"Jesus' Mission and Ours"
Luke 4:14-21
We’re in the season after Epiphany. A few weeks ago, on Baptism of the Lord
Sunday, we heard how when Jesus was baptized and was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him
in bodily form like a dove. And a
voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,
the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
Afterward, Jesus was led by the Spirit
in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Then
Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and he began
to teach in the synagogues.
When Jesus came
to the synagogue in Nazareth on the
sabbath, he stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed
to him. He found the passage that confirmed who he was and what his mission was
and read it: “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent
me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to
let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
He began to say to them, “Today this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
In the midst of everything we
see around us in our world, in the midst of a transition in pastoral leadership
in this congregation, the scriptures still speak to us today.
In February, I’ll be attending a Transitional
Ministry training event in Oregon. One of the books I’m required to read in
preparation is Changing the Conversation:
A Third Way for Congregations, by Anthony B. Robinson. It’s quite a helpful and readable book, and I
commend it to you.
In this
book, Robinson tells how management guru Peter Drucker was known for
asking two simple but revealing questions of his clients: “What business are you in?” and “How’s
business?”
Robinson was interviewing with a
pastor search committee when he asked
a similar question of them: “What do you believe this church is trying to
accomplish for God?” The question caught some members of the
committee by surprise and left them
groping for words. One man looked slightly troubled by the question. He said,
“Well, we’re trying to do what we’ve always
done, of course.”
This response,
Robinson wrote, shows a lack of clarity about purpose.
Over
time, organizations tend to lose sight of whatever purpose called them into
existence in the first place or
they may drift away from it. When they’re not centered on their purpose, they devote a lot of their
energy and resources to their own survival
or maintenance.
When
congregations aren’t centered in a clear and compelling purpose, they tend to become reactive.
“They try to respond to every need, itch, hurt, and crisis that comes along.
And that is a recipe for burnout,
because people’s needs, itches, and hurts are limitless and endless.”
Also, when there’s a lack of shared
purpose, congregations and pastoral leaders tend to become too focused on trying
to keep everybody happy and together. You might hear people saying things like, “We
can’t do that—so and so says if we do, they’ll leave the church… or withhold
their giving…” or whatever. When there’s a lack of a strong sense of shared
purpose, a few people can hold the congregation hostage and keep the leaders
and the congregation from moving forward in new directions. It is indeed a recipe for burnout.
As
disciples of Jesus Christ, we have a mission to fulfill. When we listen
carefully and prayerfully to the
scriptures-- we discover that God's Word speaks directly to us.
It suddenly can become very exciting...and
very energizing.
As Anthony Robinson puts it, “vital congregations have a compelling, biblically shaped,
theologically informed purpose or reason for being that marshals their energies and resources and directs their
use.”
Littlefield
Church has gone through a lot of changes over the years. The community and the
world around the church have changed.
When
this congregation was planted, it was
going to be a neighborhood church.
The way they envisioned things in the beginning,
they weren’t going to need a parking lot,
because people were going to walk to church from their homes in the nearby
neighborhoods in Dearborn or Detroit, or drive a short distance. That worked well for several decades. There was a time when there
were two Sunday services, with people sitting in the balcony and an overflow
room, when Littlefield had assistant pastors and Christian Education directors.
In 1960, Littlefield’s membership peaked at 1,250.
That
was a pivotal time in local churches
and on a national level, as church denominations lost anywhere from a quarter
to a third of their members, and baby boomers deserted their childhood churches in large numbers.
This
was the beginning of some challenging times for Littlefield Church. The Rev.
Harry Geissinger was called to serve as senior pastor in 1961, bringing the
strong visionary leadership the congregation needed.
The
1960’s and 1970’s were tumultuous times in our society, in the world, and in
the church. The civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, changing attitudes
toward institutions, and many complex and divisive issues all had their impact
on the church.
Life
in the metropolitan Detroit area was marked by social upheaval and a series of
crises in the 1960’s, including block-busting, cross-district busing for
schools, and the 1967 race rebellion. Beginning in the late 1960’s, Littlefield
struggled with the impact of “white flight” out of its nearby Detroit
neighborhoods and significant growth in the number of Arab-Americans of Muslim
and Eastern Orthodox faiths in its Dearborn neighborhoods.
