Delivered at the installation service of C. Carter Bia, January 9, 2005 in White Plains, NY.
Nehemiah 4:19
Rev. Dr. Stuart C. Lord
And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, the work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.
What does it mean to be separated? Separated for the purpose of what? What is the ministry of the Church and what shall we do?
The truth is, in our society today, there are a lot of people who spend countless hours making a difference; who spend their time, their talents and their energy serving, building homes, restoring communities, reading to children, visiting nursing homes, building habitat houses, setting up medical clinics. All of this happens and is referred to as community service or philanthropy. Millions of dollars are raised each year to help make a difference. Millions and billions of hours are spent to bring about comfort to those who are in need.
So what's the difference between community service and the ministry of the Church? How is the work of the Church different from those who spend countless hours doing community service?
I want to suggest this evening that the ministry of the Church and community service are different because a lot of people who are involved in community service say, "I'm involved in community service" and some act because it makes them feel good and some say "Because I want to make a difference" and the list goes on and on and on, however, the ministry of the Church must have a vision for humanity. The people who are involved in the ministry of the Church first of all, have to articulate that "I am doing ministry because I have been transformed, because my life has been changed, because I have yielded to the Spirit, I have yielded to the reality that the transcendent God, that Jesus Christ motivates me, and because of Christ who lives in my heart and because of Christ who gives me my unction and my function, the outgrowth of Christ in my life propels me, moves me, motivates me, jump-starts me to want to make a difference."
I am involved daily, weekly with students who are involved in community service and spend countless hours empowering people to do community service. The difference of the ministry of the Church, is that the ministry of the Church is built on one foundation, and that one foundation must be about the work of Jesus Christ in the world, must be about transforming human lives, one life at a time, one community at a time, and as that life and community is people ask the question, "Why are you helping me? Why do you spend time at my bedside while I am sick?"
And yes, as children of God, we must in a gentle and caring way answer the question with humility, and not be afraid to say, that it is because of Christ. It is because of the God that I love and serve who lives and breathes in me, and that I am the incarnation of the work of God on Earth. The Ministry of the Church: A Great Responsibility.
It is the Word of God made flesh, dwelt among us, Emanuel, God with us, and because God is with us, we are empowered to be agents of change. Not to say that we are doing community service. I know Carter has spent many years building bridges and serving people. But now, God has called him to pastor this Church, to be the shepherd of the Church, to be the leader of this Church. And if you don't like the word "shepherd" or "leader," to be the facilitator of the Church, to be the guide, to be the one who helps you develop your vision for ministry.
So, I'd like to say that the responsible person is the obedient person. Obedient to the Word of God. Responsible to the needs of the community. But those needs are met because of the Word. "In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God, and the word dwelt among us." And because that Word is alive today, it is an active Word, and we as doers of the Word, are called as a Church to have a vision, and to be actors and doers of the vision.
The late president, John F. Kennedy, talked about it when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." In other words, Kennedy was saying we have a great responsibility to our country, and not the other way around.
One does not have to look very far to find a Biblical illustration of this point:
Nehemiah was a cup bearer in King Artaxerxes' army. The story has it that one day Nehemiah is visited by some friends from his native Jerusalem. He wants to know how things are going in his home land. They report to him that things never looked so bad. The wall that had surrounded the City is no more. The people are hungry and in want. Nehemiah loved his people, so he goes and cries to the Lord and asks the Lord to forgive the sins of his people. But he can't stop here, because Nehemiah, by his nature, is a man of action. He asked the King: "Sir, would it be possible for me to go back home for just a little while?"
"Go back and do what you have to do, Nehemiah." The king consents. Nehemiah goes back home and by night he surveys the damage to the city. It's worse than he originally thought. There is hunger, destruction and devastation. The truth is, Carter, there will be times when you realize it's worse than you thought.
It is a great sacrifice on his part, because, you see, Nehemiah, was well fixed. He was a king's cupbearer - an important and influential position. But Nehemiah felt the great trouble and shame of his countrymen in Jerusalem. Finally, after surveying all the damage that had been done, Nehemiah says to his people, "Let's rise up and build it back. We can do it." One day, while out on the wall, he reminded the people that the work was great and large, and that they were separated on the wall. "We can't even see one another," Nehemiah said. "But each one of us is responsible for the building of the wall. It can't be built by a few. All of us must do our part. If we are attacked, don't worry - God will fight for us."
The truth is - each one of us is responsible for the building of the wall. "You mean me? I don't have much time!" Yes, I mean you. Each one of us is responsible for the building of the wall - the ministry of the Church; a great responsibility.
Responsibility -- it's one word that all of us must reckon with. It's one word that the Church has to come to grips with. It is the word to every member of this Church - RESPONSIBILITY.
Now I know some of you want me to spend some time and talk about how you have been defaulting on the word lately. However I have come by today to remind you that what has been done in the past is past. But you, as a Church, the ministry of the Church, have a great opportunity and a great responsibility to articulate a vision and to get busy and to start doing collectively under the leadership of this pastor, the ministry of the Church. How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall the work of the Church be done without a vision?
I want to give you some hints, I want to give you three areas of responsibility that we as a Church want to be reminded of:
I.
First, we have a great responsibility to fashion the social climate in which we live. George A. Kelly wrote in a book called The Christian Role in Today's Society, "all the basic ingredients required for a civil society should be found in a good Christian community." Where do children learn faith hope and charity today? Where are the lessons for peace and justice and humility in our world today? If we really want peace in the world, then what choices are we making in our daily lives to model that peace? For I have come to believe that if we want peace on Earth, that we as Christians and as a Church must realize that it begins with us, with every action and with every word that we model and that we say. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me, and the world will learn and see peace, feel peace, feel love, be love, and it starts with each and every individual who has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Where are the lessons of acceptance and inspiration to come from? Parents and teachers and grandparents and members of the Christian Church who are motivated by Christian love. They respect the child's light to grow in his own way and they inspire the child to do so.
