“Mission Owns Church: Church as Relational Process #1”

September 28 , 2008

Common Time - Autumn

For 1st Mennonite Church of Denver

8 2008, Vernon K. Rempel

 
Bible reading: Nehemiah 7:73b - 8:12
When the seventh month came—the people of Israel being settled in their towns— all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.
Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought t he law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen’, lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
A nd Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, ‘Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’ So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, ‘Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.’ And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Introduction
This is the first sermon in a series that will be running
through the fall for Annie and my preaching,
even while we make room for other
events as they come along.

The series is entitled: "The church as a relational process"
and has to do with approaching again what it means for us
to be a people with each other.
If you like theological words,
this is a series on ecclesiology.
What is the church?
What is this church?

Nehemiah
Well, I have to say, it's been awhile for Nehemiah and me.
I had to remember - is this little book by the minor prophets?
Is it one of those guys in the ball park of Proverbs?
There it is, tucked right in after Ezra, and right before Esther.
They both start with "E" so that could help me remember,
but they perhaps aren't the "greatest of E's".
(So it may not work.)
(Those are Ezekiel and Ecclesiastes...)

Now I won't kid you or try to make Nehemiah better than he is.
He's an old-fashioned Hebrew-centric prophet with a temper.
It doesn't do to pretend otherwise.
In 13:8 he goes all Bobby Knight on the priest Eliashib,
saying "And I was very angry, and I threw all the
household furniture... out of the room.
There's more to say about that story - but still.

And he goes along with Ezra's national-purity plan
where all the men are commanded to divorce their foreign-born wives
(Ezra 10; Nehemiah 10:30).
Now this has it's own ancient context;
they were recently returned exiles struggling for identity.
But still, this is scary, especially after the 20th century
with all it's really scary race-driven killing.
And the people that didn't divorce, and continued their
mixed-ra ce ways in Canaan came to be known as Samaritans.
And we know what Jesus said about Samaritans:
They could be good, better than the purebreds.
And it's always all about the men with Ezra and Nehemiah;
always commanding the men to do this or that with their wives
as if the wives are not full persons.

Fortunately the Bible has much more going on than that.
And not just in the New Testament. All kinds of powerful women
figured among the Hebrew people, from Miriam to Ruth.

Joy
Anyway, I don't mean to go all negative to start out.
I want to keep this campaign... er... sermon positive.
And so let me say that this particular passage from Nehemiah
has one of the most powerful phrases written in the Bible:
"the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Not "the commandments of the Lord" good though they are.
Not the ethics or theology or spirituality or anything else
but the "joy". That's cool. They idea that joy somehow
goes all the way down in things; that joy is somehow
winging it's way from the center of God's universe
into our hearts. T hat does feel like strength.

So in our passage from Nehemiah,
the scribe Ezra is asked to read the law.
The people, it says, ask him to read the law
because they are seeking a new life.

So it's by popular request, at least according to the person who wrote this.
And he reads it in the presence of men and women;
So women. Listening to the law. So that's something at least.

And all who could understand,
which may mean also children who were old enough
to understand the words.

All the Levites stand up there with Ezra.
Solidarity forever - we're here with you Ezra.
This is an event of the power of community.

And so they list all those names.
We could do a list - the list I always like here are all
the names that begin with "Ar---":
Ardell, Arden, Ardiss, Ardith, Arlen, Arliss, Arlo, and Arzella.

Or since Levites were leaders among the people,
we could list our council members:
Anita, Anna, Craig, Dawn, Jennifer, Leon, Ligia, Linda, Myrna, Steve, Sylvia

So we may imagine all these dear people all standing with Ezra,
as he read the law to the Hebrews.

And so the law was read to them, and must have struck a chord,
because the people began to weep.
Perhaps like those who cry when they read
again a letter from the father or mother who is long gone.
Or like reading the Gettysburg Address aloud:

"...from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Something like that. And the people remember themselves,
come to themselves, remember their better selves beyond all the wounding,
all the politics, all the fear,

the Hebrew people hear their scribe read words that are precious to them,
from their law, perhaps the last words of old prophet Moses before he died,
standing on the edge of Canaan finally:

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,... loving... God,... so that you may live in the land.... [of your] ancestors:... Abraham [and Sarah], Isaac [and Rebecca], Jacob [and Leah and Rachel]." Deut. 30:19, 20 excerpt.

So the people weep. But tears are a release from numbing fear,
tears mean the days of domination are over,
and so they are close to laughter.

And the leaders remind the people of that, remind them
that these holy words go down to the root of joy,
and that these words mean they may rejoice,
may set their hands and hearts to their future
with joy, lifting each other up in joy.

The mission of the church owns the church
In the Focus newsletter, which will come out next week,
Anita, our congregational chairperson, has submitted an
article from Dan Hotchkiss.

This article asks who owns the congregation.
Is it the members? Is it the board? Is it God?
He says that it is not the members, nor the board,
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and while it might ultimately be God,
the more immediate owner of the church
is that expression of God's mission in that
particular congregation.

