February 3, 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeff Taylor<\/strong><\/p>\n Text:<\/strong><\/p>\n Proverbs 3:3, 5-6<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I don\u2019t like change.\u00a0 Ask anyone who has lived with me how much I like a sudden change of plans.\u00a0 I can\u2019t manage to change my socks without whining if it hasn\u2019t been on my calendar for a week. Aren\u2019t we all a little like that?\u00a0 Change is unsettling, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Frightening?\u00a0 When we don\u2019t know what will happen next we can become anxious \u2013 knocked off balance by our loss of control, our poverty of power.\u00a0 In the absence of assured outcomes, our capacity for trust in each other and God is tapped to the max.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Power — not a very comfortable Anabaptist word is it?\u00a0 But, we all do want control; we do want power, right?\u00a0 We want to secure our own future and the welfare of those we love — that requires power.\u00a0 We want to do something memorable, to make our mark: we want to do some good in this world — that requires power.\u00a0 I have heard it said by more than a few that we have many gifted institution builders at TUMC.\u00a0 Building the institution of the church \u2013 doesn\u2019t that require power?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In order to manage the institution of the church, to have power over it, don\u2019t we need to manage the individual members of that church?\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry, I meant to say, \u201cwouldn\u2019t it be nice if we could have some modest level of \u201cinfluence\u201d with each other?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Say it any way you like, but we are gravely tempted to try to exercise power over each other.\u00a0 We are<\/strong> political animals: the only question is what is<\/strong> our policy, or polity towards others? Are we \u201cpolite\u201d with one another?\u00a0 Do we wish to \u201cpolice\u201d each other?\u00a0 How do<\/strong> we operate in the polis, the gathering place, of God?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In his book, \u201cDancing Though Thistles in Bare Feet,\u201d Gary Harder writes, <\/strong>\u201cOur impulse is to guard<\/strong> the church and its core values, identity, and beliefs.\u00a0 At its worst, this impulse is to protect our political power, to be judgmental of other people\u2019s sins, and to cling to the fantasy that only we know what it means to follow Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cOne danger we fear in opening our spiritual home is that we will change when new people enter. . . . we won\u2019t be fully in control<\/strong> of our group identity anymore.\u00a0 Maybe some of our convictions will be challenged, and the church will feel less manageable, neat, and tidy.\u201d (p. 89-90)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n How will we manage change at TUMC?\u00a0 \u201cTrust, and obey, for there\u2019s no other way to be happy in Jesus . . .\u201d\u00a0 Sure, we need to trust God.\u00a0 In fact just trust Jesus and you\u2019ll be happy \u2013 \u201cthere\u2019s no other way.\u201d\u00a0 No, sorry, we aren\u2019t going to get off that \u201ceasy\u201d — as if trusting God<\/strong> didn\u2019t already require enough of a stretch of the imagination, we\u2019re going to have to do more than that<\/strong>: we must trust each other<\/strong>!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I have a confession to make: I haven\u2019t always trusted you; not as much as I now wish I could say I had.\u00a0 In the aftermath of our difficult process around deciding how to relate to Shannon Neufeldt, I was unhappy and somewhat angry with my church: believe it or not, not<\/strong> because we made a decision to declare ourselves welcoming of non-heterosexuals or because we couldn\u2019t agree about same-sex unions.\u00a0 I\u2019d been through that process a decade earlier at Pasadena Mennonite and have long had dear friends with whom I have variously differed on that issue.\u00a0 What really upset me was that we hadn\u2019t even been able agree on when a \u201clifelong covenant\u201d begins; which I took to mean that I couldn\u2019t be sure what my church would teach my children about premarital sex.\u00a0 That was bitter for me.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Anyway, at some point during that time, I became involved in the launching of a new Mennonite church in the KW area.\u00a0 A bible college roommate and lifelong friend, Jim Loepp-Thiessen was planting a seeker-friendly (MCEC) church there, and despite some reservations about the term \u201cseeker friendly,\u201d I became a key member of the launch preparation team for a year and then, after launch, served as worship coordinator and trainer for another six months.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I ever really thought our family could become fully engaged in a KW church, living in the east end of Oakville; but I found great healing in doing church, at least for a season, in a very different way with very different issues at hand.\u00a0 They met Sunday evenings, BTW so we continued to attend here regularly.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I tell you this not so much to say that I was exhausted and discouraged about TUMC, but to tell you how I left that option behind to return<\/strong> to a fuller engagement and commitment to TUMC.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t my doing really.\u00a0 I suppose it was God\u2019s ultimately; but it was also very definitely a decision<\/strong> of trust from some TUMC<\/strong> people who, most unexpectedly, asked me to serve on the team to search for a Pastor of Youth Ministries.\u00a0 Maybe it is worth saying that the specific people whose task it was to find an additional member for that search team were people with whom I had disagreed in our sexuality conversations.