Newsletter June '08

Newsletter: June ‘08


Dear Living God,

One day recently, Donna and I were working at the church when we noticed a turtle that had walked up to the front door. It was a funny situation because it seemed to want to come inside. Curious, we opened the door to invite it in. Then, in a reflex, the turtle’s head and legs were gone; hidden inside its shell. We meant no harm, but the thing perceived us as a threat. Whatever desire it had to come inside the church vanished as quickly as his head and limbs were tucked inside his shell. Donna and I left it alone, and eventually it got up the nerve to stick out its head and limbs and investigate some other portion of the world.

Do you ever feel like a turtle?

Sometimes we are afraid to poke our head out and move forward. We are taught to perceive all sorts of threats. Then, when we sense a threat approaching we tuck in our head and limbs and pray that it goes away. We feel safe within our shell, but that which we perceive to be a threat might actually have been a great invitation. Of course, how would we know whether it is or it isn’t when our head is inside a shell.

Christian faith has no relationship with this kind of fear. To have faith is to stick our heads [necks] out expecting God to be there inviting us into something new. We are not called to be people who hide inside our shell. Rather, we are called to be people who stick out necks out for Christ’s mission and message to be shared in the world. This means sticking our necks out for others, for righteousness, for justice, for peace—for Christ. Too often many of God’s invitations get rejected out of fear. We know what is right, yet for some reason we have been taught to be afraid. So, we retreat back into our shells. And, unlike the turtle, we humans have many different shells. Some do not even look like shells from the outside. For instance, a welcoming Sunday worship service can become a shell in which the members hide from change. From the outside this looks like what it is, and many are drawn to it. But from the inside, the place that once nurtured our faith and encouraged us forward can turn into a place where we hide and hope that the threats of change just go away.

For the last year, we have been behaving a lot like frightened turtles. But, if you remember back over the past year, you will find that every time we did stuck our necks out God has been there to guide us and encourage us. If you remember, a year ago, we were afraid of increasing our budget from $6500 to $20000 to afford a musician with the same level of talent to which we had grown accustomed. In September, we realized a budget deficit of nearly $9000, which called us to increase our giving and organize some fund raising post-haste. In the winter, church council was threatened by the loss of our treasurer and the need to find someone for this post. Meanwhile, there was the constant threat of change humming in the background as the pastor promoted a strange new worship service.

Throughout the past year, we faced many threatening invitations from God. And, in each one we promptly behaved like turtles—sticking our heads inside our shells of comfort and praying that the threats just pass away. But, by the grace of God, only one or two at first, but then many more in the end, began to poke their heads out and look around. We began to find out that these things were not as threatening as we thought. We might also say we realized that God was with us each time we were willing to stick our neck out.

Today, the results of overcoming last year’s threats are remarkable. We hired a new music director. We overcame last year’s budget deficit. We found a new treasurer. We stabilized our church council leadership after a mass changeover. Our average weekly attendance has never been higher. Our average weekly giving has never been higher. We received more than 30 new members. And, unlike last year at this time, we are enjoying the blessings of a $6000 budget surplus.

One year ago we were anxious over the cost of a new music director, our financial outlook was very weak, and our worship attendance was starting to slump. But, today, after sticking our necks out on faith just a little, God has done wonderful things. The bible says that God can do big miracles with even a mustard seed amount of faith. And, that is what we have seen God do with us over the past year.

Yet, our annual meeting in May brought out the turtle in us again. The odd worship service that the pastor has been promoting has gained momentum. Now it calls us to endorse it wholly and completely as a legitimate worship service of this congregation by adding the costs of the program into our annual budget. Again, the same concerns about money and integrity are brought forward, and again many of us duck our heads inside our shells and pray that this threat will just go away. But, if there’s anything at all that the events of the last year have taught us. It is that when we stick our necks out, take a risk, we give God a chance to work with us. God refuses to work without us, and God can’t work with us so long as we remain hidden in fear. But, it only takes a tiny amount of faith—an ever so slight peek outside of our shell for God to show us miraculous things. Our church’s current health is a testament to this.

Now, let’s be clear. I’m not referring to sheer blind faith. No. This evening worship service has already proven itself to be a growing ministry for our congregation. Week after week it overcomes its own expenses by $200 or more. Week after week it produces a vibrant congregation of 40+. And, it has already helped to lead more than 9 people into active membership. Why would we want to eliminate funding from a program that is already doing such a great job? Unless, perhaps, there is something about it that threatens us.

Now, I know that there are all sorts of rumors floating around our congregation about this. One disrespects our bluegrass musicians’ integrity. Another suggests that I have been secretly plotting some sort of subversive scheme all along. Still another, claims that I have been trying to circumvent the congregational authority to force my own agenda. My friends, these are all not true and the more they are spread, the more damage the one who spreads them is doing to our congregation. These lies are slanderous and belittling. They communicate a lack of trust in me as a pastor and lack of faith in God for our church. It’s time we put all of this nonsense behind us once and for all.

Over the last year God revealed his wonders to us over and over again each time we were willing to trust him just a little. There’s a great African Spiritual titled, “We’ve Come This Far By Faith.” I think the words are fitting for us as we attempt to move forward from here. The refrain goes like this.
We’ve come this far by faith,
Leaning on the Lord;
Trusting in his holy word,
He’s never failed us yet.
Oh, can’t turn around,
We’ve come this far by faith.
We’ve come this far by faith.

The turtle that visited Donna and me has never returned. But, we keep looking for him. Maybe the next time, when we invite him in for a visit, he’ll show a little courage and stick his head out for us.




Faithfully,
+Pastor Rich