In his book A Bigger Table, John Pavlovitz describes a
meeting he had while being a youth pastor in Raleigh NC with his lead senior
pastor – he was sharing his frustrations of ministry amongst students and young
people in the community, and the lack of support for the work, or for any kind
of follow up with the young men and women he was ministering among.
John noted that the people he was working with were very
inwardly focused and he was looking for ideas to draw them out of themselves,
and their studies and their lives on campus. The senior pastor suggested more
evangelical events – while also noting that the social justice thing that John
was deeply enmeshed in, was ‘all well and good, but it wasn’t saving anyone’ …
John paused then directed the conversation to stories of pastoral care he and those
with him in the ministry were about … he noted dysfunction, depression,
self-harm, addiction and the deep deep hurt experienced and endured by many of
those he was living and working amongst. He said, they need MORE care and MORE
community, NOT the slick entertainment that an evangelical event represents.
The senior pastor noted – “John, I have zero interest in
ministering people …”
John summarizes the exchange by noting the often the Church
has a burning desire to ‘get people saved’ and is generally apathetic to them
beyond that. He goes on to note that “we become fixated on people’s eternal
souls but don’t give much of a damn about the rest of their earthly lives. We
convince ourselves that salvation is grasped on in an altar call and not in the
millions of ordinary moments where we live and breathe with an awareness of the
presence of God.”
The challenge becomes – how to care for the person not just
their souls … in the United Church, the tradition of altar calls and
evangelical events has fallen by the way side while schools, hospitals,
carehomes, apartment complexes, drop in centres, homeless shelters and dozens
of street level ministries that care for the person have moved to the fore, as
we’ve embraced and lived the social justice thing … perhaps at our peril …
putting our emphasis on the social justice thing, and letting our theological
reflection slide a little bit too much …
SO? How do we find the balance? How do we minister to the
person without losing our focus on the awareness of the presence of God? How do
we, on our Advent journey embrace the notion of LOVE?
This morning, I am using Pavlovitz quite a bit, because his
words hit the struggles we face as a church and a community – he addresses the
challenge of how do we live our faith and move forward? How do we make a
difference with the limited resources we have, and with the challenges we face?
Pavlovitz notes that of the many stories he hears from
former Church members and faith refugees from traditional churches the most
common is the realization that their earlier inclusion was highly conditional
and their involvement was little more than decorative. When push came to shove
and life got messy and THEY needed the Church they were cast out or simply
forgotten. The story of being greeted warmly in the front door, only to be
later ushered out the back door or tossed out all together is far too common.
I had a conversation with a local person on Friday who
described that exact scenario … he said that he was busy in his community with
all kinds of activities and assistance both to and from local congregations. He
regarded the local ministers and pastors as friends, BUT when his marriage fell
apart and his life came unglued he sought out the churches for help … he
phoned, knocked on doors and sent emails … and … never … heard … back.
His life was messy and the churches were suddenly too busy
… he was welcome when he was helping, but overlooked when he needed help.
I’ve heard variations on that theme over and over … I have
a shelf full of books upstairs that are studies of that story over and over and
over … from across North America … Canadian researcher and scholar Reginald
Bibby has made an entire career out of research into Churches across North
America and trying to predict and assist trends and changes and so on … the
study of WHY? People leave churches is broad and deep and rich … and by and
large within the Church we ignore it.
So, how do we wrestle with the precipitous decline we are
witnessing AND experiencing, and what can we do about it?
It starts here (Baby Jesus) … over the last three weeks of
our Advent journey, we have explored the themes John Pavlovitz lays out as
we’ve peopled the Nativity set … week one, Mary and Joseph arrived and we
wrestled with the idea of radical hospitality finding room for everyone in the
stable, and at the table … week two, the shepherds came and we discussed Total
Authenticity – being wholly ourselves before God and with each other … then
last week, week three the Magi came and we talked about the joy that comes with
total diversity … and today, we’ve been listening to Pavlovitz’s reflections on
building and being an Agenda Free Community, and the last figure to be put in
the stable is the star of the show – the wee babe named Jesus … Jesus IS the
harbinger of an Agenda Free Community.