\u00a0 Whether they felt<\/strong> anxiety about charging me with this task I don\u2019t know, but the important thing is that they acted<\/strong> in trust.\u00a0 And in spite of my very mixed feelings, I did the same.\u00a0 Even more improbably, just 2 months later the same people found themselves asking me to serve as, of all things, the board secretary.\u00a0 (We were having a hard time getting people to agree to serve in those days — just 3 years ago.)\u00a0 What matters here is that my church took action<\/strong> to trust me, and I did the most important thing any of us can do to grow<\/strong> trust: I showed up.\u00a0 So here I am again, reporting for duty.\u00a0 These few years working with now two wonderful search teams and a fantastic, revitalized board have been healing for me in ways I could never have anticipated and had zero<\/strong> power to manage.\u00a0 Whatever suspicions I had of those with whom I have disagreed, about all sorts of things, have been lifted, along with (to the best of my awareness) any residual anger as well as my exhaustion and lethargy. I feel energized and confident in God and TUMC.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I trust you.\u00a0 I trust you with my family; I trust you with my children who so many of you, and especially their mentors, teachers, youth sponsors and those wonderful pastors that committee discovered, have continued to care for so very well.\u00a0 We can\u2019t just sit around waiting for the Spirit to instill a feeling<\/strong> of trust in each other; we usually have to take action<\/strong> towards trust.\u00a0 Step one is just showing up: to say \u201cyes\u201d to the expressions of trust offered by others and to offer trust ourselves in the first place. \u00a0If we are to help Christ build his church, we must practice the power of relinquishment<\/strong> of power over one another and act in trust instead.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As a collective of Christ, we must also practice relinquishment of power over God\u2019s church.\u00a0 Goes without saying?\u00a0 We are easily seduced into trying to over-manage Christ\u2019s church.\u00a0 We at TUMC have been entrusted with so many gifts — so much power: the power of a disproportionate amount of the world\u2019s wealth, the power of education and information, the power of health, of friends, of good reputations, of tremendous knowledge and understanding — we\u2019re an incredibly smart bunch of people.\u00a0 Surely we aught to be able to figure out where we want to go as a church and what sort of pastor to hire.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We do indeed have an embarrassment of gifts for \u201cdoing church.\u201d\u00a0 But . . . I don\u2019t think we will secure a healthy future for TUMC with our multivariate gifts.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe that the prosperity of TUMC will be founded upon our<\/strong> generosity, industry, or ingenuity.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry if this makes us feel powerless<\/strong>, but I don\u2019t believe our ability to perceive the direction of the current of the Spirit will depend on our intelligence.\u00a0 None of our virtues can secure the welfare of our congregation \u2013 not alone.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As the one of the smartest Christians ever put it, \u201cWhere there is<\/strong> knowledge, it will pass away.\u00a0 Even now, we see at best a vague reflection of reality: only in the presence of the perfect one will things become perfectly clear, just as it will become perfectly clear who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n We dare<\/strong> not lean not on our own understanding.\u00a0 When it comes to the life of the church organic \u2013 the \u201cbody\u201d of Christ, there is an equilibrium, an economy and ecology that only the very mind of God can create and sustain.\u00a0 Yes, we are<\/strong> to render our gifts, our power, available for the work of God in this world.\u00a0 Paul tells Timothy, \u201cStir up your gift to flame again, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self<\/strong>-control.\u201d Bring<\/strong> your gifts, your power to this common <\/strong>place [gesturing to the cross] \u2013 to this place where our God\u2019s wisdom renders ours but foolishness.\u00a0 Where God, in mercy, will use our poverty of power to do a great new thing. \u00a0 <\/span>For this<\/strong> is the power of God<\/strong>:<\/p>\n \u201cLove is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love takes no delight when bad things happen to others, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts<\/strong>, always hopes, always perseveres. \u00a0Love never fails. . . .\u201d (1 Cor. 13)\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On the occasion of our celebration of the completion of Gary and Lydia\u2019s ministry to us, speaking for us all, I gave them \u2013 we<\/strong> gave them — this assurance: \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cKnow that, when you have moved on to a new experience of service, we will remind each other that God is<\/strong> with us, even in your<\/strong> absence.\u00a0 We will not dishonour God\u2019s ministry through you by giving in to fear, mistrust, anxiety, or lethargy.\u00a0 In quietness and confidence is our<\/strong> strength.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Blessed be the body of Christ.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Powerful Relinquishment February 3, 2008 Jeff Taylor Text: Proverbs 3:3, 5-6 \u00a0 I don\u2019t like change.\u00a0 Ask anyone who has lived with me how much I like a sudden change of plans.\u00a0 I can\u2019t manage to change my socks without whining if it hasn\u2019t been on my calendar for a week. Aren\u2019t we all a little like that?\u00a0 Change is unsettling, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Frightening?\u00a0 When we don\u2019t know what will happen next we can become anxious \u2013 knocked off…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons-a-worship-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}