Daniel T. Hans
Second Presbyterian Church
Sermons: April 20, 2008

"Something New But Not Different"

In January I celebrated my 55^th birthday. I know what you are thinking: How can someone who looks that young be that old! I ask myself the same question every time I look in the mirror. My birth month of January is named after the Roman god Janus who in mythology was depicted with two faces – one looking backward and one looking forward. The beginning of my ministry here at Second is a "Janus" moment. There is a looking back upon what has happened in our lives: in your life as a congregation with prior pastors and in my life as a pastor with prior congregations. There is also a looking ahead to ask: What happens next?

I

This question must have been pondered by the ancient Israelites as they said farewell to their beloved leader Moses and welcomed their new leader Joshua. As they confronted the new, they must have wondered: In what ways will the new differ from the old? The book of Deuteronomy ends with the death of Moses. The next book in the Bible, Joshua, opens with these words: "After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua: ‘Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over the River Jordan, you and all the people, into the Promised Land I am giving to them."

The leadership changed but the vision, the goal of moving toward the Promised Land, lived on. The Proverbs declare: Where there is no vision the people perish. Without a particular leader the people will not perish, but without a defining vision the people will perish. At the time of Moses’ death, had the Israelites asked: "What happens next?", the response would have been: "Something new will happen but not something different." They would continue to move toward the Promised Land. The vision of what God wanted to do in and through them lived on.

Where there is no vision the people perish. Visiting London, a man went out for a walk one afternoon. He came to a construction site where he saw stone masons at work. Asking one mason, "What are you doing?", the reply was, "I’m just laying stones. Day after day all I do is set stones in place." Asking a second mason, "What are you doing?" the reply was, "I’m just building a wall. My job is to build this wall. That’s all." Asking a third mason on the same site, "What are you doing?" his reply was, "What am I doing? Are you blind? Can’t you see that I am constructing a cathedral?"

Seeing one’s own activity as simply laying stones or building a wall isn’t enough of a vision to sustain interest and fuel motivation. Work without a vision beyond the immediate task stifles creativity and decreases productivity.

The ministry and mission of the church are no different. If we see our activities in the life of the church as being nothing more than maintaining what we have or keeping the church going, then boredom and disinterest will soon occur. Where there is no vision the people perish. I stand before you as a pastor who wants to do more than simply keep things going in the life of the church. I am here as one who wants to work toward a vision, a goal of what I believe a congregation can do and can be, a goal that can direct our efforts together and can energize our shared faith in Jesus Christ. I do not call this goal "my vision" as if I uniquely possess it. It is the church’s vision for it is Christ’s vision.

The book of Acts portrays this vision as it took form in the life of the early church: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers… all who believed were together and had all things in common… the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

While the young church proceeded under new leadership and it ministry took on new expression, none of it was different from what the disciples had learned and experienced during their three years with Jesus. The final descriptive sentence about the early church: "the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved" is particularly impressive. The church in all times and all places needs to reach out to draw people to faith in Jesus Christ. Second Church has many terrific ministries and missions but one thing that appears to be missing is a specific committee for and an intentional emphasis on evangelism – the vision of reaching out to un-churched people.

II

For a church to pursue a vision of strengthening the faith of its members and of reaching out to attract new people to faith, three things are needed. This triune vision, fleshed out in the teaching of Jesus and in the ministry of the early church, involves: moving from meaninglessness into meaning; moving from isolation into community; and moving from serving ourselves into serving our world.

First, there is the meaning that the church can offer to lives wallowing in meaningless. It begins with church’s commitment to studying the Scriptures – the apostles’ teaching – which are our singular witness to Jesus Christ and to the new meaning he can breathe into lives.

Holden Caulfield captured the attention of the college generation back in the 1950s and early 60s. Caulfield, the hero of J.D. Salinger’s book A Catcher in the Rye, is a young man born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is heir to a financial fortune and enrolled in the finest prep school money can offer. But he finds no meaning there, and searches elsewhere. He tries to prove his manhood by sleeping with a prostitute, only to find that selfish indulgence does not assure maturity. Where to turn? He turns to one of his teachers, a man who had earlier held up light and hope. When he is alone with this teacher, he finds that the man wants to get him into bed. Nowhere to turn! The story ends with Caulfield, still the possessor of wealth and opportunity, sitting in an insane asylum. Life has no purpose and there are no answers for Holden Caulfield.

Our world, our nation, our city, our neighborhoods, even our homes, have many Holden Caulfields who have given up on life, convinced life has no purpose and there are no answers to the questions that haunt the soul. We saw the shadow of Holden Caulfield’s emptiness in the incident this past week in which 6 high school girls in Florida viciously beat a female classmate as two boys videotaped the attack for posting on YouTube. Empty lives try to find meaning, at times, in ways that are completely meaningless.

As the church of Jesus Christ, we have discovered that life does have meaning and purpose. There are answers to our questions and direction for our seeking. The answers and direction are not quick trouble-free solutions. The answers and direction and meaning lie in relationship with Jesus Christ whose grace can heal the broken, can forgive the guilty, can renew the hopeless, can love the unloved, and can resurrect the dead.

