How are your construction skills?
I have zip, zero, nada! I have no zero skills and zero patience for building things and or repairing things.
There is a great historical story here at the church of me in my early years trying to prove that I could make a difference. In a lot of situations I did I think, but in one I failed miserably.
Way back when the women’s bathroom was where the hall is now to our Christian Education building, there was a problem in one of the two stalls because the toilet paper roller had fallen off the wall.
It needed to be put back on ASAP, and I decided being all big and bad that I was the person for the job. Not noticing that I had no skills for the job, I immediately ascertained that in the left hand stall the left wall was plasterboard, so instead of hanging the roller by screwing it into the plywood divider, I decided to get a recessed fixture that would then maximize space in the small stall.
I got the fixture and installed it not noticing that sitting on the porcelain throne, you could not possibly reach said fixture. At the next session meeting I was demoted from fixer-in-chief and my tool box confiscated.
Build your hose upon the rock, Jesus says.
Churches do a lot of stuff. Some of it we do really, really, well, and other stuff not so much.
Some of what we do is really effective and helps us reach our mission goals, fulfills our vision for our congregation and community, and fits well with our values.
And some things we do, well… poorly. We do it because we have always done it.
It’s hard because much of what we do we like doing. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy. In some cases, it is easy to do, or hard, but we know how to do it so we keep doing it.
The fact that it doesn’t help us be the church we want to be, the church of the future eludes us.
Every year when the Session and Deacons meet together, I ask them what we as a church should stop doing.
That’s so we can take that energy and time and resources and use them someplace else in church life that is more in keeping with what we say we know we need to be doing.
Last year there were no suggestions. None. Really?
In today’s scripture lesson Jesus invites us to build our house on a solid foundation. He also makes clear that foundation is his teachings.
It needed to be put back on ASAP, and I decided being all big and bad that I was the person for the job. Not noticing that I had no skills for the job, I immediately ascertained that in the left hand stall the left wall was plasterboard, so instead of hanging the roller by screwing it into the plywood divider, I decided to get a recessed fixture that would then maximize space in the small stall.
I got the fixture and installed it not noticing that sitting on the porcelain throne, you could not possibly reach said fixture. At the next session meeting I was demoted from fixer-in-chief and my tool box confiscated.
Build your hose upon the rock, Jesus says.
Churches do a lot of stuff. Some of it we do really, really, well, and other stuff not so much.
Some of what we do is really effective and helps us reach our mission goals, fulfills our vision for our congregation and community, and fits well with our values.
And some things we do, well… poorly. We do it because we have always done it.
It’s hard because much of what we do we like doing. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy. In some cases, it is easy to do, or hard, but we know how to do it so we keep doing it.
The fact that it doesn’t help us be the church we want to be, the church of the future eludes us.
Every year when the Session and Deacons meet together, I ask them what we as a church should stop doing.
That’s so we can take that energy and time and resources and use them someplace else in church life that is more in keeping with what we say we know we need to be doing.
Last year there were no suggestions. None. Really?
In today’s scripture lesson Jesus invites us to build our house on a solid foundation. He also makes clear that foundation is his teachings.
The wise man builds his house on the rock.
We are to listen, hear, and heed. We are to put it all into practice, which is exactly what we are doing…
Except, when we get busy doing things that don’t connect with the foundation, Jesus teachings, with the people Jesus says we are to be reaching out to with his bold love!
It would be like buying a house that is so expensive you can’t put furniture in it, or getting a wonderful house that has four bedrooms and no bathrooms, or a pool, but no one who knows how to swim, wants to swim, or is going to clean and maintain that silly pool.
Of course, churches don’t do that!
We would never forget that our worship space, worship style, worship leadership, worship design, even worship colors schemes are not about us, but about connecting people to the foundation: Jesus!
We are told to build our house, God’s house, on a solid foundation, Jesus teachings, but are also told to use the house to reach those who not yet connected with Jesus!
Remember what Jesus told his disciples just before he left them at the ascension. “Now go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
It is our calling, an imperative, a shall, to always be looking for ways in which to invite others to come and follow Jesus with us, and at the same time remove every single barrier to those who want to meet the Lord.
We’ve done really well! We have reason to celebrate!
But there is more to do! Because not everyone who could come and worship Jesus is here yet! Because we get it.
We are called to Make a difference, in Jesus Name!
Amen.
We are to listen, hear, and heed. We are to put it all into practice, which is exactly what we are doing…
Except, when we get busy doing things that don’t connect with the foundation, Jesus teachings, with the people Jesus says we are to be reaching out to with his bold love!
It would be like buying a house that is so expensive you can’t put furniture in it, or getting a wonderful house that has four bedrooms and no bathrooms, or a pool, but no one who knows how to swim, wants to swim, or is going to clean and maintain that silly pool.
Of course, churches don’t do that!
We would never forget that our worship space, worship style, worship leadership, worship design, even worship colors schemes are not about us, but about connecting people to the foundation: Jesus!
We are told to build our house, God’s house, on a solid foundation, Jesus teachings, but are also told to use the house to reach those who not yet connected with Jesus!
Remember what Jesus told his disciples just before he left them at the ascension. “Now go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
It is our calling, an imperative, a shall, to always be looking for ways in which to invite others to come and follow Jesus with us, and at the same time remove every single barrier to those who want to meet the Lord.
We’ve done really well! We have reason to celebrate!
But there is more to do! Because not everyone who could come and worship Jesus is here yet! Because we get it.
We are called to Make a difference, in Jesus Name!
Amen.
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