Listen to this Sermon<\/span><\/a><\/p>\nTexts: Leviticus 23:1-3, Psalm 103: 8 – 13<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nTwo sermonettes, February 3, 2013<\/h3>\nRichard Ratzlaff, Outgoing Chairperson<\/h3>\nFrom Committee Member to Martyr<\/em><\/h3>\nScriptures: \u00a0Acts 6: 1 – 7<\/p>\n
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The title of my mini-sermon this morning is \u2018From Committee Member to Martyr.\u2019 It is not intended to be a description of what happens to volunteers at TUMC, and it\u2019s certainly not a description of how I feel about my year as chair of the Board and our congregation.<\/p>\n
This morning we are recognizing those who have served the organization, or church, that we collectively are, and blessing those who are taking up positions of leadership among us. Organization is a big part of the work of the board, and especially the chair of the board. It\u2019s not the only work that gets done at TUMC, or even the most important: our ministry with children and youth is equally important, and rightfully receives a significant part of our energy and our best talent. I was led to reread Acts 6 this past year because I was curious to see how the early church was organized. There is very little direct evidence in the New Testament on the organization of the early church, apart from these few verses in Acts 6. We can interpret that fact in several different ways. We could say, for example, that the New Testament writers who wrote about the early church simply weren\u2019t interested in the nuts and bolts of church organization. Perhaps no one thought it was important to record more details about how the church functioned, no one thought it was important to preserve an archive, in other words. We\u2019ve spent a fair bit of time these past two years of my time on the Board talking about our archive, so it\u2019s on my mind. I don\u2019t think this explanation is right, that the early church wasn\u2019t interested. I\u2019m pretty sure they kept an archive, maybe even better archives than we do, and kept it somewhere in Jerusalem. Some of you may be familiar with events of the first century in that part of the world. A Jewish revolt against Rome broke out in the year 66; there is an ancient tradition that at least some of the Christians in Jerusalem left Jerusalem and went to Pella, in Jordan, just south-east of the Sea of Galilee. I have a fantasy that they buried their archive near the Dead Sea, and that one day it will be discovered like the Dead Sea Scrolls were. If they left their archive in Jerusalem, it would have been completely destroyed, along with the archive of the temple, when the city was burned to the ground by the Romans. One of the many functions of the temple was to serve as a bank, or safety deposit box \u2013 if people are going to leave their money with you, they tend to insist that you keep very good records. That archive was almost certainly destroyed when Jerusalem was destroyed. I don\u2019t know about you; I would like to see the archive of the early church. I would like to know how many meetings they had before they came up with the solution described in our text. How many soup & sophias did it take? What were some of the options they considered but rejected?<\/p>\n
No movement can survive for very long without organization, and the early church was no exception. If we look at Acts 6, it\u2019s clear that the church began to organize already in the time of the apostles. The church had to organize \u2013 why? Because it was growing. Growth is a wonderful thing, but it\u2019s also destabilizing: the ways we used to do things, methods we\u2019re familiar with and comfortable with, aren\u2019t appropriate for the new situation we now find ourselves in. One of the challenges we too face as a congregation is growth: are we satisfied with our current size or do we want to continue to grow? If so, we will need to devote some of our resources to building more capacity and yesterday we decided that we need more pastoral resources and that we need more space resources. We may also need to change the way we organize ourselves. We may need an admin assistant, for example, and a property manager.<\/p>\n
Growth is good, but because it\u2019s destabilizing, it can lead to conflict. I\u2019m pleased Luke doesn\u2019t hide the fact that there was conflict in the early church, although he editorializes, and writes that some people \u2018grumbled,\u2019 according to the NRSV translation. My Greek dictionary defines the word as \u2018talking behind the scenes.