The Rev. Dianne O’Connell
First Congregational Church of Maltby
January 26, 2014
Isaiah 9:1-6
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.
Psalm 27:1,4-9
The Lord is my light and my salvation.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Paul calls for end of divisiveness in the church.
Matthew 4:12-23
Jesus calls the first disciples. Jesus tours Galilee, great crowds gather from
everywhere.
Jesus Drafts Dream Team
And a Great Light Shines
An anonymous preacher once suggested that if Jesus had sent his twelve
disciples for psychological testing this might well be the reply he would have
received:
Dear Dominus Christus: Thank you for submitting the résumés of the twelve
men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of
them have taken our battery of tests. We have run the results through our own
computer. After having arranged personal interviews for each of them with our
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psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant, it is the opinion of our staff that
most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational
aptitude for the enterprise.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew
has no qualities for leadership. The two brothers James and John place personal
interest above company loyalty. Thomas shows a skeptical attitude that would
tend to undermine morale. Matthew has been blacklisted by the Jerusalem Better
Business Bureau. James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, definitely have
radical leanings, and registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.
Not one of them passed a credit check, nor did they have any record, be it
fulltime or adjunct, of miracle performance, fish and loaves production, or demon
tossing. And not a one of them knew the words to “I’ve Seen the Light.”
Reports are pending on Nathanael, Philip, John the Least, and this fellow
Thaddeus, aka Jude. But we do not expect different results.
As your Recruiting Agency HR consultants we have to say that your first
group of management candidate recruits are all REJECTS.
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We understand there was a twelfth initial recruit with serious potential –
but that he dropped out. Good thing too. Tests show that he could be
treacherously disloyal and greedy, and could actually have placed you, as CEO, in
grave personal danger.
This agency stands ready to assist you in identifying a new Twelfth Man, but
again strongly suggesst that what you have here is not a potential team of twelve
organizational development specialists, but rather a brawny bunch of fishermen
and day laborers. We suggest that, as such, they’d make a fine Football Team.
But because of their pacifist natures, even then they might not be very good –
we’d have to call them the Galilean Sea-Doves.
~~
Little did the HR agency psychologist know that he or she was evaluating
the Dream Team of Christian Evangelism – the best of the best – not even rivalled
by the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team, nicknamed the "Dream
Team" described by American journalists as the greatest sports team ever
assembled. The Galilean Sea-Doves would prove themselves as the most
committed, talented, courageous evangelists of all time.
~~
Today is Apostle Sunday, at least here at First Congregational Church of
Maltby. I don’t know if any other church observes Apostle Sunday, but I believe
they should. It is the Sunday we recognize that Jesus had a vision that went
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beyond his earthly life and he was taking steps to build an organization that
would carry out that vision after his earthly mission was completed.
Someone always asks what the difference is between an apostle and a
disciple. My understanding is that a disciple is a “student” and an apostle is a
“messenger”. Hence, the twelve would be students of Jesus but after they were
sent out to preach and teach on their own, they became messengers or apostles.
James was actually the first of the 12 apostles to be martyred. He was killed
with the sword on order of King Herod Agrippa I of Judea, about 44 A.D., in a
general persecution of the early church.
James’ brother John was the only apostle to die of old age – at Ephesus. All
the others, tradition says, were crucified in the mission field.
Peter spread the gospel as far as Rome where he was executed. The Roman
Catholic Church claims Peter as its first pope.
Legend says Philip preached the gospel in Phrygia, in Asia Minor; that
Nathanael/Bartholomew carried a translation of Matthew's Gospel to northern
India and was crucified in Albania; Levi changed his name to Matthew preaching
for 15 years in Jerusalem before going out on the mission field to other countries;
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Thomas carried the gospel to the east; scholars believe Thaddeus wrote the book
of Jude and founded a church at Edessa; and while we believe that James the
Lesser and Andrew were also missionaries, I do not know where.
~~
I stand in awe of all early Christian men and, of course, women who not
only dedicated their lives to spreading the message of Jesus Christ, but GAVE their
lives in the process. But these first apostles knew Jesus personally, ate with him,
talked and walked from town to town with him, experienced him deeply, believed
in his message, believed in him, AND had personally experienced the resurrection.
One can understand their fervor and determination under these circumstances.
But what about the new recruits. Luke 10:1-24 speaks of seventy apostles
who were students of Jesus. According to Luke, the only gospel in which they
appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on a specific mission.
