dying church?

Ever feel like the church is dying? Ever wonder why?

I believe the church begins to die when we care more about worship than people.

When I ask people to tell me about their ministry, most people respond by saying, "I sing in the choir" or "I'm a lector" or "I'm on the altar guild."

That's amazing, given that Jesus never said, "Worship me."

What he said was, "Love one another;"  "Feed my sheep."

I'm not saying we shouldn't worship or that worship doesn't matter. Of course it does. People are often drawn to a church because they find sanctuary, strength, community, and healing in worship.

But worship shouldn't be all we do. Worship shouldn't trump our call to care for people.

I once heard someone say, "Worship is where I fill my tank. I come to church to get healed from the hurts of the week, and get renewed so I can go out there and do it again."

I have a different vision. I work all week doing my very best to make a difference for others. Team ministry, individual ministry, one-on-one, with groups, personally and professionally I'm listening for God's call and doing the best I can to answer. I try to accompany people on their journeys and be resourceful to them in their needs.

On Sunday, I come to celebrate the successes and beg mercy for the failures. On Sunday, I put my pride in check and give thanks that God partners with us. On Sunday, I join part of my paycheck with the gifts of other people to ensure that God's work in the world has resources. On Sunday, I'm drawn again to a vision of God's peaceable reign where all are fed and none have been forgotten. On Sunday, I pray with the community for strength and vision. On Sunday, I am reminded there is more work to do and find myself grateful that I am called to it.

Worship may be central, but it's not all we are called to do. Without our work in neighborhood and world, worship has little power or meaning.

I don't know about your church, but here are some neighborhood issues facing mine:

Eighty-five percent of the students at the elementary school two blocks from the church are statistically described as "economically disadvantaged" and 60% "at risk." The numbers aren't much better at the middle and high schools.  All three schools have been graded at "Academically Acceptable," the lowest passing grade for schools. School counselors say bullying is their biggest problem. On one school rating website, parents report it's teacher apathy. Two blocks in the other direction is a section-8 housing complex where every single family lives at or below the poverty line.

When the church cares as much about these people as it cares about its worship, the church will come alive again. We start by talking to them.

What good is, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? James 2:14-16  Want more? Click here to read James 2:14-26

song above all songs

The Songs of Songs, by almost all accounts, is a strange piece of literature to include in the Bible. There is no mention of God by name anywhere.  And this text, a bit of poetry sung from a bride to her bridegroom was rather racy for its time. So much so that the Interpreter's Bible reports that Jewish doctors use to recommend that their young patients not read it at all until age 30.

So why include it? Scholars say it was undisputedly included in the Hebrew canon and wholeheartedly adapted for Christian use because it works on the level of allegory, meaning everything stands for something else.  The bridegroom, flawless and sickeningly perfect, represents God (Jesus for Christians) and the bride, the body of faithful believers.

The Song of Songs helps a people image how God comes, redeeming everything that has gone wrong in the "winter" of life.  No matter how bad it gets or how much it has rained, there's nothing like the dawn of a new spring morning to revive hope.

And I believe there's more.

Unlike our own experiences of human love, that impregnable perfection we see in our new love interest never fades. And it's not our image of God that remains untarnished as the years pass, but God's image of us.

No matter how old we get, how many mistakes we make, nor how big they are; no matter how much we are disappointed in ourselves or our abilities, God always stands at the ready, speaking to us the way a young groom speaks to his bride. We are more lovely and ever the object of God's affection. God desires to stay with us, not only on the night we first meet, but all of our nights and all of our days as well.

God desires to partner with us and create a new kind of love, one that recreates the world in a way that could never be created if one of the parties were missing. We could never be more lovely to God than in the moments we say "Yes!" again and again to this God who loves above all others. Want more? Click here to read Song of Songs 2:8-13.

it's for the birds

We have a hummingbird feeder at home. I bring it in after the birds have migrated to wherever it is they go just before winter. I give it a good cleaning and put it away for the season, knowing there aren't any hummingbirds around to feed from it anyway, and that a clean protected feeder will last longer than one left to the elements.