The
Civil War in Lebanon, beginning in 1974, resulted in a rise of Lebanese
immigrants into Dearborn and dramatic changes in the demographics of the
neighborhoods near the church. Then, in 1978, the Israeli invasion of southern
Lebanon sent waves of Southern Lebanese Shia Muslims into Dearborn. You can
read more about this in the history booklet we wrote for the 75th
anniversary of the church. (A lot of it is included on the Facebook page we
posted for the 85th anniversary.)[1]
As
the Littlefield history document states, these changes in the community had the
result of reducing the size of the
Littlefield congregation and expanding the mission.
Looking
back on this time, a mission study observed, “In the face of tremendous social changes going on all around it,
Littlefield Presbyterian Church did not split apart or turn in on itself, it
didn’t close down or lose faith, thanks in large measure to the commitment and
talents of Rev.Geissinger. The church was blessed with strong clergy and lay
leaders and a congregation committed to new ideas and approaches. With these
assets, the church survived the turmoil of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.”
Then,
in the mid- to late-seventies, a need
emerged and was identified: to develop a relationship with our Arab-American
neighbors, to bridge cultural differences and overcome misunderstandings among
Christians and Muslims. Since that time, Littlefield Presbyterian Church has
taken a leadership in carrying out a ministry of reconciliation.
Dr.
William Gepford arrived in 1979 to begin his work as Director of Arab-American
Relations in Dearborn and Assistant Pastor of Littlefield. This was a result of
“a strong sense of mission and faith in the future,” following months of
discussion, careful planning, and broad-based fund-raising….”[2]
Over
those decades, the membership numbers of Littlefield and other churches were
declining. But Littlefield was doing important work building bridges, promoting
understanding between Christians and Muslims and members were reflecting the
light of Christ as they served the needs of the new neighbors.
In
1994, after the resignation of the Rev. Del Meester, the church did another mission study. This is what they
declared about the church: “Outreach to
the community is at the heart of
Littlefield Church’s ministry….Our primary challenge is the one that has always
faced Christians: to discern what God is calling us to do, and to reflect and
model God’s love, justice, and peace….The members of Littlefield believe that
the work of the Holy Spirit among us gives us energy and mission and that we
are called by God to reinvent and reorient ourselves with regard to who we are
and what we do as God’s people.”
It
was after this mission study and an interim period that I was called to serve
as your pastor. Over the 22 years that have followed, we’ve worshiped and
studied and learned and grown and served God and our neighbors and witnessed to
God’s love and justice and peace together.
Now, you’re entering a new time of transition. Though,
truth be told, we’ve been on a journey of transformation over these past few
decades. We’ve been learning and growing and studying. Within the past few
years, we’ve worked together to come up with a brief statement of purpose:
“Why
we exist: To love God, one another, and all people. To show God’s love in our
work for peace and justice.” Two short sentences to summarize why you exist as
a congregation. You also worked on a list of your CORE VALUES.
We worked
on the statement of purpose because mission can't be an optional activity for
the church. The church exists for mission.
If
a congregation desires to be a vital, growing community of believers, with a
faithful future, they need to resist the temptation of quick, simple answers, follow
Jesus’ example, and spend time in the wilderness to discern God’s will. They need to open themselves to the
leading of the Spirit, so they can discover more fully the calling God has for
them in this particular time.
The good news is that we can trust
in God the Holy Spirit, “everywhere the giver and renewer of life." We can trust
that, in a broken and fearful world, the Spirit gives us courage to pray
without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to
unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long
silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.…
“With believers in every time and
place, we can rejoice that nothing in
life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.”[3]
Praise be to God!
Amen!
Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor
Littlefield Presbyterian Church
Dearborn, Michigan
January 27, 2019
[1] Littlefield Presbyterian: 85 Years of
Mission on Facebook.
[2] Littlefield
Presbyterian Church: Celebrating 75 Years of Mission and Ministry,
1930-2005, page 4.
[3] Quote
from “Brief Statement of Faith” of the Presbyterian Church (USA), 1990.
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