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April
13, 2008: From Disciples to Apostles: Form Community
Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23
Eileen Parfrey
Springwater
Presbyterian Church
The other day I saw a billboard that featured a black
and white photo of a group of obviously best-buddies men
with their arms around each other's shoulders. The slogan
read, "Men who drink together stick together."
Like that was a good thing. The irony of advertising for
an alcoholic beverage pointing infringing on territory
that oughta belong to the church really hit me. For 2,000
years the Church has been in the business of giving people
a sense of purpose and belonging, which we have so successfully
kept a secret that beer makers, pool halls and athletic
teams have taken over our market niche.
It was natural this would come to mind during shop talk
with a pastor colleague of mine, because we were talking
about this season between Easter and Pentecost, the season
of "how to be the church." This year's texts
concentrate on the four marks of the church, the marks
we talked about last week-learning, fellowship, breaking
bread, and prayer. I was wondering about the theology
of church, when he brought us back to reality. Most folks
in the pew, he said, need to ask, "What's in it for
me?" Ordinary people with lives over-full of obligations,
responsibilities and work; lives spent in the car running
the kids from lesson to event to practice, bouncing between
too many options and interesting things to do; pulled
by the tension of too many expenses and not enough income,
trying to live up to the expectations of others. Lives
pretty much like ours. Unless we can ask, "What's
in it for me?" our faith-our relationship with God
and each other-will not even be as meaningful as "Men
who drink together stick together." At least those
guys in the photo are willing to invest time and money
in something they believe will give their lives meaning
and purpose.
Diana Butler Bass has spent most of her adult life, personally
and professionally, pursuing the church's answer to the
question, "What's in it for me?" She is currently
researching that anomaly, vital mainline denomination
congregations, the religious equivalent of the oxymoron,
"jumbo shrimp." Butler Bass' personal faith
journey began in a mainline congregation as like the country
club as it was a junior high school civics class. Her
personal search for God brought her to such diverse congregations
as evangelical fundamentalists, charismatics, and high
church Episcopalians. Her books put 21st century flesh
on the first century text, "They devoted themselves
to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking
of bread and the prayers." One of the vital faith
practices she describes is "story telling"-the
practice of believers sharing their faith experiences
with each other.
I grew up in a Baptist congregation it which Sunday evenings
were customarily spent together in singing and reading
scripture, with the culmination of the service being people
spontaneously telling what the Lord had been doing in
their lives. Or talking about what sinners they had been
and how knowing Jesus had changed their lives. I hated
it. For one thing, I had nothing to share. I was only
in junior high, but all Jesus had done for me was to plant
me in a family that loved God and worshiped regularly.
That is a legitimate faith story, and in 2008 it is an
unusual faith story. But it seemed pretty boring at the
age of 13. God has given me a second chance.
In addressing the transformation process for Springwater,
session has asked me to help them learn how to share their
faith stories. We take time each session meeting, in the
context of our worship service, to each share a story
about ourselves. "Tell us about a time when you got
into trouble for something you had already been told not
to do." "Tell us a baptism story." "Tell
us about your first day of school custom as a child."
Session figures it's a short step from telling our stories
to each other to seeing where God has been working in
our lives. It's time to share some of those stories with
you. I asked Bob Wilson to share some of his faith story,
because it so clearly shows both the importance of faith
community and the four marks of the church.
[Bob's story] Did you hear the four marks? Learning, fellowship,
breaking bread together, prayer. As for "What's in
it for me?" you'll have to judge for yourself. Telling
each other our stories is one of the practices of a vital
congregation because it encourages. For the listeners,
it is encouraging to both know that another has made it
through struggles and to know how they made it. For the
story teller, it is as encouraging to be heard as it is
to be able to celebrate progress.
If you noticed the Meditation Before Worship, you might
have been offended. I know I was. The private person,
the one with no sense of the common good, is an idiot.
Those Greeks have a lot of nerve! Idiot! We are offended
because of emotional baggage we have laid on a perfectly
innocuous word. The Greek comes from "id," as
in "idiosyncratic," meaning highly individualized.
This is one of the most counter-cultural things the church
does, working together to not be idiots. Building community.
Working together for the common good. We do it by studying
our tradition and faith, by supporting and enjoying each
other, by coming together in worship and sacraments, by
sharing meals together, by praying together. You may well
ask, "What's it in for me?"
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