"Signs of Faithfulness"
Preached on June 20, 1999
by
The Reverend Dr. Thomas C. Sheffield
Text: Galatians 6:2ff
From time to time I am asked if I ever repeat
sermons. Honestly, there are different answers to that question.
One answer is "No, never." It is one of the realities of staying
in one church for a goodly length of time that one cannot repeat
a sermon. Another answer could be "I suppose I could." A minister
friend of mine in fact did do that. He repeated the sermon word
for word. The sermon, one he considered powerful, included a
memorable personal story and, in addition, it had been his candidating
sermon at the church. As he stood at the door he wondered what
would happen. What did happen was nothing at all. Not one person
indicated to him that any of the sermon sounded familiar at
all. Perhaps, taking a leaf from his notebook, one does not
repeat a sermon in order to maintain the illusion that each
sermon is unforgettable.
Still another answer to the question is "Not
consciously. Not that I ever am aware." However, since I was
told in seminary that one has only seven original ideas in a
lifetime of preaching, it seems inevitable that one way or another
I have repeated now and then one of my sermons.
And then there is the answer I want to give
now. "No, I haven't repeated a sermon ... that is I haven't
repeated a sermon until today." Today and next week, too, I
want to repeat some of the things I have specifically told you
in sermons since returning from the sabbatical. Some are things
that came clear to me during that time away and some are things
that have come clearer to me about you since returning to work
with you and among you. They are dynamics, therefore, that have
been percolating throughout our lives. They did not just begin,
but they have grown and deepened through time and they are critical
directions that I believe we, as a congregation, need to continue
to pursue in the months and years ahead.
"If you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal
life from the Spirit," Paul wrote to the Galatians. I dare to
believe that we have been sowing to the Spirit. I believe that
there signs of that reaping that show a faithfulness to the
Spirit and the pulsing power of eternal life. I believe something
is happening that belongs to the work of the Spirit of God in
our midst.
I believe, first, that God has been working
to show us that the basis of our church is discipleship not
membership. In the past, a lot of what this church has been
doing and thinking and worrying about has been related to membership.
How many members do we have? How many new members are we getting?
How many people are in worship, coming to the concert, or attending
the class? What about our money? Do we have enough? Do we need
more? How do we get more from more people?
When people join the church we have stressed
being a member, finding a place, doing a job, volunteering for
a committee. But more and more I see and more and more I believe
all that is going in the wrong way. And I think you see it,
too. In fact, I think you already are living out a different
way. I think you are wanting to talk not about members and numbers
and participating in some activity. I think this congregation
is wanting to be not merely members of the church but disciples
of Jesus Christ.
It is a different mindset that is taking over
and it is one that I hope is contagious in every one here, in
every person in the church. For at heart, I think people are
not so interested in finding an activity as they are discovering
their life's purpose as a disciple of Christ. I think people
are not as interested in just doing something in the church,
attending a program or a committee or an event as they are wanting
to do something throughout their lives that reflects their faith.
Discipleship is about the calling of Christ
to us and, then, living the life that Christ seeks us to live.
It is about recognizing that we are part of something larger
than ourselves that calls us to be more than we are today. It
is about growing in that understanding, too. Membership is a
static word and experience. It stresses finding the right place
and then staying there. But discipleship understands that we
are always growing and moving because we are always following
Jesus Christ who is moving ahead.
Everything we do as a church, every activity,
every service, every class in some way must point to discipleship.
They must seek to strengthen our self-understanding as disciples.
They must work to develop more faithful, more committed, more
courageous disciples of Christ.
It is a sign of faithfulness for the church,
for this church to see each one not first as a member of the
church, but as a disciple of Christ. We must see one another
that way and we must see ourselves that way, too.
It is also a sign of faithfulness that we offer
a message to everyone that comes to this church that if you
join us, if you are part of us, if you enter into our life,
your life as a disciple will change. You will grow and you will
be transformed as a disciple. Joining the church is not simply
a matter of signing on and signing up. It is not only a question
of giving an assent and then making some indication that you
will do a few things in and for and with the church. It is a
question of being changed through the church and in the Spirit
of God.
For many of you that is not new information.
Anyone who has taught a class ... from three year olds to Kerygma
and Bethel and Presbyterian Women's Bible studies knows that
is true. You are changed when you give yourselves and allow
the church's life to touch you. Anyone who has served at the
Soup Kitchen, worked with clients at the Clothing Bank, shared
a year with a child at SCEEP or offered support, counsel and
encouragement with an inmate at the Jail knows that is true.
You are changed when you bring your gifts to others and permit
them to enter your life, too.
Anyone who has come to the church yearning,
longing, aching, hurting and has been drawn in and prayed for
and prayed with and given words of welcome and a way to put
the pieces of life back together knows that to be part of the
church is to be changed.
Although that all is happening, I think that
often we do not speak enough about the change that can and must
occur in us, through the church, in the Spirit of God. But,
if we are serious about being disciples of Christ we need to
say often and clearly to each other and to all who come -- we
expect that you will be different by being here. We expect that
your priorities will change, your perspective altered, your
ideas transformed. We expect that your faith will be stretched,
strengthened, helped, pushed, prodded, created, recreated and
sustained. We expect that you may decide to live differently,
speak differently, act differently. Because as a disciple of
Christ you will be asking and you will be asked and the church
will be helping you discover --what is it that God wants me
to do with my life? It is the most important question you can
ask and we intend for everyone ... for everyone who comes to
join the church and everyone who is part of the church to ask
that question, be diligent about finding answers and also find
support in the discovery of those answers.
If you are interested specifically in both doing
that for yourself and helping a new member of the church in
the coming months do that I invite you to speak to me after
church or call me during the week or write me a note or send
me an E-mail. If you want to start thinking more seriously about
your discipleship and the way others are becoming disciples
in this church, let me know. We have more plans and thoughts
in the mind for the future months and if you want to be part
of them right now, you can tell me now.
However, if you don't know now quite what to
do with it all, if you aren't sure what being a disciple means
right now, if you are not positive what it has to do with you,
don't worry because we will be returning to this again. We will
be speaking of discipleship often and inviting you in many ways
to seek and find your life as a disciple of Christ.
But we return to it most of all because we really
have no choice. The Spirit of God is at work bringing us to
see and understand and act. The Spirit of God is bringing prayer
alive every day as people ask for prayer and speak of answered
prayer and commit their lives to prayer. The Spirit of God is
bringing people to feel excited and fulfilled in reading Scripture
everyday. The Spirit of God is giving to us through creative,
energetic youth who gave to us last week in a dynamic, joyous,
and challenging time of worship. The Spirit of God is bringing
us be open to new times and ways and voices in worship.
The Spirit of God is working to make us new
disciples, a new church, and a new world with new vision and
faith and the abundant life of Christ. And no matter what else
may ever be said ... that news is worth repeating.
Let us pray:
Thank you, O God, that for sending the signs
of your Spirit so vibrantly and lovingly. Thank you for again
allowing us to be disciples who see your presence, live your
love and are enveloped in your grace in Christ our Lord. Amen.