\u2019 Those of you who follow the literature on leadership and corporate structure will know that conflict, or dissent, is vital to a healthy organization because it\u2019s essential to achieving the best possible solution. Conflict can cripple an organization, or it can lead to good solutions. \u201cGrumbling\u201d can be good. The early church didn\u2019t have access to a lot of literature on corporate structure, but they came up with a brilliant solution \u2013 they formed a new committee, a congregational life committee, in fact. I suspect not everyone thought the new committee was such a bright idea. Luke doesn\u2019t mention any opposition to the new committee but I\u2019m sure there was some. Why? Because he tells the story so as to give special honour to one of members of this new committee. In fact, he gives one of the committee members the honour of being the first martyr. In the rest of Acts chapter 6 and all of Acts chapter 7, Luke tells the story of Stephen\u2019s martyrdom, right after he has described the origins of the committee of which Stephen was a member. Telling the story like this is his way of connecting the two events. Making Stephen the first martyr is Luke\u2019s way of showing to the skeptics that the new committee, which was an innovation, was a good idea, it really was blessed by God. We don\u2019t easily make the connection because most of us regard martyrdom as a dubious honour, at best, certainly not a blessing. We have found other ways of honouring those among us who serve the church. That innovation in the early church was the seed for the idea of a \u2018diaconate,\u2019 a ministry of service, that has influenced countless ministries of service in the history of the church and continues to do so.<\/p>\n
Let me end by going back to the beginning of the story. We should remember that the conflict in the early church arose because not all were being fed; in fact, the people who were new to the Jesus movement weren\u2019t being fed. We might say, \u2018they didn\u2019t have a place at the table\u2019. There conflict wasn\u2019t about buildings \u2013 in fact it took centuries before congregations began to build buildings we now call churches. The conflict was about the integration of new members into the community; the sign of integration, or lack of integration, was whether or not new members of the community were being fed. Luke, in this short text in Acts, tells the story of this conflict in the early church in very few words. There was a conflict in the church, the church found a solution, the result was more dramatic growth. The most important message we should take from their experience, I think, is that care for each other and newcomers who join us is at the heart of what we do as a church and why we exist. We are still learning how best to do this, and that learning may lead to some conflict or disagreement. If we are patient and trust each other, we will welcome disagreements and expect that God will lead us to the right solution. We will do this because we care for each other. One of the outcomes, whether we intend it or not, i
\ns that newcomers will be attracted to our community and will want to join us. And as they join us, new questions, new conflicts, new issues that need to be discerned, will arise. And we will grow. May we remain open to our calling.<\/p>\n
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and<\/h3>\nDoug Pritchard, Incoming Chairperson<\/h3>\nBack in the Race<\/em><\/h3>\n <\/p>\nScriptures: Heb 1:1-3, 12:1-2<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nLast week. Marilyn and Doreen encouraged us to embrace and celebrate the words of the LORD in Scripture. Psalm 19 describes these words as \u201csweeter…than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb\u201d (v. 10). Well, recently I have been dipping my finger into the honeypot of Hebrews, one of my favourite books in the Bible. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nIt opens with a powerful statement \u2013 \u201cLong ago, God spoke. God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways.\u201d This is stated as fact. There is no equivocation or questioning here about, is there a God? how do we know? does God communicate? It simply says, God spoke, in many and various ways. Those ways included visions, angels, prophets and miracles. The prophets especially came with authority and the ability to declare, \u201cGod says.\u201d The prophets were often ill-treated, but they persisted with their message. Even so, their message from God was incomplete. For now \u201cin these last days, God has spoken to us by a Son\u201d (v. 2). In Jesus then, we have a once-for-all revelation of who God is, and the path to our eternal salvation. Jesus, \u201cwhom God appointed\u201d says Hebrews, \u201cheir of all things, through whom God also created the worlds, who is the reflection of God\u2019s glory and the exact imprint of God\u2019s very being, and who sustains all things by his powerful word\u201d (v. 2-3) became human. He, who walked among us, is the exact image of God, and is the co-creator and sustainer of us and the whole Universe. The passage then states that Jesus\u2019 purpose among us was to make purification for our sins. The rest of the book goes on to tell us in detail how he did that, but in this introduction it only says that once that purification was completed, Jesus \u201csat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.\u201d Mission accomplished. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nWow! What a breath-taking sweep, in just three verses. From the creation of the entire Universe down to the intimacy of purifying me of my sins. This is overwhelmingly sweet honey. