The Unity in CommUnity

The first reading is from the Book of Proverbs, which is from a part of the Bible called Wisdom Literature. This reading, from the King James translation, reminds us that we need to know where we are going, what our goals in life are, before we can make any plans to achieve them. We need to know our destination before we can lay out a map or a course to get there.

Read Proverbs 29:18

The church at Corinth was a very contentious group of people, often fighting with each other over who was the most holy, and in trying to prove it they at times tried to one up each other. This undermined the relationships in the church as this one-upmanship was manifested in boasting and haughtiness toward each other, in arrogance and condescension toward each other. Paul writes the following thoughts in his letter to the Corinthian Church, in hopes he can help them understand that they may not all have the same responsibilities and ministries as disciples, for they have received different spiritual gifts to use in different contexts of ministry. That each gift and each vocation or ministry is important if the church hopes to realize it’s full potential and reach all the people in all the ways they can in the name of Jesus.

Read I Corinthians 12:12-18, 27-31

Sermon:

What are the hopes and dreams you have for yourself and your life? What are your hopes and dreams for this, your church? What are your hopes and dreams for your relationship with God? These questions are important, for when we talk about having a vision in our lives I believe it is a discussion about fulfilling dreams and hopes. Remember The Apostle Paul tells us that hopes are not yet seen, not yet realized in our lives. But we can know that a real hope is something achievable or it would not be a hope. As people we need to have goals and dreams as it gives us direction in the living of our lives. It helps us make the decisions needed to strive toward these goals. It is the same with the church. Our Stewardship theme is to be “A Beacon Of Hope.” How will we achieve this goal? Who are seeking to reach out to? In what ways will be hope? Bring hope? It is why the wisdom statement from Proverbs is so important. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” We all want to know what we are doing is accomplishing something and making a difference. We can see a lot of activity, but is it taking us somewhere, helping us to accomplish a mission together? If not then we are simply, as the cliché says, “spinning our wheels.”

We all know this. But, I also know that it is very easy to hear the collective groan of the group when we say we are in the midst of another visioning process. The, “Oh no not again” sigh of the community. One more time we lay our hopes and dreams on the table and then see them dashed, because we don’t do anything to help realize them. We don’t design a way of bringing them into fruition. After all, a vision is only as good as the ability to make our hopes and dreams come true.

The realization of a vision, as a community, can only happen when we all know what the hopes and dreams are. The realization of a vision can only happen when we all embrace those dreams and are willing to dedicate ourselves to making them happen. This is what the next two weeks of sermons are about. I want to share some thoughts about our vision, which was passed at our Church Conference several weeks ago. Let’s take a quick moment to read our Vision Statement.

“We seek to be an active and diverse body united through Christ, where we joyously contribute our gifts, deepen our personal relationships, and live our mission.”

The cornerstone of the vision is actually based upon a decision made 7 or 8 years ago by many of you as PUMC. It was obvious to all that the existing facility was not only moving beyond simply keeping it repaired, but was also not adequate, as far as space, to meet the needs of the church. The decision you faced was, do we move to a new location or do we stay in our present location? Since we are here, it is obvious the choice that was made. It was decided to stay in this location because this is where the greatest opportunities to be in ministry existed. To use our Stewardship theme, “This is where our Beacon of Hope was most needed.” It was a great decision, and certainly the ministries that have evolved over the last few years show how correct this decision was.

Yet, we know that all decisions have multiple consequences. The reality is, you chose to be a downtown church. As we look across the church universal today we can see what has happened to downtown churches who did not understand their location and ministry. Whose vision did not change with the reality of the changing environment in which they served. Many of these churches slowly slipped into decline, some even to closure. The ministry was not fulfilling the needs of the community they served. The reality of our decision to remain in downtown Prescott means we are not situated in the growth areas of the community. If someone comes to worship with us, they often must drive by one or several churches to worship here. For this to happen, we must provide a reason to do so.

We are an alive, vibrant, strong community at the moment. In fact we are bucking the trend of most mainline churches. We are growing, all be it slowly, but most mainline churches at the moment are in decline. As someone said, “The mainline is moving to the sidelines.” Our vision needs to keep before us our strengths and our uniqueness. We are perfectly situated to be a “Bacon of Hope to the neediest in our community. This is why people will drive by other churches to be a part of our community. It is in this place, we have some of the greatest opportunities to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. It is here where our hope to be relevant meets the hopes of those who need to know wholeness and love.

It is this thought that leads to a very important and fundamental understanding we bring to this vision, an understanding expressed by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 12. As Nancy said last week, “Since everyone is created in the image of God, there is likely a saint waiting to emerge in all of us.” That is an exciting, and also maybe a scary thought to hear. This thought reminds us that all are gifted and all are challenged to use their gifts if the body of Christ, the church, is to be a fully functioning body. Based upon this statement, we are committed to returning to the earliest understandings of what it means to be the church. This thought asked us to revisit the question, “What is the role of the ordained clergy and church leadership in the life of the community?” This very thought was addressed to me and my fellow seminarians many times by our Ethics Professor. He would say regularly, “You, as the ordained clergy are in ministry to the ministers in the pews. Your job is to equip them to be the ministers to the world. If there is any hope of the god news reaching every boardroom, classroom and home in the world, it is they who must bring it.” It is only you, collectively as the church, who can have this kind of impact in our community.

As one church consultant said, “One pastor can realistically meet the needs of 100 people. But if a pastor empowers the church, they, together, can fully meet the needs of 500.” Our main role and function as clergy, as those entrusted to church leadership positions, is to equip you, the saints of God, to discover your gifts, to understand your calling or vocation, and to live it so we may be the fully functioning body of Christ. Please hear me. This means we, as clergy, still call on the sick, pray with those in need, are present for those whose lives are in turmoil. But it also means we need to be free of managing the church, so we can have the time to equip the church. So we can put our training and time to its best use by equipping and empowering you, the ministers to the world.

This is why our vision, especially at the moment, only points us together in the same direction. It is why I asked you all in the beginning, what your hopes and dreams are for the church. It is you, by living and using your gifts together that will give the detail to the vision. You and your ministry will determine what kind of wattage our “Beacon” contains. You are the body of Christ. You are a saint of God. You are gifted and called. Let your light join the light of your brothers and sisters in the church, and we will light a path that will not only allow our lives to realize our own hopes and dreams, but also be a source of hope and the answers to the dreams of those around us.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on November 11, 2007.