But once the spring comes, I put the feeder out again, and the birds feed all through the spring, summer, and fall. Unless of course, I don't refill it once it's empty.

That's what happened this year. The birds ate everything and because I didn't refill the feeder, it sat empty from a whole month. And then another. There were no hummingbirds anywhere.

Two weeks ago, I took the feeder down, gave it a good cleaning, mixed a fresh batch of sugar water, and put the refilled feeder back in its place. Within two days, the hummingbirds, which had been gone for two full months, were back feeding and dive-bombing one another just as if the feeder had never gone empty.

I find their return amazing, especially because it happened so quickly. It's also amazing to me that they find the feeder at all. After all, it's just a small, colorless, nondescript bottle in a small spot in our small yard. Yet, from every other possible place to feed, these birds find our bottle, monitor it, flock to it, return to it, fight over it.

I guess once you know where the food is, you don't forget. I pray we all be like the hummingbirds, but for us, knowing where to find friendship, grace, peace, hope.  Want more? Click here to read Psalm 145:14-21.

even the wasps

A recent tour of the facilities at Prince of Peace resulted in an all-out assault on the paper wasps.  They had built nests on the playground, under the eaves, on the windows.

The very diligent property manager was on top of it. Within no time, the nests were gone; safety restored.

But in an out-of-the-way spot, one nest remained.  Nestled against the full-length window separating the narthex from the prayer garden, a huge nest lay secure beneath the giant leaf of a plant tucked away in the corner of the garden. Thirty or more wasps were still busy at work, while every other nest on the property had been destroyed.

It's fascinating to watch them, so close to the window that you can get one nose away in complete safety. They have not a care in the world except to build, create, lay eggs, feed, or whatever it is they are doing. They want nothing to do with anything or anyone, unless the nest is threatened. Then they are fighting machines, working as a team to sting whatever has compromised their home.

That's why we spray them; because they might sting us if we disturb their nest unaware. But perhaps we need new policies. Rather than strike preemptively, why don't we live and let live? Why don't we remove the present dangers and leave the rest alone? Why don't we walk the yard respectfully?

Perhaps we need new policies not just with wasps, but with every living thing. Why don't we remember the sanctity in nature, including other people, and thank the God who made us all, even the wasps? Why don't we walk the earth respectfully, risking getting stung once in a while? Want more? Click here to read Psalm 104.

turn and remember

The lessons from the Hebrews scriptures for the Sundays in Lent all focus on the covenants God has made with people throughout history.  A covenant with Noah, never to flood the earth again.  A covenant with Abraham and Sarah, for a baby in their old age.  A covenant with a community of people in the wilderness, for the flourishing of life based on trust, respect, and honesty. A covenant with whiners and grumblers, for healing. A covenant for the future, that God will write the law on the hearts of people.

Lent is a time for remembering that God makes covenants: one-sided contracts, one-sided deals, one-sided gifts requiring nothing from the other side.  God sets a bow in the clouds as a reminder to God that a promise has been made. Scripture tells us that when God sees it, God remembers the covenant made long ago, never to devastate the earth with flood waters again, and exercises restraint.

Lent is a time, not only for remembering that God makes covenants, but also for remembering that we are blessed by those covenants. 

We can also see the bow God set in the clouds. We can see it and remember some things about God. We might do well to remember that God, instead of destroying us, remembers us, sees us, and graces us.

We are seen by the One who sees all. Our cries are heard by the one who hears all. We who are small are beloved by the One who is grand.

We might also notice that God’s covenants are for us, in our specific need. The one who has just been through a devastating flood is promised safety from floodwaters.  The ones who have known a barren adulthood and old age are given fertility.  Those who are reckless are given order.  Those with chaos and carousing are given healing.

Lent is a time to turn to God, with our specific need, and remember.