He is here for ALL people, not just for some. His love is
unconditional and his gift of Grace is open for ALL not just a select few. His
message and ministry is about experiencing and envisioning the Holy in new and
radical ways – radical in the full sense of the word – not something new, but
in a return to the foundations and basics of that word … experiencing and
living the Holy without all of the detritus that has been left by generations
and generations of well intentioned people … the things and habits that get in
the way of experiencing the fullness of God and the Holy in our world.
And so, we place the baby Jesus in the Nativity scene, and
in song and story and tradition, we acknowledge the very presence of God in the
manger – all of the pretense and detritus stripped away … in THIS moment we
stand before the HOLY … and we have the ability to embrace transformative
change that comes with awareness of the presence of God.
And it all starts with a baby … Anne Weems gets in when she
writes:
(unexpected – pg 45 Kneeling in Bethlehem by Ann Weems)
Whoever expected a Baby? Yet, here we are on the eve of the
festival the Church says acknowledges his birth … but it is the grown Jesus
that calls us to the transformative experience as a community and as
individuals.
And that comes when we step beyond the layers of
interpretation and modification that have so coloured Jesus and his earthly
life, and we stand before the baby now grown …
We have so distilled
the sprawling experience of lifelong faith down to one tiny, measurable moment
that we’ve forgotten how much living alongside people Jesus actually did. We
wrongly imagine the Gospel stories as one continual thirty three year tent
revival, a never ending rock-show crusade, and we miss the reality that the
pages of the story of Jesus are filled with quiet conversations; with walks in
the field, with hands upon weary shoulders, with loving meals around the table.
We forget the wounds that were mended, the feet that were washed, the bread
that was broken. These were as real and powerful and life altering as any
tearful worship service prayer. Yes, Jesus preached on the hillside and in the
towns and in the synagogues, but if that were all he did, we’d have a far
shorter New Testament. He seemed to have as much reverence for the table as he
did for the Tabernacle …
So, we begin by rebuilding community
– not at the altar, not before the pulpit … but at table.
Think about our Christmas celebrations this year (and every
year) what is the important part? Gathering with friends and family and EATING
… gathering at table.
The trees, the lights, the tinsel and the presents are part
of the seasonal festivities, but it is the MEALS … the gatherings … the sitting
down at table that are important and central.
SO, what if … what if, we reclaim the table as our focus.
What if, instead of worrying about the liturgy, the
building, the STUFF – we instead worry about the people … each other … our
neighbours … the folks who come looking for community.
And it is happening all over the world – Church communities
are forming in unexpected and wonderful new ways: people who are starving for
real and authentic community are finding it online, in homes, in social
gatherings – they are creating community themselves by taking the best of
religious traditions and avoiding the rest, and building gatherings where
people can gather and stand fully in the presence of the Holy together.
They are literally SITTING DOWN AT TABLE with one another.
At Table, together - holding to values of love, support,
belonging and respect … values kind of like Hope, Peace, Joy and LOVE that we
marked each week in our Advent Journey … the bottom line is – when we LIVE the
values we speak, when we are committed and honest and authentic in our faith
and living and sharing the things that we say – the rest is truly easy … we
gather as community at table … it can be here, it can be in our kitchen, it can
be in a café or diner, or it can be at a picnic table by the lake … but when we
gather at table we build a community based on conversation and relationship NOT
budgets and theologies and rituals …
And when we begin to reform our communities at table we
have an opportunity to be wholly present to the baby this season is about …
for, at table Jesus had wisdom to share,
hard words to give, and purpose to call people to, but more than that he had
their humanity to affirm. Jesus allowed them the dignity of being seen and
heard and known. Imagine what it would look like if we oriented ourselves
around THAT – if we had no other agenda than walking alongside people sharing
the view of God from where each of us stand, not needing them to see what we
see, or believe what we believe, but to encounter Jesus in our very flesh. The
baby calls us to Table …
May
it be so … Thanks be to God … let us pray …
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