It is the Church that has the responsibility to show people the Christian way to act and think. Not only the little ones, but the big ones, too. Yes, we have a great responsibility to nurture the little ones, but an even greater responsibility to Momma and Daddy.
Yes, the Church has the responsibility to fashion the social climate in which we live, but the records would indicate that in the social unit called the family, the Church has not reached its full potential nor goal.
II.
That is not the only responsibility that I believe the Church has in this day and time.
I believe firmly that the Church has the responsibility to speak out in the political arena for our nation and for our world.
I know that I stand on rocky ground in some of your minds by saying this, but if the Church doesn't call the church to evaluate and assess its place in the world, then who will?
This Gospel, the good news, is not to be a silent gospel, it is to be a joyous gospel, it is to be a loud gospel, it is to be a word that sometimes makes people wonder what is morality in the world today? What are the moral implications for the decisions that we make when it comes to our schools, our communities and our businesses? What is fair trade? What does it mean to be the stewards of our environment? What does it mean to understand that in the beginning, God created the world and God said it is good, and how are we through our government and our political decisions that we make demonstrating that we are stewards, and yet sisters, of the environment.
But you see, Brother Lord, I thought the church and state were separate. For anyone who is a student of the American scene can see that is not true anymore. And anyone who understands the gospel could never have bought in to the concept of the church and state being separated.
Maury Stedman, in his book, Religion and Politics in America, says that it's unfortunate that the church has not taken a judgmental role in the political life of our nation and the world. For compared to other institutions, the churches have a great sense of moral awareness and have ability to grasp the moral implications of great issues. Moreover, the church and its leaders have a great sense of perspective that is essential to making sound judgments. The Church must call society to a higher standard of movement, of justice.
There are those who would debate those statements, but I fully believe that the Church can no longer ignore political and social injustices in the world. To expose these injustices may cause divisions and pain; to ignore them will result in the destruction of the Church as an instrument of God's will. To ignore the injustices will ultimately destroy our existence. If we don't do it, who will, and how will the Church be relevant if we don't stand for something?
For example, I think the Church has got to keep reminding the politicians of our nation, and we can sit where we want to in the world, but many people still cannot pay for the meal. I think the Church has the responsibility to keep reminding the political arena that this nation and this world that people need jobs. People need hope. What affects one community affects another community and what affects one of us affects all of us. And only through the political order can people get jobs and see their hopes renewed.
The older I become, the more I am convinced that the Church is and must remain the voice in the wilderness, and the voice in the wilderness must not be a silent voice. The voice in the wilderness must be a bold voice, calling for justice, and must continue to cry and stand long enough to be noticed and not just do it on weekends or in between activities, but a voice constantly crying in the wilderness based on principle. Anything less then that results in an abdication of its responsibility.
III.
There is one final responsibility that the Church has. We as members of God's Church have the responsibility to tell others of the love and forgiveness of our God.
The Church got sidetracked somewhere. I am not so sure where. Perhaps it came when those who prompted the idea of sin came to dominate our religious scene. Perhaps they drove home the point so hard that many were turned off by the Church. But you know the fact is, much of what they said was true. We are sinners. We do wrong. We hurt others; sometimes, we do it deliberately. We see somebody down and we try to step on him. One Bible writer says, "In sin was I born and in sin did my mother conceive me". Isaiah says, "All we like sheep have gone astray."
But what those who prompted the idea of sinful man failed to tell is that we have a God who loves and forgives us. According to the doctrine of the church, the rules and regulations of the church, the principles of the church, there are no exclusion here. Black or white, red or yellow, rich or poor, middle-class, native, immigrant, refugee, high and mighty or low and down-trodden, famous or infamous, all of us were covered when Jes us dies on the cross. We have a great responsibility to show and tell the love of Jesus Christ. And you know what the report card will ask us at the end? "When I was hungry, did you feed me? When I was thirsty did you give me drink? When I was thirsty, did you take me in? When I was naked, did you clothe me? When I was sick did you visit me? When I was in prison did you come unto me?" The report card for this church - will it read: A+, A+, A+, will it read: B+, B+, C+, F? When I was hungry, when I was thirsty, when I was lonely, when I was naked, when I was in prison? A great responsibility to be actors and doers in the world, NOT because of community service, NOT because people are hurting, NOT because it makes you feel good. No, it is because of what Christ has done for you and because of your transformation that you are actors and doers. You are not actors and doers as if you are on some stage, but you are doers and actors of the gifts and talents that God has given you to do the ministry in this community.
Everyone with cancer or arthritis, migraine headaches, or rigid limbs, have a great responsibility. Everyone who is able-minded, everyone who dreads the dawning of a new day or is depressed or is bent low with guilt over some past event. Those include everyone who is overwhelmed with anxiety about the future has a great responsibility. Everyone whose soul cannot rest because of an intense hatred is included and has a great responsibility. Everyone who is victimized by slavery to some awful habit is included and has a great responsibility.
The Church has a great responsibility to tell everybody about the love and forgiveness of God. We do it with our actions everyday, we do it with our word. Our impeccable word.
Here finally, my text, "And I said unto the nobles and to the rulers of the rest of the people, the work is great and large and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. And we place therefore, ye hear the sound of the trumpet, restore ye thither unto us. Our God shall fight for us." What a great responsibility we have. Amen.
|
