on the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost...
Sunday, November 2, 2008
From the book of Hebrews, Chapter 10: 23Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
"Encountering Christ Through Relationships" A
Communion Meditation Preached by at the First Congregational Church of Stoughton United Church of Christ
Six years ago, the Massachusetts Conference of our denomination, the United Church of Christ, received a sizeable grant from the Lilly Foundation to develop a program for ensuring high quality pastors. The result was the Pastoral Excellence Program and the introduction of clergy communities of practice. These are intentional learning groups which are facilitated by trained clergy leaders and made up of anywhere from 5 to 12 pastors who meet regularly for disciplined reflection on the practices of ministry. There are groups for newly-ordained clergy with less than three years in parish ministry, as well as for more experienced pastors. It has been my honor to have facilitated a “seasoned” clergy group since the inception of the program five years ago. It is also great to be a “regular” member of another clergy community of practice. In these clergy groups, we do theological reflection, we pray for one another and for those circumstances and people we carry in our hearts; we support one another in our ministry, and we share ideas, suggestions, and resources. We also hold each other accountable for our pastoral decisions and actions; we hold each other accountable for carrying out our ministries with integrity and authenticity, and with love and compassion; and we speak the truth to one another, even when it is painful. I will tell you candidly that some of my colleagues have not lasted very long in this kind of group. After a few sessions, they have either been unable to reveal the truth about themselves, or they have been unable to hear the truth from the rest of us. But for most of the participants, these clergy groups have provided the setting in which deep and abiding relationships have been formed, bound together by a mutual love for God, for ministry, and for one another. They have become circles of trust, where each person’s soul can show up and the Holy Spirit is apt to draw near. Over the past eight Sundays in our sermon series on “encountering Christ,” Steve and I have focused on Christian practices, including worship, contemplation, serving, scripture, healing, prayer, hospitality and testimony. Next week, David Wilcock, the chair of our Stewardship Committee, will preach on giving. And this morning’s focus is on spiritual friendships. Cultivating spiritual friendships within our community is an important step on our faith journey, because our growth as Christians can be hindered if we attempt to go it alone. Why did the Mass. Conference determine that the best way to ensure clergy excellence was to form Clergy Communities of Practice? Why are spiritual friendships considered a Christian practice and an important aspect of discipleship? Because it’s all about relationship. Everything we do as pastors – indeed, everything that any of us do as Christians -- revolves around relationships. To put it simply, Christianity is a religion of relationships – with God through Christ, and with one another. It is often through relationships that God brings redemptive, lasting change to our lives, especially relationships within the body of Christ, the church. And scripture frequently talks about relationships between Christians. Over fifty times in the New Testament alone, God's people are commanded to relate to one another in certain ways. Consider these exhortations: Love one another (John 13:34). In our clergy groups, we live out all of these exhortations, especially the last one. And it is not just good advice for pastors; it applies to all spiritual relationships, especially those within the church. “Spur one another on to love and good works.” Love is the focus. But the fact of the matter is, loving each other can be hard. And yet, loving each other is everything, it’s what matters most. Because if we don’t get the loving each other part right, then we’re not going to get anything else right either. Churches grow not because of fabulous programs or big budgets, but because of the love the people within the church have for each other, for those beyond the church, and for Christ. And loving each other in the kind of way Christ loves us is so much more than being nice to each other, or worse – simply being polite to each other. Christian loving includes encouragement and support. Christian loving means commitment and accountability. Christian loving means spurring one another on to grow in our relationship with God. If we are to become more than people who show up on Sunday mornings and maybe come to a meeting or two during the month, if we are to become more than just members of this church and begin to get serious about our faith, then we need to move beyond the social friendships we have here and begin to develop spiritual friendships – relationships based not only on love, but also on accountability, support, commitment, encouragement, and spiritual growth. Martin Luther once wrote, “The church was invented so that hands could be joined together and one could help another; because if the prayer of one doesn’t help, the prayer of the other will.” Luther’s point is that our faith is multiplied, our faith increases exponentially, when joined with the faith of Christian friends. God’s power and God’s ability to work through us in the world becomes greater when our prayers and our hands are joined with those of other Christians. Each and every one of us needs that kind of relationship with spiritual friends who will pray for and with us, who will reveal their own struggles with faith and with life; who will share insights into scripture, and reflect with us on the ways God is present and active in their lives. And there are many opportunities within this church for cultivating those kinds of relationships, including our small groups, our bible studies, and our various ministries including our prayer shawl group. These are all places where we can build circles of trust, where each person’s soul can show up and the Holy Spirit can draw near. And so, I invite you to look around at the people gathered here this morning. I invite you to consider your friends beyond these walls, and people you haven’t even met yet. No one should have to face the challenges and heartbreaks of life alone. And so, may you be a spiritual friend to someone else in need, and may you have spiritual friends, too. When things get tough, when we encounter on our faith journeys the inevitable dry spell or endure a dark night of the soul, our spiritual friendships with one another are God’s way of reminding us that regardless of what happens, there will always be someone there holding our hand, assuring us of God’s presence and love, and helping us to walk through the valley to healing, wholeness, and new life on the other side. Amen.
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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.