The Question

As a church we are on a path to a destination. Looking back over my life I can see exactly why I am here. When I was younger, much younger, standing in a hot Hay mow, waiting for that next bail to fall of the elevator I decided I didn’t want to be a farmer.  So I made intentional decisions that lead me away from that life.

I learned this week that I am not a very good farmer; At least I am not a very knowledgeable one. I have mentioned before that I grew up on and around farms.  My dad raised beef cattle and chickens.  We had various other animals at times.  At one point we had couple of pigs. When I was quite young I remember having a goose that was pretty aggressive and scary. My dad always planted a garden. It was always big and lush. He knows seeds he; he knows soil.  He knows when he wants to harvest so he times his planting.  Apparently I am too impatient.

I learned that I am too impatient with the seeds that I plant.  I want those seed to grow faster and to produce fruit sooner. 

There is something about that seed catalog that you get in the mail. There are all those pictures of ripe fruit and vegetables and flowers in full bloom that is exciting.  The potential of what can be can be intoxicating.

This past week I went to a clergy retreat at the Lake Michigan camp.  As a side conversation I was discussing a prior appointment, the place I was before I came here.  I served three churches.  One of those churches caused me great pain.  The pain I felt was the pain of a father watching his child not live up to their potential.  I was discussing my failure as a pastor at that place.  They are good people with good resources who are facing significant challenges.  I felt like I couldn’t get anything accomplished there.  One example, a woman who is a talented gardener came to me with the idea of planting a community garden in the church yard.  I thought it was great.  We were in a small town with a lot of people far below the poverty line who could use the food that we could have cultivated. The church board said, “No.” We didn’t want the lawn ruined.

At every turn, new ministry ideas were rejected for very good reasons.  Years of this went on. I discussed it with the superintendent.  He said that I was in a long line of pastors whose vision for the church was rejected by that congregation.

I wasn’t going to take defeat like that. In my naïveté I stood up one Sunday morning and told the gathering of 20 people that in 15 years the church would close because there are no new people coming and they were not doing anything different to change what they were doing.

I was chastised after worship by the man who made it clear that he was a major donor to the church. It wasn’t the time or place.

About a year and a half later I was moved here.  

As I was discussing that particular congregation at the clergy retreat, the person I was talking to was surprised to hear that I was the pastor at that particular church.

“I wondered who the pastor was.” “Whoever was here before really prepared them for change.” They were the first Church in the conference to go through a consultation with the Vital Church Initiative team.

So you see I am not a very good farmer. God planted a seed in them it is now growing and will bear fruit.  I left that Church thinking I had failed them. But I was operating in the short term.  I was operating on my timeline.

We are operating on a vision that is short term.  We are finite creatures and that is just the way we work. We are working on the operation of the church. We are working on procedural things that once addressed will make us stronger.  But there is a bigger picture. I’m looking at that seed catalog and I am seeing the potential for great a great harvest.

Right now we are just sitting with pencil and paper in hand and planning out the garden but I am looking forward to the feast after the harvest.

Ultimately, as faithful people, as the church we look forward to union with Jesus Christ.  Where his spirit lives in us. His law is written on our hearts and there is no obstruction between his spirit and ours.  We look forward to a time when our desires for our life match his desires for us. The ultimate harvest is when we all live fully devoted to him and love each other unconditionally and each of our spiritual gifts uphold and strengthen the community.

That’s where we are going. This is where we start from.

Today’s scripture comes to us today in two scenes.  The first scene is John the Baptist pointing out Jesus to his followers for two days. The second scene is Jesus’ interaction with some of those followers.

This is one illustration of the mission statement at St. Paul UMC. “To Know Christ and to make him known.” 

John the Baptist is making Jesus known. And his followers go after Jesus to get to know him.

They are hanging around John the Baptist seeking spiritual nourishment and to some degree they are getting it, because he is speaking the truth.  They are content to stay with John until John points them to Jesus. “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sing of the world!” Then he testified to what he saw with his own eyes. 

The next day: “”Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

Then they followed him.

Someone must have told you about Jesus.  Someone must have told you he was here. You are looking for something and someone said “come and see.”

And so here you are.  We have the cross, and the altar, and the pulpit. We celebrate the sacraments. We praise God with music. But where’s Jesus?

The gathering is the body of Christ.

Look around.  The gathering of the faithful is the body of Christ on earth.

Is it perfect? Have we matched the picture of us that is in God’s seed catalog?  Have we reached our full maturity and potential?

Not yet, but we are headed in that direction.  

Worship is our central act. We gather together to be the body of Christ for the purpose of giving God praise.  Some folks make the mistake of understanding the Christian faith as an individual journey.  Being a follower of Christ means that we are part of a body. When we are alone in our faith we are by definition incomplete.

Remember the vision? All loving each other unconditionally mutually lifting each other with our gifts.

Everybody starts with themselves. We have to make the decision to follow Christ. But that circle of concern that we draw around ourselves quickly expands to include others, hopefully our family. Then our church family. But it can’t stop there. 

Neighbors.  Who is the neighbor?  The one who cares for even the despised.

Jesus concern for people being freed from the distractions of this world so that they can see God’s truth.

An invitation for others to join us in this work, to be a part of the body of Christ for the transformation of the world.

Command of Christ to go and make disciples in Matthew 28 ¹⁶ So the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain Jesus had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.¹⁸ Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

That is what Jesus commanded his followers to do. 

We are the family of God at St. Paul United Methodist Church. What does all this mean for us?

Our namesake, St. Paul wrote to the Church in Galatia in part:

Galatians 2:20 ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is part of the vision.  Complete unity with Christ. No differentiation between what he wants and what we do.

 Consider special devotion to St Paul the Apostle as teacher and inspiration of our mission. From him we learn openness to the world that points us to bring the message of salvation to all people. He was the Apostle to the gentiles

Bearing the name of St. Paul implies devotion to Jesus as Master. This devotion embraces the whole person; it is to be applied to spiritual work, to study, to the whole of religious life.

What does the picture on the seed package of St. Paul UMC look like?

That part of you that is beyond your fears, the part of you that is the most real, the part that has never changed since the day of our birth. It is the part of you that survives all.  It is beyond any of your hurts it is the part of you what will live for ever and ever.  It is beyond your failures; it is beyond all our sin.   It’s the part of you that is eternal that was placed in you when God formed you.  It is the You that God loves. That Jesus came to uncover and to set free. It’s the place where the Holy Spirit resides.  That is where we are going.  That is where we want to live, each of us.  It’s a pilgrimage of peeling back the layers.  Of surrendering to God and living out Gods call to live in a new way.

I see in the picture on the package of seeds here at St. Paul UMC fully formed disciples confident of their salvation.  I see Disciples of Christ worshiping from the very core of their being.  I see a community of faith that love and supports each other so much that Christ is revealed. I see this community of believers using this building not only as a place to meet but as a place to serve our neighbors.  The picture on the seed package of St. Paul UMC is a picture of the surrounding communities knowing that if they want to find Jesus, they can find him here.  When our worship looks like the work we do for God in the world and the work we do for God in the world looks like our worship then we are getting close to the picture on the seed package.

So how is it with you today? Jesus asked those who were following him, “What are you looking for?” What are YOU looking for?

When the Andrew heard the question he didn’t answer because he found what he was looking for, he found the Messiah.  He simply asked “Where are you staying?” he was all in, he was ready to follow. 

Jesus is asking, “What are you looking for?”