Sermon Title: Where are the ends of the earth?

Sermon Text: Acts 1:1-11

Sermon Date: March 30, 2008

It was a Sunday like any other when the pastor invited the children (meaning the only child in the church, Christopher) to come up for story time. “Today,” she said, “I want to tell you a story about the day when Jesus brought Lazarus back to life.”

But Christopher wasn’t having any of that. His Sunday school teacher had talked about the dry bones in Ezekiel and he had a question. “Is our church full of dry bones?”

Maybe you remember that some six years ago I told this story that I wrote even before coming to Lafayette. I told the story of this dying neighborhood church and how things changed after Christopher jolted them with his question. “Is our church full of dry bones?”

You see, Christopher had determined that if Jesus could bring Lazarus back to life, then surely he could bring their church back to life. So today….the story continues.

That day in church they were filled with hope and energy. Christopher had asked the tough question that stunned them, yet made them think. Maybe he was right. If Jesus could bring Lazarus back to life, surely he could bring their church back to life too. The church moderator began planning to repair the front steps and paint the sanctuary. The church matriarch thought maybe coffee after service would be a good idea to get people talking. Christopher’s Sunday school teacher planned to walk around the neighborhood getting to know the kids. The pastor was planning a sermon series on the renewal of one’s own spirit. That was a month ago and now, as the dust settled, they wondered if they could actually pull this off. What does one do when one has decided to plunge ahead? It is one thing to say you want to do something but another to actually do it.

Now Pastor Barb and Frank, the moderator, sat looking at each other, wondering.

“So,” Frank began, “what did you have in mind to pull us from the depths of despair? After all, you’re the pastor. Isn’t this what you went to seminary for?”

Barb laughed despite herself. “No, Frank, we talked more about the critical things in life, like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Seriously though, we talked a lot about the theology of Karl Barth and Paul Tillich. We learned how to put a sermon together and officiate at a funeral. We even practiced baptisms and talked a bit about church conflict and how to avoid getting fired. But despair 101? No, didn’t take that class.”

“So what do we do now?” Frank asked. “It seemed pretty exciting four weeks ago when Christopher asked if we were dry bones and if Jesus could bring our church back to life. Now it just seems overwhelming. What do we do now?”

“I’ve been thinking,” she said. “When I get discouraged about the church I turn to Acts, to the beginning of the church of Jesus Christ. Have you read it lately? It is great stuff. They are dealing with the confusion of finding Jesus on earth again, then gone again. They have to deal with replacing Judas and finding new leadership. They have to put together a church constitution and new structure. The old stuff wasn’t going to work anymore because Jesus wasn’t there to guide them through it. They had to think for themselves and pull something together. The thing was that they had all witnessed a miracle. Jesus was dead and now he is alive. Nothing seemed impossible then. If that could happen, anything could happen. Besides he had given them a mission statement:

“8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." I think that’s where we start.”

“That’s excellent,” Frank said as he wrote the words on paper. “witnesses…. Jerusalem….Judea…..Samaria….ends of earth. Uh, what does that mean? Ends of the earth? How far away does Jesus want us to go from home?”

“I’m not sure, Frank,” Barb said. “But I’d say that is a great question for us to take to the diaconate and even the congregation. I mean, the disciples created a new community. They ate together, they shared possessions, they prayed together and they allowed the Holy Spirit to live in them. That’s why we celebrate Pentecost, the day the Holy Spirit moved in the disciples. Christopher’s question was ‘are we dry bones?’ Maybe the next question is ‘are we ready to be living bones?’

The next Sunday Barb began preaching on the Acts of the Apostles. That’s what it is really called, not just Acts. The Acts of the Apostles is the story of how the disciples went on after Jesus ascended. How they created a new community. How these Jews and later Gentiles created something that has lasted for over 2,000 years. And she asked them to think about what it means to live in community together. What does it mean to move beyond the sanctuary and out to the ends of the earth?

She told the story from the movie “Sister Act” where Delores, a nightclub singer hiding from the Mob, hid in a convent in San Francisco, pretending to be a nun. Without meaning to she turns the place on its ear. She took the choir from a bunch of terrible singers to a true choir that even the Pope came to hear. She pushed the nuns outside to meet the people of the neighborhood and offered their “little convent of dry bones” hope for the future.

“Now I’m not the choir director that Delores was, but I believe we can accomplish the same things. We can go outside. We can meet our neighbors. We can find out what is going on in their lives so we will know what to do for them. Maybe the ends of the earth for us is right around the corner. At least for now anyway. Maybe Jesus isn’t asking us to go to the literal ends of the earth, but just the end of our own block.”

Over the next month they talked a lot about that. “Just the end of our own block.”

Many of them didn’t know the blocks around the church very well. They came in from the suburbs, during day light only, pulled into the parking lot and went in the church. They intentionally didn’t even look at people standing on the street corners for fear of what might happened. So Pastor Barb’s question about going to the end of the block felt a lot like going to the ends of the earth.

Then conversations began.

Melody mentioned that she’d like to start a group teaching seniors yoga and tai chi. “It would help them with their balance,” she said. “Once you lose your balance you lose your confidence. I’d like to work on that.”

Rod said he really wanted to study scripture with a group of men in the church. “No offense, Barb, but sometimes guys need to talk to other guys.”

Harry thought it was time for serious long-range planning and Len wanted to expand the advertising budget. Linda wanted to use her special education expertise to help children in the neighborhood learn better. Pam really enjoys playing with little ones and hopes more babies will be in the nursery. Gordon thought we should have more opportunities to talk with other faiths and show off our open-mindedness. Christopher and his Sunday school teacher Mark really did want to meet other kids in the neighborhood so they wanted to have a carnival. Peg thought a parish nurse would be a good idea to help the seniors in the neighborhood to understand their health issues.

The ideas just kept coming and coming until someone said, “Stop! We don’t have enough people to do all of these things. We can barely do what we are doing now. Where will we get the folks to do this other stuff?”

“We could stop doing this other stuff for a while,” Nancy said as everyone turned to stare at her. “I’m serious. What would happen if we stopped doing everything but worship for a while? Then we could pray about things and see what we really miss and how to use our energy for God and not just ourselves.”

There was complete silence. The congregation sat stunned until Christopher said, “But I’d missed Mark and Sunday school….even if I’m the only kid here.”

Finally Nancy continued, “well, we know now what is important to us. Fellowship and learning…..what else?”

Pause. Their story isn’t over, in fact, it is just beginning.

What else indeed, my friends? That’s their story, not so far removed from our own. You heard names you recognized and things they’ve said that you’ve probably heard too.

In three weeks I’m going on my own journey and you will begin yours. The success or failure of a church can’t be put on one person’s shoulders. Not even the pastor. The success of the church doesn’t just honor the pastor. The success of a church’s ministry honors the heart of the people of God.

I beg you to use this gift of sabbatical renewal to allow the Spirit of a Risen Christ to move in each of you as individuals but also as a people of God. I beg you to not sit outside the circle and watch things from afar. I beg you to get involved. Read “The Secret Message of Jesus” and join in the discussions. I beg you, in Jesus’ name, to allow the church of Acts to teach us how to the church of Jesus Christ in Lafayette.

Let the Spirit of the Risen Christ have control of you, me and our church so we can be what we need to be and have the courage to go where we need to go.