As I say this I recall a special friend in a former congregation whose funeral I conducted. She knew life’s meaning in a world that many people write-off as meaningless. Surviving the death of her 10-year-old daughter profoundly handicapped since birth, surviving the premature death of her husband in his early 50s, surviving the death of another daughter to cancer, enduring he own diagnosis and eventual death to cancer, she knew the purpose that faith in Christ brings to our lives even when those lives are immersed in struggle and suffering. This vision of a life resurrected from despair and defeat belongs to us for we too have found meaning in Christ. It is our calling to share this vision with those still chained to an empty, meaningless, hopeless existence.

III

Next is the responsibility of the church to offer community and a sense of belonging to those living in isolation – alone and lonely. The early church recognized this need. It responded through fellowship and breaking bread.

They shared meals together, shared time with each other, and even shared possessions with each other. The emphasis here is not on a communistic collectivism but on a community commitment. The church is to offer a place where one feels she belongs to a family with all of the support system a healthy family provides.

Earlier last century a man named Rupert Brooke was taking a ship across the Atlantic Ocean. As he stood on board watching the crowd on the dock wave goodbye to passengers, he was overwhelmed with loneliness. It seemed to him he was the only passenger with no one to wave to him. He rushed back to shore, found a boy in the crowd, and asked his name. When the boy replied that his name was Bill, Brooke said, "Bill, here is some money. You are now my friend. Wave to me as the ship leaves." (Sermons Preached in a University Church, George Buttrick) For too many people, life is a lonely journey with no one to care for them; no one to offer a bon voyage.

Our world, our nation, our city, our neighborhoods, even our homes, have many Rupert Brookes and many Eleanor Rigbys of whom The Beatles sang: "She died and was buried and nobody came. Oh, look at all the lonely people. Where do they all come from?" One morning a number of years ago a town in northern New Jersey awoke to the chilling news that four high school students had carried out a commitment they had made to each other.

Their pack was to commit suicide together. A resident of the town made this angry comment about the quadruple suicide: "I don’t understand what can be so bad at 16 or 17 that can’t be resolved." It probably goes without saying that the comment was not made by a 16 or 17-year-old. The world can seem to be crashing in on us even in the prime of life – if we feel all alone with no sense of belonging.

As the church of Jesus Christ, we have been given the greatest of all gifts – the gift of love: love from God that can be experienced and expressed in love for each other. The church is to be the place, the community: where the Rupert Brookes can find friendship without paying for it, where the Eleanor Rigbys can find people who care enough to attend their funeral and offer a final bon voyage, and where frustrated 16 and 17 year olds or disillusioned 46 and 47 year olds or forgotten 86 and 87 year olds can find acceptance and love despite their struggles and despite the world’s busyness.

IV

The third facet of God’s vision for the church involves serving the world rather than serving ourselves, living for others rather than living only for ourselves. The early church prayed for those in need. But the church did not allow prayer to remain a passive exercise in "God talk". Those who prayed became part of the answer to their prayers by combining spirituality with service. Too many religious people separate spirituality and service.

Many a so-called "person of faith" today has a singular commitment of loving self, helping self, serving self. Many religious people, who seek spiritual truth, bow in worship at the altar of "me" and "mine". Many people of faith casually enjoy and carelessly use God’s creation as if it was a disposable commodity rather than a gift of grace that we are to enjoy gratefully and use responsibly as good stewards in the present and as faithful caretakers for the future. Jesus calls us to a vision far beyond looking out for ourselves.

There’s a parable, a story, that shows the danger to the church when it cares only for itself.

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous, Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money for the support of the work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the new members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the buildings were so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members and they redecorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as a sort of club. Less of the members were interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired life-boat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club decorations and there was a liturgical life-boat in the room where club initiations were held.

At a meeting of the club there was a split in the membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a "life-saving station." They were voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.

As the years went by, the new life-saving station experienced the same changes that had occurred to the old. It evolved into a club and yet another life-saving station was founded, History continued to repeat itself. And it you visit that seacoast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown! (Ted Wedel)

As the church of Jesus Christ we stand not before a mirror or a self-portrait to gain our identity. We stand before a cross. Our vision of Christ who went to the cross for us should lead us to take up our crosses and to make sacrifices for others. As God blesses this congregation with new growth, which I believe God will do, we must never lose our vision of helping others by serving them and even sacrificing for them.

V

Where there is no vision the people perish. I have come to serve with you toward the goal of continually moving from meaninglessness into meaning, moving from isolation into community, and moving from serving ourselves into serving our world. While this vision may appear to you as "something new", please know that it is not "something different". David Renwick and Ron Byars and other former pastors have shared this vision; and future pastors yet-to-come will share it. The vision does not belong to any pastor.

The vision belongs to the church for the vision belongs to Jesus Christ. As you and I lay claim to this vision and seek to live it, we will experience something new but not something different.