October 8, 2016 – Words of Wisdom
Pope Francis

“A church that limits itself to just carrying out administrative duties, caring for its tiny flock, is a church that in the long run will get sick. The pastor who isolates himself is not a true pastor of sheep, but a ‘hairdresser’ for sheep who spends his time putting curlers on them instead of going to look for others. Today we have one in the pen and 99 we need to go looking for.” Pope Francis

“So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:3-7

How would you rate the church today, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “very sick” and 10 being “very healthy”? How would you rate “Your” church? Pope Francis has a legitimate point about what constitutes a sick and a healthy church. It does not have to be defined by numbers, by budgets, or by other statistics. A church that is in the streets of its community seeking the lost, healing the sick, and sharing the good news is a church that has real health – and is a church that will be rich in blessings. There are plenty of large churches that only serve their own flock – and they become bigger and bigger because the pews are filled with people who need to surround themselves with others who like their own reflection. As long as a church meets the budget to pay its staff and beautify its building, it can remain open for years and years. But, are they truly living the radical nature of the Gospel of Jesus: the one that teaches to leave the 99 in the wilderness to seek the one that has been lost; the one that teaches to remove the log from its own eye before noticing the speck in their neighbor’s eye.

A church of 100 can do just as much meaningful ministry as a church of 10,000, if the large church only focuses on its own needs. Of course the same is true of the church of 100: once they move into survival mode, they will only look at budgets and expenditures that threaten the lifeblood of remaining faithful – and if one of the hundred leaves, they will make sure they are performing CPR on the ninety-nine who remain. This idea reverses the true meaning of the parable. Pope Francis is right: we, as the Christian community, no matter the size or location, we constitute the one sheep, under the direction of the True Shepherd, Jesus Christ. The world of the un-churched and the de-churched constitute the ninety-nine who are seeking meaning, purpose, and understanding in a sinful world. And if we are the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, then we are compelled to seek the ninety-nine who are missing.

Pastor Dave

October 7, 2016 – Words of Wisdom
Mark Twain

“Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”

“As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”  Some of the Pharisees…said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.””  Luke 19:33-40

Silence is an enemy of the church. Yes, silence in worship is a blessing, for finding some time to meditate on our blessings, especially the blessings that come through the cross of Jesus requires time to meditate on it, day and night. True meditation requires silence. But our very lives are not defined by such silence, only monks and hermits can find such silence daily. We, on the other hand, live in a cacophony of sounds: noises, digital devices, and the shouts of daily life. And it is into this noise that we seek to live out our lives, and our faith lives as well.

We live in a society today where people have decided it is better to shout down their enemies and those who disagree with them, seeking to silence the opinions of others in order to defend what they think is the preferable, the smart, the right opinion. If they can silence the opinions of others, then they will believe their opinion is superior. It is true in the life of politics, and it is true in the life of the church. Somewhere in the 21st century, some people of our society determined they could not tolerate dissenting opinions. Silencing the opponent, in whatever means was necessary, was more advantageous than debating the merits of both. How far is the leap that a society will take from people silencing the opinions of other people, to a government that will seek to do the same?

Silence is the enemy of the church. The disciples of Jesus are shouting “Blessed is the King…” and “Hosanna to the King” as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The Pharisees are uncomfortable because in first century Judaism, there is just one king – and that king is Caesar. Within Roman occupation, the people of Israel were just hoping to survive without being crushed by the occupying government. Jesus’ “triumphal entrance” is both a political statement, as it is a religious statement. It is the classic battle between religion and government, between “David and Goliath”, between the underdog and the superstar. And if the people are silent, are forced to be silent, or choose to be silent, Jesus says that G-d will produce those who will not be silent.

We must choose whether, as a church, as a community of believers, and as a denomination, will we choose to be silent about our faith, or will we shout out against injustice, intolerance, and religious censorship? Will we censor ourselves, or will be shout out our faith, and our belief that Jesus is “the one who has come in the name of the Lord?” Just as we cannot accept censorship in the political and personal aspects of our lives, we cannot tolerate self-censorship in the church – because silence is the enemy of the church.

Pastor Dave