State of the Congregation 2007

State of the Congregation

2007

Luke 4:14-30

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

^{LK 4:14} Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him

^{LK 4:16} He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

^{LK 4:18} "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

^{LK 4:19} to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

^{LK 4:20} Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹ and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

^{LK 4:22} All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.

^{LK 4:23} Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: `Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.' "

^{LK 4:24} "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian."

^{LK 4:28} All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

I saw this ad a couple of weeks ago that I really liked in Wired magazine. It has a list of statements down the center: “It will never fly. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Don’t ruffle feathers. The climate isn’t right. You’ll never get the funding. This isn’t even your department. You’ll get laughed out of the room. That’s too risky. Don’t step on any toes.”

In the corner it says, “Johnnie Walker.”

There are directions here – fold over line A to line B so that you hide all those statements, and now you just see the Walking Man who has a clear path in front of him. The line here says, “Keep walking.”

I found out that it’s a message that Johnnie Walker has used in their advertising for 98 years. Persevere. Keep moving forward. Keep walking. What struck me about the message was not its primary goal – to sell blended Scotch whisky -- but that it was such a Christian message. Persevere. Keep moving forward.

Jesus kept walking. In the last verse we read:

All the people in the synagogue were furious … They …took him to the brow of the hill …in order to throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

They were upset with what he said in church and they tried to kill him. But what did Jesus do? He kept walking, because he was not going to be stopped from the ministry that God had sent him to do.

I return to these words of Jesus at the beginning of every year, because they are, essentially, his mission statement, and if I’m a follower of Jesus, they are my mission statement, too.

^{LK 4:18} "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

^{LK 4:19} to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

If you are poor, imprisoned, blind or oppressed, this is easily good news to you. Jesus came to say that God cares about you, and will do something about your condition. It’s good news the way the Beatitudes are good news. God cares about the poor, and those who mourn, and the meek.

And God is using our church to help those people. We in the Presbyterian Church have made an 8-year commitment – not just a one-time offering, but an 8-year commitment -- to rebuilding in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is so well regarded that the rock band 3 Doors Down gave them $75,000 and is channeling most of their money through the church. Lead vocalist Brad Arnold said on ABC News they feel their money is most effective through the church because, “It’s a dollar in, a dollar out.” Our church also helps the needy in our own community by partnering with Snow-Cap and Loaves and Fishes.

That’s good news to the poor. Second, Freedom for the prisoners. God cares about those who are in prison. This is why our church continues to support the Angel Tree Christmas present program. We also send prisoners’ kids to summer camp and welcome the dads who have done their time to be an active part of the church and find a new life here. Jesus cares about you and so do we.

Why was this message such a threat? Why did the people in Jesus’ hometown get angry enough to kill him? Because he said that the good news was not just for the Jews. This is how Jesus explained it: There were lots of widows in Israel, but Elijah wasn’t sent to any of them -- he went to a widow in Zarephath. Zarephath was where the outsiders lived. It was a terrible place that you wouldn’t want to go. And there were many Israelites with leprosy in the time of Elisha, but the only one that was cleansed wasn’t an Israelite at all, but a Syrian. (Ewww.) This meant that the good news was not just for nice people like us. It was for everyone who was poor and oppressed, regardless of nationality, race or gender.

Do you wonder why Jesus’ friends and neighbors told him to get out of town? They didn’t like this very last thing that he said. They had interpreted the scriptures as promises of God’s exclusive covenant with them. They expected God to save them from the bad guys. They couldn’t believe that God loved the bad guys, too. They got angry and drove Jesus out of town. But he kept walking. Jesus loves breaking down cultural barriers.

