, even for something as positive as a spiritual revival, provokes fear because change threatens our sense of identity and meaning. A church growth consultant was called to work with the Session of a church. After discussing many exciting new possibilities there was silence around the table. Finally one Elder spoke up. “I have to tell you that I don’t want the church to change. I like it the way it is.” That was the first step toward real change. After that admission of fear, the discussion became less abstract and began to be productive.
When Jesus called the first disciples, they left their boats, their father, their homes and families, and they followed him. Most of us are not called to take such an extreme step. Our calls are lived out close to home. But every new venture requires leaving something else behind, even if it is no more than an old routine. I take comfort in God’s promise that, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” God is leading us all toward a future in comparison to which, the present is only a dim shadow.
I pray that you will have the courage to confess your fears and to move with confidence toward the future that God is bringing about. The “State of the Church” is always incomplete. We anticipate a day when God’s Kingdom will come. In the meantime, we are the Body of Christ on earth and his ambassadors for reconciliation. Keep the conversation going. Real change takes time, and for it to be real, you have to do it. I am not here to tell you what to do, to make you change or to do your work for you. I am here to help you listen to God and to one another as you discern your call.