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nBut I know that not all of you would read this passage in as literal a way as I do. This month\u2019s conversation on TUMC\u2019s Facebook page about whether there is a heaven or a hell or even eternity makes that abundantly clear. We do disagree at TUMC, even about fundamentals of the faith. We name that in our welcome statement, where we tell every visitor, \u201cAlthough we don\u2019t always agree with one another, [pause] we share a belief in Christ and a desire to be his followers.\u201d This past year we have faced a number of difficult issues, including the question of sanctuary, the blessing of same-sex covenants, and our physical space needs. We have disagreed, and some have expressed surprise and hurt at that disagreement. Some have even felt betrayed, powerless, and wanted to withdraw. Yet disagreement is part of our TUMC identity. At the same time, our primary identity, as stated in our 2008 visioning process, is as \u201can Anabaptist-Mennonite community of faith united in a call and desire to follow Jesus in life,\u201d in this time, in this city. An Anabaptist-Mennonite community of faith united in a call and desire to follow Jesus in life. That is what we agree on. We have not resolved these difficult issues yet, nor exactly who Jesus is and how to follow him. We will continue to work on all these questions in this new year, and I am sure that even more, difficult questions will arise to stretch us further.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nLater in the book of Hebrews, our desire to follow Jesus is likened to a race. The writer says, \u201csince we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us\u201d (12:1). We are the ones on the track now. Our forebears are gone, but they are still witnesses to our race. The prophets are gone, the apostles and Christians of previous generations are gone, and the founders and pioneers of this congregation are all gone. Our vision and identity \u00a0statement includes some of what our forebears emphasized, but it has also incorporated the desires and goals of newcomers to TUMC. But all these witnesses are cheering us on as we run our race, in our time.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nTo run that race, Hebrews says that we must strip down and \u201clay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely.\u201d So we need to discern what are the weights and sins impeding us. We must also avoid distractions and look ahead \u201cto Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.\u201d Jesus has perfected or completed our faith, and our salvation, through the cross. He is the supreme example of the runner\u2019s perseverance and endurance, even in the face of a hostile crowd of witnesses, even unto death. But he ran his race for joy, and has now taken his seat again at the right hand of God.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nMy favourite Christian singer and song-writer is Robin Mark from Northern Ireland. In one song he notes the weariness that we can experience in this race. It is a marathon, rather than a sprint. Over time, we can become weary, discouraged, disillusioned, and apathetic. But he challenges us in asking, <\/span><\/div>\n
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<\/span><\/div>\n\u201cBut who told you to quit? Who said to step down? Who said to stop running? <\/span><\/div>\nWho said that time had been called on your day? <\/span><\/div>\nWho said the anointing had been taken away?<\/span><\/div>\nThe battle is won! The Kingdom has come, It\u2019s time to start running.<\/span><\/div>\nSo pick up that baton and get back in the race, you of this present age.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n(from \u201cMen of a Certain Age\u201d \u2013 see www.robinmark.com)<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\nWe passed a number of batons last night, and there are a few yet to be picked up. We continue to struggle with difficult questions.. But TUMC has a strong identity as an Anabaptist-Mennonite community of faith united in a call and desire to follow Jesus in the city of Toronto. The race is not over yet, but the battle is won and the Kingdom has come. I say to myself and to you, let us run this race, with perseverance, and with joy. \u00a0Thanx be to God! Amen.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon Texts: Leviticus 23:1-3, Psalm 103: 8 – 13 Two sermonettes, February 3, 2013 Richard Ratzlaff, Outgoing Chairperson From Committee Member to Martyr Scriptures: \u00a0Acts 6: 1 – 7 The title of my mini-sermon this morning is \u2018From Committee Member to Martyr.\u2019 It is not intended to be a description of what happens to volunteers at TUMC, and it\u2019s certainly not a description of how I feel about my year as chair of…<\/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-1330","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\/1330","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=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}