That’s why our Session, our elders, are so excited about our involvement with the Hispanic group Cristo Por Su Mundo, and so proud of your welcome of them. Not everyone in our congregation has had positive experiences with Mexicans. Most of you don’t speak Spanish and probably don’t have a Latino person you call a friend. But this is shaping up to be a very nice relationship, and the people in our congregation have been so supportive. I also introduced Greg to Jorge Osorio, a local church planter and friend of mine from Pray East County. Now Greg is taking classes in Hispanic Church Leadership which Jorge teaches through Western Seminary. We are helping reach our Hispanic community through providing a place for a group whose stated purpose is to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

Our congregation keeps walking, overcoming our doubts and insecurities to try to follow more closely the principles Jesus outlined in his mission statement.

It’s not always easy to keep walking. A couple of our staff members are in very difficult times of their life, with a spouse or a parent in a foster care home and immense financial challenges. But they keep pressing on. It’s not easy for our Session to keep walking. We have faced challenges as we set the church budget. We’d like to keep things the same, but it’s hard. I heard Representative John Li m speaking the other day about wanting to keep education funding the same, but he gestured that it goes up year after year, just to stay the same, with cost of living increases. We face those increases, too. But we keep pressing forward.

We keep walking, keep following Christ in 2007 with the Year of Discovery. Why the Year of Discovery? For a couple of reasons.

First, we Presbyterians always like to learn new things. That’s why we are so big on education and constantly run at least four adult classes at a time, the high schoolers meet to study the Bible over coffee at 7 a.m. before school, and we hold the popular Alpha Course after Easter. We push ourselves to go deeper and understand more.

Second, 2007 will be different because it’s been over 10 years since you had more than a couple of weeks without your pastor here, but this summer I’ll be on leave for three months. A person might worry that, without “The Pastor” here, the church will go into a downward spiral and people will stop coming to church, stop giving money, and all enthusiasm will dry up. But frankly, I don’t have such a high opinion of myself that I believe that. And no one has said anything like that, because everyone knows we have a strong church with excellent leaders. On the contrary, an all-star lineup of preachers and the Year of Discovery will make for a very enjoyable and meaningful summer, and you and I will come back together in the fall renewed and energized for our ministry together. You’ll hear more about that at lunch today.

The Year of Discovery started with “Discover God’s Word,” as I presented some sermons that I “discovered” and shared with you, and as we continue to Discover God’s Word, Michael and his team are putting together a Bible 101 workshop in March.

When we thought of the February theme, “Discover New Friends,” we were primarily thinking of the new Dine-In program, which is a potluck-mixer that helps you meet other adults, both couples and singles, through potlucks at various homes. I hope you sign up for that because it will really be an adventure.

But we are also discovering new friends of a different culture and language. A young couple in Cristo Por Su Mundo, Yovita and Adrian, were married yesterday, and my family and I were invited to attend the wedding at the Gresham Community Center on Stark. We had never been to a Mexican wedding, but we had a lovely time.

In February and March, it’s Discover Your Story. Everyone has a story, and as you look back, can you identify how God has been active in your life? Can you explain why you are a Christian and what it means for your life? You would be surprised at how interesting your story can be to someone else, even if you don’t think it’s so exciting. We will hear some great stories from people in our congregation and also learn some new ways of sharing our faith with others.

In April, it’s Discover Your Passion. Building on your unique story, we’ll give you the resources to examine what it is that you really want to do to make a difference in your community. The church doesn’t want to gobble up all your free time propping up the church. We are here to empower you to follow Jesus into the world, and to be sure that you’re spending your time doing the things that God has truly gifted you and called you to do.

You get the idea about the Year of Discovery.

Your leaders, your elders and deacons, are in a year of discovery as well. We are discovering more about each other each time we meet, contributing our differing perspectives and sharing our common knowledge of God. We are discovering new ways to care for our members and new ways to get out of the church to take God’s love to the world. We read books, we pray, we discuss, because we care about God, we care about you and we care about our mission to make a difference in this community where God placed us 116 years ago.

It will be an exciting year. And of course, there will always be challenges. Can you keep walking, even if someone says you can’t do it? Can you keep following Jesus, despite the distractions? Will you keep our church moving forward for the great good we can do when we all pull together? I know I can do it, if you are walking with me.