God for our time and our place as First Mennonite.
That is who owns First Mennonite Church of Denver.
None of us. We exist as co-creators in this mission.
But the church is the subject of God's dreams.
We are Christian friends in it.
But we20live in the midst of something greater,
the very expression of creation and all of life
for this place and this time.

The mission of any congregation owns that congregation,
says Dan Hotchkiss.
And so the mission is sort of like our "law"
sort of the "word to us" like the Hebrew people
heard the "word to them" read by Ezra.

What does that mission say to us?
I cannot bring anything to you this morning like
the Gettysburg address or like Moses' last words.

But here are a few things I think our mission,
the mission of First Mennonite is saying to us.
I don't want to burden you with too much either,
so I will only name three - that magic storyteller number,
and then we will go from there in the coming weeks.

These notes from the mission of the church
are to be joy to us. Think about your own list of names
of people who would be saying these t hings to you.

Be in charge of your theology
And so here we go for just a bit:
Thus saith the mission of First Mennonite
First of all, you shall be in charge of your own theology.
It is helpful to have someone preach who has given
all this some thought.
But you have your own relationship
with the divine. Learn it; let it speak.
Let your life speak, let your theology speak.

In the plant world, each plant has its distinct phototropism,
it's way of turning toward the light, following the sun.
Each of us has our own tropisms, given to us by our
conditions of life from early on.

These are a mixture of injury and blessing.
They become our tropism, or form of responding to life,
and therefore to God.

As the writer Paula D'Arcy puts it,
"God comes to us disguised as our life."
Our life with it's particular tropism,
each one of us and our way of finding the light
our phototropism.
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We are at our best, when we let that be, when we let that speak,
that particular phototropism that is ours,
our life, the disguise through which God has come to us.

The world needs the blessing of each of these tropisms;
so let yours speak.

Do not use the other
Thus saith the mission of First Mennonite secondly,
You shall not use each other, task each other,
nor manipulate, nor lock into roles or styles or patterns
nor make others into means toward and end.

For each one is irreducible. Each one is Christ-bearer
"Christo-pheros" - those-who-bear-anointing,
each is a lamp of God, and therefore
may not be used, may not be tasked,
may not ever become collateral damage;
not even your enemies may be killed
even if by all good lights they certainly have it coming.

No human may grieve them, but our ways are not God's ways,
and God's sees where we cannot or will not see,
and so we walk in humbleness before God,
and let God dream for each perso n, friend and enemy.

You shall not use the other in your church
but rather turn to each other, and show your face,
and perceive their face and let it be in your life.

And even if they say "will you let me be your servant"
say "'thanks for the offer' but I'd rather have you as a friend;
or if that's what you mean by servant, then 'yes, okay'".
Even as Jesus said to those with whom he gathered
"I no longer call you servants but rather I call you friends." (John 15:15)

Be a people of spiritual practice
And thirdly, thus saith the mission of First Mennonite,
that which is God's dreaming in our midst, in this time and place,
you shall be a people of spiritual practice.

What good is all this for you if you are not being
redeemed, transformed, saved,
if you are not being made a better person,
a better people?

The world does not need more fear-mongering, more tough talk,
more posturing, pretending to know everything or pretending
to know nothing. The world does not need more regular
people who are "just folks" or media elites,
or innocent Americans or any of the other political
caricatures that strive to fill our brains.

The world needs honest people who face fear, say their prayers,
become courageous while holding on to humility.
And never self-righteous. Never self-satisfied.

People who do not say "all we are saying is give peace a chance."
but rather people who say
"What we are saying is we are going to give peace a chance."
And here's how. Not be wishful thinking or naive assumpti ons.
But by tried methods of traversing conflict
tried methods of moving by smart and strategic and creative patterns
through the shifting pathways of conflict
to new, better, and often unexpected results.
Results that look after the safety of all involved,
and look after hope for a better shared future.

A place made different by true sharing:
where we share our money - who would go to a church
where they don't want to share their money among the people?
and where we share our time - who would go to a church
wh ere they don't want to spend time doing things among the people?
I wouldn't waste my life in such a church.

No, but rather you, First Mennonite, shall be
of God's dreams in this place and this time,
being made a people of genuine practice, a distinct community,
a contrast community.

Meaning you are informed by this community
in the way that you are a parent, in the way you watch TV,
in the way you drive, and go shopping, and eat,
and read, and hold your friendships and marriages,
and how you live in your families
and all manner of things are informed by
the dreams of God which are the heart of this place.

And so we may turn toward the light with each other,
because it is between the our faces and the faces of our friends
in this place and time that the mission of First Mennonite springs to life.
We need a barbecue and a movie outing and a brunch or so
to get a feel for that mission.
We need joyful worship.

And we become people formed by a mission,
and it is our joy, among us, the joy of God,
which is our streng th, our very own phototropism,
turning us toward the light.

For further study: Dan Hotchkiss, "Who owns a congregation?" Alban Institute, pub.