San Williams, Presenter
Luke 6:17-26
"Sharpening our Focus"
Our scripture this morning is often called The Sermon on the Plain. The content is similar to the section in Matthew's Gospel that we call the Sermon on the Mount. One difference, however, is that Luke's account is much briefer than Matthew's. A sermon that requires three chapters in Matthew is condensed to less than one chapter in Luke. Luke conveys essentially the same message as Matthew, but he brings it into sharper focus. Perhaps that's what we can do this morning: get a clearer picture of who we are as disciples of Jesus.
First, let's open the lens on the world-wide church. Let's get a partial look at the great diversity of Christian disciples today. Some of you were in John Ahn's lecture class here at UPC a couple of weeks ago. John began his class by taking us on a virtual satellite trip around the world. Using googleearth.com, John showed us satellite images of various locations around the globe. Not only did we see particular countries, but also, using this computer program, John was able to sharpen the image to a specific town. We learned we could even zoom in on a single house or church. Now try to imagine using this satellite technology to get a broader picture of Christianity today. Wouldn’t it be interesting to focus on exactly where disciples are found and what forms the church is taking here at the beginning of the 21st century?
If we direct our satellite toward the Philippines, we might be surprised to see that, this Sunday, there are more Roman Catholics attending worship in that country than in any single country in Europe. If we swing our gaze over to China, where in 1970 there were no legally functioning churches at all, we could locate more believers gathered for worship than in all of so-called "Christian Europe." And if we pass over the continent of Europe, in search of the church with the largest attendance on any given Sunday, we'd stop at the city of Kiev, which has the largest church in Europe, which is a church of Nigerian Pentecostals. And finally, when we pass over the continent of Africa, we see that there are more Anglicans in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda than Anglicans in Britain, Canada, and Episcopalians in the U.S. combined. As historian Mark Noll wrote, "The world Christian situation is not what it was when your grandparents were born, or even when you were born."
Now imagine our satellite passing over our own country. Freeze the camera, for a moment, over the city of Kansas City, Missouri, where we zoom in on a church called Jacob's Well. Jacob's Well is the mother church of what is called the Emergent Church movement. Study this church and you'll see that this congregation, which attracts about 1,000 people each week, meets in a building that Presbyterians erected in 1930. Jacob’s Well folks like the classic sanctuary, but the altar table has been moved out from the wall, choir pews removed to make room for a band, the pulpit removed so that the preacher can be on eye level. Take a virtual tour of other parts of the building, and you'll notice the walls are splashed with trendy purple or deep blue paint. The parlor has been turned into a prayer room with floor pillows and scented candles. A large Sunday school classroom is now a coffee bar and recreation room. The Emergent Church considers itself post-modern, post-evangelical, post-liberal. Its congregants are mostly young. Move closer to the image, and you will likely see a number of tattoos and ear-rings. The Emergent Church is hip, technologically savvy, theologically serious, and strongly appealing, especially to people in their twenties and thirties.
Now, just for a change, let's go a short distance, to Toledo, Ohio, and check out a new phenomenon known as the Submergent Church. I first read about this in Christian Century Magazine. We may have trouble locating the Submergent Church because it's, well, mostly submerged. You probably haven't heard about them, because they intentionally stay below the radar of public attention. Their faith, they like to say, is "hidden with God." Thus they eschew advertising , organization, structure, buildings, and programs. This congregation does gather for worship, but they gather in a Toledo playhouse. Johnson Clinebell, Chair of the National Board of the Submergent Church Dialogue Team, describes their worship this way: "Most Submergent congregations have great sound systems and will listen to a praise song on CD. Then, if they can find a Bible, someone might read something. After that, the pastor will say what's on his mind. Then they go home." Their entire worship usually lasts no more than fifteen minutes. Some of you may be thinking, "Hmm, a fifteen-minute worship service. Not bad." I'm not too worried, though, because even if there is a Submergent Church in Austin, you probably won't be able to find it.
Now, fellow travelers, let's make one last stop on our virtual tour. Let’s beam the satellite over Austin, and zoom in to our own church. We're not a burgeoning church in the developing world. We're not classified as either an Emergent church or a Submergent church. Some observers would even say that, since we're mainline Protestant, since we’re Presbyterian, we must be an obsolete church. However, according to Diana Butler Bass, this is not necessarily the case. Bass is the author of a new book titled Christianity for the Rest of Us. When she began writing her book, she had accepted the conventional wisdom that traditional churches were in decline, and that only evangelical mega-churches were growing. To test this assumption, she decided to conduct an extensive, three-year study of centrist and progressive churches across the country. Her surprising findings indicated that many Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Methodist churches were actually flourishing, and that they were doing so on their own terms. These churches did not try to mimic the evangelical style of the mega-churches. Some of these thriving mainline churches were centrist, others quite progressive, but they had one thing in common. They were intentional about Christian practices that were patterned on Christ's teaching, and sought to shape their lives accordingly. Members were not content to be observers of the faith, but were challenged to be practitioners of the faith. Spiritual disciplines such as hospitality, prayer, discernment, justice and peace-making were taken seriously in these congregations.
Friends, this is what I see when I look out at you. This vision of a spiritually alive congregation is not just virtual reality, but a true picture of who we are and who we are becoming. In a moment, we will receive new members into our congregation. I'm always interested in what new members say about their experience in our congregation. One writes, 'I'm joining UPC because of the welcoming and accepting atmosphere, the meaningful Christ-centered worship and strong mission and service." Another: "I love UPC because it is my family in Austin, and because I found my faith here. God is so strong in this congregation." It's encouraging that others perceive us as a vitalized congregation, as a community seeking to embody the love of Christ..
We read this morning in the Sermon on the Plain, how Jesus comes down to the level of people who are sick, broken and spiritually empty. As his disciples, we seek to embody the same hospitality, compassion and healing. Jesus went about forgiving others so, as his disciples, we practice the discipline of forgiveness. Christ proclaimed God's blessing upon the poor, the hungry, sorrowful, and excluded so, following him, we seek to extend God's blessing to the homeless, the lost and the grieving. Jesus challenged those in the world who have wealth, prestige and privileges to beware lest we become so comfortable in this world that we don't seek the more just world to come. Jesus brought his message into its sharpest focus ever when he told the disciples to love our enemies, to love without regard for gain, to love sacrificially, as God has loved us. Such love is the greatest challenge and highest goal of our discipleship.
Last week in his sermon, Ben used a quote that I've been pondering all week. Quoting C.S. Lewis, he said, "We don't have a soul. We are a soul. We have a body. Ben added, we don't have a church. We are the church. We have a building." To sharpen this line of thinking even further, I would add that as disciples of Jesus we don't merely have a message. My friends, we are called to be the message.