It is true that after Judas defected, the remaining eleven disciples chose
Matthias to replace him. But actually, by this time a whole crowd of people who
had previously walked in darkness, as Scripture would say, these people saw the
Light, so to speak, and dedicated their lives to spreading or reflecting it. The
Christian Community had swollen to the point where there was a whole crowd
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standing in as the 12th Man – and a noisy, dedicated group of supporters, it often
was.
What inspired these folks to keep on keeping on – even after they began to
learn of the crucifixions? This is an important question because as their spiritual
descendants, we have to figure out what inspires us to keep on keeping on. What
keeps the fires burning in our breasts to keep this little outpost alive in Maltby
with the bell ringing and the lights shining?
~~
Mark Twain once said: “The two most important days in your life are the
day you are born and the day you find out why."
Several years ago I was given a book which I have to admit, I never got
around to reading. I am really sorry, because in recent days it has been
recommended to me twice in relation to this sermon. The book is The Purpose
Driven Life, by Rick Warren. Published ten years or so ago, it has sold like 33
million copies and I didn’t read mine. The subtitle is: “What on earth am I here
for?”
It’s a question somebody thought I should ask myself and, no doubt, the
question each of the original apostles asked themselves. In his book Warren
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apparently links each person's purpose to five classic functions of the church-worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and mission. All the reviews say the
book has helped countless people re-examine their lives and deepen their faith.
I’m going to find my copy and read a chapter a day as a Lenten exercise, I think.
Here we are in Maltby – this generation’s Christian apostles, care-takers of
Christ’s message to the world. We might ask the same question, What on earth
are we here for – the Warren asks individuals. We have our leaders and our
mission and our vision and our benevolence committee, and our Budget. All
necessary for preaching and living the Message. The Administrative Council met
Thursday night to finalize the budget you will vote on during the Congregational
Meeting after services today.
Annual meetings are happening all over the world, as Christians plan and
fund their programs to continue fulfilling Christ’s command to” go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them all that I have
commanded.”
During the process, the Maltby Council talked of serving the community,
supporting each other, fostering spiritual growth, maintaining the facility, and
securing the funds to support a settled pastor and his/her family by 2015. It’s a
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tall order. There were four women there, counting me, and three men. That’s not
enough.
During these days leading up to the Super Bowl, perhaps the image of the
12th Man, the noisy, raucous supporters, is a good one. Jesus had his seventy, the
Seahawks have their thousands, and Maltby Congregational has YOU. You’re
today’s 12th Apostle for this time and in this place.
Around the table, we asked what inspired us to give of our time and energy
– and our money – to this church. You’ll be offered the opportunity to participate
in a similar discussion during lunch. Thursday, we heard comments such as, “We
like to learn together,” “the fellowship and sense of belonging are important to
us,” “the charge of discipleship is real and current – we are charged with bringing
the message of Christ to people in today’s world,” “because we are
interdependent as a community,” “the development of a personal spiritual life”,
“the chance to use my skills for God and community.” “Diversity is important. We
aren’t and shouldn’t be all the same. Our differences are good.”
What challenges, what promises, what part of the Good News of Christ
speakers to you, personally? Speaks to you so loudly, or whispers so softly, that
you come to this place Sunday after Sunday, roll up your sleeves and pitch in with
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time and talent, and open your checkbooks and support the enterprise with a
portion of your financial resources? That’s the spark, the excitement, the Good
News we want to share with our neighbors, our closest friends, our families.
~~
. Perhaps the reading from Corinthians this morning warns us of at least
one potential pitfall as we seek to lead a church. It reflects some of the early
tendencies towards attaching one’s loyalty to the messenger rather than the
message. It is interesting how human nature and history replay themselves
through the years and the centuries. The original apostles dispersed from
Jerusalem establishing churches across vast territory. And they developed their
followers. Each, no doubt, had different styles and different approaches – and the
Corinthian congregation began to line up behind one teacher or another –
forgetting that the message of Christ was the point, not which messenger was
their favorite. But you wouldn’t be familiar with such problems here.
So what is the message? And it might look and sound a little different at
different churches. But how does Maltby Congregational reflect Christ’s message
to the world? I believe we focus on God loving us, accepting us, forgiving us,
despite our differences.
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But if God loves us, accepts us, forgives us … and that we are called to love
each other, accept one another, and forgive one another … and we are called to
share this good news with those wandering about in the darkness …and bring
them into the Light … and help heal their wounds, both physical and spiritual …
would that be worth all the effort?
You don’t have to ask the Apostles of Old. Ask each other. In Christ’s name,
Amen.
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